Keats And Longfellow Analysis Essay Example

Keats And Longfellow Analysis Paper When I Have Fears and Mezzo Caiman by John Keats and Henry Headwords Longfellow respectively, have similar themes such as the inevitability of death and the fear of living unfulfilled and inadequate lives. John Keats fears that he will live a life of inadequacy and fail to accomplish all of his dreams, but he understands that his goals are miniscule in the larger scope of life. Conversely, Longfellow maintains a morbid view of death and of the future itself, while Keats is more captivated by the human experience and despite his uncertainty about the future, feels that living is far more important than reaching his personal goals. The poems possess some commonalities, specifically in the beginning, where both complain about the temporary nature of life. Longfellow Half of my life is gone directly coordinates with Keats When I have fears that may cease to be. Both men fear that they will die before theyre able to accomplish their respective goals. Keats specifically fears that he will die Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, before he can get all of his thoughts onto paper and leave his mark on the world in a literary manner. Longfellow possesses a similar fear specifically that he has not fulfilled the aspiration of [his] youth and failed to build a tower of song with lofty parapet. Both men hope to leave some sort of lasting legacy on history but both understand that death is an inevitable fact of life and that time is running out for them to accomplish their goals. Neither man has accomplished all of his goals in life, whether it be Keats literary aspirations, or Longfellow wish to build a tower of song. However, both fear that the ultimate end will come too soon and put an end to their dreams. We will write a custom essay sample on Keats And Longfellow Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Keats And Longfellow Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Keats And Longfellow Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Despite both men fearing that death will come too soon for them, the apparent differences in their situations arise towards the middle of the poem. Specifically their experiences and views of love are expressly different. Longfellow has experienced times of passion and pleasure, but complains that the subsequent sorrow and care that it disabled him in the pursuit of his goals. Longfellow experiences of a love lost caused him great pain that slowed his progress towards his goals and ultimately adversely affected his life. However, Keats takes a different tone towards love. He views love as a beautiful and mysterious endeavor that he wishes to experience before his life ends. He feels that true love occurs With the magic hand of chance and finds it regrettable that he in unable to find true love. He thinks that his keen awareness of death will prevent him from being able to trace the huge cloudy symbols of high romance or prevent him from ever experiencing true love at all. Longfellow fear of death as well as his experiences in love keep him from completely accomplishing his goals, while Keats has lived an interesting and fulfilling life that he does not want to end, hence his fear of death. The end of the poems both show the conflicting attitudes towards life and death by using situations where the men can reflect on their lives and life in general. Both men walk to the edge of a geographical feature, Keats a shore, and Longfellow a hill overlooking a city. Keats looks forward to the future during his time resting on the shore and realizes that life is a grand endeavor, and a wide world exists outside the confines of his life. He realizes that his oils are unimportant on this grand scale and seems to find peace in this fact. Longfellow on the other hand, sees nothing but a vast city that symbolizes his past, and a cataract of Death thundering from the heights. Longfellow cannot move on from his past and henceforth cannot see any future for him at all, and will never achieve his aspirations. Keats on the other hand, realizes that he still has opportunity in his life and finds peace in the fact that he is still alive to achieve his goals, despite the realization that theyre not as significant as he once thought.

The United States Economy

The United States Economy Free Online Research Papers According to The World Fact Book at the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States economy ranked the second largest economy in the world. This essay sets out to analysis the real gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States from fiscal year 2004 to quarter one (Q1) of year 2009 so as to better understand the U.S. economic growth, contributors to U.S real GDP and the effects of the U.S. financial crunch from year 2007 to present. The essay will conclude that there may be no solutions to the problems of the U.S. economy that wont involve some pain and that government intervention – stimulus, direct control of large banks and automobile manufacturers, and more control of financial markets, may or may not be the answer. Only time will tell. U.S. Real GDP as of FY 2008 According to the statistics from U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. real GDP– the output of goods and services produced by labour and property in the United Sates – overall increased by $976.2 billions of chained (2000) dollars from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2008, and reduced by $291.5 billions of chained (2000) dollars by Q1 of year 2009 (Table 1.0, Chart 1.0). According to Balakrishnan (28 August 2008), the government data showed that the economy expanded by an annualized rate of 3.3% in the three months to June 2008 due to robust consumer spending and net exports. This was much higher than the 1.9% pace that was first reported and the fastest rate in nearly a year. On the other hand, Balakrishnan (2008) reported that the growth in the first quarter of 2008 is sluggish, almost flat, after a 0.2% contraction in the last quarter of 2007, which was the weakest rate since 2001 and sparked predictions that the U.S. economy was set for a recession in 2008. Most of the growth reported in quarter two of 2008 came from higher overseas demand, rather than domestic strength. Exports grew at a hefty 13.2% annual rate instead of the 9.2% pace initially estimated, as foreign buyers snapped up cheap US goods thanks to a weakened U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, consumer spending, which underpins two-thirds of the U.S. economy, grew at an upwardly revised 1.7% annual rate rather than the 1.5% first reported, after tax rebates of up to $600 spurred shoppers who had cut back amid the economy’s problem. In 2008, seventy-two percent of the economic activity in the U.S. came from consumers (TIME, 2008). However, Gary Pollack at Deutsche Bank commented that the outlook for the economy was still bleak as consumer confidence remained low and the housing market was still grinding lower. The outlook for third quarter growth of 2008 was less than 1%, so he still had a negative outlook (Balakrishnan, 2008). True enough, U.S. real GDP dipped by $291.5 billions of chained (2000) dollars by quarter one of year 2009. To understand the factors of the declined in U.S. real GDP, we will focus on the BEA â€Å"preliminary† estimates released June 2009, for the first quarter (January, February and March) of 2009. The 2008-2009 recession continues An estimated negative 5.7% GDP growth for the first quarter of 2009 confirms that the recession that began in December 2007 has not yet ended. Is it getting better or worse? The decline in GDP of 5.7% in Q1 2009 was slightly smaller than the decline of 6.3% (final estimate) for Q4 2008. Bureau of Economic Analysis Announcement: Gross Domestic Product, First Quarter, 2009 (Advance) Real gross domestic product the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States decreased at an annual rate of 6.1% in the first quarter of 2009, (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP decreased 6.3%. (Table 1 and Chart 1). Data extracted from: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Are things getting better or worse? On a positive note, the BEA release cited an increase in personal consumption expenditures, the largest component of GDP. The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from exports, private inventory investment, equipment and software, nonresidential structures, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a positive contribution from personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased. The slightly smaller decrease in real GDP in the first quarter than in the fourth reflected an upturn in PCE for durable and nondurable goods and a larger decrease in imports that were mostly offset by larger decreases in private inventory investment and in nonresidential structures and a downturn in federal government spending. Real personal consumption expenditures increased 2.2% in the first quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 4.3% in the fourth. Durable goods increased 9.4%, in contrast to a decrease of 22.1%. Nondurable goods increased 1.3 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 9.4%. Services increased 1.5%, the same increase as in the fourth. Real nonresidential fixed investment decreased 37.9%. PCE increased in all categories except food (-0.8%), housing (-0.01%), and transportation (-0.14%). The BEA release cited two key products, both improvements from Q4, Motor vehicle output subtracted 1.36 percentage points from the first-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 2.01 percentage points from the fourth-quarter change. Final sales of computers added 0.05 percentage point to the first-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 0.02 percentage point from the fourth-quarter change. Figure 1 shows the quarterly changes in real GDP growth from 1990 to the present. The general pattern of increases (peaks) and decreases (troughs) of the business cycles. The three troughs with low points below zero are the recessions of 1990-91, 2001, and 2008. Not all troughs reach below the level of zero. Most cycles simply decline as the rate of growth slows, but still reflect (although smaller) positive growth. The negative growth of Q4 2008 and Q1 2009 is the most severe downturn since the early 1980s. Data extracted from: National Council of Economic Education Real GDP by Sector, First Quarter 2009 Real personal consumption expenditures increased 2.2% in the first quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 4.3% in the fourth. Durable goods increased 9.4 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 22.1%. Nondurable goods increased 1.3%, in contrast to a decrease of 9.4%. Services increased 1.5%, the same increase as in the fourth. Consumers are spending more. Real nonresidential fixed investment decreased 37.9% in the first quarter, compared with a decrease of 21.7% in the fourth. Nonresidential structures decreased 44.2 %, compared with a decrease of 9.4 percent. Equipment and software decreased 33.8%, compared with a decrease of 28.1%. Real residential fixed investment decreased 38.0%, compared with a decrease of 22.8%. Investment by businesses and households (houses) are slowing at an increased rate. Real exports of goods and services decreased 30.0% in the first quarter, compared with a decrease of 23.6% in the fourth. Real imports of goods and services decreased 34.1%, compared with a decrease of 17.5%. Both imports and exports decreased, but net exports remained a negative number in the determination of U.S. GDP. Net exports are subtracted from GDP. Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 4.0% in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of 7.0% in the fourth. National defense decreased 6.4%, in contrast to an increase of 3.4%. Nondefense increased 1.3%, compared with an increase of 15.3%. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 3.9%, compared with a decrease of 2.0%. The recent increases in government spending, which had been the only positive component in Q4, reversed in Q1. Figure 2 shows the value of the sectors of U.S. GDP in Q1 2009 in current (nominal) dollars and in chained dollars (adjusted for inflation). Personal consumption expenditures were, by far, the largest percentage of GDP (almost 70%). Private investment was only 11% of GDP in Q1, but that component decreased over 24% in the last year. The increase of 2.6% of PCE was approximately $379 billion. The 24% decrease in investment was about $370 billion. The increase in consumption was offset by the decrease in investment from Q4 2008 to Q1 2009. Although imports and exports are a relatively small percentage of the U.S. economy, their decreases show that problems in the United States impact the world economy and foreign economic problems impact the U.S. Figure 2: U.S. Gross Domestic Product First Quarter 2009 (Advanced Estimate in $ billions) Current Dollars (nominal) Chained Dollars (adjusted for inflation) Gross Domestic Product 14,075.5 11,340.9 Personal Consumption Expenditures 9,955.7 8,214.2 Private Investment 1,579.8 1,329.8 Net Exports -337.7 -308.4 Government Expenditures 2,877.7 2,073.8 Percent Change from Q1 2008 (final) to Q1 2009 (advance) Gross Domestic Product -2.6% Personal Consumption Expenditures -1.2% Private Investment -24.2% Exports -11.3% Imports -16.5% Government Expenditures 1.7% Data adapted from: Business Cycle Dating Committee, National Bureau of Economic Research, report on â€Å"Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity,† December 11, 2008: nber.org/cycles/dec2008.html The Impact of the Recession Since the declaration of the current recession by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Business Cycle Dating Committee in December 2008 (citing that the recession began a year earlier in December 2007), U.S. economic conditions have worsened. GDP growth (despite the popular belief) is not the sole determinant of a recession. The NBER defines a recession this way: A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real income, and other indicators. A recession begins when the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends when the economy reaches its trough. Between trough and peak, the economy is in an expansion. Because a recession is a broad contraction of the economy, not confined to one sector, the committee emphasizes economy-wide measures of economic activity. The committee believes that domestic production and employment are the primary conceptual measures of economic activity. The committee views the payroll employment measure, which is based on a large survey of employers, as the most reliable comprehensive estimate of employment. This series (data report) reached a peak in December 2007 and has declined every month since then. What Happens? Increased unemployment. When consumer or business spending decreases, the demand for labor decreases. Employment may lag recovery efforts, as it takes time for employers to increase output and create jobs. Decreasing investment. When firms expect less demand for their goods and services, they will cut costs and not invest in productive capacity. Investment spending decreased almost forty percent in the last quarter. Lower stock market prices. If the recession results in lower corporate profits and uncertainty about future values, stock prices may fall. As investors sense a recovery, stock prices may rise and be an indicator of a better economy in the future. Increased government spending and budget deficits. Decreased output and employment leads to lower tax revenues (income tax, sales tax, corporation taxes, etc.). Some government programs, such as unemployment compensation will increase. More government borrowing will mean higher more debt to repay and higher taxes in the future. Lower price level. Reduces spending typically results in less price pressure. The result is a lower rate of inflation. Greater problems will occur if prices fall – deflation. A recession may put pressure on firms to reduced prices to compete. Lower prices and profits are a disincentive to invest and increase output. According to the following data about the performance of the U.S. economy since the beginning of the current recession (Figure 3), the data for real GDP growth shows trends of employment and unemployment rate significantly worsened (almost continually) since December 2007. As payroll employment decreased, the unemployment rate increased (with few minor exceptions). As GDP growth slowed and turned negative, the unemployment rate increased and payroll employment decreased. As payroll employment decreased and real GDP decreased, there was little inflation and, at times, short periods of deflation in consumer prices. Figure 3: U.S. Economic Data December 2007-March 2009 Real GDP Growth (Quarterly) Payroll Employment Unemployment Rate (CPI-U) Consumer Price Index (%change) Dec 2007 -0.2 (Q4) 120,000 4.4% 0.3% Jan 2008 -72,000 4.9% 0.4% Feb 2008 -144,000 4.8% 0.2% Mar 2008 0.9 (Q1) -122,000 5.1% 0.4% Apr 2008 -160,000 5.0% 0.2% May 2008 -137,000 5.5% 0.5% June 2008 2.8 (Q2) -161,000 5.6% 0.9% July 2008 -128,000 5.8% 0.7% Aug 2008 -175,000 6.2% 0 Sept 2008 -0.5 (Q3) -321,000 6.2% 0 Oct 2008 -380,000 6.6% -0.8% Nov 2008 -597,000 6.8% -1.7% Dec 2008 -6.3 (Q4) -681,000 7.2% -0.8% Jan 2009 -741,000 7.6% 0.3% Feb 2009 -651,000 8.1% 0.4% Mar 2009 -6.1 (Q1) -663,000 8.5% -0.1% Data adapted from: CPI monthly/annual and Unemployment rate data http://data.bls.gov Conclusion Summary As the economy loses jobs and output, people lose income. As incomes decrease, demand decreases. When the decrease in demand results in more job losses, the economy can spiral downward. The April 29 BEA report notes that Current-dollar personal income decreased $59.9 billion (2.0%) in the first quarter, compared with a decrease of $42.9 billion (1.4%) in the fourth. Many say that the United States (and may other nations) is just entering a recession that will get worse before it gets better. Others sense that we are near, if not at, the bottom. Personal consumption expenditures did increase in the last quarter. Although consumer spending may have increased, private investment dropped almost 40% in Q1, 2009. Less investment means fewer jobs are being created – either because companies choose not to hire more employees or because businesses have reduced their purchases of tools, vehicles, technology and other means of production. Pros and Cons of U.S. economy slowdown For Americans, a global slowdown, short of a recession, would not be all bad news. Exporters would benefit, though they account for only 12% of the economy. A gradual global slowdown would also give the Fed far more room to maneuver without the threat of stoking inflation. Social effects: volunteerism bloom According to Senior (2009), volunteerism is booming in New York. Compared with the first quarter of year 2008, volunteerism has seen a 32 percent increase. Also, people are initiating public discussions that reevaluate the purpose of work- as if trying to remind us, after a long bender of risk-taking and creative economics, that there’s dignity in secure, generative labor. This June, as the economy was slowing, Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s new president, used her baccalaureate address to discuss the complicated allure of Wall Street. Her closing thoughts contained both an entreaty and admonition: â€Å"If you don’t pursue what you think will be most meaningful, you will regret it.† (The Harvard Crimson later reported that 8 percent fewer graduates would be heading into the financial and consulting sectors than the year before.) A more affordable city, better attitudes toward work and leisure, finer civic morals- these are silver linings for culture and United States’s luckier people, the ones who are still working or have some other means to get through this crisis. But for those facing financial hardship, which is ultimately what recessions are all about, these improvements are minor consolations. We have heard a lot about bankers cast out to sea. But the unemployment rate among unskilled men, particularly African-Americans and Latinos, is disproportionately high. As Mike Wallace points out, a constrained job market often offers the least educated and poorest poor the fewest options. â€Å"During the Great Depression,† he notes, â€Å"when poor women lost garment-shop jobs, many turned to the street-corner ‘slave markets’ of Brooklyn and the Bronx, renting themselves out for a pittance as domestic laborers, or they resorted to sex trades ranging from taxi dancing to prostitution .† No one is suggesting things will get that dire this time around. But recessions do not tend to be moments when cities can expand their social safety nets, and this time is no exception: In order to close the budget gap, Bloomberg is proposing reductions across the board- including cuts in child-welfare centers, homelessness programs, and certain immigrant services. The Spanish-language press produces a steady stream of stories about the devastation of small businesses and the sharp decrease in wages sent back home. â€Å"In some cases, the flow of money has reversed direction,† says Alberto Vourvoulias, the executive editor of El Diario. â€Å"People are asking relatives at home to go into their savings and send money here. Employment has decreased, but costs of living here remain incredibly high.† â€Å"It’s possible we’ll end up with the good parts of the seventies- a rich bohemian culture- and not the bad,† says NYU sociologist Dalton Conley. Nor is it just the poorest poor who are suffering. This recession may provide a foothold for some middle-class Americans, but it will just as surely squeeze out others. A fair number of families overleveraged themselves at the peak of the boom, assuming they’d have two incomes, and now find themselves in more precarious arrangements; those who did not own homes but are suddenly contending with lost jobs or lower wages are barely scraping by. And for Americans families whose mothers stayed at home by choice, rather than necessity, it is possible this downturn will force them to reconsider the consequences of that decision if their husbands are now unemployed. Psychological effects of unemployment Most recent studies on the subject suggest that the psychological effect of unemployment is even greater than the loss of income that accompanies it. Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, has collected happiness data from hundreds of thousands of people both in the United States, and what he’s consistently seen is that people recover more quickly from becoming disabled, even widowed, than from the long-term loss of a job. â€Å"People may draw their benefits from the government,† he says, â€Å"but they don’t seem to psychologically acclimate.† Everyone tends to have a natural hedonic set-point, a zone within which their internal mood-thermostat tends to hover, just like their weight. Sustained unemployment is one of life’s few upsets that seems to permanently depress it. Even if this recession is shorter than pessimists predict, those who are laid off in this period will still pay a concrete, long-term price. â€Å"It’s what economists call ‘scarring,’?† explains Oswald. Downsides But there are downsides too: the U.S. would see high energy prices as Asias demand for oil kept soaring, a continued dollar slump as low interest rates made it less attractive to hold dollar-denominated securities, and the threat of rising inflation as a weak dollar made imports more expensive. And a global recession (generally defined as growth of less than 2.5%; since the Depression, global growth hasnt actually gone backward) would be just plain bad news, depriving companies of the markets at home and abroad. So the crucial question is whether the countrys policymakers - in particular the Federal Reserve - are capable of steering the economy between the twin risks of a painfully deep recession and yet another bout of unsustainable, debt-fueled consumer spending. There seems to be little controversy over whether the Fed should ease rates, but theres lots of controversy over when and how much. The Jan. 22 rate cut came as a shock, but it did seem to calm the markets, if not buoy them. Recommendation â€Å"The debate is not whether we’re going to have a soft landing or a hard landing in the U.S. but how hard the landing is going to be,† says Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University. He sees a sharp, possible year-long U.S. recession and a global slowdown. Despite Asia’s torrid growth, consumers in China and India accounted for only $1.6 trillion of the world’s spending in 2007, a tiny fraction of the $9.5 trillion spent by Americans, according to Stephen Roach, head of Morgan Stanley’s business in Asia. It is impossible to pull U.S. spending back without sending ripples through the rest of the world. So what happened now? Among economists, investors and policymakers, there’s little consensus about how long this recession is going to last, or how the U.S. and the world will react to that bitter medicine. What has become evident is that globalization cannot insulate us from recessions. The question is whether an increasingly integrated global economy can help soften the pain we are likely to feel at home – or will make the pain worse. The lesson here may be that there is no solution to the problems of the U.S. economy that wont involve some pain. One interesting dynamic that will play out over the next few years is that some people and some countries are in far better shape to weather a slowdown than others. Right now, the U.S. isnt one of them: with our trade deficits and federal budget deficits, we may be more vulnerable than other economies to the effects of a broad global downturn. And so whatever happens in the markets this year, you probably will not feel as house-proud as you did two years ago. Someone you know will be looking for a new job. And gas wont be getting much cheaper. The Fed cant magically make all that go away. Neither can Congress or the White House. The best they can do is keep it from getting any worse than it has to be. References 1. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Advance estimate of U.S. gross domestic product, first quarter, 2009. Retrieve on 28 June 2009. www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm 2. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Measuring the Economy: A Primer on GDP and the National Income and Product Accounts. Retrieve on 28 June 2009. www.bea.gov/national/pdf/nipa_primer.pdf 3. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Overview of the U.S. Economy: Perspective from the BEA Accounts. Retrieve on 28 June 2009. www.bea.gov/newsreleases/glance.htm 4. Business Cycle Dating Committee, National Bureau of Economic Research, report on â€Å"Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity,† Retrieve on 5 July 2009. nber.org/cycles/dec2008.html 5. Landefld J.S., Eugene P. Seskin, and Barbara M. Fraumeni, Taking the Pulse of the Economy: Measuring GDP. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 22, Number 2, Spring 2008, Pages 193–216. Retrieve on 30 June 2009 www.bea.gov/about/pdf/jep_spring2008.pdf 6. Balakrishnan A World economy: US recession fears eased by revised figures. Business article. Retrieve on 2 July. guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/28/useconomicgrowth.useconomy 7. Central Intelligence Agency; World Fact Book. Retrieve 1 July 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publication/the-world-factbook/rankorder 8. Stewart H. Now US debt hits 7 percent of GDP. Business Article. Retrieve on 1 July 2009 guardian.co.uk/business/2006/mar/12/usnews 9. The Conference Board: Global Business Cycle Indicators. Retrieve on 30 June 2009. www.conference-board.org/economics/bci/pressRelease_output.cfm?cid=1 10. TIME: Can the world stop the slide, Feb 4 2008. Business article. Pg. 27. Retrieve on 30 June 2009 www.time.com/time/businessarticle Research Papers on The United States EconomyThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceTwilight of the UAWPETSTEL analysis of IndiaLifes What IfsDefinition of Export QuotasResearch Process Part OneThree Concepts of PsychodynamicInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)

Operations Management in Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Operations Management in Business - Assignment Example It helps the organization to determine the business process of the firm. However, the tactical level includes the process of project management, selection of equipments, scheduling of processes, materials and goods traffic handling. Thus it handles the entire production operation of the plant (MITSloan, 2014). The operations of an organization allow it to accomplish its mission by employing the right technological and human recourses driven by the right managerial processes. Operation management allows an organization of produce goods as well as services. The manufacturing process yields tangible products as output whereas the service operations produce intangible output. Operations management process can be broken down in to simple steps like Planning, Organizing and Controlling. Planning involves laying down the blueprint of the course of actions. Organizing establishes the structure of the tasks involved and the hierarchy of authorities. Controlling allows the manager to ensure that the tasks are aligned with the plans. Thus the operations management allows a firm to meet its organizational goals by efficiently producing its goods and services in order to meet the demands of the customers (Kumar and Suresh, 2009). This section covers the operations function of The Bramble Co., which is a furniture wholesale supplier, headquartered in Wisconsin, USA. It supplies finished goods to countries like Australia, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand, etc. The company runs its privately owned manufacturing plant in Java, Indonesia. The manufacturing plant covers a massive area of seven hectares (The Bramble Co., 2014). The company uses high end wood crafting technology along with integration of traditional craftsmanship. Bramble employs skilled workers from Europe in order to establish an efficient workforce. The company ships around seventy containers per month each having a size of

Effects of Mass Media Violence on Violent Behavior Research Paper

Effects of Mass Media Violence on Violent Behavior - Research Paper Example Therefore, a foundation must be established on which the arguments of both sides can be viewed impartially, and through which we can reach a valid understanding of the issue of mass-media violence. What makes this difficult is that the criteria of judgment for the question is political, based on the vision or ideal of society that one wants to see manifest. To illustrate this, it is important to start with the opposite, teachers of non-violence such as the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., etc. and consider what their ideals of a non-violent society are, as well as why they consider violence so fundamental to be opposed. For example, if we judge the question of mass-media violence against the goals of Satyagraha as taught by Mahatma Gandhi, and the vision of society he sought to develop, we might have a very different conclusion than if we judge the question by the values of Bush, Cheney, and the administration that led the United States to war & torture in Iraq and Afghanistan. To reduce this division further, a society that commands the world’s largest military, has over 800 foreign military bases, and is conducting wars on multiple battlefronts might not only have a different goal as a society than a country like Tibet, once a Buddhist kingdom with thousands of monasteries ruled by a reincarnate monk, but the societies might also have very different actual perceptions of what violence is, and tolerance to it. Jains in the ancient world were renowned for sweeping the road in front of themselves when walking and wearing masks to insure that they did not injure any insect while traveling or breathing. A society based on this level of sensitivity to violence may view mass-media imagery of violent behavior in a very different way to our society that has been desensitized to it for years. Thus, we must approach this as

Akeelah and the bee Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Akeelah and the bee - Assignment Example It reminded the audience of what goes on in schools and how the problem can be more intensive, especially where students from a lesser class are involved. During her final trials, there is a sense of anticipation, in which, the audience are anxious whether or not she will win. Anxiety, is also brought about, when her mother interrupts during a divisional contest, which made people wonder if she will be allowed to continue or be disqualified. However, at an advanced scene, after Akeelah has earned public approval resulting from her partaking in spelling contests, one of her attackers cheers her. It brings out mixed reactions of joy and tears, for it makes the audience happy that the girl, who has come from far, has eventually won the contest. The community, back at Akeelah’s neighborhood, brought a gloomy feeling that made the audience realize how poor neighborhoods endanger the upbringing of children. It is characterized by the fact that Akeela’s young sister was a teen age mother and her younger brother was already a recruit in a local drug cartel. Their being black American made them more disadvantageous, which made the audience sad about the fact that the inequality still exists among races (Pimentel, Charise & Sawyer,

Comparison Of Parmenides And Heraclitus Philosophy Essay

Comparison Of Parmenides And Heraclitus Philosophy Essay At the first sight Heraclitus and Parmenides uphold the opposite principles, with their doctrines being in dramatic contrast, while the former affirms change, becoming and cyclic recurrence of things and the latter denies their existence. For Heraclitus true being is circular and transforms into not-being, life turns into death and the change that occurs is eternal and cyclical, it truly is (Graham). While for Parmenides true being is motionless and static, it does not change behind the appearance of change. Both philosophers indirectly abolished death by stamping becoming with the seal of being (McFarlane). But, actually, Parmenides and Heraclitus asserted the One. They merely applied to different approaches to teach the same things. Heraclitus affirmed that diverse appearances change, therefore opposites exist in interconnection, depend on each other and are in unity. He conceived a unity of opposites and accepted becoming, while Parmenides refuted opposites, accentuated being and claimed: Being is ungenerated and indestructible, whole, of one kind and unwavering and complete. Nor was it, nor will it be, since now it is, all together, one, continuous. Hereby, different appearances of reality do not truly change, because they so not exist. Parmenides considered that change is impossible, as everything is staying the same, being one single static element, but his opponent, Heraclitus, on the contrary, affirmed that everything is in constant flux, it is changing and his statement everything flows and you cannot step into one and the same river twice have become phrases. He argued that one cannot step twice into the same river, nor touch mortal substance twice in the same condition. By the speed of change, it scatters, and gathers again, so the river will be different every time it is regarded (Graham). Claiming that motion is change, Heraclitus became known for his philosophy of universal flux and fire that, according to him, was the basic material of the world, as well as his controversial theory of coinciding opposites. The philosopher is considered to be independent of a definite school, as this heritage is multilayered and comprises elements of material monism and scientific cosmology, metaphysics and rationalism, but he definitely was a revolutionary whose works despite they were profoundly studied remain controversial and challenging to interpret (Graham). The Greek philosopher presents uses the inductive method by means of which he wants the others to understand the world, he habitually presents a simple situation giving a concrete image, hereby he enables readers to educate themselves. To convey his beliefs more fruitfully Heraclitus uses such stylistic devices as chiasmus and alliteration in his speeches in defense of the theory. The philosopher diligently reiterates that his readers will not understand his message, but he promises to try to explain them everything he is able to see to: distinguish each thing according to its nature and show how it is (Graham). The form in which Heraclitus presents his work is essential for understanding its essence, he uses the technique of verbal complexity and syntactical ambiguity, Charles Kahn, for instance, characterizes his style with two words linguistic density and resonance. With his style similar to Hesoid and the Orphics Parmenides is supposed to have written only one work entitled On Nature that is unfortunately preserved only in fragments, though it originally extended to about eight hundred verses. Parmenides broke the prose tradition by writing it in hexameter verse and was widely quoted by the later authors who kept it for the future generations. The philosopher speaks in support of his principles in the Proem that has a number of interpretation variants and is regarded by contemporary scholars in the aspect of the strict monism, logical-dialectics, meta-principle etc. The work deals with the goddess who must reveal the two ways to Parmenides and he should chose the better one. The two ways present his former error and the truth that becomes clear to him. The work consists of two parts, the first one concerns the truth or the true reality and the second deals with the world of illusion, that is the world of senses and opinions. In the fragment 8 t he goddess utters the philosophers principle of the universal statics by claiming: As yet a single tale of a way remains, that it is; and along this path markers are there very many, that What Is isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whole and uniform, and still and perfect à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ with the past or the future being meaningless for the reason. Parmenides believed that the reality is and must be in the strictest sense and any alternation in it is not possible. Remarkably, in Parmenidess Proem the goddess criticizes ordinary men for being guided with their senses. Unlike Heraclitus, the thinker judges merely by reason and never trusts the senses. In the human perception the world is nothing but a deceitful show (Palmer). Several other fragments found indicate that Parmenides touched upon the themes of physiology and human thought in his work and claimed that our own selves are deceptive and accentuated subjectivity of individual perception. While Heraclitus also emphasizing human affairs is supposed to be the first humanist, who proves the blindness of humans in his doctrine. Though he believed that humans are frequently incapable of understanding, let alone wisdom, he does not deny the importance of senses and says: The things of which there is sight, hearing, experience, I prefer. The philosopher connected accumulation of wisdom with senses and memory rather than with knowledge, and the latter does not necessarily teach humans understanding. So, in accordance with Heraclitus, people do not learn by experience, as they cannot process the information they perceive, however, humans still exercise self-knowledge and sound thinking. To comprehend his insights one should catch their complexity and discover the unity of the elements (Graham). According to Guthrie, for Parmenides there was no cosmology, as he presented the proofs of the impossibility of the opposites existence. Conceiving the plurality of normal beliefs, the philosopher, however, makes mention of cosmology principles in the fragments 8 and 9 where he discusses light and night, as well as the stars, sun, moon and the earth itself. Commenting on his cosmology, Guthrie remarked that for he philosophy it remains just a dialectical device used for viewing the picture of the physical and sensible world (Palmer). The evidence of that is found in the goddesss words when she characterizes cosmology as: the beliefs of mortals. Contrary to Parmenides, Heraclitus being a cosmologist mentions in his texts the kosmos order describing the world around us, that he identifies with fire. Fire is described in his doctrine as the origin of all, all things are merely manifestations of fire and it is a symbol of change because it is never the same, without change, according to him, there will be no world. The elements are in cosmic balance and undergo the eternal transformations with no single element gaining predominance (Graham). Heraclitus says in his work: The turnings of fire: first sea, and of sea half is earth, half fireburst. Unlike Parmenides, who proved the impossibility of the existence of opposites in his doctrine, Heraclitus entails the coincidence of opposites and discusses their interconnection, saying: Sea is the purest and most polluted water: for fish drinkable and healthy, for men undrinkable and harmful. According to Herclitus, contrary qualities are included into the same thing, he reasons that th e same thing is living and dead at the same time, it is waking and sleeping, young and old (Graham). However, the philosopher accentuates that though the opposites are correlative, they are never identical to each other. But the coincidence of opposites results in contradictions that cannot be avoided by the philosopher. Barnes, for instance, blames the scholar for violating the principles of logic and making knowledge an impossible thing (Graham). Analyzing the philosophers beliefs as those advocating the radical change, we see that Heraclitus flux is a case of the unity of opposites described in his doctrine. But contemporary analysts claim, he cannot be both a believer in radical flux and a monist, so he is definitely a pluralist who urges self-control and moderation and regards the soul as the moral center of human existence (Graham). Despising passion, he admires the power received through self-mastery and self-purification: It is not good for men to get all that they wish to g et. Whatever our desire wishes to get, it purchases at the cost of soul. Parmenides also discusses the behavior of the humans, is interested in the human thought and reasoning, though his discourse on that matter concerns cosmology. The interconnection becomes clearer as he discusses a wide range of natural phenomena. Being a rigid monist, Heraclitus believed in war, he even praised it calling it a guiding force in the world and claiming: War is father of all and king of all; without the conflict we would have only lifeless uniformity. The philosopher as well as Parmenides speaks of God, however, Hercalitus means neither the Greek Gods nor a personal entity. He considers that God exists in every soul and in every single thing in the world. Due to his fire and flux theory he explains the presence of God in everything on earth. While Parmenides suggests that What Is is a god, and what must be must be or exist and must be what it is, not only temporally but also spatially (Palmer). Though one thinks that the universe is static, eternal and motionless, denies change and becoming, another one affirms them and opens new perspectives for the Greek though by introducing his theory of flux and fire, both have influenced the philosophic tradition and challenged the naÃÆ' ¯ve theories of their predecessors by developing more sophisticated ones. Parmenides, being a metaphysical monist, and Heraclitus, rather independent of any ancient theories, a material monist, a scientific cosmologist and a rationalist, have much more in common than it used to be generally recognized. Moreover, Heraclitus is supposed to inspire Parmenides for developing a contrasting theory, so that they could be seen as representatives advocating constant flux and universal stasis.

Economics, Accounting, Finance and Management :: MBA College Admissions Essays

Having a flair for Economics and accounting I have decided that I want a degree in Accounting and Finance or Management. The many brilliant representatives of the management community around the world have strengthened that resolve. When I worked in my school as a tutor of English as a Second Language for students from a community school in Muscat, I realized the importance of a strong leader who could organize, command respect, and be able to work well with others. These ideas were further enforced by my month long internship at Novartis Pharmaceutical (Accounts and Finance Department and Human Resources Department). I attended the Harvard Model Congress in Paris and won the Award of Distinction. One skill in particular that contributed to this award was my confident public speaking.    The last 4 months have been crucial in my learning of real world business and economics. For my IB Extended Essay, titled "To What Extent Does Subway in Oman Operate as an Oligopoly", I set out to prove the oligpolistic structure of the fast food market in Oman. In this effort, I have come across many real life complexities in pricing behaviour, profit making and other aspects of the Theory of the Firm. While attempting to explain these alternate theories of firms I have developed a keen interest in analyzing and understanding how the world of business works.    After an undergraduate degree in accounting and finance or management I plan to go onto post graduate studies and work on an MBA. A strong performance in a BA will allow me to move onto an MBA and only then shall I be satisfied.      For the last four years I have been part of our schools volleyball team ICE. We have retained our ISAC (Inter Schools Activities Conference, Middle East) title for four years. Playing in the power hitters (spiker) position requires immense physical fitness and to accomplish that I regularly go to the gym for fitness training. I am also part of my school track and field team. Being the fastest sprinter in the school since 11th grade the 100m, 200m and 400m races are my specialty even though I still pursue long distance running. In my spare time I explore and master the computer as I am conversant with a Visual Basic Programming course.

Blood Diamond Essay

The makers of â€Å"Blood Diamond,† an exceptionally thriller starring a most excellent Leonardo DiCaprio, want you to know there may be blood on your hands, specifically your wedding finger. The story involves so-called conflict diamonds, illicitly mined stones that have been used to finance some of the most vicious wars in Africa. If films were judged solely by their good intentions, this one would be best in show. Instead, gilded in money and dripping with sanctimony, confused and mindlessly contradictory, the film is a textbook example of how easily commercialism can trump do-goodism, particularly in Hollywood. The 2006 movie (Blood Diamond) was recently seen by me, this is an American political war thriller film produced and directed by Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world. During Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996–2001, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebels. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels’ amputation of people’s hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections. The film’s ending, in which a conference is held concerning blood diamonds, is in reference to an actual meeting that took place in Kimberley, South Africa in 2000 and led to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which seeks to certify the origin of rough diamonds in order to curb the trade in conflict diamonds. In the face of the evidence, it is impossible to list any benefits for blood diamonds. They have been condemned by the United Nations. The sheer scale of the civil war in Sierra Leone they helped to fund, in which an estimated 120,000 people were killed from 1991 to 2001, proves that these illegitimate diamonds do nothing but cause human suffering. In February 2011, Charles Taylor’s trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone heard that he received â€Å"mayonnaise jars† full of blood diamonds from the Revolutionary United Front, providing them with the arms they needed in return. The U. S. appens to be the largest consumer of conflict diamonds, purchasing over $33. 7 billion dollars’ worth of the rocks in 2005. Wondering what conflict diamonds are? I’m no fawning fan of DiCaprio, but the film â€Å"Blood Diamond† is nowhere near as fictional as we’d like it to be. Conflict diamonds involve abuse, corruption and death. There goes that gorgeous, shimmery, sparkling stone set in platinum I’ve been dreaming about. This movie and together with some other researches I did has made me to come into a conclusion and a question if I would ever wear a diamond. Here are important reasons, We’ve been conditioned to want a diamond. Who isn’t tired of the advertising and marketing ploys used to brainwash us into believing our value as women rests on the size of our†¦gem? (Toss that in with measurements and marital status and we’ve got an endless supply of not-good-enough. ) Marketers have thrown us a giant, glittering bone, and watched the profits pile up as we’ve chased, fetched and rolled over in order to conform to what we’ve been conditioned to believe is the only acceptable standard. Diamond prices have been artificially inflated by the diamond cartel. The average diamond sold in the U. S. has been over-graded in quality by 2 grades, and the average U. S. couple pays twice what they should for an engagement ring. Do i really want to enter into a lifelong commitment with a man who’s willing to waste his hard-earned cash on a diamond, especially when said diamond is ridiculously overpriced? Diamond mines damage the environment. This is important, even though it’s true of all types of mining, not just diamond mining. Mines are dangerous for workers (including children) and threaten our planet, too. I wish there were a way to dig that deep without so much damage. A diamond is not forever. Nothing is forever. Engagements, marriages, jobs, you name it. If they happen to last a long time, then you are indeed a very lucky person. Why do we kid ourselves into believing that a sparkling rock, delivered to us on the backs of the abused, purchased for more than it’s worth, marketed for more than it means and obtained at the expense of our own dear planet will keep love alive?.

Racism in Adventures of Huckle essays

Racism in Adventures of Huckle essays Racism in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn During the Antebellum period of American history and for decades after, authors often wrote works regarding the tragedies of slavery. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is one of the most famous works of literature dealing with the issue of slavery. Unfortunately, some claim that Twains writings are offensive to black readers, perpetuates cheap slave era stereotypes, and deserves no place on todays bookshelves (Salwen 1). This work reflects a boys struggle dealing with slavery while growing up in the South during the era of slavery. In fact, the style of the book, which is the style of Huck, is what makes it a far more convincing indictment of slavery than the sensationalist propaganda of Uncle Toms Cabin (Eliot 64). Furthermore, Huck Finn savages racism as thoroughly as any document in American history (Morrow 159). However, Attempts have been made to deprive children of the right to read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the grounds that it is a racist tract (Morrow 155). Twains controversial usage of literary devices such as the vernacular of the time period and various speeches by the characters has raised many issues as to the worth of the work itself. Teaching Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can surely open students eyes to the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the deepest stories written on slavery. The main question that arises from readers and critics alike is What is the book really about? (Salwen 1) This question is one that the reader will have to answer for himself after reading the novel. As with any good work of literature, there always remains a range of interpretation that is still correct though it may differ from other readers. T. S. Eliot commented on Twains writings stating that he wrote w...

Abortion Bill essays

Abortion Bill essays To reform abortion in the United States IN THE U.S. HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES Ms. Blank/Representative introduced the following bill that was referred to the committee on public healthcare and welfare. ______________________________________________________________________________ To initiate an abortion bill that would allow women the choice to decide the fate of their unborn child. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives 2. In the United States in Congress Assembled 4. This act may be cited as the "Abortion Freedom Act of 2000" 6. (1) To give a woman free choice regarding abortions 7. (2) To keep public facilitates from restricting abortions. 8. (3) To have abortions readily available for women, regardless of background and such. 10. The following subsections of House of Representatives shall be established to accomplish the said 11. purposes: 13. a. The federal government cannot prevent any woman from having an abortion. 14. b. Funding for abortions would be provided by the government and money would be taken out 15. of the defense budget for select cases. 16. c. Federal government does not have a say on who can and cannot have an abortion. 17. d. Abortions to women under the age of eighteen must have parent notification; however, no 18. parent has the right to make the final decision. 19. e. No state, city, county... can prosecute anyone who preformed or had an abortion. 21. a. Women will be escorted in and out of the building by guards. 22. b. Women will stay in the clinic for a mandatory minium of two days after the operation to 23. ensure that no health or immediate mental problems arise. 24. c. Protestors will be ordered to stay away from the w ...

Elections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Elections - Essay Example e map conducted by the Fix ( Chris , and Aaron Blake ) Obama starts the general election with 15 states (plus the District of Columbia) and 196 electoral votes strengthen him while Romney begins with 21 states and 170 electoral votes firmly in his corner. (One of the states sturdily for Romney is Indiana, where Obama won in 2008 but no one expects a repeat performance in 2012). Another three states — Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes), Michigan (16) and New Mexico (5) — incline toward Obama while Arizona (11) and Missouri (10) lean toward Romney. Adding them up lends Obama 237 electoral votes and Romney 191 electoral votes. (Chris, and Aaron Blake) While Obama was a much likely candidate than Romney, victory will be decided by the nine swing states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia — which are the real toss ups and comprise 110 decisive electoral votes and Obama won because he gained majority of the seats of these swing states, the victory was a clear, clean sweep by Obama in these swing states (Chris, and Aaron Blake). Other factors that were critical to the results of the Presidential race were the Swing states, ethnicity, Race, affect of the debates made by candidates’ income and unemployment and solid, fix strongholds also had a profound impact on the outcome, Obama proved to be a strong figure head, he inherited two wars, but the way he handled war on terrorism is praiseworthy. Currently the way he handled the storm was also a strong plus point for him, and increased his favorability ratio. (Andrews et al ) 5) If I could vote, I would have voted for Mitt Romney, for that would be what I call â€Å"Real Change† as that was the slogan the two candidates were vying for. Things in Obama’s last tenure were not all that satisfying and room was still there for improvement. Romney’s debates were oozing with confidence and his promises were more believable and real. His

A Study of Adult and Teen Differential opinion regarding Online Social Dissertation

A Study of Adult and Teen Differential opinion regarding Online Social Networking - Dissertation Example 46 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 48 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 The Problem and Its Background The purpose of the study is to study the perceptional differences among adults and teenagers in the usage of and issues related to online social networking. Objectives: Specifically, it aims to answer the following research objectives: 1. To determine if there are differences between the two age groups in terms of how often they use it; 2. To determine if there are differences between the two age groups in terms of perceived importance; 3. What are the differences between the two age groups in terms of issues encountered when using social networking sites? Introduction The availability of Internet as a means of communicating and bridging people from different places around the world has been increasing for the past decade. Along with the increase in Internet usage come with changes such as the way people interact and communicate with each other (Harris, 2006). It has been determined by various studies such as Kiesler (2007) that communication via the Internet fosters and improves communication and relationship building, which means that those who commonly use the Internet stays more connected to their families and friends than those who do not. Nowadays, the most commons means of communication is via social networking. ... Orkut, Face book and Twitter are only a few examples. Orkut is community based and less personal, while Face book, Twitter and My Space are more personalized kind of social networking platforms. The common characteristics of all social networks are the provision rather the requirement of making a profile that usually demands some personal information including contact information. According to CNN or Cable News Network (2006), Facebook and My Space are two of the most popular social networking sites among high school and college students. According to this documentary, My Space has over 20 million registered users while Facebook have been recording as much as 9.5 million registered users as of September 2006 and it has been increasing by as much as 230,000 registrations in a day. Dumon (2008) reported that in May 2008 Facebook was able to have a higher visitor rates as compared to MySpace. The factors why it’s very popular among high school and college students are mainly its ability to offer various means of communicating with other people. Users can post information about themselves or ideas, pictures, send messages, get instant messages, and even upcoming events, which makes communicating very flexible. Dumon (2008) also stated that Facebook is very successful as compared to other social networking sites because the users are being connected using different categories like city, workplace, school, region, and via this connection they can interact. Rationale of the Study Various researches have analyzed social networking sites and people who use them, often focusing on theories like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that could explain the popularity of such means of communication. However, not many researches have focused on the difference