Major American Writers Essays - Robert Frost, Frost,

Major American Writers The honored title of "Major American Writer" tends to be ambiguous and ill defined in part because each individual reader holds preconceived notions about what characteristics a writer should possess to be classified as a major author. Every work an author creates combines with the others to form a body of material on which the writer is judged. This class on Major American Writers studied five authors with completely different genres, writing styles, and general appeal. The choice for these particular authors was based on criteria unique to the instructor. Since every reader requires different characteristics, this paper will outline my specific criteria for a Major American Writer and apply those to Robert Frost and Henry James. Frost is a perfect example as defined by my characteristics of a major writer. His work embodies all the features necessary to categorize him as such. While James's work is well critiqued and studied, he does not meet my criteria for a major writer. His work falls short in some of the fundamental requirements. There are four specific criteria by which I define a Major American Writer. The most important for the significance of an author is the relevance of the writings to human nature. Timeless works of literature or poetry connect with the audiences' innermost emotions. The nature of the world is constant change and if the work of an author is not able to transcend the change it will be forgotten or obsolete. One thing constant enough to be the focus of the work is the human condition. Another criterion for a Major American Writer is that the substance of the work must also engage the reader. Writing cannot be effective without an audience. If the author has no impact on people the material written accomplished nothing. Engagement may come about through the entertainment value or intellectual interest, neither being of greater importance. Style as well as substance is necessary when discussing criteria for an author to be a Major American Writer. The technical aspects of a work, such as narrator and form, are important in a work because they are ways to distinguish a superb writer from a mediocre writer. The last criterion for a Major American Writer is the overall impact on literature. Major authors should have the ability to reshape or redefine literature or public thought in some manner. Considerations of the author's contributions to the genre as well as the world of literature are consequential when deciding to include the writer in the category of a major writer. Not every author who is considered as a major writer needs to totally fulfill all the criteria set forth. There are many other considerations that could qualify an author for this honor. These four conditions are simply a starting point for qualification. The first writer I chose to examine is Robert Frost. He expressly fulfills all four criteria for qualification as a "Major American Writer". Many of his poems deal with the innermost workings of the human experience. He beautifully illustrates difficult to explain emotions with prose and poetry. His poem "The Road Not Taken" reveals the conflict between choices made and choices passed. This is not something easily expressed in words, but Frost eloquently makes his point. The second criterion Frost meets is the engagement of the reader. The excellence in his work lies in the fact that anyone can read and enjoy his writings. There are levels of meaning that can be read in a very basic, literal manner or studied for complexity of meaning so as to engage lay readers or scholars. "After Apple-Picking" is as much about picking apples as it is about life and death. Frost's writing style also helps his writing to be accessible and to engage the reader. This writing form fulfills the third criterion for a "Major American Writer." His style of blank verse and unrhymed lines give the poetry a tone of normal conversation. The technique is followed almost continually throughout his poetry revealing his dedication to the technical aspect of writing as well as the artistic. Metaphors are present in his work but not dominating to the point of convolution. They relate to the actual events in the poem and attribute the work a deeper meaning. A lyrical poet with a passive style, Frost allows the audience to decide the meaning of the poem. He attempts not to show too much personal influence on the reader's understanding. Frost's work left a legacy on the world that will not soon be forgotten. A modernist poet, he combined

How to Conjugate the French Verb Craindre (to Fear)

How to Conjugate the French Verb Craindre (to Fear) Craindre  (to fear)  is an  irregular -re verb  thats conjugated like all other  French verbs ending in -aindre,  -eindre, and  -oindre.  This is evident in the conjugation table below that shows the simple conjugations of craindre; compound conjugations that consist of the conjugated auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle craint are not included in the table. Craindre: Conjugated Like all verbs ending in -aindre Irregular -re verbs fall into a few patterns that make memorizing their conjugations a little easier: verbs conjugated like prendre, verbs conjugated like battre, verbs including mettre and all its derivatives, those including rompre and its derivatives, and a fifth group including all verbs that end in -aindre like craindre, -eindre like peindre, and -oindre like joindre. A final group of very irregular verbs, such as dire, à ©crire, faire, have such unusual and unwieldy conjugations that they follow no pattern and need to be memorized in order to use them. The fifth group of verbs ending in -aindre like craindre drops the d in the stem in both singular and plural forms and adds a g in front of the n in plural forms. Other verbs like craindre include:   contraindre   to force, to compel  plaindre  Ã‚  to pity, to feel sorry for Usage and Expressions   Craindre is a transitive verb thats used in numerous idiomatic expressions. It can be translated as to fear, to be frightened of, or to be afraid of. The causative se faire craindre means to intimidate. craindre Dieu  Ã‚  to go in fear of / to fear Godcraindre le pire  (familiar)   to fear the worstNe crains rien.  Ã‚   Have no fear. /  Never fear. / Dont be afraid.Il ny a rien craindre.   Theres no cause for alarm. / Theres nothing to fear.Sa grosse voix le faisait craindre de tous ses à ©là ¨ves.  Ã‚  His booming voice made all his  pupils  afraid of him.Elle sait  se faire craindre de ses subordonnà ©s.   She knows how to intimidate her subordinates.Je ne crains pas les piqà »res.  Ã‚  Im not afraid  of injections.Il y a tout craindre dune intervention militaire.   One can expect the worst from a military intervention.Craignant de la rà ©veiller, il a retirà © ses chaussures. He took off his shoes for fear of waking her up.Je crains de lavoir blessà ©e.   Im afraid Ive hurt her.Je crains fort quil (ne) soit dà ©j trop tard.   Im really afraid its already too late.Je crains que oui / non. Im afraid so / not.Ça craint le froid. Its s ensitive to cold.Ça craint. (very informal) Its a real pain. craindre pour quelquun / quelque chose to fear for somebody or something Simple Conjugations of the Irregular French -re Verb Craindre Present Future Imperfect Present participle je crains craindrai craignais craignant tu crains craindras craignais il craint craindra craignait nous craignons craindrons craignions vous craignez craindrez craigniez ils craignent craindront craignaient Pass compos Auxiliary verb avoir Past participle craint Subjunctive Conditional Pass simple Imperfect subjunctive je craigne craindrais craignis craignisse tu craignes craindrais craignis craignisses il craigne craindrait craignit craignt nous craignions craindrions craignmes craignissions vous craigniez craindriez craigntes craignissiez ils craignent craindraient craignirent craignissent Imperative (tu) crains (nous) craignons (vous) craignez

Catholic scandal

Bishop acknowledges the role of crisis Dallas (AP) - American Roman Catholic bishop started a historic gathering of civilian sexual abuse on Thursday and after their mistake triggered the crisis, Infiltration Photo AP Slide AP AP Photo Slide AP Photo Catholic Church Abuse The controversial audio / video casualties are required to further tolerance and accountability Church (WFAA, Dallas) Bishops, Discussion on Sexual Abuse by Pastor (AP) We will take action to propose a recommendation aimed at reforming the efforts of the Church's abuses. The American Catholic Children Sexual Love Scandal occurred in 2002, and it is reported that many archbishop leaders transferred to a new pastor instead of reporting or demolishing a pastor abusing a minor. The scandal involved almost all of the parishes of American Catholics, including 4,400 pastors and 110,000 children abused between 1950 and 2002. Child marriage is legal in several countries. For example, in Yemen, more than a quarter of girls ar e married before 15 years of age. Just in 2010, a 12-year-old bride from Yemen died of internal bleeding after intercourse. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for a 12-year-old girl from Saudi Arabia to marry an 80-year-old man. Child sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church is a long-standing story that proves that it can be said to be one of the most historical scandals of the century. This is a scandal embodied in Mashiel and embodied in Macheel, effectively destroying the belief and trust that Catholics and Roman Catholics do not have, is the oldest religious institution in the Western world, to the ancient Rome I am back. Times. In addition to the New York Times article Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church: Why It's a Story, countless other magazines, magazines, television stations continue publishing and broadcasting the media on church sexual abuse scandals . Just in 2016, New Yorker announced an article entitled Understanding Catholic Abuse by President Benedict. The C atholic Church is currently suffering from a very serious and serious scandal, Catholic priests and pedophiles sexual abuse. Last year, the Catholic Church had to distribute more than $ 100 million to the resolution of sexual abuse. But when the two Catholic priests in Boston were accused of abusing over 100 boys and young people, the crisis became mainstream. Churches around the world have influenced this scandal. - Cults can be defined as a group of people centered on human religious, social or political ideology (Martin, 2003). This is a sport that respects certain people, uses operation techniques to recruit members and collect funds. Cults require that members fully fund their work and use it to fund the members and provide sexual services for the benefit of the leaders.

Business management - Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business management - Starbucks - Essay Example Information obtained from http://investor.starbucks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99518&p=irol-irhome, also posits to the effect that â€Å"Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sells them, along with fresh, rich-brewed coffees, Italian-style espresso beverages, cold blended beverages, a variety of complementary food items, a selection of premium teas, and beverage-related accessories and equipment, primarily through company-operated retail stores.† The company also sells coffee products and tea through other channels like licensed retail stores. According to information obtained from its official website, Starbucks was established in 1985 and its operations are mainly guided by its mission statement: â€Å"To inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time.† The company also strives to be the world’s leader in production of fine coffee. Its success as the world leader in the coffee industry can be attributed to the differentiation strategy it uses. This report will specifically focus on the United States Segment where the company has its own stores as well as licensed stores. Starbucks is very popular in the US and of notable concern is the fact that its operations are also shaped by trade practices as well as regulations such as North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).The economic forces in the US also shape the operations of the company. However, the US operating segment contributed 69% of total net revenues for the fiscal year 2011. 1.1 Task A: ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS’ EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT This section of the report critically analyses Starbucks’ external environment. PESTEL analysis will be used to analyse the macro environment while Porter’s five forces model will be used to analyse the micro environment. This part of the paper will also identify the opportunities and threats that exist in the external market. 1.2 PESTEL Analysis There are vario us external factors that shape the operations of Starbucks and PESTEL is an acronym for political, economic, social, technological, environmental as well as legal factors impacting on the operations of the organisation and this too is going to be used to carry out the external environmental analysis. The table in index 1 shows the external factors that impact on the operations of the above mentioned company. Starbucks FY11 Annual Report (2011) shows that the company managed to raise the highest amount of revenue of $11, 7 billion from its operations. This is the highest amount of revenue to be generated by the company after the global economic recession that was witnessed in the US around 2007-2009. The success of the company can be attributed to the external factors that are obtaining in the environment where the company operates. As shown in appendix 1, political stability in the US plays a pivotal role in the success of the

Take a filed trip to a toy store or toy section of a sopping Essay

Take a filed trip to a toy store or toy section of a sopping center....... the rest of the question you will see it when i uploa - Essay Example Gender by itself is neutral and does not have any significance other than its biological function until society provided a meaning to it through social construct. In its primitive definition, gender through its genitalia only serves the call of nature to excrete waste from our body. As toddlers, we are not even aware of it nor cared about it because society’s definition and construct of gender roles is not yet imposed on us. Until of course we begin to grow up and begin to interact with her various elements that begun with our parents who call us boy or girl and assign us roles in multitude of ways from labeling us as boy or girl and with it, the expectation and the roles we should play. Thus, we are told not to do this or that because we are girl or boy or told to do this or that because we are a girl or boy as a part of instilling social construct to us. Toys help create and reinforce strict definitions of gender. Toy is one of the implements of society that effectively defi nes to us the meaning and significance of our gender. It helps us to reinforce what should be a male or female through the symbolism and functionality of toys. You can call it brainwashing because it practices to perform the roles and functions expected of us by society at large. For example, girls play dolls because they are expected to be nurturers and dolls serves as a practicing kit on how to perform such role. Boys on the other hand plays trade tools such as cars, helmet etch as a conditioning tool that they ought to have a craft or a job to be a man as a expected by society. These toys have social meanings as well. For the toys of the boys, they convey   Ã¢â‚¬Å"control, strength,  efficiency, competitiveness, toughness, coolness under pressure† (Flores, nd) while for the girls, their toys also orients them about †cooperation, mutuality, equality, sharing compassion, caring,...emotional expressiveness† (Johnson cited in Flores, nd). In a way, social constr uction perpetuates gender stereotyping as it already â€Å"boxes† us into gender roles beginning from our childhood. Such, when one enters a toy store as an adult, one cannot help but be drawn to the section to the gender that we are oriented to. The imposition of society’s social construction of gender manifests when we visit a store because we are drawn to the section of the toys (male or female section) where our respective genders are oriented or accustomed to. These toys however are more than tools of fun. They are also symbolisms of what is expected of us or as our training of the roles that we have to play in society. For example, As a male, one is expected to play only with toys that reinforce his gender role or identities. Role that is expected of him by his peers (which could be very strong if he is adolescent) to be strong, virile, rough and competitive. Thus, he would be expected to play cars, guns, robots, swords or any symbols of the toy that represent an d reinforce his virile masculinity which is necessary for his role in society. Women on the other hand will manifests similar attachment to toys that her gender is oriented to. She may find it uncomfortable to be in the men’s section of toy store and instead will play with dolls that reinforce her gender role. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that social construction which is â€Å"how society groups people† exerts such a powerful influence on us that it dictates

Performance Appraisal Essay Example for Free

Performance Appraisal Essay Performance appraisal is a universal phenomenon with the organization is making judgement about one is working with and about oneself. It serves as a basic element of effective work performance. Performance appraisal is essential for the effective management and evaluation of staff. It aims to improve the organizational performance as well as individual development. Performance is an employee’s accomplishment of assigned work as specified in the critical and as measured against standards of the employee’s position. The term â€Å"Performance Appraisal† is concerned with the process of valuing person’s worth to an organisation with a view to increasing it. EXERCISE : STEP 1: Divide participant in group of 3. STEP 2 : Let them to select upon themselves a manager, an employee and an observer. STEP 3 : Assign each group with one scenario to begin with. STEP 4 : Each scenario will take approximately 5 min to play. STEP 5 : manager and employee has to take part in play and observer has to write down the Observations. STEP 6 : Observer has to focus on following questions – †¢ What worked? †¢ What didn’t? †¢ How did the â€Å"manager† shows caring during the play? †¢ How did the â€Å"employee† react to a caring approach? †¢ Was the manager candid with the employee? How? †¢ How did the employee react to the candid approach? †¢ Did a collaborative effort surface? Describe it? Different scenarios are : Scenario 1 : Was it that important? Manager : You’ve missed the three of those meetings during the last two quarter. Employee : But I thought they were optional. I’ve been missing meetings all week. I never realise it as a problem Manager : Well I am telling you now your attendance is mandatory. But that’s not the only reason you scored low in this category.. You also been consistently coming to work late. Employee : But I am always here by 8:15. The switchboard doesn’t even open until 8:30. Manager : ( Ad lib from here, and see where it takes you! ) Employee : ( Ad lib from here, and see where it takes you! ) Scenario 2 : Are you done yet? Manager : I know you are working hard on this report I assigned, but you keep getting them to me late. I can’t prepare next year’s budget unless I know exactly how much money each contract brought in this year. So you are going to have to get them into me by tomorrow afternoon, Okay? Employee : Sorry, sometime I have trouble prioritizing.. I didn’t realised they were that important. Manager : Well, they are important, and I need your report on time from now on. Okay? Employee : ( Ad lib from here, and see where it takes you! ) Manager : ( Ad lib from here, and see where it takes you! ) In that manner we can assign different scenario to different groups. STEP 7 : Now the manager and employee are going to provide with a paper and they were asked to write down the behaviour of one other in role play. ( In this way manager appraise their employees performance and employee appraise their managers performance. ) STEP 8 : Finally observer has to share his observation with others.

Comparing Maya Angelous Graduation and Liliana Hekers The Stolen Part

Comparing Maya Angelou's Graduation and Liliana Heker's The Stolen Party    Maya Angelou's "Graduation" and Liliana Heker's "The Stolen Party" share a common theme. Each author demonstrates through young girls that life's experiences, especially as a child, teach important lessons. Although Angelou's "Graduation" and Heker's "The Stolen Party" share a distinct resemblance, they also differ. The main similarity is that Margaret from "Graduation" and Rosaura from "The Stolen Party" are both excited about a day that they consider special or important. Margaret's big day revolves around her graduation from the eighth grade at the Lafayette County Training School. Margaret and her entire family are so proud of her accomplishments and achievements. Margaret felt high aspirations for the future and high hopes of all her goals being attainable. Margaret brags: My work alone had awarded me a top place and I was going to be one of the first called in the graduating ceremonies. On the classroom blackboard, as well as on the bulletin board in the auditorium, there were blue stars and white stars and red stars. No absences, no tardiness, and my academic work was among the best of the year. I could say the preamble to the Constitution even faster than Bailey. (572)    Rosaura's big day revolves around a birthday party she was invited to by Luciana. Luciana is the daughter of Senora Ines. Senora Ines is a lady Rosaura's mother cleans for in the afternoons. Despite her mother's initial wishes, Rosaura was determined to attend Luciana's birthday party. Heker writes, "She wanted to go to that party more than anything else in the world. 'I'll die if I don't go' she [Rosaura] whispered" (614). Margaret and Ro... ...ade this little girl come to life with words. Margaret was so natural, so life-like, so truthful. Heker's "The Stolen Party" is a work of fiction and is told in third person. Although Rosaura seems realistic and believable, her character was not as fully revealed as Margaret's.    Margaret and Rosaura were both young girls living in environments where certain things or people were not accepted. Through childhood experiences both girls have learned substantial lessons about themselves and the way others view them that should remain with them the rest of their lives.    Works Cited Angelou, Maya. "Graduation." Literature for Composition. 4th Ed.   Sylvan Barnet et al. New York HarperCollins, 1996. 570-578. Hecker, Liliana. "The Stolen Party." Literature for Composition. 4th Ed. Sylvan Barnet et al. New York HarperCollins, 1996. 613-616.

Entertainment Industry in Mexico

Overview of Entertainment Industry in Mexico By: Jennifer Tarleton Date: November 15, 2010 GEO 111 World Regional Geography Instructor: David Harris South Piedmont Community College TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Actors and ComediansP. 1 II. Singers and MusiciansP. 2 III. Production CompaniesP. 3 IV. BibliographyP. 5 Business is booming for Mexico's entertainment industry. Mexico promotes itself as choice destination for filmmakers, but problems threaten to stunt industry's growth. The entertainment industry in Mexico faces two serious challenges.The first challenge is to generate an environment that the entertainment industry can prosper and second, to protect intellectual property. A stable business environment is vital to the success of the entertainment industry in Mexico. I. Actors, Comedians, Films The history of Mexican cinema goes back to the ending of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th but some movies have rediscovered just recently. The â€Å"silent film† industry in Mexico produced several movies; however, many of the films up to the 1920s have been lost and were not well-documented.The Mexican cinema golden era occurred during the 1940s. The origin of early filmmaking is generally associated with Salvador Toscano Barragan. Toscano compiled the country's first fictional film, titled Don Juan Tenorio. By 1906, 16 movie salons opened their doors to accommodate the popularity of cinema in Mexico City. Actors such as Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, Cantinflas, Joaquin Pardave, Maria Felix, and Dolores del Rio gained their recognition. The themes during these years touched all aspects of Mexican society. The majority of the productions were comedies and dramas.Mexico's most famous contribution to popular cinema is perhaps the beautiful Mexican actress Salma Hayek who has endeared herself to thousands of fans across the world. Hayek is the first Mexican national to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is one of the most prominent Mexican figures in Hollywood. Some of today’s most popular comedians also have Mexican roots. George Lopez is one of the top five highest grossing comedians in the world. Lopez, a Mexican-American, was deserted by his father at birth but was raised by his maternal grandmother.Lopez has received several honors for his work and contributions to the Latino community. In September 2004, George was honored with the â€Å"Spirit of Liberty Award† presented by People for the American Way. In August 2005, Time magazine recognized George as one of â€Å"The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America†. Another large sector of the entertainment industry in Mexico is the adult entertainment industry. The adult entertainment industry in Mexico is worth around one billion US dollars, and employs around 20,000 in direct and indirect jobs.While this entertainment industry produces revenue it also causes problems. Many film stars were diagnosed with various sexually transmitted di seases, including HIV. II. Singers and Musicians Mexico has a rich musical history. Mexico has a musical history that is full of cultural contrasts, with many different musical styles and influences. The popularity of the Mexican music goes back to the 16th century. Mexico's musical tradition shows strong folk as well as modern influences. However, the various music traditions have managed to unite Mexican society into one popular musical culture.Modern Mexico's music lovers are equally swayed by the tunes and rhythm of traditional music like mariachi and ranchero songs as well as by the Latino beats of hip-hop and salsa. The music industry has also brought considerable economic advancement to Mexico-generating jobs, bringing long-term investment and spawning a number of parallel businesses related to the industry (e. g. , recording studios and radio stations). Mexican music is popular in not only in Mexico but also in America and Europe.The famous Mexican American singers and music ians are playing a crucial role in keeping their traditions alive. The Mexican music is lively and offers pure entertainment. The singers like Jade Esteban Estrada, Selena, La Mafia, Roy Benavidez, Freddy Fender, Hector P. Gracia are some of the famous contemporary singers. III. Production Companies Mexico has a flourishing film industry and has produced a number of internationally acclaimed film directors. â€Å"There's no question that Mexico is one of the brightest hopes for the future of our company †¦ It's one of five key global markets. (Sumner Redstone) Redstone is the chairman and CEO of the entertainment conglomerate Viacom. Viacom’s holdings include MTV, Nickelodeon and Blockbuster Video. Redstone is optimistic about the prospects of connecting with Mexican audiences and growing with the market in coming years. Mexico is also building its reputation as a destination for filming. According to Kevin Trehy, executive producer for Warner Brothers Productions, the real value of Mexico being used as a location shoot is that the local community reaps benefits at a rate four times the cost of production.Miguel Angel Davila, president of Cinemex, a national chain of movie theaters, sees growth potential for his business in Mexico too. Many films raise many unanswered and perhaps unanswerable questions about where Mexico has been and where its people, politics, and culture are headed.V. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www. museumstuff. com/learn/topics/Mexico_City::sub::Culture http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/George_Lopez http://latinmusic. about. com/od/countrie1/p/PROBASICS17. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Film_industry

Inflation of Singapore

Bachelor of Commerce (Bridging) Intake 17 Elements of Economics Contents Introduction3 CPI inflation4 MAS inflation5 Private road transport5 Accommodation6 Recommendation7 Conclusion8 References9 Inflation here up 5. 5% in December Introduction Last December, Singapore’s inflation, which is defined as a persistently rising price level, rose to 5. 5 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The author states that CPI inflation is due to the accommodation and private road transport higher contribution. Furthermore, the author also mention the MAS core inflation increased to 2. per cent year-on-year due to the ongoing pass-through of earlier increasing costs. The report from December’s MAS’s Recent Economic Developments in Singapore further supports the author’s article. In this discussion, it could be argued that consumer demand for housing and transport are the major factors, which Department of Statistic Singapore reported, contribute to the increment in inflation . In addressing the challenge of the governments to meet the consumer demand, the paper will mention a few discussions and a recommendation about the issue on inflation of Singapore.CPI and MAS Inflation CPI inflation CPI, or Consumer Price Index, measures the average of the prices paid by urban consumers for a â€Å"fixed† basket of consumer goods and service (Michael Parkin, 2011). In Singapore, the major contributing â€Å"fixed† baskets are Housing, Food and Transport. In total, these three factors are more than half of the entire CPI. Data extracted from the December 2011’s CPI report is using year 2009 as the base period, which is derived from a Household Expenditure Survey.As Singapore inflation rates are published monthly, the Singapore Government is preventing bad or fictional speculations of future inflation. [pic] Source: Department of Statistic Singapore, 2012 Below table showing partial data of Singapore CPI December 2011 |FOOD |2,205 | |HOUSING |2, 548 | |Accommodation |2,002 | |Fuel & utilities 357 | |Household durables |189 | |TRANSPORT |1,553 | |Private road transport |1,166 | |Public road transport |366 | |Other travel & transport |21 | |Source: Department of Statistic Singapore, 2012 |MAS inflation MAS’ core inflation is stated as a smaller amount than the CPI inflation in this article. This difference is due to MAS monitoring a core inflation measure that excludes components of â€Å"Accommodation† and â€Å"Private road transport†. Private road transport Data from Department of Statistic Singapore states that the overall inflation of transport increased 10% from last year’s December with a detailed 12. 2% increment for the sub category â€Å"Private road transport†. Singapore Government controls the number of vehicles on the island via placing a quota on COE.In mid October 2011, the Singapore Government announced that the annual growth rate will be decreased smoothly until end of 2014 as vehicles population is growing faster than the government’s vehicle growth rate (Tony Ng, 2011). With the sharp increase in COE premiums in June and July 2011 (MAS, 2012), car prices surged, therefore defining the 12. 2% increment in â€Å"Private road transport†. As COE supply is tight, private road transport costs will remain firm. Hence, contribution to the increased inflation is not entirely from private road transport, but from the other main â€Å"fixed† basket, Accommodation.Accommodation Singapore’s economy recovered fast unexpectedly, this is good news but with backlash as Singapore’s infrastructure programmes could not keep pace, causing shortage in the housing program (Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 2011). Since property cooling measures were introduced by the government in year 2010, properties firms claimed that the number of deals closed have dropped by 30% compared to a year ago (PropertyWire, 2011). One of the new measures is th at home owners being required to sell off their flats first before qualifying to the higher bank loan of 80% of next purchasing flat’s value.Most sellers prefer buy first, then sell (Eugene Lim, 2011), causing them to disqualify from the higher loan and only facing with the maximum 60% loan from the banks. Now they have to produce 40% of purchasing flat value from their own cash. With such conditions, sellers are commanding higher cash premiums or cash over valuation (COV) resulting in more expensive or inflated resale flats. On the other hand, people who turn away from resale flats, with factor from the supplies of new flats that are slow in completion, are looking into rental accommodation.The other new cooling measurement the government has introduced is the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). It is defined that flats can be only being rented out after five years, increased from the previous one to three years period. As more Singaporeans and other people in Singapore are loo king for completed dwellings, the inflation in accommodation is caused by high demand and low supply. Recommendation [pic] Supply and Demand Graph Source: Irena Asmundson, 2010. Demand and supply curves are charted as shown above.As prices rises, suppliers are willing to produce more and consumers buying less (Irena Asmendson, 2010). In addition, the demand for accommodation is high and the supply is low, Singapore accommodation’s price has inflated. To solve this increasing demand and shortage of accommodation, Singapore government has been producing more HDB apartments. From the key statistic from the Housing and Development Board, there are 43,030 apartments under construction in the fiscal year of 2010/2011, a 20. 8% increased from the previous fiscal year.A huge increase of 68. 6% apartments completed from the previous year further reinstate the government’s effort to lower the shortage of accommodation, but the total bookings for new flats are 17,419, less than h alf the number of apartments under construction. This difference can be defined as a huge number of unsold or surplus apartments as HDB in the market. If this is to be true, the huge number of unsold apartment will lower the prices, causing suppliers to produce less and consumers buying more. ConclusionSingapore CPI inflation rate in December is hugely contributed from the factor of accommodation and private road transport. In conclusion, the increased COE premiums and accommodation shortage can the detailed explanation. The Singapore government has been doing readjustment in the property market and private road transport. With introduction of new cooling measures and building of more new apartments, the government can curb or lowered the accommodation inflation rate. Inclusion with the huge surplus of unsold apartment, the accommodation inflation rate can be lowered to with the demand and supply law.Word count: 932 References Michael Parkin, 2009. Economics. 10th edition. Pearson A ddison Wesley Department of Statistic Singapore (2012, January 25). Singapore Consumer Price Index December 2011. Department of Statistic Singapore. Retrieved from http://www. singstat. gov. sg/news/news/cpidec2011. pdf [Accessed 6 February 2012] Matthew Bishop (2004, April). Economics A-Z. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www. economist. com/economics-a-to-z/i#node-21529397 [Accessed 6 February 2012] Monetary Authority of Singapore (2011, December 8).Recent Economic Developments in Singapore. Monetary Authority of Singapore. Retrieved from http://www. mas. gov. sg/resource/eco_research/eco_dev_ana/Recent_Economic_Developments. pdf [Accessed 7 February 2012] Tony Ng (2011, October 19). COE premiums hit record hit. AsiaOne Motoring. Retrieved from http://www. asiaone. com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20111019-305931. html [Accessed 8 February 2012] Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (2011, August 14). National Day Rally 2011. Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore. Retrieved from ht tp://www. pmo. gov. g/content/pmosite/mediacentre/speechesninterviews/primeminister/2011/August/Prime_Minister_Lee_Hsien_Loongs_National_Day_Rally_2011_Speech_in_English. html [Accessed 8 February 2012] Property Wire (2011, October 10). PropertyWire, Asia. Shortage or resale flats driving up prices in Singapore. Retrieved from http://www. propertywire. com/news/asia/singapore-real-estate-shortage-201110105661. html [Accessed 8 February 2012] Irena Asmundson (2010, June). Finance and Development. Back to Basic: Supply and Demand. Retieved from http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/06/basics. htm [Accessed 9

This Earth of Mankind Essay Example

This Earth of Mankind Essay Example This Earth of Mankind Paper This Earth of Mankind Paper This report is based on an interview of Pramodeya Ananta Toer which explains the background thought processes of his four book series the â€Å"Buru Quartet† however the references taken shall be based solely on the first book of the quartet â€Å"This Earth of Mankind†. Pramodeya says that the idea for Minke the male protagonist of the quartet was based mostly on â€Å"Willem Wertheim† a Dutch scholar, this seems mostly ironic as one of the main antagonists in the novel happens to be the Dutch government and it is against Dutch colonialism that Minke stands up but as Toer says â€Å"He brought out the characters who had been erased from our history. Not only this but also â€Å"I had students pore over newspaper stories from the period and wove episodes into the plot† thus it cannot be said that the lead character was based solely on one inspiration, however we do see that Minke happens to be more ambitious than his fellow countrymen and also has a more enlightened attitude which does have a European or in this case Dutch in nature and hence could explain Toer saying he was based on Willem. We also notice the similarity of the book with the events at the time when Toer was writing the book such as the power of the ruling government to take over private businesses in order to run them ‘fairly† and act as caretakers as seen in the Dutch taking over the Nyai’s business, and we also see the apparent class system and high level of social segregation which was still present in Toer’s time, it also seems that Pramodeya did have a direct source to base Minke on in the form of the Philippine novelist ‘Jose Rizal’ who was executed by the Spanish in 1896 after three years of imprisonment and torture for championing freedom from colonial rule however he does not mention this. We also see that Minke’s main enemy other than the Dutch was Robert Surhoff a man so confused by his own birth that he develops a superiority complex in order to make himself appear better than his fellow countrymen as can be seen by his calling Minke Indo all the time considering the title ‘Bupati’ beneath him even though it was a position of power more than he could ever have this however was one of the numerous people suffering from similar Psychological problems due to the changing time. The idea as Toer says came from an Eurasian gang organized by the Dutch to terrorize the people of Jakarta and this is also pretty much what Robert Surhoff is also doing, another thing that is also most remarkable is the irony of the situation that the very people they try to imitate and please, by harming their own brethren in order to get their acceptance do not treat them with much respect and also consider them below their level. Which can be seen in the novel that the Dut ch born first son of Mr. Mellema is given preference to the property over Mellema’s half Dutch children this concept is a forerunner to the idea of 2nd class or 3rd class citizenship which is still another form of Racism left over from colonial rule. Pramodeya’s inspiration from other works such as John Steinbeck’s â€Å"Of Mice and Men† and the works of Gorky and Tolstoy are quite evident. Pramodeya integrated the running theme of â€Å"Try to understand each other† from ‘Of Mice and Men’ into his quartet as it seems the only way out of the problem that the colonials and the colonialists are facing is if the two groups try and understand each other and Pramodeya in a way is showing what happens when individuals and communities on a whole do not understand the other persons view point and try to assert that they are right or superior over the other. Other concepts also evidently integrated in the novel taken from Steinbeck’s novel are dreams, loneliness, how mans prosperity achieves cruelty, powerlessness, and uncertainty of the future - or fate. All seen in the life of Minke and how he progresses through out the first novel as not only his rise to fame gain him the enemity of his Rubert Surhoff and Mellema but also that of his brother to an extent and also that he dreams of changing not only his life but also the life of his fellow people however in the face of the unexpected events and ‘fate’ he was helpless/powerless. Also from Gorky’s work we see Pramodeya geting the idea of showing the social fabric of Indonesia in the novel and to show the distinctive charecterists of Indonesian people and to give a psychological aspect to the novel.

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Human Capital of Sundale Club Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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