Book Review on Poor Economics

BOOK REVIEW POOR ECONOMICS: A RADICAL RETHINKING OF THE WAY TO FIGHT GLOBAL POVERTY By: Abhijit V Banerjee & Esther Duflo POOR ECONOMICS argues that so much of anti-poverty policy has failed over the years because of an inadequate understanding of poverty. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will take patience, careful thinking and a willingness to learn from evidence. Banerjee and Duflo are practical visionaries whose meticulous workoffers transformative potential for poor people anywhere, and is a vital guide to policy makers, philanthropists, activists and anyone else who cares about building a world without poverty.CHAPTER 1: THINK AGAIN, AGAIN Poverty and development can sometimes feel like overwhelming issues – the scale is daunting, the problems grand. Ideology drives a lot of policies, and even the most well-intentioned ideas can get bogged down by ignorance of ground-level realities and inertia at the level of the implementer. In fact, we call these the â₠¬Å"three I’s† – ideology, ignorance, inertia – the three main reasons policies may not work and aid is not always effective.But there’s no reason to lose hope. Incremental, real change can be made. Sometimes the change seems small, but by identifying real world success stories, facing up to real world failures, and understanding why the poor make the choices they make, we can find the right levers to push to free the poor of the hidden traps that keep them behind. CHAPTER 2: A BILLION HUNGRY PEOPLE? Jeffrey Sachs, an advisor to the United Nations and director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, is one such expert.In books and countless speeches and television appearances, he has argued that poor countries are poor because they are hot, infertile, malaria-infested, and often landlocked; these factors, however, make it hard for them to be productive without an initial large investment to help them deal with such endemic problems. But they cannot pay for the investments precisely because they are poor — they are in what economists call a â€Å"poverty trap. † Until something is done about these problems, neither free markets nor democracy will do very much for them.The basic idea of a nutrition-based poverty trap is that there exists a critical level of nutrition, above or below which dynamic forces push people either further down into poverty and hunger or further up into better-paying jobs and higher-calorie diets. These virtuous or vicious cycles can also last over generations: early childhood under-nutrition can have long-term effects on adult success. Maternal health impacts in  utero  development. And it’s not just quantity of food – quality counts, too. Micronutrients like iodine and iron can have direct impacts on health and economic outcomes.But if nutrition is so important, why don’t people spend every available extra cent on more calories? From the look of our eighteen-count ry dataset, people spent their money on food†¦ and festivals, funerals, weddings, televisions, DVD players, medical emergencies, alcohol, tobacco and, well, better-tasting food. CHAPTER 3: Low-Hanging Fruit for Better (Global) Health? Every year, nine million children under five die from preventable diseases such as diarrhea and malaria. Often, the treatments for these diseases are cheap, safe, and readily available.So why don't people pick these ‘low-hanging fruit'? Why don’t mothers vaccinate their children? Why don’t families use bednets, or buy chlorinated water? And why do they spend such large amounts of money on ineffective cure instead? There are a number of possible explanations. These can include unreliable health service delivery, price sensitivity, a lack of information or trust, time-inconsistent behavior and the simple fact that the poor may not be able to tackle big, chronic illnesses. None of these reasons explains everything in isolation.But understanding what stops the immediate spread of our ‘low-hanging fruit’ – bednets, de-worming medication, vaccines, chlorinated water – is an important step in improving global health, and may finally help to eliminate health-based poverty traps. CHAPTER 4: TOP OF THE CLASS Over the past few decades, children have flocked into the schools, but schools seem to have delivered very little: teachers and students are often absent, and learning levels are very low. Why is this happening? Is it a supply issue, where the government needs to provide children with better schools, better textbooks, better teachers and better facilities?Or is it demand, where parents would lobby for quality education if and only if there were real benefits? There seems to be a problem with both. For example, parents expect both too much and too little from the schools: government jobs for those who graduate from secondary school, and nothing for the rest. Teachers seem focused on te aching small elite, and undervalue the regular students. These expectations affect behavior and generate real world waste. But the good news is that these expectations and these real world outcomes can be changed CHAPTER 5: Pak Sudarno's Big FamilyMost policy makers consider population policy to be a central part of any development program. And yet, unexpectedly, it seems that access to contraception may not be the determining factor in the poor's fertility decisions. So how can policy makers influence population? Instead of contraception, other aspects like social norms, family dynamics, and above all, economic considerations, seem to play a key role, not only in how many children people choose to have, but how they will treat them. Discrimination against women and girls remain a central fact of the life for many poor families.Going inside the â€Å"black box† of familial decision-making – that is, understanding how and why decisions are made the way they are – is essential to predicting the real impact of any social policy aimed at influencing population. CHAPTER 6: BAREFOOT HEDGEFUND MANAGERS The poor face a huge amount of risk – a friend of ours from the world of high finance once noted that they're like hedge fund managers. These risks can come from health shocks – like an accident – or agricultural shocks – like a drought – or any other number of unexpected crises.Often, the poor just don't have the means to weather these shocks, and so they get pushed into poverty traps. The steps they take to protect themselves form these risks are insufficient and often costly: they choose less profitable and less risky crop, they spread themselves too thin across a great number of activities; they exchange favors with neighbors. Yet all this doesn't always even cover large shocks. CHAPTER 7: MICROFINANCE The fact that banks are often unwilling to lend to the poor, coupled with the extremely high interest rates m oneylenders charge, was a call to action for the founders of microfinance.Enforcing credit contracts involves collecting extensive information about the borrower to ensure repayment. The high cost of gathering this information makes neighborhood moneylenders the easiest source of credit. Microfinance institutions rely on their ability to keep a close check on the customer, in part by involving other borrowers who happen to know the customer: This was a recipe for enormous success, there are more than 200 million microfinance borrowers today. Many MFIs were unwilling to evaluate whether their lending programs were helping the poor.The MFIs were financially sustainable and borrowers kept coming back, which the MFIs saw as proof enough. When an Indian MFI, Spandana, was rigorously evaluated, there was clear evidence that microfinance was working. People in Spandana neighborhoods were more likely to have started a business and made large purchases. However, there were no detectable impa cts on women's empowerment, spending on education or health, or in the probability that kids would be enrolled in private schools. One of the limits of microfinance is its inflexible structure and focus on â€Å"zero default. It may not be an effective borrowing channel for entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks and will go on to set up a large business. More established businesses do not find it that much easier to get credit. In particular, they run the risk of being too large for the traditional moneylenders and microfinance agencies, but too small for the banks. We need to see the equivalent of the microfinance revolution for small and medium firms; figured out how to do it profitably on a large scale is the next big challenge for finance in developing countries. CHAPTER 8: SAVING BRICK BY BRICKJust as with lending, banks have not found a good way to adapt their services to the poor. The administrative costs associated with managing small accounts are too high. Instead, th e poor find unusual and ingenious ways to save. They buying durable goods like jewelry or new bricks for their house. Many form savings â€Å"clubs† such as the popular rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) in Africa. However, the fact that the poor have to adopt complicated and costly alternative strategies to save means that saving is harder than if they had a bank account: access to a saving accounts increases profits and consumption.With new technology and innovations like M-PESA in Kenya which allows cell phone users to send money with their phone, microsavings might become the next microfinance revolution. However, not all barriers to savings are externally imposed. The poor, like anyone else, easily give in to the temptation to spend money in the present rather than save it for the future. They have difficulty, for example, saving enough over a short season to buy fertilizer; but a program to help them buy it early increased fertilizer use. The poor may be more subject to temptations than the rich because the items they dream of may be further from their reach.Poor people who feel that they have opportunities have strong reasons to cut down on â€Å"frivolous† spending and invest in the future. Those who feel that they have nothing to lose, in contrast, save less: hope matters! CHAPTER 9: RELUCTANT ENTREPRENEURS Many expect that the poor will find successful business opportunities. They haven't been given a chance, so their ideas are fresher: MFIs have many examples of successful clients, like a garbage collector turned recycling empress! The sheer number of business owners among the poor is impressive. When tiny grants were made to small businesses in Sri Lanka, their profits increased rapidly.However, while many of the poor operate businesses, most of these businesses are tiny. The businesses of the poor tend to have few if any employees and very limited assets. The businesses run by the poor are also generally unprofitable, which may well explain why giving them a loan to start a new business does not lead to a drastic improvement in their welfare. Many businesses suffer from the â€Å"empty shelf† problem: a space a created for a shop, but no inventory fills the shelves. Even a small investment in more inventory will have large marginal returns, but once the shelves are full, the business has no further scope to grow.Despite initial large returns to small investments, many small businesses hit at point at which a substantial capital investment is needed in order to continue growing. However, few people are willing to give such large loans to the poor. Because of this trap, the poor may not invest as much (both money but also emotions and intellectual energy) into their businesses because they know that their business will always remain too small to make real money. Often, the enterprises of the poor seem more a way to buy a job when more conventional employment opportunities are not available t han a reflection of a particular entrepreneurial urge.One of the most common dreams of the poor is that their children become government workers – a stable, though not always an exciting job. A sense of stability may be necessary for people to be able to take the long view. People who don’t envision substantial improvements to their future quality of life may stop trying and end up staying where they are. Creating good jobs could go a long way in increasing the stability of the lives of the poor, which will, in turn give the poor the opportunity and the urge to invest in their children and save more.There are more than a billion people who survive off of the earnings of their own farm or business. We must be impressed by their resilience. But these small businesses will probably not pave the way for a massive exit from poverty. CHAPTER 10: POLICIES, POLITICS Even the most well-intended and well-thought-out policies may not have an impact if they are not implemented pro perly. Corruption, or the simple dereliction of duty, creates massive inefficiencies. Many people believe that until political institutions are fixed, countries cannot really develop. There may be no natural process to completely eliminate bad institutions.Institutional change from the outside is probably an illusion. But it is not clear that things will eventually fix themselves. However, fighting corruption appears to be possible to some extent even without fixing the larger institutions. Relatively straightforward interventions, such as threatening audits or publicizing corruption results have shown impressive success. Often, small changes make important differences. In Brazil, switching to a pictorial ballot enfranchised a large number of poor and less educated adults. The politicians they elected were more likely to target their policies to the poor.In China, even imperfect elections led to policies that were more favorable to the poor. In India, when quotas for women on villag e councils in India were enacted, women leaders invested in public goods preferred by women. Policies are not completely determined by politics. Good policies (sometimes) happen in bad political environments. For example, Suharto built tens of thousands of schools in Indonesia. And bad policies happen in good environments, because what the government is trying to do is hard: generally, the government tries to convince people to do something they would not like to do, like wearing a helmet on a motorcycle!The opportunities for corruption are rife. Bad policies are often a product of the three I's: ideology, ignorance, inertia. For example, nurses in India, whose job description is so overwhelming that they have decided that they cannot possibly do it, and instead do nothing. Careful understanding of constraints can lead to policies and institutions that are better designed, and less likely to be perverted by corruption. Changes will be incremental, but they will sustain and build on themselves, and perhaps even improve the political process.

A Mentor Essay

In life there is always a person, or role model that you will look up to and admire. A person may admire their role model, or mentor, because of their looks, wit, or even general personality. No matter who you are there is always someone that you attempt to emulate in some way, shape, or form throughout your life. There is no limit to the amount of role models one person can have. There may only be one person whose ideas you look at and agree with whole heartedly, or you may take portions from a vast number of others in order to create your own unique persona, and ideas. For myself, a prominent mentor was my high school Chemistry and Physics teacher, Mr. Robert Hage. I admired my Chemistry teacher not for his thinning white hair, or for that matter any of his looks, other than his always cheerful smile. I instead looked up to him as a mentor due to his unique personality, and his vast intelligence. He had a love for cats, liberal ideals, and sweaters with an odd pattern displayed boldly on the front. Mr. Hage had a great sense of humor, and was an avid musician. These were the reasons that I admired Mr. Hage, because these were planes that I took interest in and that I could learn from him in. In the classroom Robert Hage was what some students would call ‘a perfect teacher’ he was not incredibly strict, he didn’t ever hand out detentions, but instead would make a mockery of the any student that unintelligently disrupted his class, but did so in such a sly, humorous manner, that even the victim of the mockery would be laughing uncontrollably. Robert Hage lived an expansive life that led him though a great number of careers including a Musician, Chemist, Physicist, Author, High School teacher, and finally, a mentor. Through this vast professional history he showed a great passion for everything he had done, and in doing so gained a large amount of knowledge, in which he would pass on to his students. This is what I admired most about Mr. Robert Hage; I admired his knowledge and passion of all things he did. Read more:  Whom I admire  essay In my sophomore year of high school I entered room 211 to go to Chemistry class. I had always enjoyed classes that pertained to a scientific field,  and hoped that Chemistry would come as easily as the other subjects had to me. However, my freshman year the teacher who lectured the Biology class had no interest in the subject she taught and did so half-heartedly; I started to dislike the class. So I was wary about another teacher who just wanted to get through the class more so than teach the students. Needless to say, I was proved wrong, very wrong. The first day of Chemistry class Robert Hage performed a serious of ‘mystifying’ experiments such as lighting Magnesium on fire, which burns with a flame so white it will leave you seeing spots, and placing pure Sodium in a beaker of water, which will combust. Mr. Hage then stated â€Å"For those of you who had doubts coming into this room, Chemistry is fun†. That was all I needed to hear in order to know that this would turn out to be a fortunate turn in events. As the year went on it seemed that my teacher and I had much more in common than I had initially hoped for. I was at an age where I had not yet taken a stance on any real issues but always sat uncomfortably on the fencepost. When I found myself pondering serious life questions, such as religion, he showed me answers through science and that it was perfectly fine not to accept a religion at all as long as you could provide evidence to support your claims. This was a new concept that had never been provided for me, and best of all it wasn’t force fed to me. When I questioned politics he presented the strengths of a liberal standpoint, but all the while letting me know that as long as I could justify my ideas, it was alright to take whatever standpoint I wanted. Although, with every path that was opened, he always told the group in which it was presented to, not to just blindly accept what he said and run with it, but to examine both sides carefully and choose which you thought was the right one. With not only a rekindled interest in science, I was also left with the new interest of rhetoric and debate. With Mr. Hage’s encouragement I joined the high school debate team. When the season came for debate matches to begin; Robert Hage had some more advice for me which was, it is important to know how to argue your side, but more important to know how the opponent will argue theirs, and the best strategy is to beat them with their own words and facts. I will never forget these words, and they are filled with what is in my opinion some of the most valuable wisdom you will hear. Robert Hage played a large role in sculpting my present day personality, and it is because of him that I have developed an everlasting love for music, and am now fluent in playing five different instruments. He is also the reason that I am comfortable with views that may not be shared with a vast majority. Most of all, he is the reason I chose the path in life that I did; he is the reason that I am currently pursuing my majors of the Chemistry and Pre-Medical fields.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest Social class and public reputation are two of the most common things that influence a person in their decision making. In â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†, Oscar Wilde mocks a society for their reasons of choosing who to marry. Oscar Wilde expresses an ironic and satiric perspective on a society that builds a marriage upon a foundation of money, power, and deceit. The play â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest,† is one of the most perfect examples of satire in our culture. Although it is set in England, it makes fun of the upper class.The play uses dramatic irony to show how Oscar Wilde sees the upper class as too formal and snobbish. It is dramatic irony because the characters in the play obviously think that they are high class with their multiple houses and butlers even though the author thinks that the upper class is too snobbish. The play also uses hyperbole to make its point. Every character in it is exaggerated. The character s Jack and Algernon are both willing to change their names to Earnest just because the women they love say that they will only love a man named Earnest.This is an example of how much emphasis Wilde believes that society places on love and how important it is to us. In they play, Wealth is a desirable aspect in life that many people crave. Many people will venture to extreme limits to acquire riches. In â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†, prosperity is wanted so much that woman will consider wealth as their rationale to get married. In the book, when Jack Worthing proposed to Gwendolen Fairfax, Gwendolen’s mother refused to let her marry him. Her reasoning was since Jack didn’t know who his parents were; he would not receive an inheritance.Lady Bracknell refused to let her daughter marry someone who was not exceptionally wealthy. In this society, a person who descends from wealth is forbidden to marry someone from a lower class. It is considered disrespectful towards the family and it would degrade their self image. Power, in Wilde’s society, is also greatly commendable for a man who wants to marry. When Lady Bracknell questions Jack about his social status within the city, she is disappointed to hear that he is not of high class.Without money in the society, it is impossible to be a part of the high-class society; which is where power is attained. In this society, people marry inside of their own social and economic class. Since Jack does not have any power within the city, and does not have a lot of money to his name, he is not qualified to marry a woman of upper class. In addition to power and wealth being two ludicrous factors being heavily weighted for marriage, a man’s name also decides eligibility for matrimony. Jack lies to Gwendolen and tells her that his name his Ernest.When she learns that his name is not in fact Ernest, she refuses to marry him. Oscar Wilde used humor and irony when titling the play, â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest. † Earnest describes a person who is honest and sincere, which does not describe anybody within the play. All of the relationships in the play are built upon lies and deceit. Jack Worthing’s friend also deceives the woman that he loves, Cecily. Algernon also lies about his name and creates an imaginary friend so that he can avoid spending time with people that he does not want to see. Algernon and Jack come to call it â€Å"bunburying. When a social event is occurring that Jack or Algernon does not want to attend, they fake a visit with an extremely sick friend or relative. Eventually, Cecily and Gwendolen learn of all the secrets that Jack and Algernon are keeping. At first they are justifiably outraged. But after they all have talk, all is forgiven. This is another example that shows absurdity towards marriage. Cecily and Gwendolen realize that the men that they are supposed to marry have lied to them about everything. They don’t e ven really know who Jack and Algernon truly are.Even though Algernon and Jack have lied about everything, Gwendolen and Cecily both agree to carry on with the wedding. â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† provides many ironic and satiric views in a society where marriage is built upon all of the wrong foundations. Marriage, in this society, is built upon wealth, power, lies, and deceit. The characters in the story are very scandalous and indecent. Men lie to their fiances and women marry them for money and power. In today’s society, this would be considered a huge disgrace and would be untolerable. ? The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance Of Being Earnest â€Å"Women’s roles are often tokenistic in dramatic comedy† To what extent do you believe this to be the case in relation to the play you have been studying? In dramatic comedy it can often be said that women’s roles are ‘tokenistic’ which essentially means: that women are there to serve a little more than the minimum, or may not serve much of a purpose at all, they may also follow social stereotypes during the era of this literary piece.In this essay I will be assessing this statement and come to a final decision by looking at both sides of the argument and looking for secondary sources/opinions to prove some points that will be made. I believe that women are not tokenistic in terms of comedy in The Importance of being earnest because they do serve a purpose and add to the humour but on the other hand they may only do the very minimum within the story line and many of the female characters follow social stereotypes s trongly.Wilde often uses characters within his plays and pieces as an opportunity to discuss or highlight certain contemporary issues, and may sometimes mock them through satire and farce. An example of this is the character of Gwendolen who is used to create humour; Oscar does this by presenting her as an inversion of the traditional female during the era Importance of Being Earnest was written.In the third act Gwendolen Says â€Å"But we will not be the first to speak† and then instantly contradicts her statement and addresses Algernon straight away after saying so, this would be found rather humorous by contemporary audiences because women were traditionally meant to be quiet and should ‘speak when spoken to’ Gwendolen recognises this, but yet she does speak first, and this is a break of a social stereotype.This is an example of a women’s role within The Importance of Being Earnest as un-tokenistic because she serves a purpose in creating humour, and al so the language used in that line suggests that she is leading the conversation and in turn leading Cecily, that is because the plural â€Å"we† in the quote indicates both herself and Cecily, should both conform to her statement, she is in a sense telling Cecily what to do. Also linked to this, after the later quote she then begins to interrogate Algernon and Jack, and she is the first to do so.This shows that she is accustomed to being in a position of power, so to conclude this point: how can Gwendolen truely be tokenistic if she serves a purpose in terms of comedy and is in a position of power within the stated conversation/section. On the other hand Gwendolen seems to support the typical patriarchal society which is present in The Importance of Being Earnest’s era. It is shown by this quote – â€Å"How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes! † And â€Å"men are infinitely beyond us† Both in Act 3 also the use of the word infinitely emphas ises this driving Gwendolen’s further.Gwendolen indirectly mocks the idea of ‘new women’ which was a  feminist  ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence on feminism well into the twentieth century as well. It can be said that her role knocks back equality, which then leads to us thinking she is indeed tokenistic. But her role and this particular quote draws attention to the unfairness and importance of the issue at hand. This could be another example of Wilde using characters and satirical mocking to highlight certain issues, so therefore she again does indeed serve a purpose and an important one at that, so she may be un-tokenistic.Another example of roles of women serving a purpose is Lady Bracknell – â€Å"The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square† on page 20 act 1. This is an example of Oscar Wilde’s satirical mocking technique, directed towards the upper classes and the education system, through characters such as lady Bracknell and Gwendolen.Also the use of language and words such as ‘radically’ and ‘theory’ emphasises the satire because they are fairly emotive or serious words, contrasting with the absurd bigoted point. â€Å"Lady Bracknell is the main character to portray this satirical technique, as she believes the upper class to be much more educated than the lower class, purely because of social status† – hubpages. com/education, this point taken from an online website agrees with the idea that Wilde uses characters as a way to highlight issues and mock them. This is shown in the wording.And in turn this point suggests that if characters used to mock and highlight issues within society, then they are serving a purpose a nd are important to aspects of comedy within the play, examples of such characters are, Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen. So how can they be tokenistic if they are doing so? This shows that they are un-tokenistic. On the other hand Oscar Wilde often uses stock characters to enhance comedy and have no real purpose. â€Å"A  stock character  is a  fictional character  that relies heavily on  cultural types  or  stereotypes  for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics† – Fritzfreiheit. om, this shows that characters following stereotypes could be considered tokenistic, such as Lady Bracknell, who is described as â€Å"a symbol of Victorian earnestness and the unhappiness it brings as a result. She is powerful, arrogant, ruthless to the extreme, conservative, and proper. In many ways, she represents Wilde's opinion of Victorian upper-class negativity, conservative/repressive values, and power† – Cliffnotes. com, this shows tha t Lady Bracknell follows contemporary social stereotypes and only serves a minimum purpose and that is to make the audience laugh.So she may well be tokenistic. Also many other stock characters are considered to be tokenistic because they are only used to enhance comedy, not to add to the story or to highlight issues. Examples of a stock character with a minimal role is Miss Prism she is an example of a stereotype of an aspiring romantic novelist, she is the typical woman of the time with a dream that is suppressed. This means she both abides by contemporary social stereotypes and in no way highlights issues as much as Gwendolen or other characters may.So this could be suggested that indeed she is tokenistic due to the later points made. In conclusion I believe that female characters in Oscar Wilde’s Importance of being earnest such as Gwendolen and Lady Bracknell both serve a purpose in terms of comedy by enhancing it with the use of; farce, satire, and mocking. Linked to th is he also uses the humour created by these characters as well as the actually characters themselves as an opportunity to mock or highlight issues and ideals, for example Lady Bracknell and the upper class.But on the other hand it could be said that any female characters are stock characters which follow stereotypes and therefore produce a minimum affect, examples of this are Miss Prism and Lady Bracknell who has proven to be most contradictory and can be used by both sides of the argument because she does serve an important purpose. Over all I believe the large majority of female roles within The Importance of being earnest are not tokenistic because they most serve a purpose and enhance comedy.By James Rae Bibliography – Importance of Being Earnest * http://rachira. hubpages. com/hub/The-Importance-of-Being-Earnest-Mocking-Education – Author: RachiRa (username) – Date of citation: 14/3/13 * http://fritzfreiheit. com/wiki/Stock_character – Author: Fritz Freiheit – Date of citation: 14/3/13 * http://www. cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/literature/importance-of-being-earnest/character-analysis/rev-chasuble-miss-prism. html – Author: Susan Van Kirk – Date of citation: 14/3/13 The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest Social class and public reputation are two of the most common things that influence a person in their decision making. In â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†, Oscar Wilde mocks a society for their reasons of choosing who to marry. Oscar Wilde expresses an ironic and satiric perspective on a society that builds a marriage upon a foundation of money, power, and deceit. The play â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest,† is one of the most perfect examples of satire in our culture. Although it is set in England, it makes fun of the upper class.The play uses dramatic irony to show how Oscar Wilde sees the upper class as too formal and snobbish. It is dramatic irony because the characters in the play obviously think that they are high class with their multiple houses and butlers even though the author thinks that the upper class is too snobbish. The play also uses hyperbole to make its point. Every character in it is exaggerated. The character s Jack and Algernon are both willing to change their names to Earnest just because the women they love say that they will only love a man named Earnest.This is an example of how much emphasis Wilde believes that society places on love and how important it is to us. In they play, Wealth is a desirable aspect in life that many people crave. Many people will venture to extreme limits to acquire riches. In â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†, prosperity is wanted so much that woman will consider wealth as their rationale to get married. In the book, when Jack Worthing proposed to Gwendolen Fairfax, Gwendolen’s mother refused to let her marry him. Her reasoning was since Jack didn’t know who his parents were; he would not receive an inheritance.Lady Bracknell refused to let her daughter marry someone who was not exceptionally wealthy. In this society, a person who descends from wealth is forbidden to marry someone from a lower class. It is considered disrespectful towards the family and it would degrade their self image. Power, in Wilde’s society, is also greatly commendable for a man who wants to marry. When Lady Bracknell questions Jack about his social status within the city, she is disappointed to hear that he is not of high class.Without money in the society, it is impossible to be a part of the high-class society; which is where power is attained. In this society, people marry inside of their own social and economic class. Since Jack does not have any power within the city, and does not have a lot of money to his name, he is not qualified to marry a woman of upper class. In addition to power and wealth being two ludicrous factors being heavily weighted for marriage, a man’s name also decides eligibility for matrimony. Jack lies to Gwendolen and tells her that his name his Ernest.When she learns that his name is not in fact Ernest, she refuses to marry him. Oscar Wilde used humor and irony when titling the play, â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest. † Earnest describes a person who is honest and sincere, which does not describe anybody within the play. All of the relationships in the play are built upon lies and deceit. Jack Worthing’s friend also deceives the woman that he loves, Cecily. Algernon also lies about his name and creates an imaginary friend so that he can avoid spending time with people that he does not want to see. Algernon and Jack come to call it â€Å"bunburying. When a social event is occurring that Jack or Algernon does not want to attend, they fake a visit with an extremely sick friend or relative. Eventually, Cecily and Gwendolen learn of all the secrets that Jack and Algernon are keeping. At first they are justifiably outraged. But after they all have talk, all is forgiven. This is another example that shows absurdity towards marriage. Cecily and Gwendolen realize that the men that they are supposed to marry have lied to them about everything. They don’t e ven really know who Jack and Algernon truly are.Even though Algernon and Jack have lied about everything, Gwendolen and Cecily both agree to carry on with the wedding. â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† provides many ironic and satiric views in a society where marriage is built upon all of the wrong foundations. Marriage, in this society, is built upon wealth, power, lies, and deceit. The characters in the story are very scandalous and indecent. Men lie to their fiances and women marry them for money and power. In today’s society, this would be considered a huge disgrace and would be untolerable. ? The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance Of Being Earnest â€Å"Women’s roles are often tokenistic in dramatic comedy† To what extent do you believe this to be the case in relation to the play you have been studying? In dramatic comedy it can often be said that women’s roles are ‘tokenistic’ which essentially means: that women are there to serve a little more than the minimum, or may not serve much of a purpose at all, they may also follow social stereotypes during the era of this literary piece.In this essay I will be assessing this statement and come to a final decision by looking at both sides of the argument and looking for secondary sources/opinions to prove some points that will be made. I believe that women are not tokenistic in terms of comedy in The Importance of being earnest because they do serve a purpose and add to the humour but on the other hand they may only do the very minimum within the story line and many of the female characters follow social stereotypes s trongly.Wilde often uses characters within his plays and pieces as an opportunity to discuss or highlight certain contemporary issues, and may sometimes mock them through satire and farce. An example of this is the character of Gwendolen who is used to create humour; Oscar does this by presenting her as an inversion of the traditional female during the era Importance of Being Earnest was written.In the third act Gwendolen Says â€Å"But we will not be the first to speak† and then instantly contradicts her statement and addresses Algernon straight away after saying so, this would be found rather humorous by contemporary audiences because women were traditionally meant to be quiet and should ‘speak when spoken to’ Gwendolen recognises this, but yet she does speak first, and this is a break of a social stereotype.This is an example of a women’s role within The Importance of Being Earnest as un-tokenistic because she serves a purpose in creating humour, and al so the language used in that line suggests that she is leading the conversation and in turn leading Cecily, that is because the plural â€Å"we† in the quote indicates both herself and Cecily, should both conform to her statement, she is in a sense telling Cecily what to do. Also linked to this, after the later quote she then begins to interrogate Algernon and Jack, and she is the first to do so.This shows that she is accustomed to being in a position of power, so to conclude this point: how can Gwendolen truely be tokenistic if she serves a purpose in terms of comedy and is in a position of power within the stated conversation/section. On the other hand Gwendolen seems to support the typical patriarchal society which is present in The Importance of Being Earnest’s era. It is shown by this quote – â€Å"How absurd to talk of the equality of the sexes! † And â€Å"men are infinitely beyond us† Both in Act 3 also the use of the word infinitely emphas ises this driving Gwendolen’s further.Gwendolen indirectly mocks the idea of ‘new women’ which was a  feminist  ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence on feminism well into the twentieth century as well. It can be said that her role knocks back equality, which then leads to us thinking she is indeed tokenistic. But her role and this particular quote draws attention to the unfairness and importance of the issue at hand. This could be another example of Wilde using characters and satirical mocking to highlight certain issues, so therefore she again does indeed serve a purpose and an important one at that, so she may be un-tokenistic.Another example of roles of women serving a purpose is Lady Bracknell – â€Å"The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square† on page 20 act 1. This is an example of Oscar Wilde’s satirical mocking technique, directed towards the upper classes and the education system, through characters such as lady Bracknell and Gwendolen.Also the use of language and words such as ‘radically’ and ‘theory’ emphasises the satire because they are fairly emotive or serious words, contrasting with the absurd bigoted point. â€Å"Lady Bracknell is the main character to portray this satirical technique, as she believes the upper class to be much more educated than the lower class, purely because of social status† – hubpages. com/education, this point taken from an online website agrees with the idea that Wilde uses characters as a way to highlight issues and mock them. This is shown in the wording.And in turn this point suggests that if characters used to mock and highlight issues within society, then they are serving a purpose a nd are important to aspects of comedy within the play, examples of such characters are, Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen. So how can they be tokenistic if they are doing so? This shows that they are un-tokenistic. On the other hand Oscar Wilde often uses stock characters to enhance comedy and have no real purpose. â€Å"A  stock character  is a  fictional character  that relies heavily on  cultural types  or  stereotypes  for its personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics† – Fritzfreiheit. om, this shows that characters following stereotypes could be considered tokenistic, such as Lady Bracknell, who is described as â€Å"a symbol of Victorian earnestness and the unhappiness it brings as a result. She is powerful, arrogant, ruthless to the extreme, conservative, and proper. In many ways, she represents Wilde's opinion of Victorian upper-class negativity, conservative/repressive values, and power† – Cliffnotes. com, this shows tha t Lady Bracknell follows contemporary social stereotypes and only serves a minimum purpose and that is to make the audience laugh.So she may well be tokenistic. Also many other stock characters are considered to be tokenistic because they are only used to enhance comedy, not to add to the story or to highlight issues. Examples of a stock character with a minimal role is Miss Prism she is an example of a stereotype of an aspiring romantic novelist, she is the typical woman of the time with a dream that is suppressed. This means she both abides by contemporary social stereotypes and in no way highlights issues as much as Gwendolen or other characters may.So this could be suggested that indeed she is tokenistic due to the later points made. In conclusion I believe that female characters in Oscar Wilde’s Importance of being earnest such as Gwendolen and Lady Bracknell both serve a purpose in terms of comedy by enhancing it with the use of; farce, satire, and mocking. Linked to th is he also uses the humour created by these characters as well as the actually characters themselves as an opportunity to mock or highlight issues and ideals, for example Lady Bracknell and the upper class.But on the other hand it could be said that any female characters are stock characters which follow stereotypes and therefore produce a minimum affect, examples of this are Miss Prism and Lady Bracknell who has proven to be most contradictory and can be used by both sides of the argument because she does serve an important purpose. Over all I believe the large majority of female roles within The Importance of being earnest are not tokenistic because they most serve a purpose and enhance comedy.By James Rae Bibliography – Importance of Being Earnest * http://rachira. hubpages. com/hub/The-Importance-of-Being-Earnest-Mocking-Education – Author: RachiRa (username) – Date of citation: 14/3/13 * http://fritzfreiheit. com/wiki/Stock_character – Author: Fritz Freiheit – Date of citation: 14/3/13 * http://www. cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/literature/importance-of-being-earnest/character-analysis/rev-chasuble-miss-prism. html – Author: Susan Van Kirk – Date of citation: 14/3/13

Therapeutic Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Therapeutic Communication - Essay Example Message can be verbal or nonverbal and it can be the expression of anything, which may include a feeling, an opinion, an order, or a suggestion. Encoding is the third component. Use of pictures, words, and body language to send a message properly to the receiving end is known as encoding of the message. The fourth component is channel. The channel is the way through which a sender sends a message to a receiver. In case of long-distance communication, the channel can be electronic mail, telephone, or web chat. Whereas spoken words are used in case of personal contacts where no electronic channel is required for the delivery of message. Next component, receiver, is the person or a group of people who receives the message sent by the sender. Receiver can be anyone to whom the sender sends the message. For example, in organization settings, the receiver can be anyone related to the organization. Decoding is also a major component. Decoding means to understand the message sent by the sender. Decoding is the job of the receiver who tries to understand the meaning of the received message using common perceptions and understanding the word meanings. The last component of communication is. It not only encourages the sender of the message but also helps the sender know whether he/she is going in the right direction or not. If we talk about levels of communication, we can say that there are three levels of communication, which include positive communication, intimate communication, and physical communication. In positive communication, more time is dedicated for speaking what one has to speak. Nursing professionals can make use of this level of communication to make the patients comfortable with the treatment procedure by talking with them and listening to their concerns. Next level is intimate communication. It is a form of friendly communication, which makes the communication process effective and result-oriented. Nursing professional can make use of this level of communication by talking with the patients in a friendly and joyful manner instead of making them feel ignored and unnoticed. The last level is physical communication. At this level of communication, people make physical contact with each other. It may be handshaking or giving hug to each other. In nursing profession, the physical contact be tween the patients and nurses is known as physical communication, such as, helping a patient move to the bed from wheelchair or checking a patient physically. Communication is of two main types, which include verbal and nonverbal communication. In verbal communication, people make use of tongue for the exchange of information whereas in the process of nonverbal communication, people make use of body language, eye contact, gestures, and appearance to send nonverbal messages to other people. In creating and maintaining a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship, the role of a nurse is very important. It is the process by which nurses provide effective nursing care for patients in need of psychosocial intervention (Therapeutic Communication, 2011). This relationship is based purely on mutual trust and respect. In this relationship, a nurse dedicates herself to the well-being of her patients by providing them with effective treatment, care, and physical and spiritual assistance. This rela tionship develops when a nurse shows extreme concern for the well-being of

The aftermath of the global financial crisis 2007-2008 Essay

The aftermath of the global financial crisis 2007-2008 - Essay Example Aftermath of 2008 financial crisis In a nutshell, the financial crisis has been the reflection of the imbalance between the growth of real markets and financial sectors. Some major US banks made easy availability of housing loans to its customers, which in turn had led to unprecedented debt-levels, as accounted to be three times the GDP in the US and Europe. Many of the banks’ customers defaulted in repayments of these loans and this bubble burst added liquidity and caused bankruptcy and closing down of these banks. The total economic impacts of this crisis has been accounted as one third of the total values of all companies worldwide. More significantly and obviously, millions of employees lost their jobs and many of them were pushed to poverty. When the recent financial turmoil has hit several economies worldwide, it was observed that due to the crisis, assets prices have been inflated, currents accounts reported larger deficits and slowed-down economic growth of most nation s. Though these were quite commonly reported and widely discussed impacts of the crisis, changes in equity prices, employment and output were more dangerous impacts being studied and reviewed by some literatures. Reinhart and Rogoff (2009, p. 466) found that financial crisis in rich countries and emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China have caused tremendous changes in economic variables in common. Broadly speaking, there have been major changing-patterns in housing and equity prices, unemployment rate, government revenues and debt. They detailed that major three impacts of the global credit crisis were a) collapse in assets market, b) profound declines in output and increase in unemployment and c) government’s debt explosions. The financial crisis has caused accumulation of stock of wealth with greater risks and losses in stock markets in almost all developed and emerging economies. The losses in stock market have been accounted as between 30 and 70 percent in 2008. The value of fund-assets have been declined by 25 or more percent by 2008 September and 2009 April. A number of companies found that their capitalization as already wiped out and as a result many of such companies became bankrupt. One very significant sign of this crisis has been falling housing prices in all those crisis-hit countries (Germain 2009, p. 672). Another major consequence of the recent financial crisis was decline in real per capita GDP. During the crisis, the decline in real GDP was smaller for advanced nations as compared with those of emerging countries. The financial crisis has been contaminating smooth functioning of the economy as it has generated a decline in the GDP during 2008 and 2009. According to IMF’s findings, the global activity would be contracted by 1.4 percent in 2009. GDP in real terms would be declining by 2.6% in the US, 4.8 % in the Euro-zone, 6.2 % in Germany and 4.2% in Spain (Pike and Tomaney 2010, p. 507). The 2008 financial crisis has increased the rate of unemployment worldwide. As a result, absolute poverty was more likely to rise in many countries. income disparities were found in most regions of the world due to severe financial crisis. It was projected that global unemployment would be increased by

Location analysis and group work daily Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Location analysis and group work daily - Essay Example The other advantage is that in terms of flow of traffic within the site, this has made it possible to maintain its market appeal to the customers (Blackaby, 2009). As a group, we performed relatively well. Several issues came up in the course of the meeting and it affected the way in which we completed the task. The lecturer required that we form our own groups that we would all be comfortable working with. This we did, and it was convenient to us because we had similar background in terms of the course we studied at the university and this made us to cope well. In addition, we had worked previously together in group work for other subjects that we studied together. In the course of the group work, several issues manifested themselves as we worked together. Time management was not accomplished well because some group members lived far away from the university and therefore, the time that we had agreed on was at no particular adhered to and we obviously had to accommodate all group members in order to work as a team. Conflict in the process of group work was a big issue that arose. At times, the participants in the group openly attacked each other and this at one point brought the discussion to a halt for some time. The way the group members stated some major points during the discussion brought out both the negative and positive criticism. Despite all these challenges, we were finally able to complete the assignment on time. What I would change to the process. For the group members who were not living within the university, I would ensure that we set the time that is convenient to them and comfortable to us as a team. I would convince other group members to agree on a time limit in which the discussion would take. For instance, one hour for each meeting scheduled to take place so as to allow the affected persons to attend and leave the meeting at their own pleasure. In the issue of conflict, I as the group leader would ensure that if there were any disagreements, they would be constructive and not directed to any particular person. I would also ensure that there was room for free expression of thoughts while coordinating the group and encourage criticism (Hansen, et al 2002). How to improve performance as a group. I as the group leader would manage the group well for it to work effectively. I would ensure that the set aims and objectives of the group work are incorporated from each and every member. For example, all participants in the group would make contributions in the setting of aims and objectives. This would help each individual develop personally .The group would also benefit as a whole. Other benefits would be to that the participants would learn academically. We would also ensure that the responsibilities that we adapt help us to achieve the desired success together. My individual role and contribution. My group members

Understand the sources of finance available to a business Assignment

Understand the sources of finance available to a business - Assignment Example External sources of funds are of two categories based on nature of the find like debt finance and equity finance. Internal sources of finance are owner’s personal savings, retained profits, working capital, suppliers’ credit and sale of assets. External sources of finance are debt finance and equity finance. Under debt finance, important sources are debentures, bank loan, bank overdraft, fire-purchase, grant, lease, venture capital, invoice discounting, factoring, and angle investors. Sources of finance under equity finance category are ordinary shares and preference share. Again, various sources under internal and external categories can also be categorized by another important parameter i.e. tenure or duration. These are long term, medium term and short term sources of finance. Long term sources of finance are equity shares, preference shares, retained profit, debentures or bonds, loan from private and public institutions, venture capital, asset selling etc. Medium te rm sources of finance are preference shares, debentures or bonds, loan from term deposits, loan from financial institutions, lease financing or hire purchase financing, foreign currency bonds and commercial borrowings. Short term sources of finance are trade credit, differed income, suppliers’ credit, customers’ advances, certificate of deposits and public deposits etc. Assessment the implications of the different sources Internal sources of fund: These are the most preferable sources of finance of any business. Internal sources are used at start up or even for expansion of business. Businesses do not have obligation to pay any interest or refund of this sources as internal sources belongs the businesses only. Therefore risk is less in these categories of sources. The businesses... Understand the sources of finance available to a business This paper will qualitatively address different sub-areas of this topic like assessing various source of finance; control, bankruptcy and legal implications of those sources; in-depth analysis of financial implications and tax effects; selection of appropriate source of finance for various projects. This paper mainly consists of qualitative discussion on these four areas. Identifying different sources of finance available to a business Finance is very much essential for a new as well as an existing business. Efficient financing is also essential in all stages of a business. Finance is required for business development, business operation and business expansion. Finance is core limiting factor to any business and hence, it is crucial a business to manage its financial resources strategically and efficiently. There are various sources of finance available to a business at different benefit and cost. Therefore, it is important for a company to choose most suitable source of finance base d on its requirement and potential to optimally utilize the resources to generate adequate return. Financing for short term projects should be done from medium term financing like bank loan, issuing of preference shares, debentures etc. Long term projects or business acquisitions can be done from issuing ordinary shares. Debt financing should be neglected for long term investments.

Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Trends - Essay Example A recent research reveals that low wage rates and high unemployment contribute to increased crime cases (Grabmeier, 2002). Moreover, it has also been observed by the researchers that less-educated or illiterate men are more likely to adopt criminal behaviours. The possible reason of these criminal behaviours or crime activities involve frustration, family and social needs, lack of basic necessities of life and social isolation. The government has taken many steps on fighting against the crime cases and crime-fighting initiative including punishments, penalties and strict laws, yet, it cannot be ignored that these initiative are limited in their effects. The increasing unemployment along with the inflation prevalence have a profound impact on crime rates. The large unemployed population is compelled to adopt criminal behaviours and meet the needs of their families. Knowing the importance of money and resources in people’s life, it is justifiable to believe that unemployment leads to increased crime rates. People can sacrifice their moral values but not lives. All human beings including the unemployed population have the needs to get food, shelter, proper clothing, education and so on. Hence, most of the unemployed people choose to adopt crimes and violent behaviours to attain these sources of life. The government must also keep an eye on the employment issue while designing any initiative to combat crime

How concerns of commerce and business spur on the development of Essay

How concerns of commerce and business spur on the development of mathematics - Essay Example The term mathematic was derived from the Greek word mathema to mean an instructional subject. Mathematical methods were further refined by Greek mathematics and that lead to expansion of the subject matter. The value system was a contribution by Chinese mathematics whereas the numeral system and its operational rules were from the Hindu (Kline 200). The roots of mathematics lie within the concepts of magnitude, number and form. The number concept has been gradually evolving with time and has lots of support from languages existence that provide distinction between numbers like one and two or many (Menninger 77). The most ancient demonstration of prime numbers and sequences is thought to have been from the Ishango bone, which was found in Congo near the Nile river headwaters (Avner 87). That bone was approximately 20,000 years old and it had a series of carved tally marks running in three columns as per the bone length. There are arguments that the prime number concept came after divi sion concept. It has also been claimed that, geometric designs were represented pictorially in 5th millennium BC. Other geometric ideas like ellipses, circles and Pythagorean triples were incorporated in England and Scotland monuments (Menninger 77). The history of mathematics is explained further by the contribution of different countries believed to have been involved in its development. Babylonian mathematics defines mathematics of Sumerians, people from Mesopotamia (Hoyningen et al. 42). Its name relates with Babylon’s central role of study. Sumerians who drafted tables of multiplication on clay tablets, solved division problems and geometrical exercises evidenced written mathematics (Avner 87). Most of the clay tablets that were recovered included cubic and quadratic equations, fractions, algebra and calculations of pairs of regular reciprocal. Quadratic and linear equations solutions were also included. Egyptian mathematics is defined as mathematics in Egyptian language (Avner 87). The Rhind papyrus is its extensive text and it is a manual of instructions for students in geometry and arithmetic. It gives multiplication methods, area formulas, working out unit fractions and division. It also shows knowledge of composite, prime numbers, and arithmetic. It also describes how geometric series and linear equations are solved (Hoyningen et al. 42). Greek mathematics is also called Hellenistic mathematics. It was more complicated than other mathematical genres. Others used inductive reasoning and repeated observations for rule establishment but Greeks used deductive reasoning (Mumford 105). Calculations of volumes and areas of curvilinear figures were introduced and great advancement in geometry reached. The Euclidean geometry theorem introduced subjects of the time as algebra, number theorem and solid geometry (Kline 200).This theorem proved infinity of many prime numbers and the irrationality of the square root of two. This theorem was also thorough on subjects such as optics, conic sections, mechanics and spherical geometry (Hoyningen et al. 42). In Chinese and Middle Eastern advances, there was pie estimation by circumscribed and inscribed polygons. They were also particular in notation of the decimal system, development of the Chinese algebra and

Media in Elementary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Media in Elementary - Essay Example The section of the society and for that matter of the whole world should come forward and pull up the weaker strata. This can be achieved only when the students who are the leaders and citizens of tomorrow understand the feeling of solidarity. Chapter three accurately points out that even though there are some universities in the United States that offer media literacy programs , they are meager in comparison to countries like Canada , Australia , New Zealand and especially UK where media literacy is far more institutionalized. There should be more programs for teachers so that they can instill in their students the knowledge of media literacy. In the fourth chapter author mentions his experience of interviewing the teachers who attended the Project SMARTArt. This project helped the teachers as they implemented their newly acquired skills in their classrooms. However , one of the greatest hurdle in providing media literacy has been inadequate funds. Hence , I strongly recommend that the governments should not only introduce media literacy programs in their universities but at school level as well.

The Gathering Essay Example for Free

The Gathering Essay This essay is an analysis of the novel ‘The Gathering’ by Isobelle Carmody. The novel is about good and evil, inner struggle, human nature, conformity and individuality, friendship and cooperation. The main group character is Nathanial and he is in a teenager group, called ‘The Chain’. The people in the group are Nathanial, Nissa, Lallie, Seth, Danny and Indian. Nathanial is a new boy to the school because he and his mother have been moving frequently since his parents were divorced. Their house is in the seaside town of Cheshunt, but Nathanial doesn’t like it because it sits in the town’s bitter wind and abattoir stench, as the primary reasons. This essay will discuss how Isobelle Carcomdy successfully constructs Nathanial to represent a marginalised teenager who the reader feels sympathy for. Nathanial is 15 years old. He and his mother move to Cheshunt and he goes to the Three North School, where it is the most evil things were has taken place. He likes ‘The Chain’ member Nissa. He is trying to find the idea of fighting the darkness and ‘The Circle’ are praising witchcraft however he feels so isolated and lonely in the new school he is happy to join. Nissa, she is hardened and guarded wild orphan girl because her heart broken as a young girl of her desirable mother’s many boyfriends, she become claim to be in love with her and then rejected and humiliate her, on page 182 she said ‘ I made a vow to myself then, that I’d never love anyone again. Not like that. From then on, I relied on nobody and took care of myself. She get viciously and emotionally damaged and never let anybody remotely attached to her. In the story she is the sword of the strength. Frank, his name is Indian, he is a young man with a pony tail, page 158 he said ‘I don’t fight back because I deserve to be hurt. It is because of Jenny. That’s my punishment. ’ Before he bears over the brain damage his younger sister many years ago, so he is the bowl of healing. Seth, he is the least central member of the Chain he is a hopeless alcoholic and emotionally weak in chapter 18 he is unrequitedly in love with Nissa, he is attempts to commit suicide, he is the eye seeks. Seth’s father is the head of the Cheshunt Police Division and reports to Mr. Karle. Seth is not the same side and the power with his father and join the Dark but at the last minute redeems himself and forgiveness of the chain. To conclude, this essay has discussed Isobelle Carmody is a person who wrote the reality war, it set the time and place are real in the novel it discussed what is good and evil, like Nathanial he make this character successful because it brings out when he moved to another new place and have a good start with evil versus good but he never give up and try to learn many things with other people.

The Role of the Women in Greek Mythology Essay Example for Free

The Role of the Women in Greek Mythology Essay In the text Mythology by Edith Hamilton, women are portrayed as being property and objects. During this time women were seen to be not as good as men. They saw perfection in relationships between men and young male adults as the best relationships to have. However, homosexuality was frowned upon. Men were considered knowledgeable and educated, but women were seen as a burden placed on man by the Gods. When it came to women nothing was valuable about them but their beauty. When a woman was beautiful she was wanted by many men: a man would do almost anything to have the possession of a beautiful woman and have her as his property. It was as if a woman’s role was to only be a man’s beautiful possession and to procreate the lineage of a male or if he had a daughter, the means to secure power through marriage. Atalanta a character from the text Mythology, was a beautiful maiden who was the daughter of the king. When her father saw that he had been given a girl instead of a boy he was very bitter and disappointed, she was then left on a mountain side. From this, one can assume that men did not feel girls were worthy of being raised and taken care of in place of having boys. Instead of dying, she was taken care of by a she-bear, and she grew up to be a very fast, daring girl. Atalanta vowed to stay a virgin and would never get married. She was not interested in men except for as companions in hunting. However, many men found her to be beautiful and then became interested in marrying her. Because of this attention Atalanta then came up with a plan. Thus, Atalanta decided she would have all the suitors race her, and whoever won the race would be her husband. If the suitors in the race were lapped by Atalanta or they lost, then they would be killed. Even on such hard conditions many men took the chance of risking their lives just to marry her and have her as their wife. Although she out ran many men, men would still attempt this race for her hand in marriage. In other words men did not see women as being worth anything unless they were she beautiful, therefore making her a man’s prize possession. Furthermore, among the rest of the suitors was a man named Hippomenes who was favored by Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite wanted to help Hippomenes and gave him three golden apples. He used these apples to make Atalanta stop running to see what he had dropped. By dropping these apples he had then gained the chance to catch up to her. After dropping all the apples, Hippomenes had won the race, and the two were married. The suitor went through so much to marry Atalanta that he did not even stop to think that he would not have been able to win this race if it was not for the help of a god or goddess. Therefore, after all he had done and risked to win this race, in the end, they both were turned into lions for an apparent affront to Zeus or Aphrodite (p. 251). In addition to the men dying to have possession of Atalanta, many men also fought and died for a woman named Helen. Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Greece. Due to her beauty, Helen was then married to the King of Sparta. She served as the King’s beautiful prize and possession. Helens beauty was so overwhelming that Theseus and Paris kidnapped her from her husband Menelaus, and took her to Troy. Upset that his possession had been taken, the king then sent hundreds of his Greek soldiers into battle with Paris; Helen being the main reason for the war known as the â€Å"Trojan War†. These men put their lives on the line and the lives of many others just to have this one woman because of her beauty. This was not the case for just Helen, this had happened to another woman as well. There had also been a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, while debating who would have possession of a woman named Chryseis. Chryseis was the daughter of Apollo’s priest; the Greek took her and gave her to Agamemnon. Because of this her father went to him to beg for his daughter back but Agamemnon did not want to let her go, the god Agamemnon remarks, â€Å"but if I lose her who was my prize of honor†¦I will have another in her stead† (p. 61). Many men felt as though they had to have the most beautiful women in Greece as their trophies. As a result, a large battle had been created between the Trojans and the Spartans all because of a woman they wanted. Helen sat in her castle while thousands of men fought and died for her, and no one felt that Helen was the to blame for what was happening. Greek men believed this is what men must fight for, â€Å"men must fight for such as she†¦ for her face was like to that of an immortal spirit†(p. 263),referring to her not as a person but as a prize or object. Because of Helen’s adored beauty there were deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans, Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans, Hector and Paris. They fought for Helen as if she was an object in which they had to have as their property. This also shows what role a woman’s beauty can have in a Greek man’s life. Just as Helen had captured the eyes of many men, resulting in them fighting over her pure beauty, another character named Hera takes advantage of what she could do with her looks. Hera was the wife and one of the three sisters of the god Zeus; she was the goddess of women and marriage. Hera uses her beauty to try and change the result of the war in her favor, â€Å"She went to her chamber and used every art she knew to make herself beautiful beyond compare†(p. 268),knowing that Zeus would not resist her lovely looks. Hera’s plan was to distract Zeus from watching the Trojans defeat the Spartans in the war. By distracting Zeus, the battle would then be under the Greeks control. From this, it is apparent that a woman could always catch a man with her beauty, no matter how intense or focused he would have been. It is evident that during this time the main role and terms that characterized a woman were her beauty, which made her a prize possession to any man, and the fact that she could bear children for her male counterpart. Anything that alluded to a female being smart or having talent and not being beautiful was negative in a Greek man’s mind. Atalanta’s father made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with taking care of a female; it was stated in the text â€Å"she was not worthy of being brought up†(p. 246), in place of him having a son born to him. Hippomenes showed that he would do just about anything to win Atalanta as his wife and trophy. Menelaus started a war because his most valuable possession, his beautiful wife, who had been taken away from him by another man who desired her just as much as he did. Also, Hera used her beauty to her advantage to distract her husband Zeus from helping the Trojans in the war. Through these examples one can argue that a women’s role in Greek mythology was simple and controlled by being beautiful and a man’s prize or possession. Because they found men to be superior over women, women were considered to be only good for their beauty and procreation for the male offspring.

Managing A New Product Launch The Issues Marketing Essay

Managing A New Product Launch The Issues Marketing Essay After the tremendous success of Keurig Single Cup Brewer system in Office Coffee Service (OCS) or Away-from home market in late 1990s, Keurig Inc. is about to launch their new product named as B100 for At-Home consumers in 2003. The Vice President and CEO of Keurig Incs Nick Lazaris after doing extensive market surveys and testing completed with the help of professional services and analyzing new marketing strategy and its impact on already existing marketing channels is currently facing some serious issues and problems that the senior management has yet to resolve. First of all Anderson (2005) states that Keurig wanted to pursue direct sales strategy for its new At-home brewer system B100 but in order not to affect Keurig Authorized Distributors (KAD)s sale and pricing control over OCS market Keurig thought to introduce a new K-cups called Keurig-cup especially for At-home consumers. Heavy Investment of nearly $ 700,000 ($400,000 for development of the new cup-based technology, and $60,000 per Keurig-Cup packaging line, assuming one line per each of Keurigs five roasters) had already been made and now Green Mountain Coffee Roaster (GMCR) has serious concern regarding the double production of portion packs and their storage moreover not to forget confusion that customers may have. So whether it is beneficial to pursue the launch of Keurig-cups or to just let the existing K-cups to be used in At-home brewer system. Secondly Anderson (2005) states that there is a pricing issue as the market survey shows the acceptable price to be $ 149 but after including all the variable and fixed cost of B100 system the cost incurring is $ 220 which manufacturing is making an effort to lower but it is not yet done. So in this scenario at what suitable price should B100 system be launched? And how can prize be lowered. Third issue that Anderson (2005) identified was the pricing of the K-cups or Keurig-cups which maximum their market opportunity and would be reasonable enough for both the consumers and the manufacturer. Finally the issue was to look out of the box for any other marketing effort beside the current marketing plan which might have been missed and which could make the launch of B100 At-home system successful in the market. Economic trends and expectations: While in South Asia the day starts with a cup of tea, in china its herbal tea or warm water, in American its a cup of coffee. Coffee is a beverage without with there is no concept of starting a day whether its working men, women, students, housewives or senior citizens. Adley (2010) stated that according to National Coffee Association on average, 54 per cent of the American adult population consumed coffee beverages daily and on average an American drinks 3-1 cups of coffee each day whereas America is still maintaining its 8th highest level of coffee consumption in the world. U.S Coffee market is constantly increasing where specialty coffee is the main highlight whose sales share is 8 % of the market and is jumping surprisingly 20 per cent per year.(Adley, 2010). Adley (2010) also pin pointed that the increasingly popular trend is shifted from Away-from-home towards At-home and 83% of the consumers brew their coffee at home due to awareness of greener, cheaper and anti-establishment alternative. So the economic pointers suggest that a new brewer system for At-home consumers is definitely a good idea and has the potential to prosper in the current economic trends and consumer expectations. Technology: Now technology is the one constant that keeps on evolving and if the companys brand is not technological sound or must be advance than the other competitors then there are no real prospects for the brand in the market. While looking at the technology used by the Keurig Inc. Anderson (2005) mentioned that Keurig single-portion system is design to well balance three key element amount, temperature and pressure of water to offer the consumer consistently superior taste of coffee. K-cups are designed such that one doesnt have to be concerned with how much amount of coffee would brew that perfect cup and as it is air tight, moisture resistant and for once use only so the quality of the content is not compromised and could stay fresh for 6 months. The other big competitor of Keurig is Tassimo in single-cup service market. The technology used by Tassimo is slightly superior because they are using bar-coded smart technology which enables them to brew Latte, Cappuccino and Espresso (William, 2009). Both of the companies brewer system uses single-portion packs k-cups for Keurig and T-Disc for Tassimo. Both the system offer 8 ounce of the coffee from the system which necessitate least possible cleaning just remove the K-Cup or T-Disc and there is no mess at all and the system is good to brew next cup of your favorite flavor of coffee. Keurig has taken special care in packing their K-cup to make sure that the quality of the coffee does not get depreciated before it is consumed by the customer. Whereas Coffee pods that are used in single serve brewer have special filter paper sealed together which is not affective whereas Keurig K-cups uses a patented technology that perforates through air tight k-cup and produce better coffee(Ebenezer,2009). In the Coffee market, the single cup At-home Brewer system is rapidly growing trend, 65% of the consumers takes their coffee in the breakfast (Adley, 2010). Most of which the consumers are preferring to brew coffee at home as they now have sophisticated and affordable options in the market. Market Share and Competitors: Keurig is not alone in single cup brewer market. In 2003 both Salton and Keurig introduced first brew pack system by launching Melitta One and B100 system respectively in the market(Corporate development Associates, 2007). In their report Corporate Development Associate (2007) also mentioned that Sara lee introduced Senseo system, Procter and Gamble launched Home Cafà © System and Nestle introduced refurbish Nespresso Program in 2003 whereas Kraft launched its patented product Tassimo in September 2005. So now currently Keurig has to fight tough with all the above mention brands to even maintain its market share. Keurig is in the middle of Senseo of Sara Lee and Tassimo of Kraft (Anderson, 2005). The gourmet Coffee market spawn around $ 7 billion dollar in sales annually. According to Anderson (2005) of the total Retail Coffee Market ($ in billion) At-home retail market was around $ 6.9 billion and At-home Gourmet market is $ 3.1 Billion dollar so this gave the management clear identification that there is opportunity existing in the market to launch a new product and the market markers also showed the upward trend in the growth of the market. Together, Procter Gamble and Philip Morris/Kraft hold 68% of the entire market, although they primarily target the non-gourmet coffee consumer (Anderson,2005 ). Keurig must utilize a marketing strategy that creates a competitive advantage, thus taking away market share from other companies and attracting those customers to gourmet coffee and brewing systems. While the entire coffee market seems to be an oligopoly with Procter Gamble and Philip Morris/Kraft as the main competitors, Keurig is targeting a more up-scale audience of gourmet coffee drinkers. Here, it is important to define the relevant target market and competitors within that market. In the gourmet sector of the coffee market, perfect competition does not exist; not all products offered are exactly the same. Instead, this is monopolistic competition. Products and whole marketing mixes contain differences between companies, models, and pod systems. This gives the competitors pricing options (McCarthy et al. 2005). In this monopolistic competition, Keurigs K-Cup (or Keurig-Cup) system and brewer match up very well against the competition. Keurig has some significant advantages over the competition; there are, however, areas in which Keurig trails. For example, when comparing the brewers of Flavia and Melitta, a subsidiary of Salton, the main difference is in the size of cup brewed. Melitta and Flavia both offer the user a choice between a strong five-ounce cup and a weaker eight-ounce cup. Keurigs B100 only offers the eight-ounce choice (Davids). However, Keurig is viewed to have the upper hand over these two companies because they offer the consumers a greater variety of coffees and a better quality coffee with every cup. In the up-scale sector of multi-cup brewers, competition includes Cuisinart, Krups, Braun, DeLonghi, and Bunn (Anderson,2005 ). The consumers of these up-scale brewers are those that Keurig will target and attempt to show the appeal of one-cup technology. Moreover Keurigs 85 % of the sales is expected to be coming from single cup brewer and the growing rate is also expected to be maintained at 100% and company is expecting to reach at 3.7 million homes and they believe that the single cup brewer can reach upto 20% of the U.S brewer (Notable Calls, 2009). Keurig has a sound place in the market and its products if maintain the quality of the coffee delivered than there is no doubt that the product will not only do good for itself but it will also helps Keurig to uplift its position in the market. Companys Strategy: Keurigs Strategy is simple and straight-forward and that is to provide the consumer with the best quality of cup of coffee in the comfort of their home and in minimum time (1 min to brew a cup in preheat Brewer) and affordable price. Firms marketing Strategy: The Company is thinking to utilize direct marketing approach with this new B100 Brewer System. Although for Away-Home sector the company used intermediatories and those are called Keurig Authorized Distributors (KAD). These KADs are responsible for installing and maintaining the system. KADs are used to maintain relationship with office managers and take their feedbacks but this time Keurig cannot afford to retail the product so direct marketing approach is taken into consideration but the approach cant be a success without the KADs which are currently supposing this direct marketing approach will reduce their influence (Anderson, 2005). The product promotions are done independently and even distribution needs either direct distribution or huge investment to make brewers single portion pack available to the consumer. According to Anderson (2005) research has also shown that the new brewer product is demonstration driven so the company has to think about the best way to demonstrate to the target market (At-home consumers). So in direct marketing a website would be launched along with e-mails but even in this KADS assistance is required as they have relationship with office managers which have the employees information. So when Away-Home/OCS consumers list is made available then promotional e-mails would be sending to them because Keurig is aiming the target market which will emerge from Away-Home/ OCS. Product Life Cycle: Product: The product is in its introduction stage in product life cycle and as the company is entering in a new market segment. Generally the new product in new segments tends to emphasis more on promotion, product and place so it is hard to make any considerable profit. But it is projected in market survey that the sales of the Keurig in single cup segment will tend to increase each year (Anderson, 2005). Price: Price is very crucial factor for Keurigs B100 system and K-cups/Keurig-cup. In the market survey it was seen that the coffee drinkers consuming two or more cups per weekday are willingly to pay higher than the drinkers consuming one cup. Drinkers consuming more than two cups of coffee are even more likely to pay more for their individual cup and it is also showed in the survey that the coffee consumption tends to increase due to the charisma of Keurigs B100 it can be predicted the single cup per weekday consumers will also join 2+ cups per weekday consumers. The survey showed that price 2+cup consumers willingly to pay for the brewer system is $ 130 (Anderson, 2005) The price elasticity of demand is tends to be higher because of the competition in the market. Most of the competitors brands are offer the brewer system lesser in price or in the same price vicinity. The Average Coffee pod machine cost range between $ 69-100 and per 8 oz Cup average is $0.20. Keurig entry level average cost is $ 99 and its 8 oz single cup costs $0.40 whereas Tassimo entry level cost is $ 129.99 and its specialty coffee cost is $1.12 per cappuccino (No wonder its the 3rd ranging brand) and even Nespresso entry level cost is $ 199.99 and its 8 oz cup cost $ 1.00(Jay,2006) and taking into consideration that the manufacturer are predicting price nothing less than $ 200 for new B100 the market seems to be less acceptable. If the K-cup prices could be adjusted so the consumer can be motivated to even buy once expensive system to get a cheaper per cup coffee rate then the product have the potential of penetrating the market. Promotion: The best promotional activity for K-Cups is to offer discounts when buying cups. For example, a discount could be offered through free shipping and handling when total cup purchases are over a certain dollar amount. Another possibility is to offer 25 cups at regular price and half off on the second 25 purchased. When we are talking about the Brewer as mentioned earlier that Internet survey suggested that demonstration is the best possible way so the key factors of interest to promote include convenience, quick brewing, ease of use, and minimal cleanup, all of which are sources of dissatisfaction with at-home users current systems. Young male are the most likely to buy the system. The key elements Keurig must implement into its promotion strategy for the B100 include being one of the first entrants into the at-home market, being portrayed as a single-cup pioneer, and enhancing its visibility in the up-scale market (Anderson, 2006). If in promotion it is been emphasized that Keurig is the one who thought about their At-home customers, with all the features elaborated enough and to make people aware that Keurig is offering various different flavor from five roasters then the customer will be compelled to buy. Place: Keurig already has its retail distribution network supported by KAD for OCS market but as Keurig now doesnt have the sources for retail outlets so there is need of applying a control distribution strategy. The strategy could be that the roaster would sell directly Keurig-cup to consumers and indirectly to the KADs. KAD will sell the cups directly to the OCS employees owning an at-home system as well such that KADs business is also not affected. Here the two cup approach seems to be going little overboard as the main concern is to maintain lower production and inventory cost and as the competition is already pricing lower than at which KAD is selling to OCS then any cost increment in K-cup price could decrease their sales. The Brewer system could be launch and sold via e-commerce enabled website which would be cheaper than retails outlets and is best suitable option. An e-commerce website could also be used to sell K-cup and the website can be promoted by putting special discou nt if consumers buy the product online. Advertising on the web is also cheaper than the billboard, banners and posters. Even the company can earn revenue by running the ads of the third party on our websites boarders. So e-commerce website is the best new distribution channel possible which can also provide the company with competitive advantage. Problems and Issue Suggestions: In the very Beginning the main issues and problem facing by the company for the launch of its new brewer B100 system were elaborated. Now after analysis the market, competitors products, distribution channels, pricing, economic and consumers trends following are the suggestion/recommendations; Among the production issues the primary one was because Keurig wanted to pursue direct marketing approach they thought of a two-cup theory will despite of solving the issue raised some serious one with GMCR (Green Mountain Coffee Roaster). In the light of the fact one-cup approach seems to be more effect, efficient and saves the manufacture unnecessary production and inventory cost. Now talking about the price according to the sales projection the breakeven prices are $199, $249 and $299 and as our B100 manufacturing cost is about $220 (trying to make it $ 200) so if the price is set at $ 249 then there is a possible option that in future if it is required the prices can be lowered. Based on the research it can be concluded that target market is agreeable to pay $0.55 per cup. At this price the KADs can maintain their price control in OCS market and Keurig and roaster can make higher profit per k-cup. Last but not the least the marketing efforts to give our product nice launch and high penetration in the market would be to place demonstration desk in the public places likes malls, airport, professional conventions etc. referral program could also be helpful in this regard. Using a website will provide an opportunity to the company to reach the consumers far off because KADs only deals within their districts so through website consumers from all across the country would be able to buy directly from the company and hence the sales would be elevated resulting in higher revenue generation and greater market share. Conclusion: Keurig new brewer B100 system is innovative idea for At-home consumers and it has the potential to sprang into a major market success, but GMCR has shown some serious and relevant concerns about two cups approach which even in our point of view is neither suitable now profitable to both the company and the roasters. Some new marketing ideas are also been recommended like demonstration stalls in public places and professional conventions. There was also a pricing issue according to our recommendation the price if set higher can be lowered so initial price should be $ 249 because the manufacturing cost incurring is around $ 220. Lastly it is thought to a very wise approach to launch B100 through direct marketing via internet and in this way consumers can directly buy from the company and company can take benefit from disintermediation and even earn some extra money by running ads of third party on its website. These recommendations are suggested by serious evaluation of fac ts and figure, trends and customer satisfaction criteria and must be considered gravely. REFERRENCES: 1) Anderson, Eric T. Feburary 28,2005. Keurig At Home: Managing a New Product Launch. Harvard Business School. 2) Ebenezer Heng, Feb 09,2009. What is so good about keurig B100? Retrieve from:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ebenezer_Heng 3) Adley Carson , May 11, 2010.Facts and Statistics about Coffee Consumption in the United States. Retrieve from:http://www.coffeemarvel.com/blog/post/2010/05/11/Facts-and-Statistics-about-Coffee-Consumption-in-the-United-States.aspx 4)Williams Paul, Nov 30, 2009. Keurig and Tassimo Single-Serve Coffee Makers A Throwdown Comparing the Top Two One Cup Brewers. Retrieve from:http://coffee.suite101.com/article.cfm/keurig_and_tassimo_singleserve_coffee_makers#ixzz0sGtSvTk5 5) Corporate Development Associates , May 2007. U.S. Market Overview Single-Serve Coffee Brewing In At-Home And Away-From-Home Coffee Markets Including Office Coffee Service Retrieve from: http://www.mindbranch.com/Overview-Single-Serve-R719-8/ 6) David Meier, October 06, 2009. Giving GMCR the Thumbs Down Retrieve from:http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/giving-gmcr-the-thumbs-down/271257 7) Jay Brewer Single Serve Coffee.com November 27, 2006.Cost Per Single Serve Coffee Cup: Coffee Pods, Keurig K Cups, Tassimo T Discs, and Nespresso Coffee Capsules; Retrieve fromhttp://www.singleservecoffee.com/archives/008530.php. 8) Keurig Incorporated. Retrieve from http://www.keurig.com 9) McCarthy, Jerome E. and William D. Perreault Jr., 2005. Basic Marketing: A Global- Managerial Approach. 15th Ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. .

Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Essay -- greenhouse gases, clim

Climate change or colloquially known as global warming, now pose a new threat to civilization as the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) are soaring to new levels. The most significant contributor to greenhouse gasses would be Carbon Dioxide (Co2). The levels of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) gas have risen to levels civilization has not seen before. As such, the effects of these levels are not known to civilization as data gathered from the ice cores drilled in the Antarctica only shows data up to 650,000 years ago. However we can conclude that present CO2 concentrations are higher compared to any time in the last 650,000 years (IPCC 2007). Current carbon dioxide concentrations are hovering around 389 parts per million (ppm) as of September 2011, compared to the pre-industrialized times (1000- 1750) of 280 ppm (Co2Now). The rate of increase of the levels of carbon dioxide is about 1.9ppm a year (IPCC 2007) .The increase in carbon dioxide levels since the industrial revolution is mainly due to CO 2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Therefore if no action is to be taken, the levels of carbon dioxide would soar up higher and the effects to civilization could be devastating. To see what extend Australia is in, the following mentions Australia’s position in carbon emissions. Australia, which is a developed nation and a member of the OECD, currently holds the record for being the nation with the highest carbon dioxide emissions per capita among other developed nations (Garnaut 2011). According to Garnaut , Australia emits 26.7 tonnes of greenhouse gasses per-person per year compared to other developing nations such as Luxembourg, United states, Canada and Ireland which emits 26.1, 23.1, 20.6 and 16.5 tonnes respe... ...DP. So in reality, we can see a total net increase in GDP after the implementation of the carbon tax. It is said that the plan will raise around $27.3 billion over the first four years and will cost $31.6 billion (Oliver 2011). This in addition to the over compensated benefit payments to lower income families would stimulate the economy and this is why we see no reason to change our GDP growth forecasts at this stage compared to pre-carbon tax introduction. In conclusion, it is economically viable and necessary for the carbon tax to be implemented, which would reduce carbon emissions in Australia. The Australian public would not be greatly affected by the rising cost. Over time, with a price being put on carbon, investment in clean energy and growth in cleaner industries will likely offset reduced investment and slower growth in dirty energy and sectors. â€Æ'

Elie Wiesel Essay -- essays research papers fc

Elie Wiesel The book Night opens in the town of Signet where Elie Wiesel, the author , was born . He lived his child hood in the Signet, Transylvania . He had three sisters Hilda, Bea, and Tzipora. His father was an honored member of the Jewish community. He was a cultured man concerned about his community yet, he was not an emotional man. His parents were owners of a shop and his two oldest sisters worked for his parents. Elie was a school boy and interested in studying the Zohar â€Å"the cabbalistic books, the secrets of Jewish mysticism†(Wiesel 3). His teacher was a foreigner, Moshe the Beadle, a â€Å"poor barefoot of Signet†(Wiesel 3). He was Elie's teacher until he was forced to leave Signet by the Hungarians because he was a foreign Jew. After several months Elie saw Moshe the Beadle once again. Moshe the Beadle told his story about his journey that the Jews were forced to get out and dig grave which would become final resting places for prisoners who were killed. Luckily, Moshe the Beadle was able to escape. He pretended that he was dead in order to escape being killed. Not only did Moshe tell his story to Elie, he wanted to warn the Jews of Signet of what could happen to them. However, they only thought it was a vivid imagination speaking from his lips. No one wanted to believe his story and people lived life as usual. It was not until German troops would enter Hungarian territory that life would change for the Jews of Signet. At first the German soldiers did not seem like a threat. During the week of Passover things seemed to be going well. People were celebrating yet, it was not a complete celebration. On the seventh day of the Passover Jewish leaders of the community were arrested. After that rules were set by the Germans. Jews were confined to their homes for three days and they could no longer keep valuables such as gold, jewelry and other objects. The Germans took it all. Elie's father managed to bury the family's savings in the cellar. After the three days Jews had to wear a yellow star. After this more rules were set. Jews could not go to restaurants, travel on railways, go to synagogues, or go out after six o'clock. As if the rules and restrictions were not enough. Soon Jews would be placed in Ghettos. There were two gettos set up in Signet. These ghettos were fenced in with barbed wire and the windows of the houses facing the street were boarded... ...last moments of his life. On January 28, 1945 Elie went to sleep and his father was still alive. When he woke up the next day his father was gone(Wiesel 106). On April 11,1945 Elie was free. The Americans moved in on Buchenwald and took over the camp. The first thing the free men wanted was food. They could not think of revenge or their families â€Å"Nothing but bread†(Wiesel 109). Elie was sick from food poisoning after the liberation, he almost died. However, when he was finally able to get up and look in the mirror after so many years he did not even recognize himself. All he could see was a â€Å"corpse† staring back at him. Elie Wiesel now lives in the United Stated under the name of Andrew Mellon. He is the Professor of Humanities at Boston University. He is also Chairman of the Holocaust Memorial Council. This organization is a nonpolitical organization that was formed to educate people of the crimes put forth on the Jewish people during the Holocaust (Chaimberlin 14). Works Cited Chamberlin, Brewster, and Marcia Feldman eds. The Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps 1945. Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C, 1987. Wiesel, Elie. Night . Bantam Books: New York, 1989 .