Matrix

Phoenix Material Representation of Interests Matrix Follow the instructions below to complete the matrix: Identify, in the first column, a minimum of five interests that are affected by public policy decisions, one per row of the table. List, in the second column, any groups or organizations that support the Interests you Identified In column one. List, In the third column, any groups or organizations that oppose the Interests you Identified In column one. Identify classes or groups affected by policies related to the interests you identified in column one.Identify classes or groups who have an Interest in the outcomes of policies related to the interests you identified in column one. Interests affected by Public Policy Groups and Organizations Supporting the Interest Groups and Organizations Opposing the Interest Classes or Groups Affected by the Interest Classes or Groups Interested in Policy Outcomes (MAD) The mission of mothers against drunk driving. National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration and with the Law Enforcement community. ADAM) is an organization founded by a group of responsible citizens ho were astonished to learn how legislator and other groups that have created an entire DOI industry in there quest for government revenues. (PIP) Victim Impact Panels The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse National Mullen Drinking Age Act. (ARP) They work to improve the quality of life for people age 50 and older and helps them with issues they face. The united Health Group and Optimum Labs organization 60 Plus Organization is an conservative alternative to (ARP) (MAC) The voice of Americans 50 and more Generation AmericaRAJA has partnered with ARP on the Future of Nursing Campaign for Action. It affects about 40 million Americans over the age of 50 including workers and retirees. (NEAR) The National Rifle Association. Woman Warriors Pack which supports strong conservative woman which emphasizes that Its The National Right to Life Committee Issued an at tack on the legislation on and sellers of firearms, ammunition There are several politicians who take a great interest in the out come of the (NEAR) (AMA) The American Medical Association works to promote the art and Science of medicine and to improve public health.Members are warriors and not helpless warriors. The Second Amendment Foundation is the country's oldest legal-action group focusing on gun rights. Special treatment. Several religious groups such as The American Jewish Committee. And related wares. Millions of citizens are in favor of the (NEAR) and could be effected in countless ways according to the policies given to the (NEAR) Policies because they receive thousands of dollars for their personal campaigns from the (NEAR) The gun control activist groups are interested in the out come of the (NEAR) policies since they don't agree tit them.The Christian Coalition of America works to represent the pro-family agenda and support policies that will strengthen and preserve, ra ther than threaten our families and our values. The National Wildfire Federation. The Republican Senatorial Committee The Family Research Council The (C) has a major impact in state and national elections, which as an impact on everyday citizens. Congress is affected because (C) is a major lobbying force for it. The Focus on the Family group The Board of Education Website organizations

Adoption from China vs the United States Essay

When a couple begins to explore the idea of adopting a child, it is easy for them to quickly become overwhelmed with information, questions and decisions. One of the first dilemmas couples face is whether to pursue international adoption or domestic adoption. By thoroughly researching and weighing both options, a couple can decide whether international or domestic adoption is best for their family. Some of the requirements that must be met to adopt in China include marital Status, only married couples with marriage defined as between a man and a woman, who have been married for at least 2 years are able to adopt from China. If either has been divorced, the couple must be married for 5 years before considering adopting from China. No more than two divorces are allowed; the age of prospective adoptive parents must be between 30 and 44 years old to adopt babies around 1 year old. Prospective adoptive parents can be between the ages of 30 and 50 for other children (about. com, 2012); Educational requirement for both parents are that they must have a H. S. diploma or vocational training. Typically from start to finish it will take 36-48 months for the adoption to be final. The biggest factor influencing the wait for a child is the time it takes the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) to make a referral to a family. The current referral time is approximately eight months after the detailed prospective parents files are submitted and registered with the CCAA. The cost to adopt from China is not inexpensive; it can run $20,000 to $40,000, including travel. This cost also covers registration and program fees, applications, and home study fees, necessary paperwork and background checks, just to name a few. Medical records of children adopted internationally are often minimal, if available at all. Information regarding the social history of the child’s birth parents, such as family medical history is also often unavailable (the Adoption Guide, 2012). In comparison, some of the requirements to adopt in the United States include marital status; couples do not have to be married to adopt; however, it will be easier for them to adopt if they are married. If the adopting parent is married, a minimum of a three year marriage is a common requirement; the minimum legal age to adopt is generally 18 years of age to 40 years of age. In most situations, however, there will be a requirement that the adopting parents must be at least 20 years older than the child they are seeking to adopt; history of employment stability, and the prospect of future employment stability, are always considered to be big plusses in the eyes of birthparents; there is a thorough background check done in an attempt to uncover evidence of any prior legal or criminal problems, or any problems with child abuse, financial instability, or substance abuse. The average time from preparation of portfolio to match with a birthmother can vary from 3 months (this being the majority) to being longer than 24 months; this includes time spent in false starts. The final adoption decree is usually finalized 6 months after the placement of the child with an adoptive family. The cost of adoption in the United States can range from $5,000 to $40,000 for agency and private adoptions. The cost includes; Agency applications nd program fees, attorney fees, birthmothers expenses, and travel just to name a few. One very large legal concern in domestic adoption is that in an attorney-facilitated adoption, a birth parent can try to withdraw consent to the adoption before the final adoption decree goes into effect, which is six months after placement. To exercise this right to withdraw consent, a birth parent must present clear and convincing evidence that the â€Å"best interests of the child† have changed (adoption. com, 2012). Furthermore, the numbers of children in China awaiting adoption has dropped significantly in the past few years. In 2006, about 6,493 Chinese orphans came to the United States; in 2011 only 2,587 children were adopted. The belief for the decline is the rather strict adoption requirement that have been placed on prospective parents. Despite the fact that we live in one of the most fortunate nations in the world, there are 115,000 children in the U. S. foster care system waiting to be adopted. Unfortunately some of these children are waiting because they are difficult to place due to their age, the fact that they are part of a sibling group, or their disability. The total number of children worldwide who are orphaned and waiting to be is approximately 2. 2 billion. Out of those 2. 2 billion children, 16 million children are estimated to be orphans. How do you even wrap your brain around that many parent-less children? The total number of children adopted worldwide each year, out of those 16 million orphans, is a mere 250,000. These numbers are pretty overwhelming when you think about it (the Adoption Guide, 2012). The decision between domestic adoptions vs. international adoptions only scratches the surface of this big decision. Because a family’s experience with adopting from China will be very different from a family adopting from the United States, it is difficult to describe what to expect in either situation. Couples should fully research each of these adoption venues and then weigh their options to see which best matches their adoption plan.

Identify Harley Davidsons Strategy Essay

Harley is a globally recognised brand firmly associated with large motorbikes with a historic emphasis on style, individuality and freedom rather than on technology, speed or sports. From a segmentation view they belong in the heavyweight motorcycle market and are particularly strong within a sub-segment of super heavyweight. Their bikes are strongest in the Cruiser motorcycle segment, feature in the Touring bikes segment (focus on their style and image) and through acquisition of Buell, now have a presence in the Performance models segment. The Harley-Davidson image and the customer loyalty earned and sustained by the unique ? Harley Experience’ are its greatest assets. The appeal of the Harley brand was central to the corporate strategy. The focus of the strategy was to reinforce and extend the relationship between the company and its consumers. The Harley Owners Group was established to be a vehicle to unite management, employees and customers in a special community and to foster relationships and shared experiences towards a bonding with the brand and the company. The loyalty of Harley owners is evident in their repeat purchase behaviour ? over 50% of sales between ’99 and ’05 were to previous owners, while brand attraction helped account for a 20% share from first time buyers. The brand was also successful in effecting a demographic and socioeconomic shift away from young workers to middle-aged, higher income owners. Harley lagged behind its competitors in terms of technological innovation and rapid progress but insisted on playing the game on their home strengths of distinctive features and traditional designs. They lacked the economies of scale of their competitors who could spread the costs of research and development across higher unit volumes of products and multiple product lines. Instead they concentrated on incremental improvements to their engines, frames and gearboxes to increase reliability and power and reduce vibration. In 2006 they had 36 models available with lots of customisation options so that each purchaser could virtually have a personalised motorcycle. This captures their reconciliation between differentiation and economies of scale ? a wide range of customisable options while standardising on key components. Sales of parts, accessories and merchandise had grown to a 20% share in 2000. Harley established a dealer development program to improve its distribution and position it in support of the brands requirement for a sustained ? Harley Experience’. The program increased support for dealers while imposing higher standards of pre- and after-sales service and better dealer facilities. Training programs, test ride facilities, rider instruction classes were all initiatives designed to differentiate the Harley products from their competitors and success is evident with sustained demand. Not all initiatives were so successful, the intent of the Buell acquisition was to broaden the customer base by merging the comfort and style of a Harley cruiser with the performance attributes of a sports bike. While by no means a failure the Buell strategy has performed steadily but has not attracted the same demand from the market and annual shipments now approach just 12 to 13 thousand. Compare Harley’s resources and capabilities to those of Honda. What does your analysis imply for Harley’s potential to establish cost and differentiation advantage over Honda? Harley has continuously upgraded its manufacturing operations and invested in plant and machinery both to introduce advanced process technologies and to expand capacity. Despite constant development and investment, Harley’s low production volumes relative to Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers imposed severe cost disadvantages. They simply could not attain economies of scale to match their large competitors. A related area was their weakness in buying power ? While not having the volumes with which to bargain quantity discounts Harley emphasised the internal roles of Purchasing Managers to foster close relationships with suppliers. Honda, in particular, are renowned for their engine technology and they can sustain continued engine innovation as they have a very large product range to which engines are central and over which the costs can be amortised more easily. Harley turned to their own strengths and organisational capabilities to achieve cost efficiencies and product / brand differentiation. By utilising ? Strategic Innovation’ they chose to establish competitive advantage through creating value for customers from novel experiences, product delivery, customisation options and customer care. As a smaller organisation and one which adopted a non-hierarchical, team based structure, Harley successfully engineered a transformation in employee commitment and job satisfaction which also helped the company sustain this competitive advantage once it had been achieved. By ensuring that the ?Harley Experience’ was kept to a very high level it proved impossible for imitators or competitors to tap into the brand attractiveness. The sustainability of Harleys differentiation is less vulnerable to being overturned by changes in the external environment and is more difficult to replicate. Harley differentiate on more than one plane ? their products certainly, but also their design, marketing and customer interactions ? have you ever seen a group of Honda owners get together BECAUSE they are Honda owners ? Way to go Harley. How can Harley D. sustain and enhance it’s competitive position? The essence of differentiation advantage is to increase the perceived value of the offering to the customer either more effectively or at lower cost to competitors. This requires that Harley continue to match the requirements and preferences of customers with its own capacity for creating uniqueness. Successful differentiation requires a combination of astute analysis and creative imagination. The Value Chain provides a useful framework for analysing differentiation advantage. By regularly analysing how value is created for customers and by systematically appraising the scope of each of the firms activities for achieving differentiation, the value-chain permits matching demand-side and supply-side sources of differentiation.

The Effectiveness of Government Subsidies for Goods Essay

The Effectiveness of Government Subsidies for Goods - Essay Example Subsidies involve payment of a certain portion of the cost of production to the firm with an objective of lowering the price of the good and thereby encouraging more consumption of the same (Lines, 2005). Subsidizing farm produce has the effect of ensuring there is enough food stuff and agriculture related products in the economy. However, critics of this economic policy argue that it breeds inefficiency and misallocation of scarce resources. Objective This research will be guided by the following objective: To establish the effectiveness of government subsidies on commodities in the product market. Literature Review Conradie (2009) notes that the poor condition of most of the marine capture fisheries in the world has raised increasing public concern of late. There is an imminent economic impact of diminished resources of fish on the regions’ economies in both developed and developing world economies, as well as near commercial extinction of stocks of fish that have placed gre at impact on ecosystems. The declaration which emanated in the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting that was held in Doha emphasized on fisheries as a sector which needs maximum considerations in the next meeting of international negotiations on world trade. While there is a concern on overfishing, the main operational concern remains the role played by subsidies in stimulation of overfishing. If it comes out that the existence of subsidies stimulate overfishing, and then there is need to come up with a control mechanism or completely eliminate the policy. Subsidies often play two key extra roles; they do stimulate fishing and may possibly raise the national income of the country (Grosh, 2008). If the fishing level is below that level that can be safely sustained in the economy, then subsidies that enhance fishing could be useful. Lines (2005) cite that subsidies could interfere with the World Trade Organization control regulations if they lie within the realms of the Internationa l Agreements on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures by the WTO. The concept of subsidies is delicate in the sense that the government introduces them for valid purposes, like economic development strategies. However, with the passage of time, subsidies that were intended for useful purposes may become entrenched and start serving primarily the desires of industry participants who receive the subsidies. Elimination of these subsidies therefore becomes a political thing in the locality, with external implications. Haddad and Shepherd (2011) argue that the policy of subsidies is a complex one due to the fact that there exist no agreement as to what a subsidy actually is. There also exists no scientific way of measuring a subsidy and evaluating its impact to the intended economic sector. At the policy level, we do not have an agreement on when subsidies can be considered harmful or useful. Part of the reason behind the existence of an agreement is the fact that it is complicated to ev aluate the impacts of subsidies in the environment, economy, internal and international trade. Part of the reason for non- agreement on what the definition of a subsidy entails is because subsidies are nowadays being eliminated by governments, it could not be politically wise for a country admitting that a policy actually implies a subsidy. Clements (1998) explains a situation where South African government, through the Department of Agriculture,

The politics of mass consumption in postwar America by Lizabeth Cohen, Essay

The politics of mass consumption in postwar America by Lizabeth Cohen, - Essay Example Explain how the consumer economy, society, and culture during the World War II era affected women and African Americans and how consumerism in the wartime years provided opportunities for both of these groups to claim greater social and political power as â€Å"citizen consumers. Soon after the World War II, the American administration had adopted an effectuate strategy to reconstruct their economy by promoting and expanding mass consumption. Those who were at the helm of affairs took prosperity of Americans, as a central point of their plan. In their thoughts, the demand driven economy not only provide an opportunity for effective recovery but rekindled hopes in Americans for becoming part of an egalitarian society and to raise their heads being a true democratic nation. The idea of mass consumption provided American citizens to live in an ideal situation than before with equal footings with the neighbors (Cohen, 64). The above move was not accidental. It co relates with the histor ical era of 60s and 70s. At that time, the diversified segments of society comprised of African American origin, women, adults and the old citizens began to assess themselves within the ambit of identity politics. Here, the people’s affiliation with specific community defined their cultural awareness and motivation for a consolidated action. If we look back to the era of 60s, we find that those market managers, who failed to respond to the market demands in terms of innovative products, soon disappeared. Mr. Haley, Vice President and corporate researcher very rightly pointed out "it is easier to take advantage of market segments in vogue than to attempt to create new ones" (Cohen. 68) With the advent of new innovative deals and the ending of World War II, sizeable American Consumers got to know their rights as an individual consumer which was instrumental in promoting the generalized goods. In his book Cohen introduced mass consumption philosophy into four parts. In Part I, s he elaborately discussed the "Origins of the Postwar Consumers' Republic,† concerning 30s and 40s era, when a concept of citizen consumer was coined that emanates from women and African-Americans. The said categories accept it a way of life. They consider it  to be  a safer and equitable market place. In the second part namely "The Birth of a Consumers' Republic," wherein she specifically discussed the role of Consumers? She hailed the patriotism of American nation since they fulfilled their obligations by promoting consumerism as a safe passage to economic equality and the political independence. Cohen identifies how consumer related policies helped the consumers to underwrite in terms of GI Bill and the tax code, which benefited the white middle class males segment greatly at the cost of discriminating other stakeholders with particular reference to women and the African Americans origin (Cohen, 85). She also discussed in her book the existing gap between the promise and the reality with regard to the rights of Consumer, instrumental to ignite civil rights movement. The increasing demand of blacks for public accommodation, stores, theaters and restaurants against the backdrop of black access to house themselves in public accommodation e.g. downtown stores, movie theaters, and restaurants can not be ignored. Above mentioned sites of consumption, overshadowed by the privatized new commercial avenues that comes to surface in suburban America. In part III entitled "The Landscape of Mass Consumption," Cohen apprised its readers that how the suburban America queued racial and income lines in accordance with the study of New Jersey State. For him suburban shopping malls not inclined to adopt the model of urban downtowns. In the last part of discussion that drives out from â€Å"The Political Culture of Mass Consumption," shows how the market trend and the national politics could effectively be dealt with the issues of reinforcement and simplification to cope with after war trends.

Critical issues in criminal justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Critical issues in criminal justice - Essay Example The police-dogs are considered as complete or full-fledged police officer. Assaulting them is therefore punishable by the federal laws. Initially protected by the state laws, the police dogs are now protected by federal laws with individuals found guilty of assaulting the law enforcing animals standing the risk of serving ten years in prison or paying a fine of at least $1 000. This paper will address the topic by discussing the various legal and social issues surrounding the use of the canines in law enforcement. It is important to note that the police dogs being relied on to establish links in various crimes such as searching of cadavers, explosives, drugs etc., need to be protected by the law due to the sensitivity of the areas they are involved. For instance, in a case where a police dog injures a civilian in the course of duty, the police department from which it serves are held liable. In the same way, if an individual is found to have assaulted the police dog popularly known as K-9 a homophone of canine in the United States, they are made to stand trial and risk a possible conviction for the felony. This paper will therefore look at the federal laws and how different states protect and set laws in line with the use of the canines in law enforcement. A police dog just like any other personnel in the law enforcement sector has various responsibilities and rights that define the scope of their work. However, in the use of police dogs, there is no set or standardized set of laws that define how the dogs should be used. For instance, in trying to hunt down a suspect and presentation in court to assist in investigations or stand trial, the use of police dogs and the force applied may only be justified by the immediate behavior of the suspect such as resistance to arrest or the severity of the crime. The use of canine force is not always justified. In some cases, the police can

Developmental Stages Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Developmental Stages Paper - Essay Example The acquisition of counting things along with language opens new avenues for sophisticated social and intellectual interaction, while at the same time supplying the scaffolding more sophisticated levels of reasoning about the abstract concepts and ideas that are conveyed most effectively in words or in numbers. Close interconnections exist among processes of social domains of child development. Not only do tests of children's cognition and moral reasoning take place in social settings, but the topics that exercise the growth of intelligence are social to be a very important degree. As toddlers attachment brings about special social relationships with particular people, a process that will have lasting significance for intimate relationships throughout life. During childhood, intimate bonds to parents and familiar caregivers continue to exert a major influence upon the offspring's psychological development. However, with the young child's transition out of the family into primary school, parental social influences are joined in a direct or indirect manner by social influences from the child's peer group. One reason for this might be the effective learning due to competitive significance on which the parents are counting. When peers or other children outside the family, all of about the same age associate with one another in the classroom during and after school, the child's goal in the peer's company may appear to be nothing more than sheer enjoyment. Here comes the concern of classroom environment, as this is the stage where the child feels comfortable in learning directly from their peers. Psychologically he is driven by various kinds of learning and other competitions with his peers, which escorts him towards a healthy psychological and learning development. The classroom tends to be a whole learning myriad for the child where he ethnographically aims to achieve the views and perspectives, beliefs and values of all other peers and those involved in the particular sociocultural practice or institutional context of the classroom. These broad aims are often difficult to achieve in early childhood studies in a standalone environment that are of necessity limited in terms of time and resources but the classroom environment offer opportunities and circumstances where the child feels more appropriate to learn theoretically and practically various approaches. Classroom is the best example of social interaction where the child learns, grows and develops out of nothing. From the neo-Piagetian perspective, social interaction is treated as a catalyst for autonomous cognitive development. Thus, although social interaction is considered to stimulate individual cognitive development, it is not viewed as integral to either this constructive process or to its products, increasingly sophisticated mathematical conceptions. Vygotskian perspectives, on the other hand, tend to subordinate individual cognition to interpersonal or social relations. In the case of adult-child interactions, for example, it is argued that the child learns by internalizing mental functions that are initially social and exist between people. In recent years, several attempts have been made to

Knowledge Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Knowledge Economy - Essay Example A knowledge economy can exhibit itself in the interconnections between science and technology; the emphasis on creativity as critical to economic growth and competitiveness; the increasing focus on education and life-long learning; and the orientation toward investments in intangible goods and services, such as R&D, rather than fixed capital; and the rapid adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) that is providing nations greater independence as well as greater connectiveness (Archibugi & Pietrobelli, 2003). However, some contend that the expansion of knowledge economies within developing nations can also bring with it negative consequences, such as increasing the divide between developed an developing nations, and crowding in their economic development (Casanueva, 2001; Pietrobelli, 2000). This paper aims to present the argument that a knowledge economy within a developing nation can contribute to numerous negative effects on a countries economic and social development. Firstly, the positive arguments that promote the adoption of a knowledge economy by developing nations shall be presented. Secondly, the contrasting negative impact consequences to the adoption of KE shall be provided. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesise the main points of the paper and make recommendations for future research.It is generally conceded that a knowledge economy can positively contribute to the development of a nation's economic and social institutions by way of facilitating more effective goods and services production and delivery, lowering costs to public citizens (Archibugi & Pietrobelli, 2003). As such, developing nations are encouraged to adopt a knowledge economy as an efficient method for improving their competitiveness on the global marketplace, as well as alleviating their wel fare needs. In order to effectively incorporate a knowledge economy it is necessary for developing nations to capitalize on their economic and social strengths, and also to plan appropriately on how to invest in human capital, social institutions, technology and innovative and competitive businesses (Kuznetzov & Sabel, 2003). Countries such as Chile, Ireland, Malaysia and Korea are portrayed as success stories of countries, which have incorporated a knowledge economy into their social and political value systems (Kuzetzov & Sabel, 2003). Increasingly, science-based products and services are being incorporated into world trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) of multinational corporations to facilitate innovation globally, and cooperation across the boarders of scientific and technological research and development (Narula & Sadowski, 2002). Less developed countries are able to benefit from the increasing flow of knowledge if they are able to implement active policies that focus on enhancing learning opportunities and improving access to new knowledge and technology (Archibugi & Pietrobelli, 2003). Additionally, the opportunity to participate in the 'brain circulation' of open migration of people and their knowledge across boarders provides job prospects and educational experiences that prepare the LDC citizen to participate in a global workforce (Kuznetsov & Sabel, 2003).Additionally, a study investigating indicators that represent knowledge within 92 nations, during the period

The Shawshank Redemption Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Shawshank Redemption - Movie Review Example Despite Andy’s declaration of innocence he is retained in the prison guided by circumstantial evidence. The movie uses the character of Andy Dufrense to reflect the resilience of human spirit and how one can retain his humanity against all odds under penitence. Andy Dufresne in his late 40s has no reason to be apprehensive about life unless things changes a little too fast for him. The corpses of his wife and her previous lover are found strewn with bullets after Andy comes to know of his wife’s illicit relationship. The circumstance goes against him when he visits his house with whisky and bullets. Though he admits to these incidents, he declares his innocence but all he receives form the court of justice is to life sentences to serve and undergo the tough penitence of the jail at Shawshank which is known to be the most atrocious one in New England. When Eliss â€Å"Red† Redding befriends Andy, he foretells that the lanky and out of place Andy would not be able to sustain here for long. His prediction seems strong given that Andy is surrounded by hostile inmates and strong tough and aggressive head guard like Hadley and personalities like Warden Norton (enacted by Bob Grunton) who made their dominance clearly felt throughout. Later when Andy narrates his story to Red, he says, â€Å"Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. It's got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the tornado. I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has†. This is complemented by the harassment of the group of troublemakers and sexual assaulters named â€Å"The Sisters† under the leadership of Bogs. Despite being tormented Andy does not give in. This surrounding is ideal to prove the Prison to live up to its name and reputation of atrocity and violence and abrupt instances of abuse occur frequently. With brutality on one hand, corruption also prevails on the other. For instance, the Warden Norton uses Andy to as sist him in his operation of laundering money under the fake name of Randall Stevens. This opportunity comes when by his luck his discovers Hadley is in a problem related to tax on an inheritance and renders his fruitful advice on the same. He is then asked to look after the library and also renders financial counseling to the other guards. Hadley also beats up the group of ‘Sisters’ who refrains from bothering Andy henceforth. Things were comfortable for Andy since his talents are being exploited by the Warden who uses the inmates for supplying labor force instead of skilled labor for which he receives incentives. Andy knows his corruption but has little way out. He takes a big risk by playing The Marriage of Figago for his inmates to hear despite knowing that he would be confined to solitary cell for this offense of rendering one pleasant moment. He carries on his good work by expanding the library after several attempts and with the help of the warden. He dedicates t he library to Brookes the old librarian who commits suicide after being released on parole since he could not adjust to the outside world. The movie set over a wide space of two decades joins different strands of stories taking place in the prison. This shows how Andy retains

Solution to questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Solution to questions - Assignment Example This is because the z-score for 2007 was less than 1.81 while that for 2006 was more than 1.81 but less than 2.675. The calculations shows that the reasonable estimate of the nominal interest rate (nominal yield), rd, for a new issue of Aaa-rated bonds to be offered by Binghamton Truck is 6.27%. This means that the case above requires Binghamton to offer a nominal yield of 6.27% on the Aaa-rated bond to the investors. a) Why might you choose to make the investment in the 1-year security that pays an interest rate of only 6 percent, as opposed to investing in the 2-year security paying 8 percent? Provide a numerical support for your answer. In which case, I only need 3.81% interest rate to reach the savings for the 2 year investment at the end of two years. This is even a lesser rate than the original rate which was 6%. Consequently, I would have more savings when I choose the 6% interest rate. I will choose the 2- year security given the rationale that I am risk averse; in which case, 11% rate is far much more than 6. Since I am afraid of risks, I would not subject myself to a higher required rate of return which usually bears much

American History Essay Example for Free

American History Essay From 1880 to 1890 farmers had to endure many hardships. For example, food prices were decreasing, which meant farmers had to produce more crops and borrow more money from the banks. The banks then charged high interest rates for loans to farmers. In addition, rail road shipping rates were increasing, farm machinery was every expensive, the farmers were isolated from the rest of the country, and they felt that they had an unresponsive government. The farmers believed that the deflating currency and the governments failure to regulate the banks and railroad companies were the two main sources for their problems. Food prices were at incredibly low prices when the 1880s began. This led to farmers having to grow more crops, but as Causes of Agricultural Unrest shows, this only helped to further decrease food prices. Unfortunately, the farmers could not just produce less and wait for prices to increase because they didnt have the time to wait for prices to increase. The farmers believed that deflation was the cause of the food prices dropping. According to the United Sates government data, the farmers had a very valid point. Between 1865 and 1895 the population of the United States almost doubled, while the money in circulation in 1880 was even less than in 1865. The farmers solution to the deflation was an increase in cheap money, which is also known as silver coinage. However, the Republican party had conservative ideas and wanted to keep the gold standard. So the farmers created the radical, agrarian party known as the Populist party. As shown in The platform of the Peoples party, the Populists believed in increasing silver to help the farmers. And although the Populists lost the election. no one remembers the Acceptance speech of William McKinley. The American people remember W. J. Bryans Cross of Gold speech and his ideas of silver coinage. As the number of crops farmers had to produce increased, so did the amount of money the farmers had to barrow from the banks. In reaction to the increasing number of loans, the banks charged very high interest rates. These high interest hurt the poor farmers even more and often the farmers could not repay the banks. The Farmers Voice depicts hundreds of impoverished farmers in shackles, being taken to the court house because they could not pay their farm mortgages from the bank. The late 19th century was filled with political corruption and the political machine was created. In most cases, state machines were republican and favored big businesses. When railroad companies decided to increase short haul rates and decrease long haul rates, the government was not upset because the long hall rates were great for big businesses and only hurt farmers. In the Testimony of George W. Parker the corruption is evident in his statement There is a decided distinction between local and through business different rules and practices apply to them. In The Octopus, one can see the harsh effects of the higher short haul rates on farmers. Overall, farmers had every right to be upset during the late 19th century. Their complaints about the deflation and unregulated railroad rates were valid and clearly the cause of their suffering.

Chinese Communist Party in the Civil War in 1949 Essay Example for Free

Chinese Communist Party in the Civil War in 1949 Essay The Chinese Civil War, which lasted from 1927 to 1949, was a civil war in China which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) overthrew the Guomindang (GMD) . As the CCP had always been inferior to the GMD in many aspects, many were shocked and startled by the Communists victory; although numerous factors show that the Communists victory was almost inevitable. This essay will examine the factors that lead to the Communists victory, which includes ideology, economic, political, social, military, foreign issues, and personalities of the leaders. One of the major advantages of the CCP can be seen in their social aspects and the support of peasants, which were the vast majority of people. They owned limited amount of land, had high rents, low productivity, were in dept and many lived on the edge of starvation. In addition, having peasant support for the CCP can supply with food resources. Therefore, Mao understood the first goal he had to achieve was the support from peasants. First, he set up peasant unions of Hunan from 1925-27, then in 1838-45 when Chiang had their attention focused on the Japanese Invasion, Mao and the CCP went to the rural areas, where the peasants were grateful for the way the soldiers behaved and helped the people. Then, the political leaders confiscated land from the landowners and redistributed it to landless people; lastly, they were given rights to vote for village leaders. By doing all this, the once enslaved and exploited people of china gained faith and freedom established the myth that only the Red Army was the true protector of China. In contrast, the GMD had no strong support from the peasants; and most of them felt no connection to the government. The GMD had no party organization helping the struggling provinces, and after the split of GMD and CCP in 1927, the support of common people was very low . On the military aspects, the CCP was disadvantaged in the number of arm forces. In 1945, the GMD had 5 million troops, while the CCP only and 1.25 troops. However, there are a few points which can turn this into an advantage. Firstly, they made use of guerilla warfare, which is extremely suitable for small troops to travel swiftly, change position; be precise and alert. Secondly, the communists selected high quality troops and trained them strictly with strong discipline. Lastly, the communists had similar  lifestyles between the leaders and soldiers, and with the peasant support, they sustained high morale within the Red Army. With all these advantages, we can see that in 1930-1931 Chiang Kai-shek sent 3 military expeditions to exterminate the Red Army, facing an army of 300000, the CCP defeated them all . Here, we can see how effective the guerrilla warfare is in facing a large amount of troops. In contrast, the GMD had huge troops and modern weapons . However, the GMD troops did not have strategies against the light armed and swift troops of the CCP. Moreover, because the life between the leaders and the soldiers had too much difference, they had low morale and did not have the full heart to fight for the GMD. In terms of economic aspects of the CCP, and they did not have a lot of expenses due to the guerilla warfare tactics, and the people can self-supply themselves with food, as they were all peasants. In contrast for the GMD, 65% of the states budget was met by currency expansion and only 10% by taxes . Therefore, they were highly dependent on foreign aids of the US. The constant depreciation of the value of paper currency undermined in particular the morale in all jobs that were dependent upon the payment of salaries, including troops, officers and civilian officials. Their tolerance was limited and led to widespread corruption. In terms of political aspects, the CCP had made a lot of errors and had escaped destruction by a hairs breadth, but they had an extraordinary resilience, refused to give up and learned from their mistakes . In 1927 after the failure of the autumn harvest uprising and retreated to Jinggang Shan, he noticed needed to win the hearts of the peasants; therefore, he adapted the Marxist theory and incorporated it into the peasants . Then, as he retreated with the remaining troops, he set his base in the Jinggang shan mountains where nationalists were far. Here, it shows that Mao learned from his mistakes. Furthermore in 1936 during the Japanese invasion, Mao forced the GMD to unite with them to defend the country, and here, we can also see that Mao truly cared for his country and did not just want power. In contrast, the GMD did not truly care for China. Firstly, the GMDs support came from the wealthy city classes and landowners, which was a small population of China. Lastly, the GMD lacked passion and never learned from  their mistakes, for example, in the final battle in 1948, when they were advised to concentrate his forces on the Huai River. The foreign issues were also a crucial point in the victory of the communists. During the Japanese invasions in 1937, the GMD, who were supposed to be in charge of china, conserved his forces for the inevitable civil war, and pinned their hopes of interventions of foreign powers to defeat Japan . Moreover, as the GMD is dealing with the Japanese invasions, it gave chance to the CCP to gain popularity, strengthen their armies, and give them time to expand in general. By 1945, party membership gained from 100,000 to 1.2 millionOther factors such as the ideology and the personalities of the Mao and Chiang played an important role in the victory of the Communists. In the ideology of communism by Marx, they were just supposed spread communism, but later, it was adapted by Mao to suit chinas conditions, focused on the peasantry as the main revolutionary force, instead of the workers. Meanwhile, the Nationalists did not remain to their original ideology, which was the three principles peoples livelihood, democracy and nationalism. For example, when Chiang gave the warlords a position in the government to develop urban areas, he ignored peoples livelihood. During the Japanese invasion, he ignored nationalism by relying on foreign aid, and in 1932, he ignored democracy by suppressing the media, books, and the press. Gradually, the GMD lost support and the people favored the Communists. In conclusion, the Communists victory was due to the peasant support, political organization, and their use of military tactics in guerilla warfare. Also, the nationalists incapability of governing, corruptions not remaining to the original ideology, and the lack of passion, leads to the downfall of the GMD. In addition to the foreign issues, the Japan invasions, the Communists truly won not only by forcing the GMD out of china physically, but winning the peoples hearts and minds. At last, the country with the largest population, China, is finally painted red. References Chinese Civil War 1946-1949. (2000., December 16). Wars of the World. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from http://www.onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr45/fchina1946.htmElegant, R. S. (1972). Mao vs. Chiang: The Battle for China, 1925-1949. New York: A Thistle Book. Lescot, P. (2004). Before Mao (S. Rendall, Trans.). 10 East 53rd Street, NewYour, NY10022, USA: HarperCollins Publishers. (Original work published 1999)Marrin, A. (1989). Mao Tse-Tung and His China. 375 Hudson Street, New York 10014, USA: Puffin Group. Meins, B. (n.d.). Chinese history: The Chinese Civil War of 1927-1950 . In Helium where knowledge grows. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from Helium Web site: http://www.helium.com/tm/346350/chinese-civil-happen-momentShowalter, D. (2005, April). Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from LookSmart Web site: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3686/is_200504/ai_n14681639Wood, J., McManus, A. (1998). China Revolutionary Leadership (L. Day, Ed.). 6 Ride Way, Albany, Auckland, NewZealand: Macmillan Publishers. (Original work published 1998)

Tracing The Development Of Indian English Writing English Literature Essay

Tracing The Development Of Indian English Writing English Literature Essay Indian writing in English is primarily a result of the English colonial rule in India spanning almost two centuries. There is an undeniable relation between the literary work and the historical background out of which it arises. In spite of the western imperialism and colonialism the Indian culture has grown incredibly over the past two hundred years. It is a well known fact that the Englishmen came to India on the pretext of trade and immediately realized that a stable political control would substantially increase their profits. The Industrial Revolution in England could only sustain itself through the capital made in the Indian territories in the form of revenue collection. They then commenced to annex different territories in and around India and set up a colonial empire. The British rule completely ruined the agricultural self-sufficiency of the farmers and the trade of silk cloth saw a downslide due to the English factory produced cloth more easily and cheaply available. The we avers and artisans lost their job and had to sustain themselves by working in cotton plantations. The old existing order underwent a complete and systematic destruction and overhaul bringing misery, poverty and death to millions of Indians. After a few years of colonial rule and consolidation, the English empire got embroiled in a hotly debated and discussed issue of introduction of the English language in educational institutes. In a watershed decision English was introduced in the Indian education system, and was understood to be a different epistemological template in which not only the language but lifestyle and culture was imposed. Many reformers especially Raja Rammohun Roy, the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, vociferously supported the teaching of the move to bring about economic reforms that would provide new employment opportunities in the administration that required the knowledge of the English language. A systematic enterprise detailed by Macaulay, a member of colonial Indian parliament, than began in which mimic men were produced through the education system in India, who were a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions who we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.  [1]  The old methods of teaching were made redundant and died a slow death as the earlier system of education was insufficient to cope with the changing social, economic and political circumstances. As it is apparent with scorn and despise towards Indian languages, the sole purpose regarding English was to strengthen their rule and brainwash the colonized; and not to empower or produce scholars. Moreover, the colonizers only had contempt and disdain for the established languages, knowledge, beliefs, religion and educational institutes, labeling them as being irrational, pagan, barbaric, unscientific and immoral. Macaulay articulated the sense of superiority that the westerners felt regarding their culture and knowledge by making a very derogatory and biased statement that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature India and Arabia.  [2]  He believed that an educated minority would gradually educate the others, this concept came to be known as the filtration effect but it remained flawed and unsuccessful. With the introduction of the English language the missionaries got a better hold on the country and political the empire established the notions that it is a benevolent authority and has now taken the responsibility of bringing light in the form of knowledge to the ignorant population. As a result of English education a few writers an d poets converted to Christianity and imitated a style of writing prose and poetry like the English Romantics and classics. The first phase of Indian English literature roughly comprises the half century before the Great Revolt of 1857. This was a period when English education and Western ideas had begun to act as a great liberating force in a country which had been suffering from political instability for about a century. Henry Derozios Poems written in 1827, reflect his reformist idealism and iconoclastic zeal and he along with a few other visionary writers, poets and artistes worked for the eradication of social evils and called themselves the young Bengal. In fact his contemporaries like Michael Madhusudan Dutt had great technical competence and wrote a long poem on the Christian theme of the original sin, Visions of the Past (1849). Krishna Mohan Banerjeas play The Persecuted (1831) showcased the religious orthodoxies plaguing the Hindu society. The colonizers were initially largely successful in creating a class of interpreters between them and the masses. Education as a tool in the hands of the English proved to a great ideological weapon to legitimize their authority in the colonies. Evidently a hierarchy is created in which the western education model encompasses wisdom and knowledge as against the colonized people who are imbeciles. The education introduced was naturally lopsided and it not only valorized English traditions and way of life, it also provided the newly urban English educated a very limited and constricted space for liberal thought. The Indians began to believe that the colonizers had a moral responsibility to fulfill as the country was depicted to be infected by depravity, bestiality and religious bigotry. The evangelists propagated Christianity in schools indirectly by teaching biblical scriptures rather than English grammar. The weaving together of morality with a specifically English literature had imp ortant ideological consequences  [3]  , which would mean that English behaviour leads to a moral behaviour and ultimately the colonizing country ostensibly projected itself as being a guiding light to civilize the colonies. Though the English always had their propaganda and selfish intention intact, a positive consequence was that the Indians had mastered the colonisers language [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] and further, had by the 1820s begun to adopt it as their chosen medium of expression. These pioneering works of poetry, fiction, drama, travel, and belles-lettres are little read today except by specialists, but when they were published they were, by the mere fact of being in English, audacious acts of mimicry and self-assertion. More than this, the themes they touched on and the kinds of social issues they engaged with would only be explored by other Indian literatures several decades later.  [4]   The middle class Indian intelligentsia created by the English for their convenience was never considered as an equal by the colonizers as they were inherently racists. The British defined themselves as the efficient, ethical, hardworking, courageous and masculine rulers of India, they came to characterize Indians increasingly as slothful, deceitful and immoral.  [5]  The English deemed Indians unfit for self-governance and never gave them any important positions in the administration. The partition of Bengal in 1905 falsely done in the name of administrative convenience broke the powerful intelligentsia that had formed in Bengal. The Swadeshi movement that followed brought in a lot of cultural changes and a revival of old Indian traditions of celebration of festivals, theatres and folk songs focusing on national pride and patriotism. The entry of Indian English writing in the English canon is often debated as some of the critics are of the opinion that this genre got an acceptance only in the late 1950s when the Indian writers decided to establish it as a discipline, while others regard the works initially written by Indians in the English language as the real formation of this literary genre. The first novel by an Indian in English Bankim Chandra Chatterjees Rajmohans Wife appeared quite late in 1864 and is his only novel in English, the rest fourteen successful novels he wrote in Bengali. Kylas Chunder Dutts A Journal of Forty-Eight Hours of the Year 1945 (1835) preceding Bankims novel is about an imaginary armed uprising against the British but cannot be classified as the first novel as it came out in a journal. Mehrotra elucidates on Kylas Chunder Dutts work that: Insurrections seems a commonplace idea, until we realise that the idea is being expressed for the first time in Indian literature, and would next find expression only in folk songs inspired by the events of 1857. It is uncanny that the year of the uprising in Dutts imagination comes within two years of Indias actual year of independence; uncanny, too, the coincidence that the work should have been published in the same year that Macaulay delivered his Minute. In a double irony, the insurgents are all urbanized middle-class Indians with the best education colonialism could offer, the very class Macaulay had intended as interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern. Thus, the language of command is stood on its head and turned into the language of subversion, suggests itself as the imaginative beginnings of a nation.  [6]  The revolt of 1857 was a turning point and India became an empire under the British rule, represented by the viceroy. The revolt saw a unification of the warring Indian states against a common enemy. The heroism, valour and courage demonstrated by Indians inspired a lot of folk songs, poems and literature detailing the battle and brutality with which it was suppressed. The possibility of toppling the British rule looked viable but it took a century for Indians to attain independence. The British formulated numerous rules and regulations to stipulate the authority of Indian princely states and other autonomous bodies and gained complete control over India. Censorship of literature increased many folds as the colonizers strictly monitored any writing that was seditious to the British policies, government or laws. Political t hemes were now discussed through literature in the guise of historical novels or romances which glorified the past rulers. Ironically Shakespeares poetry rings true when placed in the context of Indian English writing, in his play The Tempestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..says You taught me language and my profit in it / Is I know how to curse.  [7]   Meenakshi Mukherjee in her detailed and informative essay Beginning of the Novel  [8]  traces the rise of the early English novel in India that was primarily aimed at an English audience and usually began with titles that would pull the attention of the English towards the orients as unlike novelists in the Indian languages who were confident about a sizeable readership within their specific region, the writer in English suffered from uncertainty about his audience. The earlier tracts written by Kylas Chunder Dutt, Shoshee Chunder Dutt among others did not strictly adhere to the demands of novelistic traditions. The later novels written in the century were more obsequious and tolerant of the British rule and many writers wrote praising the empire and paid homage to the Queen through their writings. The only woman writer who wrote in English during that period has now become an obscure figure. Women in that era were not encouraged to get any education and were scarcely taught the English language. Krupabai Satthianadhans Kamala, A Story of Hindu Life (1894) and Saguna, A Story of Native Christian life (1895) detail topical issues concerning gender, caste, religion and other social issues. To the critic Mennakshi Mukherjee the greatest achievement of the canonical Indian English writing is not the awards or critical acclaim won by the writers now, rather the breaking free from The tentativeness of nineteenth century novelists, not only about writing in an acquired colonial language but also about their readership, has been replaced by an overwhelming confidence among post colonial writers that the English language belongs to them as much as to anyone else. The novels of the nineteenth century brought to limelight the social injustices, superstition and the abominable conditions of the peasants and workers that plagued the Indian society. Womens emancipation, education and widow remarriage also became common themes in the novels and this phase is dubbed as the renaissance of Indian writing in English.  [9]  The tradition of novel writing in India is an imitation of a western phenomenon and thus different from most of the earlier writings that engaged in a quest of metaphysical and transcendental knowledge, where the present world is depicted and painted to be a mere appearance. Another luminary figure is that of Tagore who wrote an expansive body of prose fiction, poetry, and songs. His creative ingenuity is unparalleled in either Bengali or English. He conceptualized and started a democratic, artistic and cultural revolution by training young minds in the university founded by him, Shantiniketan, which attracted teachers and studen ts from all over the world. Tagores Gitanjali (1912) is a great lyrical achievement and his prose fiction deals with human condition and emotions, societal norms and also revolution. His works inspired an entire generation of writers, artists, singers, and the common man. Most of his work is in Bengali and is present to us in translation. Besides, the dangerous of considering English Indian writing as national literature especially in western universities is manifold, primarily because it is written by a minority that is upwardly mobile. Text written in English language should not be the only source of highlighting Indian culture and way of life; this would marginalize the importance of the texts produced in regional languages that have their own values and narratives. The accommodation of Indian writing in English in the English canon is a momentous achievement because it provides autonomy to this genre as it is not merged with Commonwealth writing or is merely labeled as an imitation. The polemics of criticism in earlier days refused to accept it as an area of academic scrutiny as it did not proliferate to the degree it has now. Indian writing in English belongs to a particular class of people who are of Indian origin and have learnt the language well to be writers of that language, and those who are able to read the English language and are to an extent more proficient and comfortable in English than in their mother tongues. These conditioning does not makes them less of a writer rather they are experts in explicating the thoughts and lives of Indian characters living in India but not speaking, thinking or living an English life. It requires great talent, insight and exceptional grasp of bilingualism to express in English the lives of people who do not speak that language. Thus we have Raja Rao in his foreword  [10]  to the novel Kanthapura debating: English is not really an alien language to us. It is the language of our intellectual make-up like Sanskrit or Persian was before but not of our emotional make-up. We are all instinctively bilingual, many of us in our own language and in English. We cannot write like the English. We should not. We can only write as Indians. We have grown to look at the large world as a part of us. Our method of expression therefore has to be a dialect which will some day prove to be as distinctive and colourful as the Irish or the American. Time alone will justify it. One of the major reasons for the proliferation of Indian writing in English is the Indians assertion of autonomy in writing their own histories. Bamkinchandras call We have no History! We must have a History! highlights the need for self representation and expression. The mere act of writing and narrating ones past hints at an inherent power struggle because the mode of recalling the past relies on who has the authority to re-create and re-tell the past. The colonizers perspective would naturally differ from that of the colonized. James Mills History of British India (1817) is only one sided and prejudiced attempt at detailing Indias past. To wrench authority and power from the colonizers one has to narrate ones own stories. Thus, the primary novels written by Indians seemed to be historical fiction which went on to be read and gradually merged with the aspirations of budding nationalist struggle. Likewise, the theme in earlier novel was nation and nationalism and it was developed as historical romances depicting the life of a historical figure in a romantic alliance that showcased the glorious past of the Indian nation, for instance, T. Ramakrishna Pillais Padmini: An Indian Romance (1903). By 1930, Indian English literature became a century old yet failed to produce a single novelist who had a plethora of work to his credit. Then three novelists known as the Big Three wrote and published their works that proved to be an epoch making enterprise. Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and N.K.Narayan revolutionized Indian novel writing on an unprecedented scale and brought to fore not only the views and idealism of Gandhiji but also provided a poignant, realistic picture of fellow Indians under the colonial rule suffering acute poverty, social discrimination, unemployment and illiteracy. Further, Raja Raos Kanthapura (1938); Mulk Raj Anands The Sword and the Sickle (1942) and R.K.Narayans W aiting for the Mahatma (1955) deal with nationalism and impact of Gandhism in lives of Indians. Regarding the works of Narayan both western and Indian scholars opine that his novels are deeply traditional, apolitical and humanist, yet at the same time his work is highly representatively Indian in their spirituality. His theme and form has enabled him to explore the minutiae and subtleties of human emotions and feelings and to his ironic vision towards human life is aptly universal. Although, the importance of Hinduism in Narayans work is identified by many, a number of his novels probe the limitations and contradictions inherent in Hindu worldview and identity. In Meenakshi Mukherjees assessment R.K.Narayan falls in that category of novelists who do not indulge in any generalizations about what is Indian and what is western. Their characters are a curious blend of the East and the West which all Indians are but they refuse to sift the elements.  [11]  Natural to the writer of po st independence, Kamala Markandayas novels focus on the changing socio-economic scene. Her preoccupation with the theme of hunger in Nectar in a Sieve (1955) and Handful of Rice (1966) and her picture of uprootedness of Indian villagers on account of the menacing growth of industrial civilization derive their vigour from Gandhis pleading for village economy. The process of modernization is satirized in her later novels like The Coffer Dams (1969) and The Pleasure City (1984). Patriotism, freedom struggles, exploitation of the factory workers and the relationship between the colonizer and the condition of the colonized formed the corpus of Indian writing in English. Gandhiji inspired and influenced the writers and poets immensely and this fact is clear in the way activism and courage was liberated from aggressiveness and violence. The tumultuous political situation of the nineteen thirties due to the civil disobedience movement under the leadership of freedom fighters created a readership that wished to explore and get information about their countrys rapacious plunder and the miserable, starving plight of its citizens. The prevailing nationalistic fervor and political situation witnessed a portrayal in the literature produced at that time. Some writers advocated the Gandhian method of non-violence to attain freedom while the others wanted independence through any means whether it involved violence or not remained immaterial to them. The partition of the s ubcontinent had a prolonged disturbing and traumatic effect on the psyche of millions of Indians and became one of the most discussed, debated and analyzed theme in numerous novels. For instance Khushwant Singhs Train to Pakistan (1956) lead to a significant contribution to the genre namely Partition literature in the canon of English Indian writing. The events portrayed in the novel revolve around the depiction of unprecedented violence, brutality and desperation. The novel captures the mindlessness of communal violence and provides a protest against the Indian bureaucracy. Salman Rushdies Midnights Children (1981) and Amitav Ghoshs The Shadow Lines (1988) deal with the theme of partition in a very different perspective. After independence, the era of hope and certitude got sidelined by an age of self scrutiny, skepticism and an attempt to deal with the ones sense of identity exposed to divergent cultures, Indian and Western. Post independence fiction reflected an anxious reality O n one hand freedom had been won; ostensibly the exploiter had been expelled and the forces of evil were no longer in the land. But on the other hand, writers and intellectuals generally felt that the only change effected by independence was the change in the colour of the exploiters skin.  [12]  Political satire and a growing disillusionment with the current state of affairs were highlighted in numerous novels by writers of different vernacular. Moreover, the theme of partition and the consecutive wars with China and Pakistan created a sense of despair in the literary arena and greatly affected the works of writers. Caste and communalism have become major issues in Indian English writing Mulk Raj Anands Untouchable is read as a remarkable and revolutionary novel by both critics and readers, and in this novel he illustrates the pitfalls of a parasitic casteist Hindu society. The concept of marginalization is a common leitmotif in the novels depicting lower caste people and women. Meenakshi Mukherjee says that A huge social divide exists between those have proficiency in English and those who do not. Given the fact that English today is the language not only of upward social mobility and outward geographical mobility, but also a major tool for accessing knowledge at the higher level.  [13]  One cannot remain blind to the major characteristic feature of Indian English literature, both linguistic and cultural, that its influence extends beyond the limits of any elitist paradigm. Along with marginality a sense of alienation is an underlining concern in numerous novels. Anita Desais Cry, the Peaco ck (1963) focuses on the female sensibility at odds with the male dominated society. Her later novels like Fire on the Mountain (1977) describe the isolation and alienation of man from family and society. Upamanyu Chatterjees English August dissects and beautifully expresses the estrangement felt by the characters in the novels. Iyengars pioneering work in the creation of a history of Indian writing in English opened up new avenues of criticism and these studies have done much to establish the parameters of a discussion of the nature and role of Indian writing in English including its form, its audience and its effectiveness.  [14]  The readership and production of numerous writings both in quality and quantity in vernacular languages in India is by far larger than the English counterpart. One has to assess the readership of Indian English writing which is at best nominal in India, the target thus, seem to be the widely English speaking western world. A few popular novels by Kipling, Kim and The Jungle book became extremely popular but the perspective remained of the white man. E.M.Forsters A Passage to India provides an imperial writers ambivalent attitude towards the other, non- Eurocentric culture and the distrust is palpable. One can argue that the earlier writers of English did write to a Christian western world, explaining almost apologetically Indias pluralism and trying to fit in the constraints demanded by English literature and are accused of exoticisng India to the foreign readers. The readership issue of Indian English literature has assumed dimensions more varied than just simple publishing politics. Even now the debate continues and those who choose to write in English argue that English is also an Indian language and they know this language the best. They are accused by those writing in vernacular of not being in touch with the masses and aiming only for self aggrandizement. Interestingly, a new generation of writers has slowly emerged that does not feel the need to provide a glossary for Indian vernacular terms or the Indian way of life. Desai reiterates the fact that a new generation of Indian writes, addressing Indian subjects and items in a language taken from Indian streets newspapers, jou rnals, and films, and a class of enterprising business who decided they were worth publishing marked the 80s and 90s.  [15]   Now a new emergent prototype of writers known as being the diasporic writers have established themselves. Due to colonialism a lot of people from England settled in different parts of the world and a lot of people belonging to numerous places from each and every corner of the word made Britain and other colonizing countries their home; some of them came as indentured labours or as slaves. Britain and other colonizing countries witnessed a spurt in immigration as they needed labourers to work in their factories or healthcare systems, besides many people came looking for better employment opportunities, income and for studies. Therefore, Diaspora can be defined by emphasizing a sense of collective community that one feels while living in one country and looking across time and space for another. It should be noted that the generation born to the migrants who are now settled in another country, might not have the same emotional and sentimental attachment to the old country. Also the jou rney from ones old country to the adopted country creates a sense of shared history and the difference in language, generation, religion and culture make diaspora spaces dynamic and shifting, open to repeated construction and reconstruction.  [16]  The reason for the inception of diasporic writer can be explained as the massive migrations that have defined this century- from the late colonial period through the decolonization era into the twenty first century.  [17]   Naipauls work on Trinidad did not find readership in America because the critics found it stylistically too British. In England Naipaul was rejected because he was too foreign. In more recent times, however, the conference of the Nobel Prize on Naipaul celebrates the acceptance of the author outside Trinidad. For that matter, R.K.Narayans first novel, Swami and Friends, portraying life in a small south Indian village, enjoyed considerable readership in England when first published in 1935. Ruskin Bonds semi-autobiographical reminiscences of living in and out of Dehra Dun bazaar among Indian urchins appeared in a book form The Room on the Roof (1952), it was crowned the prestigious John Lellwyn Rhys Memorial Prize. Bond made India his permanent home unlike other Anglo-Indians who chose to return back. The recognition awarded to the books coming from different places and elucidating the diverse upheaval, lifestyle and attitude towards life we can assess the fact that readership patter n of foreign literature has seen a tremendous change due to the growing socio-cultural influences of globalization. The linguistic effects of Ruskin Bonds minimalist approach or Raja Raos attempts at making English seem to be natural easily acceptable are positive in the sense that they have gained wider popularity outside the realm of colonial modernity. A common thread binds the variant diasporic writers together they are marked by their hybridity and heterogeneity cultural, linguistic, ethnic, national and these subjects are defined by a traversal of boundaries demarcating nations and diaspora.  [18]  A diasporic writers constant struggle with the past that stressed on ones ancestry and valued the pure over the hybrid or the composite is a highly discussed concept in postcolonial literature.  [19]  These writers have transformed the meaning and dimension of Indian writing in English and have made it more dynamic, accommodating and expansive. Indian writers, like Rushdie and Naipaul, Anita Desai, Shashi Tharoor, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth et al have carved a niche for themselves while residing abroad and writing about the sense of rootlessness and displacement that is experienced because of geographical causes and the problems faced by those who are immigrants, refugees or exiled. Their identity is neither lost nor submerge d by overlapping of multiplicity and diversity. The Indian diasporic writer born and brought up in a post-colonial world [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] have had no reason to feel self-conscious in handling the English language, which carries no colonial baggage for them.  [20]  Most of these writers write about Indian subcontinent and present the vastness, pluralism and celebration of multiculturalism that is now associated with India. Rushdies incisive comment on the migrant sensibility is one of the central themes of the displaced personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the effect à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦has been the creation of new types of human beingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ people in whose deepest selves strange fusion occur, unprecedented unions between what they were and where they find themselves à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦migrants must of necessity make a new imaginative relation with the world.  [21]   The psycho-social predicaments of the self under colonialism and its dispensation of a new worldview bridging the east-west divide after independence are investigated. Amitav Ghosh problematizes and delineates a sense of rootlessness in the character of Ila in The Shadow Lines. Her father is a diplomat and she has been brought up in western countries. As a result, she is reduced to th

Analysis of Robert Graves Warning to Children :: essays research papers

The poet George Santayana once said, â€Å"The subject matter of art is life, life as it actually is, but the function of art is to make life better.† Robert Grave’s poem â€Å"Warning to Children† proves every aspect of Santayana’s quote. â€Å"Warning to Children† speaks of the wondrous, diverse aspects of our lives and our temptations prevents us from experiencing these aspects. Finally, the poem gives readers a warning towards these temptations, and with it, implicit instructions as to how to avoid them and to ultimately lead a better life. Throughout Grave’s poem, â€Å"Warning to Children,† a recurring theme can be observed – that life is full of diversity. This diversity is represented in the poem with the usage of colour, â€Å"†¦blocks of slate enclosing dappled red and green, enclosing tawny yellow nets, enclosing white and black acres of dominoes, where a neat brown paper parcel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This thematic material is repeated several times throughout the poem, and creates an image of a never-ending cycle of colourful, wondrous things. The theme and the image that goes with it creates an allusion of the life that everyone wishes that they have – one that is forever full of different things to see and do. In this sense, this poem reflects upon part of Santayana’s quote: â€Å"The subject matter of art is life.† The image of the perfect, diverse life that is described in â€Å"Warning to Children† does not translate into the reality of life, however. This is realized in the poem when the narrator begins talking about the brown paper parcel, â€Å"tempt[ing] you to untie the string.† With these lines, Grave introduces an aspect of greed to the poem. The poem then goes on to discuss the consequences of being greedy by describing what would happen if one wishes to greedily pursue the never-ending diversity that life has to offer: â€Å"Children, leave the string alone! For who dares undo the parcel finds himself at once inside it, on the island, in the fruit†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This time, however, the word â€Å"enclosed† is used to describe the fact that whomever should dare to undo the parcel will become literally trapped inside all of the colour things without the ability of actually doing anything with them. The message being conveyed here is that despite the colourful aspec ts of life, greed will always be there to prevent one from experiencing them. With this, the poem fulfills the second part of Santayana’s quote: â€Å"life as it actually is.

Acme Productions Human Dynamics Analysis :: essays research papers fc

Acme Productions is one of the largest independent, full service television and video production companies in the country. Acme Productions was founded in 1981 and originally headquartered in Northern Virginia until 1991 when it expanded to a custom designed building for television production located in Washington D.C. With a full time professional staff of over 70 employees, Acme Productions has grown over 220% since the recruitment of a new President & COO in 1998, but in recent years their growth become unstable and profitability figures have started to decline (See Exhibit 1). Acme Productions has been a pillar in the Washington DC production community for over 23 years, offering remote production, studio production, program playback services, production management, editing, graphics production and design, film-to-tape transfer and color correction, audio editing/mixing, original music, video duplication, distribution via satellite, fiber and the Internet. Over the years, the company has invested over 40 million dollars in state-of-the-art technology and facilities. The company’s client base is both vast and diverse, and Acme Productions is known for its creative talent as well as the state-of-the-art technological resources. Acme Productions currently produces several highly rated broadcast television series for several of the top cable networks such as HBO, Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, The Discover Channel, Animal Planet and ESPN. The company’s mission is to offer exceptional broadcast production management services, experienced technical staffing, creative production development and an unsurpassed broadcast production infrastructure. Their goal is to meet the needs of their clients and facilitate their vision from concept to completion. Their clients include major networks, government agencies, corporations, and independent producers. Acme Productions clients leverage their talent, experience, and infrastructure, to create full-scale live events, broadcast specials, and series. Today Acme Productions is known for its extreme f lexibility, efficiency, high quality standards and customer service. IDENTIFYING THE ISSUE Acme Production was a struggling company with low profitability and limited success up until 1998. That is the year that the Board of Directors decided it was time for a change and recruited a new President & COO, Mr. Bill Smith, to turn the company around and take the company to the next level. Mr. Smith quickly developed an aggressive 5-year business plan to turn the company around. This involved sweeping changes throughout the company to introduce and incorporate a new philosophy, technical infrastructure and managerial structure. Mr. Smith was seen as a visionary with a keen sight on the future and an aggressive pacesetting and coercive leadership style (Goleman).

Minority Cultures in Pittsburgh Essay -- Sociology, Culture, Jewish Co

Minority Culture --- Jewish Theme 1 --- Holidays/Traditions There is no way to define someone as â€Å"Jewish† in terms of race; there is no â€Å"Jewish race.† Judaism has a long history; Jewish identity is a combination of this history as well as religious and ethnic variables. There are also several different ways to practice Judaism such as Orthodox, Reformed, Liberal, and Masorti. The Orthodo Jews often follow most strictly the laws and observances of Judaism and will often times send their child to privates Jewish schools at synagogues, therefore it is most likely that I would encounter students that practice as less strict form of Judaism (Chinn, Gollnick p.254). According to 2009 religious affiliation information from the US Census, Pennsylvania’s Jewish population makes up 2.3% of the total population (Table 76. Religious bodies selected data) and according to the Jewish Virtual Library 88% of the Jewish population in Pennsylvania resides in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). One holiday that is uniform amongst all Jewish cultures is Hanukkah. Hanukkah is not considered to be a â€Å"high† festival because it is not regulated in the Torah; however Hanukkah is important to Jewish families because it signifies their refusal to integrate into mainstream culture. Hanukkah has very clear origins. It was first celebrated in 165 B.C.E. when a small group of Jews (The Maccabees) overcame the Syrian oppressors to preserve their culture and way of life and re-dedicate their temple which had previously been taken over by the Syrians. The Syrians sought to destroy the Jewish faith and convert all Jews over to Hellenism (Cardoza p. 83-84). One of the most recognized practices of Hanukkah is the lighting of the eight candles on the... ...e importance of education for children. Many Jewish families will set aside time and money to ensure their children receive a good education in all aspects, including school, religion, and extracurricular activities (Jewish family life and customs: a practical guide). When Jews began immigrating to America they immediately embraced education as the proper path to success and opportunity for themselves and for their children. This is perhaps the reason from the shift in importance of strictly religious studies to the importance of a â€Å"secular† education in the public schools. In a documentary series by David Grubin entitled The Jewish Americans, one Jewish-American woman (Letty Cottin Pogrebin) describes her experience: â€Å"Succeeding academically, are you kidding me, was there anything else? I didn’t feel I had to be pretty or anything else, I had to be smart.†

Explain why Martin Luther King was considered an Uncle Tom Essay

There are a number of reasons as to why Martin Luther King was and still is referred to as an ‘Uncle Tom’ by some. An Uncle Tom is a black man who behaves in a subservient manner to whites. Malcolm X, among many other blacks, referred to King in this manner. Firstly, many blacks at the time saw King’s non-violence practices as being overly moderate and passive. This is for a number of reasons, mainly that the Negro extremists he criticised dismissed his passion for non violence and was charged as hindering the Negro struggle for equality. Many extremists and those who hoped to go about matters more actively saw King as shying away from the real problem and not confronting matters head-on. He was perceived by many radicals as being ‘all talk, no action’ having brought high the hopes of many young blacks, such as in riot-stricken Ohio, and having done nothing to fulfil the hopes. Moreover, Malcolm X considered King as an Uncle Tom because he was adamant on using non-violence as a political philosophy. Malcolm X sat King’s insistence on using non-violence as a principle, as being suicidal and argued that he was an ‘Uncle Tom’ because non violence only makes sense in a situation under which the person has control over. Malcolm X advocated the idea of self-defence and therefore saw King’s idea of inter-dependence as being as obsequious as Uncle Tom. Lastly, Martin Luther King was considered an Uncle Tom because he had similar methods to that of previous authority figures who were also labelled as Uncle Tom’s. An example is Rosa Parks who used passive methods to get her way and so was called an Uncle Tom. Similarly, King was using a moderate approach and so was given the same label as those who had previously gone about their business similarly. All in all Martin Luther King was considered an Uncle Tom due to the influence of Malcolm X, whose more confrontational methods appealed to black youths who were disappointed with King’s failure to fulfil their hopes. Malcolm X’s influence resulted in many other blacks sharing the ideology that King was an Uncle Tom – this together with the fact that previous icons had been labelled in the same way, led to the growing belief that King was an Uncle Tom.

“Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture” Essay

In this early epistle, first published in 1712 as â€Å"To a Young Lady, with the Works of Voiture,† Pope addresses his friend Teresa Blount through the work and name of the early seventeenth century French poet and letter-writer Vincent de Voiture. In this indirect address of a female friend facing an uncertain marriage market, Pope resurrects a writer renowned for his raillery and charm in order to demonstrate the capacity of language to supersede its historical and social context. As a female member of a once powerful Catholic family, Teresa Blount’s only career choice was to marry within an aristocratic Catholic community in decline. Through the mediating space of Voiture’s work, Pope invites Teresa, as well as the reading public, to engage in a literary practice that hastens the arrival of a political community within the confining space of the private sphere. Since Pope re-published this epistle in 1735 as an address to Teresa’s younger sister Patty, it seems clear that he always had a broader public in mind when he made his call for the perversion of the private sphere through language. In the course of this epistle’s double address, Pope evacuates himself as the author by joining the Blount sisters and a larger community of readers. While every letter may imply a wider audience in addition to an individual addressee, Pope’s epistle takes the unification of these two audiences as its subject. In the process, Pope uncovers the potential for an epistolary community to persist beyond the boundaries of the present. From the perspective of this epistle, the subordination of women represents a literary problem whose solution lies in the opening this exclusion provides into an epistolary community that exists only at the margins of early eighteenth century English life. Although it is not clear whether Pope ever sent this epistle to Teresa Blount, its epistolary form demands that one read it as a part of an important female practice in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century  England. While men of this era â€Å"lived gregariously, in the company of their fellows in the coffee houses and inns of the city,† women, particularly unmarried ones, were confined largely to the private or domestic sphere.[1] In coffee houses, inns, and workplaces, men of equal or at least friendly classes had the ability to freely socialize with one another. As objects on the marriage market, it was not considered respectable or pragmatic for women to participate in these â€Å"centers of social exchange† (Perry 69). According to the diary of an early eighteenth century man, whom Ruth Perry quotes in her study of epistolary fiction, women who appear in public loose value on the marriage market since men inevitably â€Å"grow tired and weary† of their â€Å"beauty or other less qualifications† (Perry 69). Without access to the social sphere of life, women turned to writing letters â€Å"which were at once a way of being involved with the world while keeping it at a respectable arm’s length† (Perry 69). In addition to providing a way to privately manage courtship, letters allowed women to constitute a community of acquaintances and friends. With the establishment of the national Post Office in 1660 and the improvement of its service in the latter half of the century, letters became a reliable means for women to overcome the physical absence of friends imposed upon them by custom. The epistolary form of Pope’s poem situates it within a practice that was not only acceptable but encouraged among women of the period. When Pope composed his â€Å"Epistle to a Young Lady, with the work of Voiture† in 1710, he wrote from the perspective of a man feminized by disease and emasculated by anti-Catholic laws. Although the epistle was considered more publicly oriented than a letter in prose and was practiced frequently by writers of both genders, Pope’s marginal status as a physically disabled Catholic suggests the relevance of the female tradition of letter writing to his published epistles. Despite his sometimes virulent attacks on women, most notably in the later epistle â€Å"Of the Character of Women,† Pope’s Catholicism and chronic ill health â€Å"combined to bar [him] from the full enjoyment of the privileges reserved for men in his society.†[2] The exclusion of Catholics from owning property, attending university, or holding public office limited Pope’s access to the public sphere. Unlike other English Catholics, Pope could not escape this â€Å"internal exile† through retiring to rural family life (Rumbold 4). Pope suffered from Pott’s disease, a tubercular infection of  the bone that rendered him, at least in his own mind, physi cally unfit for marriage. â€Å"Less than five feet tall and deformed by a curvature of the spine, he [Pope] was acutely conscious of being ‘that little Alexander the women laugh at’† and refused offers of marriage on more than one occasion (Rumbold 4). In a letter to the Blount sisters in 1717, Pope reports that his friend Lord Harcourt proposed that he marry a relative of his in financial need. Pope declined the offer since he â€Å"did not care to force so fine a woman to give the finishing stroke to all my deformities, by the last mark of a beast, horns.†[3] Pope’s sense of his monstrous appearance highlights the importance of his epistles and letters to women since they represented a form of friendship freed from the immediate concerns of the body. In these written addresses to women, Pope develops a literary practice that exploits the poetic possibilities in his limited position within both the public and domestic spheres of English society. His epistle to Teresa Blount is an attempt to exemplify the strategy that he proposes in heroic couplets to negotiate a subordinate social position through language. After discussing the work and life of Voiture in the first stanza, Pope transitions into a discussion of liter ary genres as distinct styles of being. In the only rhyme break of the poem, Pope speaks of his life: â€Å"Let mine, an innocent gay farce appear, / And more diverting still than regular† (lines 25-26).[4] The break in rhyme between â€Å"appear† and â€Å"regular† playfully marks a departure from the metric structure of the poem in order to reinforce the narrator’s hope that his life appear â€Å"more diverting than regular.† Through hoping that his life â€Å"appear† as â€Å"an innocent gay farce,† Pope introduces a conception of life as a construction that one always performs before a public. Rather than being inherently â€Å"an innocent gay farce,† Pope’s narrator seeks to fabricate this appearance for an audience that will presumably be entertained. As a dramatic form whose â€Å"sole object is to excite laughter,† the narrator’s desire to style himself as an â€Å"innocent gay farce† manifests Pope’s need to control the laug hter that his body elicits.[5] Pope’s conception of life as a poetic object in the second stanza of his poem provides a context for the struggling Blount sisters and the public to understand the notion that the subjection of women is a literary problem. Pope opens his third stanza with the couplet, â€Å"Too much your sex is by their forms confined, / Severe to all, but most to  womankind† (lines 31-32). The smooth transition from discussing life in terms of genre to the subjection of â€Å"womankind† obscures the profoundly radical nature of the notion that a limitation of â€Å"forms† constitutes this state of subjection. Given the context of this couplet, the plural noun â€Å"forms† signifies both the rules of social propriety and the standards of a particular literary genre. The following line, â€Å"Custom, grown blind with age, must be your guide,† completes the effacement of the distinction between these two connotations of form (line 33). â€Å"Custom† simultaneously describes a literary and social confinement that is â€Å"severe to all, but most to womankind.† Pope’s discussion of these â€Å"formal†¦chains† within verse form suggests that his epistle seeks to exemplify a strategy for living within this state of confinement (line 42). In declaring his desire to shape his self according to the rules of â€Å"an i nnocent gay farce,† Pope provides a model for responding to the confining â€Å"forms† of a repressive society. With the personal pronoun â€Å"your† in the phrase â€Å"your sex,† Pope directly engages both his addressee and the public who reads their seemingly intimate exchange. The pronoun â€Å"Your† marks a shift in the poem from the more abstract portrait of Voiture and the narrator’s imitation of his form of life to the more immediate subject of the reader’s fate. Through introducing this personal pronoun in its possessive form, Pope posits a common sense of belonging among its audience to a particular â€Å"sex.† Since the poem culminates in a triumphant â€Å"our,† the phrase â€Å"your sex† at the opening of the third stanza reveals the developing constitution of a community defined in part by its confinement. The caesura in the second line of this couplet, â€Å"Severe to all, but most to Womankind,† emphasizes the increasingly level of specificity in Pope’s imagining of this community. While â€Å"all† may be readers and imitators of Voiture, only a particular sex, â€Å"your sex,† suffer the most from â€Å"severe† forms. The emergence of Pope’s audience as a subject of the poem through the possessive pronoun â€Å"your† raises the question of election which the second line of this couplet appears to answer. The third stanza of Pope’s epistle culminates in a call for this elected audience to reject the role of â€Å"virtuous wife† and embrace a retired community that preserves the â€Å"free innocence of life† through its poetic practice (line 46 and 45). After his transformation of the audience into a part of the poem, the emotional intensity of the stanza  builds into the exclamatory couplet: â€Å"Ah quit not the free Innocence of Life! / For the dull glory of Wife!† (lines 45-46).[6] Pope uses â€Å"innocence† in the first stanza to describe Voiture’s â€Å"wisely careless† and â€Å"innocently gay life† (line 11). In the second stanza, Pope vows to imitate Voiture in constructing a life that appears as â€Å"an innocent gay farce† (line 25). The word â€Å"Innocence† returns in the third stanza in the form an appeal to the reader not to abandon a state of paradise that they already inhabit. The construction â€Å"quit not† situates the reader within a state of purity analogous to the biblical vision of a Garden of Eden. Through opposing this state of moral purity to the â€Å"dull Glory of a virtuous Wife,† Pope suggests that a â€Å"virtuous† life is a confining form made necessary by pride. â€Å"Made slaves by honor,† women pursue the position of wife to achieve the status of virtue bestowed upon them by a patriarchal English society (line 36). The crucial negation â€Å"quit not† implores the female reader to withdrawal from her virtuous and honorable position in society in order to realize â€Å"the free innocence of life† within an epistolary community of friends. Following the emotional climax of the exclamatory couplet, Pope offers a more subdued and prescriptive image of a state of Epicurean retirement. With extensive knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman poetry, Pope is certainly aware that his portrait of a retired life of ease invokes the Horatian notion of otium as well as the related legacy of the Epicurean garden. In response to the tyranny of marriag e, Pope’s speaker advises the reader, â€Å"Nor let false shows, or empty titles please: / Aim not at joy, but rest content with ease† (lines 47-48). A comma marks the caesura in each line after the fourth syllable, which creates a sense of equivalence between the two negations â€Å"Nor let false shows† and â€Å"Aim not at joy.† This equivalence associates â€Å"joy† with the â€Å"false shows† that lead women to unknowingly contribute to their own servitude in their stubborn pursuit of fame. The narrator asks the reader to â€Å"rest content with ease,† or a more stable sense of pleasure founded on a withdrawal from rather than a fulfillment of physical desire. Pope’s conception of a virtuous withdrawal from a life of servitude echoes Epicurus’ advice to his younger friend Menoeceus to reject the â€Å"pleasure of the profligate† and embrace the â€Å"simple life† in which â€Å"the body is free from pain and the mind from anxiety.†[7] In the absence of pain and anxiety, Menoeceus can seek to cultivate a stable  and just experience of pleasure that Epicurus terms ataraxia. Pope’s injunction to â€Å"rest content† expresses the foundation of this state of â€Å"ease† in a withdrawal from the social position of a â€Å"virtuous wife.† In asking his reader to â€Å"rest† or â€Å"remain† within a state of â€Å"free innocence,† Pope reveals the exemplary function of a poem that must show how one accesses this already existing freedom of life. Since Pope makes his appeal for a retired life of ease in a published epistle in heroic couplet form, it appears that his conception of a withdrawn community is not entirely separate from the political sphere. Although he primarily discusses Pope’s later, satiric epistles, William Dowling’s argument that Augustan poets politicize the private sphere through their epistolary practice in fact holds most true in Pope’s early epistles to ladies.[8] â€Å"In a world threatened by fragmentation and alienation,† Dowling explains, Pope resurrects the memory of an innocent community â€Å"by writing not merely epistles but verse epistles, poems in which the isolation symbolized by epistolary solitude is then opposed and redeemed by verse as an institutionalized mode of public utterance† (Dowling 11). From a state of solitude intensified by his status as a physically disabled Catholic, Pope provides his friend an example of how to engage with the public without becoming subjected to it. The formal structure of his epistle â€Å"redeems† his solitude by inscribing the reading public or the â€Å"epistolary audience† as a â€Å"presence† within a private letter to a friend (Dowling 12). While the formal structure of the â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture† undoubtedly addresses a public audience, it interpellates this audience not necessarily as members of a pre-capitalist â€Å"traditional society,† as Dowling believes, but rather as potential constituents of an always possible epistolary community (Dowling 15). As a result of his overly rigid conception of the opposition between â€Å"solipsism† and â€Å"community,† Dowling fails to appreciate that the solitary withdrawal from which Pope writes acts as a condition of his imagined or interpellated community’s possibility. In his epistle to Miss Blount, Pope appeals to the public through his advice to a young lady troubled by her precarious position within the marriage market. He implores her to reject  the role of â€Å"virtuous wife,† which would subject her to a â€Å"tyrant† and obstruct the constitution of literary friendships (lines 46 and 40). Pope’s portrait of Pamela, a young woman who succeeds in the marriage market, in the fourth stanza of this epistle depicts the stifling confinement of marriage as an obstacle to any form of literary self-fashioning. Through the fulfillment of her â€Å"prayers,† Pamela is cursed with the â€Å"false shows† and â€Å"empty titles† o f a successful young woman (lines 49 and 47). Pope emphasizes the paradoxical nature of her accomplishment in the following couplet: â€Å"She glares in balls, front-boxes, and the Ring, / A vain, unquiet, glittering, wretched thing!† (lines 53-54). Pamela’s status as a married upper-class woman allows her to appear at dances, plays, and the fashionable â€Å"ring† in Hyde Park without any damage to her reputation. The verb â€Å"glares† establishes the importance of vision to a couplet that culminates in transforming Pamela into a purely physical or seen object. Through gaining her right to see and be seen in public places of entertainment, Pamela unknowingly submits to her own objectification. By the second line of the couplet, Pamela no longer â€Å"glares.† The list of adjectives, â€Å"vain, unquiet, glittering, and wretched,† appears to simultaneously describe the public venues identified in the first line and the â€Å"thing† that concludes the second. As the wife of a wealthy man, Pamela exists within these public spaces as an â€Å"Ornament,† or a â€Å"proud declaration† of her husband’s ability to â€Å"maintain† her in a state of idleness (Rumbold 1). Although each of these arenas should offer the opportunity for reciprocal gazing, it seems that the power of the male gaze in the public sphere transforms the once glaring Pamela into nothing more than a â€Å"wretched thing.† Without the capacity to look, and hence interpret the world, Pamela looses her ability to fashion herself as a subject. The cautionary tale of Pamela who fails to follow Pope’s strategy of simultaneous withdrawal and engagement with the world would have been immediately relevant to Teresa Blount, the poem’s original addressee. Pope composed the â€Å"Epistle to a Young Lady, with the Work of Voiture† in the same year that Teresa’s father died and it â€Å"became clear that the [Blount] estate could not meet the obligations laid in his will†¦Ã¢â‚¬  for his daughters’ dowries (Rumbold 60). Within a Catholic community that â€Å"felt its persecution most keenly in financial terms,† Teresa’s lack of a dowry that reflected her family noble’s heritage limited  her marriage prospects to men from less dignified backgrounds (Rumbold 58). During this period, Teresa and her sister Patty participated in an epistolary game with fellow Catholic aristocrats that was modeled on the Rambouillet salon of early seventeenth century Paris. In letters inspire d by the charming raillery of Voiture, who was one of the most well-known members of this salon, the eligible children of a persecuted aristocracy practiced the art of courtship. Pope’s portrait of a young woman â€Å"cursed† by the fulfillment of her â€Å"prayers† undoubtedly pleased Teresa since she had only remote odds of succeeding in her game of courtship. As a â€Å"landless cripple,† Pope was not a part of this game and thus had a sense of isolation from the marriage market in which some of his friends were actively engaged (Rumbold 53). In her analysis of Pope’s â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount,† Valerie Rumbold suggests that it was â€Å"tempting† or desirable for Pope to undermine the â€Å"vested interests of more fortunate men† with his scathing critique of marriage (53). While this may indeed have been true, it appears rather cynical to allow this to be the primary means of interpreting his call for a community constituted by a new form of human relations. In the fifth stanza of the poem, Pope conceptualizes the poetic practice that will bring this community of friends into existence as â€Å" good humour† (line 61). Pope reconfigures â€Å"good humour,† which was conventionally understood at the time as exhibiting a proper form of behavior or disposition, into a literary practice of establishing friendships through letters. If the reader falls victim to the marriage god Hymen, the speaker advises: â€Å"Good humour teaches charms to last, / Still makes new conquests, and maintains the past† (lines 61-62). After warning his audience not to trust its â€Å"now resistless charms,† Pope posits â€Å"good humour† as a means to â€Å"teach† or train charms â€Å"to last† (line 59). When read out of context, this conception of â€Å"good humour† may appear as practical advice for a wife who needs to establish a lasting relationship with her spouse. Within the context of a poem framed by an invocation of a dead author, Pope’s reconfiguration of â€Å"good humour† must be read as form of writing that creates a certain temporal confusion. The adverb â€Å"Still† that begins the second line of this couplet emphasizes the lasting quality of writing, which continually establishes friendships with new readers. The new â€Å"conquests† of good humou r occur within the present as a result of its  preservation in language. Following the dictates of â€Å"good humour,† Pope gives space to the past in order to allow it to become the present. Through resurrecting the past in the name of Vincent de Voiture, Pope exemplifies the practice of â€Å"good humour† through which he hopes to constitute a new community of friends. The couplet that follows the discussion of the necessity of good humour in marriage marks an abrupt departure from what may have appeared as practical advice for a young married woman. Pope begins the next stanza, â€Å"Thus Voiture’s early care still shone the same, / and Monthausier was only changed in name† (lines 69-70). The adverb â€Å"thus† equates the preceding conception of â€Å"good humour† as the only means to secure a relationship with Voiture’s epistolary love for his married friend. With the continuity between these two stanzas, Pope seeks to accentuate the literary quality of â€Å"good humour.† Voiture’s â€Å"early care† refers to his life-long devotion, much of it expressed in letters, to the daughter of the noble Madame de Rambouillet. As an untitled son of a wealthy wine merchant and therefore a part of the bourgeoisie, it was not possible for Voiture to publicly consummate his love for Julie de Rambouillet. When Julie finally consented to marry an eligible long-time admirer, the Duc de Monthausier, at the age of thirty-two, she left behind a devastated Voiture with whom she maintained an active epistolary friendship until his death in 1648. The publication of an English translation of Voiture’s Familiar and Courtly Letters in 1696 and again in 1700 created a sensation in England that gave new life to the epistolary relation of these two lovers.[9] Pope gives space to the life of Voiture by first invoking his past love and then allowing him to love again in the perpetually innocent and living field of language. After Julie de Rambouillet becomes the property of the Duc de Monthausier, Voiture’s love or â€Å"early care still shone the same† because he had established a literary bond with the object of his devotion. In the second couplet of this stanza, Pope shifts to a present tense and a plural subject to describe the reanimation of this epistolary love: â€Å"By this, ev’n now they live, ev’n now they charm, / Their wit still sparkling and their flames still warm† (lines 71-72). Pope marks his shift from Voiture’s past with the â€Å"By this,† which allows Voiture’s letters to â€Å"make new conquests† in the name of a loving community in the present. The repetitive construction of the first line of  the couplet emphasizes the presence of these lovers in the present. Pope’s hospitality to the names and hence memory of these lovers allows them to â€Å"live† and â€Å"charm† in the present. The repetition of â€Å"still† in the second line of the couplet reinforces the sense that the â€Å"care† and â€Å"charm† these lovers exhibited constituted â€Å"good humour.† The â€Å"still† attributed to â€Å"good humour† returns to depict the continual warmth and â€Å"sparkling† wit that allows this epistolary love to not only live again, but also expand within the community of the present. In hosting the name of Voiture within his epistle to Miss Blount, Pope exemplifies a form of literary friendship that both preserves and promotes a poetic community. The exemplary nature of Pope’s epistle consists in resurrecting and joining this community rather than unearthing Voiture as an exemplum of epistolary love. From the perspective of Pope’s epistle, Voiture’s letters demonstrate a misplaced desire to physically possess Julie de Rambouillet. In one of his translated letters to Julie, Voiture demonstrates his complete lack of ease with the desperate plea: â€Å"Do not think that our love is a whit the more private, for the pains we take to conceal it; the Dejection which is visible in my Countenance, speaks plainer than anybody can do. Let us then lay aside Discretion which cost us so dear, and give me, after Dinner, an opportunity of seeing you, if you would have me live † (70). Since Voiture confesses in another letter to Julie that â€Å"all my words [to her] will bear a double construction,† his threat of publicly disclosing their illicit love affair should be as at once playful and menacing (70). According to the logic of Pope’s epistle to Miss Blount, the problem with this plea is not the intensity of its passion, but rather the use it makes of the letter form. In her study of the development of epistolary fiction, Ruth Perry notes that letters always gesture elsewhere because â€Å"the climactic events† they discuss remain â€Å"beyond words† (86). While Voiture uses this attribute of letters in hopes of provoking a physical encounter with his loved object, Pope employs his epistle as a means of constituting a community made possible by the physical absence of its members. The impossibility of Voiture’s love for Julie and its resulting confinement within the field of letters explains why Pope chooses to address Miss Blount and the broader public through the work of this slighted lover. As a bourgeoisie man with â€Å"a stature three inches below the middle one,† Voiture was restricted, perhaps against his own intentions, to practicing the â€Å"good humour† of an epistolary lover (21). Through appealing to the internal audience of first Teresa and then Patty Blount with the work of Voiture, Pope interpellates them as his epistolary lovers in the mold of Julie de Rambouillet. In a letter written only a few years after the original composition of the â€Å"Epistle to a Young Lady, with the Work of Voiture,† Pope asks the unmarried Betty Marriot to â€Å"Cast your eyes upon Paper, Madam, there you may look innocently.†[10] Rather than seeking to provoke a physical consummation of his passion, Pope implores Betty to indul ge in a love restricted to the boundaries of the page. In his epistle to the Blounts, Pope further abstracts himself from his addressee by offering the â€Å"lines† of Voiture as a mediating space in which epistolary lovers can meet. The opening couplet of Pope’s â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture† evacuates his self through a reanimation of the â€Å"lines† and life of Voiture. Pope immediately shifts the attention of the reader away from his relationship to the addressee: â€Å"In these gay thoughts the loves and graces shine, / And all the writer lives in every line† (lines 1-2). The preposition â€Å"in† begins the poem through establishing its location â€Å"in† the thoughts stimulated by the work of an author shared by the Pope and his audience. As a widely read writer of letters, Voiture represented an institutional figure that Pope draws on to situate his poem within a space that is irreducible to either writer or reader. Since the â€Å"loves and graces shine† in â€Å"the gay thoughts† that Voiture continues to inspire, this opening couplet configures the entire poem as an effect of Voiture’s work. â€Å"All the writer lives in every line† refers therefore to both the widely published work of Voiture and the particular verse epistle to follow. The association of light with the verb â€Å"shine† communicates a sense of vitality that Pope reinforces with the verb â€Å"breathe† that concludes his opening stanza. In the final couplet of his opening stanza, Pope emphasizes the always  potentially living nature of language by situating his epistle within the experience of reading and thus living with Voiture. The impetus for Pope’s conception of an epistolary community lies in the transformation of â€Å"death† into â€Å"breathe† in the following couplet: â€Å"The smiles and loves had died in Voiture’s death, / But that for ever in his lines they breathe† (lines 19-20). Voiture â€Å"played the trifle, life, away† through an epistolary practice that enabled his charms to exist within a linguistic space that is always potentially living (line 12). Pope establishes a number of breaks in the awkwardly constructed final line of this stanza to isolate and hence highlight â€Å"they breathe.† Since Voiture consecrated his love in letters, it can forever be reanimated by the admiring breath of later readers. In the final stanza of his epistle, Pope returns to the communal experience of reading Voiture in order to triumphantly reveal the power of his loving community in letters. Pope concludes his â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Work of Voiture† with a corporeal conception of reading that appeals to his double audience to join an abstracted or retired community of readers. The affective exchange between Voiture and â€Å"you† in one of Pope’s final couplets offers an image of reading that threatens to dissolve the very category of the reader. Pope writes, â€Å"Pleased, while with smiles his happy lines you view, / And finds a fairer Rambouillet in you† (lines 75-76). Miss Blount, or any other reader, physically reflects the â€Å"happy lines of Voiture† with â€Å"smiles† that mark her material participation in the continuing existence of these â€Å"lines.† Through hosting the work of Voiture within his own epistle, Pope enables it to assume agency within the present. Voiture’s charming good humour returns to interpellate Miss Blount and the broader epistolary audience as a â€Å"fairer Rambouillet.† While Voiture’s desire to possess Julie had obstructed the complete transformation of his love into language, his â€Å"ghost† capitalizes on the distance of death to find an even more innocent love in the eternally available present (line 74). In identifying Voiture’s present reader as a â€Å"fairer† or more innocent object of his devotion, Pope crystallizes the paradoxical logic of an epistle that measures hope by the amount of distance it can establish from the present. Pope relinquishes ownership over his self in order to provide his guest, Voiture, with a space to breathe within the crowded field of language. Through this act of self-effacement, Pope exemplifies the poetic process through which one transforms oneself into a member of an epistolary community. In the final couplet of his poem, Pope announces the coming of a new community of friends: â€Å"And dead as living, ‘tis our author’s pride, / Still to charm those who charm the world beside† (lines 79-80). The shift from the pronoun â€Å"you† in the previous couplet to the collective â€Å"our† marks the accomplishment of his interpellation of a new epistolary community. His interpellation of both Miss Blount and the broader public as readers of Voiture acts as the condition of this community’s possibility since it is guaranteed by a collective ownership over the language of the past. As readers of the same â€Å"happy† lines, these interpellated or called for individuals share an affective bond that allows them to claim a collective ownership over Voiture. Once the interpellated individual acknowledges his claim for Voiture’s always living â€Å"charm,† he can demonstrate this responsibility through the literary practice of good humour. The â€Å"fairer Rambouillet† thus â€Å"charm[s] the world beside† in recognition of the past which she simultaneously honors and perpetuates in her own epistolary production within the present. Pope surrenders all claims to his self in the â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Work of Voiture† in recognition of his place within a community founded by its hospitable relationship to the past. The address of first Teresa and then Patty Blount with this epistle represents an act of friendship that asks these unmarried women to realize the poetic potential within their exclusion from the centers of social life in early eighteenth century England. With his acknowledgement of the presence of a broader reading public, Pope seeks to begin the process of constituting a community in which he can join the Blount sisters as a loving friend. As a community made possible by the confining forms of a fragmented and patriarchal society, Pope’s vision of an epistolary collective necessarily resides at the very margins of life. ———————– [1] Perry, Ruth. Women, Letters, and the Novel, New York: AMS Press, 1980: page 69. [2] Rumbold, Valerie. Women’s Place in Pope’s World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989: page 2. [3] Pope, Alexander. â€Å"Letter to Teresa and Martha Blount,† Alexander Pope: the Major Works, ed. Pat Rogers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006): page 151. [4] Pope, Alexander. â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture,† Alexander Pope: the Major Works, ed. Pat Rogers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006): pages 46-48. All citations refer to this edition unless otherwise noted. [5] Oxford English Dictionary. â€Å"Farce,† Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. [6] Pope, Alexander. â€Å"Epistle to Miss Blount, with the Works of Voiture,† Alexander Pope: Minor Poems, Twickenham Edition, ed. Norman Ault and John Butt (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954): pages 62-65. Although they both claim to have incorporated the 1735 revisions, there is a discrepancy in this couplet between the epistle in the â€Å"Minor Poems† collection and the â€Å"Major Works of Pope.† I have quoted the former in deference to its greater authority and my preference for it. [7] Epicurus. â€Å"Letter to Menoeceus,† Letters, Principal Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings, trans. Russell M. Greer (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1964): page 57. [8] Dowling, William. The Epistolary Moment: the Poetics of the Eighteenth-Century Verse Epistle, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. [9] Voiture, Vincent. Familiar and courtly letters written by Monsieur Voiture to persons of the greatest honour, wit, and quality of both sexes in the court of France, trans. Mr. Dryden and Mr. Dennis (London: Printed for Sam Briscoe, 1700). [10] Pope, Alexander. â€Å"Letter to Miss Marriot,† The Correspondence of Alexander Pope: Volume 1, ed. George Sherburn (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956): page 205-206. Quoted by Rumbold, page 50.