Just answer a question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Just answer a question - Essay Example Secondly, secondary pollutants that from the combination of several gases in the atmosphere to form compounds. To test this hypothesis, researchers need to delve into the history and collect information with industrialization as the focus. Undeniably, industrialization has contributed to air pollution through various ways. This research is not observatory in nature but involves the researcher’s opinion supported by other researchers who have participated in the same research before. For instance, compared to the past decade, statistics reveal a rise in growth in industrialization (â€Å"World resources Institute,† n.d). Therefore, a researcher has to check all developments that go with increased industrialization. There is increased use of energy to process and increased use of automobiles to carry processed products. This means that researchers have to evaluate the type of energy used by industries and their effects on air. Additionally, the researcher will evaluate the effects automobiles have in the atmosphere. For example, automobile in America life and society offers infor mation on the effects automobiles have to the environment in the history of America. Finally, the researcher will make a conclusion based on the management of industrial emissions to support

Public Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Public Finance - Assignment Example The point E shows the equilibrium point where P=Q. Subsequently, this is the point where the Marginal Revenue is equal to the Marginal Cost. This means that the value of the wine produced is virtually equal to the wine not produced hence an efficient output, Solow (1998). In the event where the wine industry is consolidated into a large monopoly firm, the unit price of wine will rise to $ 7 per bottle with 75000 bottles produced. Monopolists are price makers since they do not face any competition. Therefore, the monopoly is at will to increase the prices to $7, a $2 increase. With this effect, their demand curve is price inelastic. Therefore, monopolists try to maximize profits by setting output at the point where MR=MC, Telser (1987). Point X shows the price that is adjusted upwards by the monopoly. In this case, it is $ 7. Subsequently, point E represents the equilibrium where MR=MC with 75000 units produced. In this case, therefore, the output is not efficient since the price is greater than the Marginal Cost. This means that the utility obtained from wine consumption is greater than the utility forwent, Nikaidō (1975). Additionally, the shaded area in the graph represents the loss in the net benefits due to a subsequent reduction in production and utility, Triffin

Selling a product Essay Example for Free

Selling a product Essay The slogan is all part of the brand package for the meddeteranian cruise advert, and it combines with the images created with the use of the swan and Helen of Troy: Discoveries of a Lifetime; the elegent tone and formal vocabulary used combine with the images of the swan and Helen; there is dignity in the seriousness in the vocabulary, but it also insites a sense of adventure and excitement which would make a potential buyer keen to go on a cruise and see the amazing discoveries; it also conveys the uniqueness of the experiences you will have on a Swan Hellenic cruise. It makes the expereinces you will have on a Swan Hellenic cruise seem special, as well as unique, and makes it seem as if that if you turn down the chance to go on a cruise, you will never have the chance again. Once again, however, the Scottish Highlands advert lacks a concrete slogan. Because it doesnt promote any perticular company, and only a product (the Highlands themselves), there is no company slogan to use; really, it has more of a tag; the visitscotland web address; the advert is used to draw people in with its imagery before directing the reader to a resource for more information, rather than selling a product directly to the reader. The most striking contrast between the two adverts is the use of text and tone. The cruise advert uses a personal tone in the style of a postcard (together with a font which looks as if it is handwritten) to give the advert the style ofa one on one conversation between the reader and a friend; the personal style makes the dvert seem as if it has been purposefuly created for the reader and thus makes it seem more relevent to them. The description of the area is also personal rather than it shines like a beacon in the sun, which would be used ina formal desprition, the phrase it shone like a beacon in the sun is used to give the text the feeling of it being a persons despription, enhancing the personal feel. The text is of a relevent size to make it seem legitimately handwritten (and is spaced to achieve the same effect), but it is hugh up enough on the pafge for the glorious, sprawling and idyllic medeterranian scene to be seen in full. The use of we in the opening paragraph affirms the audience the product is aimed at; couples or groups, and also suggestes a shared experience, which the whole party enjoyed; the use of the phrase never knew existed not only enforces the uniqueness of the cruises but also suggest that you will learn and be entralled in the process by going on the cruise. The text reffering to the monks being hoisted up in a basket gives the text even more of a personal feel because it comes accros as a private joke; the final use of humour does what the phrase about the monks does and also makes the reader laugh, hopng to usethe humour to help them remember the advert. The body of text underneath the picture is used to push the cruises themselves. Within the first sentence, you have all the positives of a Swan Hellenic cruise laid out for you with a rheotorical question on the end to make you think about them all; the text also speaks directly to the target audience (couples or groups who want to get away from modern life) with the promise of places off the beaten track and also promises once again that you will learn whilst on the cruise. Having considered the rheotoricalquestion, the reader is confronted with still more of the cruises virtues Havinggiven the reader all the virtues of a cruise with Swan Hellenic in the firsttwo sentances, the text then details how to obtain them all in a plethora of ways, all guaranteed to be easy, quick, effective and hair-tearing free; the use of the phrase friendly team are waiting to assist you conjures up an office full of happy people who will wait for a time convinient to you to assist you in choosing a perfect holiday; another virtue, and only in the third sentence.  Where as the Swan Helenic advert uses an extensive amount of text, the Scottish Highlands advert uses short, snappy and witty (slightly sarcastic) phrases to give it a chic, modern air. The text stands out because of its position on the page and the sentences lead sraight on into each other. The other body of text is small and secreted away so as not to detract from the all-important picture; the phrase make your own entertainment makes use of innuendo and gives a certain allure to coming to the coming to the Scottish Highlands; the useof aquestion directly followed by an answer (Want to come? Go online.) points a reader where to go without giving him or her time to think; its almost s if he or she as nochoice. Those last two sentences are also short and snappy, as is the tag visitscotland.com, which is is easy to remember andstresses that you shoud visit Scotland; the use of an incomplete andshort address rather than a longwinded one also keeps up the modern theme (by missing off the http:// and www. sections of the website address and using something catchy like visitscotland.com and not something like uktourism.co.uk/scotland/highlands/visit_scotland.html the shot and snappy nature of the text is kept going and it is also a stylish ddress.). In conclusion, this study has shown how two adverts selling he same product (holidays) and aimed at a simmilar demographic (high-earning Times readers) can be vastly different. Whilst the Swan Hellenic advert relies on showcasing and using a built up image of the Medetteranian and the reputation of PO cruises the Scottish Highlands advert tries relentlessly to dispelpreconceptions about the Scottish Highlands through the use of modern colours, the internet, short, snappy phrases and a modern sense of humour. In my opinion, the Swan Hellenic is more successful becauseit has a built up image to rely on and fall back on and so the product is easier to sell throgh visual showcasing and the use of language techniques (,etaphor in like a beacon in the sun rheotorical questions), and the conotations of the swan and Helen of Troy to sell its product.

Oil Palm Industry In Indonesia Environmental Sciences Essay

Oil Palm Industry In Indonesia Environmental Sciences Essay Palm oil industry gives main contribution for economic development in Indonesia. The industry is expected to be able to increase the income of a large number of poor in rural Indonesia. However the increasing demand for palm oil will give incentive for Government of Indonesia to increase national production. In some developed countries, oil palm is used as a substitute for trans fats, which is one of the highly saturated vegetable fat semi-solid form at room temperature. Palm oil is cheaper than other vegetable oils (World Growth, 2011). Palm oil from the oil palm (Elaeis guianensis) is being used for cooking and biodiesel, soaps, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, industrial and agro-chemical products (USDA 2010). The growing demand of oil palm in global market especially in the world trade vegetables oil encourages Indonesia to develop oil palm plantation areal. The development of oil palm plantation will be thread for some forest in Indonesia and causing deforestation and biodiversity (Manurung, 2001). Government of Indonesia set of some policies such as the designation of large land tracts to the expansion of palm plantations, decentralizing control over land-use licensing to provincial governments, and subsidizing credit and establishment costs for smallholders to promoted rapid expansion of oil palm area. The expansion which was done by deforestation had significant impacts on forest dependent communities who rely on forests for a wide range of good and services (Sheil et al, 2006, Belcher et al 2004). Oil palm also was criticized of disturbing human health, destroying cultural heritage, destroying ecosystem, and leading to the loss of autonomy and self-sufficiency (Brown and Jacobson, 20 05). All these may lead to social conflicts which were recorded by NGOs (Sawit Watch, 2008). In contrast, the oil palm is considered one of the most envioronmentally friendly oil crops because oil palms are more productive than other oil crops and to produce the same amount of oil are needed small areas than the other crops such soybeans or rapeseed (Arhem, 2011). There are many studies about aspects of oil palm plantation; contract farming, supply and demand oil palm in global market and environmental impact of oil palm. Contract farming in oil palm has conducted by Susila (2004) and Syahza (2004). Susila (2004) showed the oil palm has positive contribution to economic growth. This is indicated by growth of investment, output, and foreign exchange earning. Around Rp. 5 Rp. 11 Milion or more than 63% of household income of smallholder in Kampar and Musi Banyuasin. Furthermore, Oil palm has significant contribution to poverty alleviation (less than 10% off poor people in oil palm communities) and equity improvement (gini coefficient around 3.6).However, Syahza (2004) showed different between plasma farmers income and independent farmers. The different is caused of price distortion, skill, high cost production and monopsonistic market. Rifin (2010) studied about oil palm Indonesia in the world trade. The result show palm oil products from Indon esia and Malaysia are complementary rather than competing. The increase in the world income compared to Malaysia as reflected by higher income elasticity value can give more benefit to Indonesia. Some authors study about environmental impact of oil palm. Obidzinski et, all found the development of oil palm in West Papua (Manokwari), West Kalimantan (Kubu Raya), and Papua (Boven Digoel) has caused deforestation, water pollution, soil erosion, and air pollution and the household survey showed significant economic gains from oil plantations, however these were not available to all stakeholder and were not distributed evenly. The other study Sawit Watch (2008) showed impact of oil palm plantations on the environment in South East Asia is already well-documented. Indonesia is the third highest contributor of CO2 emissions in the world because fires used to clear the land and peat bogs are drained to plant oil palms, releasing hundreds of millions of tones of carbon dioxide. Plantations are one of the main drivers of deforestation in Indonesia, destroying the habitat of endangered wildlife, including the orangutan and the Sumatran tiger. The unsustainable expansion of Indonesias pa lm oil industry is leaving many indigenous communities without land, water or adequate livelihoods, destroyed of traditional costumes and culture and human rights. OVERVIEW OF STUDY AREA : INDONESIA Indonesia is located between 6 ° N- 11 ° S and 95 ° E 141 ° E. It is between Hindia Sea and Pacific Sea, among Asia continent and Australia continent. Indonesia consists some islands, such as Sumatera Island, Sulawesi Island, Java Island and Kalimantan Island (fig.1). Indonesia map.png Figure 1. Location of geography Indonesia, adapted from wikipedia (http://wikipedia.org,Access on 26 September 2012) Since 2008, Indonesia has been the most worlds producer and exporter of palm oil. Aceh, Java, Sumatera and Kalimantan are producer of oil palm in Indonesia. Palm oil industry in Indonesia a main agricultural industry and national economy.It is contributing 4.5% og GDP and employing over 3.0 million people (USDA, 2010). Oil Palm can grow well in the tropics andin the an altitude of 0-500 m above sea level with a humidity of 80-90%. Oil palm requires a stable climate with rainfall, 2000-2500 mm a year, which is the area that is not flooded when it rains and drought when dry. Annual rainfall patterns influence behavior oil palm flowering and oil palm fruit production. The oil palm fruit are small. It is about 6-20 gr and bunches of about 10 -40 kg, which a bunch holds about 200- 4000 fruits (Tengnas and Sveden 2002 in Arhem 2011). The fruit is orange-red in colour that comprises a kernel enclosed in a shell (endocarp) surrounded by pulp (mesocarp) (fig2). Yusoff and Hansen (2007) divided palm oil into three stages : plantation, transportation to the mill and milling. C:UsersErnah TangimPicturesjambi oil palm harvest.jpg Figure 2. The fruit oil palm (in bunches). Source : own picture RESEARCH PROBLEM Various problems faced in the development of Indonesia palm oil from the technological, economic, social and environmental aspects. Technological issues related to the productivity and value added. Weak government policies in the provision of incentives and the implementation of the policy itself will affect the increase in value added and product development for the strongly structure of the palm oil industry. Economic issues related to competitive oil palm product in the international market and resources access. Basiccally, Palm oil has more competitivenes than the other vegetable oils. Oil palm is the most efficient plants that produce oil in the world.It is around 0.25-0.28ha for produce 1 tonne CPO as raw material palm oil, meanwhile soybean,sunflowers and rapeseed need 1.5-2ha for produce 1 tonne oil seeds. Lack of access resources can be a threat to the sustainable development of oil palm estate plantation. To increase the productivity, Oil palm plantation need a good maintenance management and supported by efficient use of inputs, especially fertilizer and harvest handling of fresh fruit bunches. Oil World inside Bappenas 2008, showed the productivity of oil palm around 18-20 tonne FFB /ha/years (3,6-4 ton CPO/ha),meanwhile produktivity of soybean/seeds around 2-2,5 ton/ha/years (0,45-0,67). The emergence of social problems in the areal of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹oil palm development is about ownership, land use and how to transfer their rights. Vermoulen dan Goad (2006) showed the main constraint covers difficulty farmers to obtain capital because it can not qualify for the collateral relationship financing through a bank, a lack of technical development and market information. There is a problem about the uncertainty of land tenure plasma plantations that have been allocated by the government to communities of the village. There is no official document that can be used as legal basis for public ownership. It is only by agreement between the villagers and the company that the company will build a palm oil plantation to the plasma of 20% of the total area of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹HGU (Plantation permits to use state land (leasehold)). The communities of village want the clarity of the status and location of their land because it greatly affects the value of the land. At first, tends to increase the price of land, but increasingly blurring the certainty of status and time of handover of land / credit agreement makes the land prices tend to decline again. The issues of environmental in the oil palm is about deforestation, biodiversity and climate change. Recent times, the transfer function natural forests and peat lands contribute to the negative form of deforestation, land degradation peat, water resource degradation, and loss of biodiversity. Development palm oil is also claimed to be incompatible with the spatial regulation, and there are coconut groves plantations in areas with high conservation value. Regardless of the issue, basically has many oil palm plantation companies while considering environmental aspects in conduct their business and become a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) (Theo,2010). III. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter deals with literature review to provide the necessary context in the current research. This includes literature of theory of environmental aspects. Environmental Aspects In economic the environment is viewed as a composite asset that provides a variety of services, such as provides the economy with raw materials and services directly to consumers (Tietenberg, 2006). An element of an organizations activities, products or services that can interact with the environment called environmental aspects. An environmental aspect describes the relevant issues that management needs to address, irrespective of level of abstraction e.g. waste management, global warming, resource extraction, lack of knowledge about process emissions, toxic material management, and biodiversity (Flemstrom, 2003). In addition, Munasinghe (1993), there are some issues of environmental that are related to global and transnational, natural habitats, land, water and urban industrial areas. In the other words, this is called the environmental system. There are some tools to assessing environmental impacts or aspects which called environmental system analysis tools (ESATs), such as Enviro nmental Impact Assessment (EIA), System of Economic and Environmental Accounting (SEEA), Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Environmental Management System (EMS), Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), Risk Assessment (RA) (Ahlroth et all,2011); Finnvede, Asa Moberg (2005)). Significance of the Study There are many issues in the oil palm production in Indonesia such as contract farming, environmental issues and social issues. Teoh (2010) show the environmental issues are deforestation, loss of biodiversity, climate change and use pesticide and fertilizer. Cahyadi and H.Waibel (2011) studied about contract farming in the oil palm in Jambi. Using the probity model and 245 smallholders who are respondents showed the contract participation significant with age of household head, indigenous, size of oil palm plot, and particular planting period. Overall, contract farming has a significant positive effect on smallholder income; it discriminates against the poorer smallholders. Primadona (2011) argue that the implementation of RPSO PC still have opportunities for companies to rectify their behavior by altering management practice in the palm oil Industry, especially for the countries which have poor implementation of regulations. Companies are forced to fix their management or otherwise risk being excluded from the competitive market for market completion and prospects of oil pam in the future. The researcher remains essential to implement of RSPO standards at the national level. Simon (2006) studied to identifiy most significant impacts of il palm cultivation on land,air and water and examines them appropriate to Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Oil Palm by RSPO. World Bank (2010) showed expantion of oil palm plantation can give positive impact to to local people through employment opportunities, improved infrastructure, increases in land value, and income from cultivating oil. However,it can give negative impacts to environment such as loss of acce ss to land without adequate compensation, loss of the benefits of mixed livelihood strategies, and loss of environmental services from natural forests (e.g., water, game, medicinal plants) and deforestation. Oil palm expansion also yields indirect or national level poverty alleviation benefits through government spending. Basiron and Chan (2004) argue three evidences of oil palm, sustainability: (1) oil palm can be used a vehicle for rural poverty eradication in Malaysia, astedy supplier of affordable food,non-food, biocomposites, nutritional and pharmaceutical products and a showcase for environmental improvment.Study by Obidzinki et all (2012) found that the development of oil palm in West Papua (Manokwari), West Kalimantan (Kubu Raya), and Papua (Boven Digoel) has caused deforestation, resulting ini significant secondary external impacts such as water pollution, soil erosion, and air pollution. Meanwhile, in the social impacts, many stakeholder group (employees,out-growers and investing households) report significant gains that were not evenly distributed. The earlier research has analyzed vulnerability of oil palm farmers to potential shock and poverty in several stages and scheme of contract farming. In the contract farming, there will be a share of benefit and risks each others between the company as nucleus estate and smallholders as plasma. Meanwhile in the second phase of this research will analyze about environmental aspects. Generally,this research will be to assess the environmental implications oil palm development using two plantations sites, namely the Bakri Sumatera Plantation and the Agro Astra Lestari as case studies.Analyze of framework is starting from the adoption in contract farming and its determinant factors than analyze environmental aspects in the oil palm industry. IV. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Based on the problem analysis and literature review previously, we formulate three following research questions that will be addressed in the current research. How are the perceptions of smallholder farmers about the long term environmental consequences of oil palm plantation in Jambi? How to asses the opportunities and constraints of sustainable oil palm management practices? And what are the environmental impacts in the oil palm industry? What is the degree of awareness of stakeholders group in Jambi province about the environmental implications oil palm development? How to develop of a set of policy recommendations to implement a more sustainable oil palm production system? The general objective of this research is to assess the environmental implications oil palm development using two plantations sites, namely the Bakri Sumatera Plantation and the Agro Astra Lestari as case studies. It is anticipated that research will have three major output : A better understanding of the perceptions of smallholders farmers about the long term environmental consequences of oil palm plantation in Jambi. An assessment of the opportunities and constraints of sustainable oil palm management practices. Analysis environmental impacts in the oil palm industry. An assessment of the awareness of stakeholders group in Jambi province to about the environmental implications oil palm development. Development of a set of policy recommendations to implement a more sustainable oil palm production system. V. METHODOLOGY Data Analysis To achieve the research outputs outline above the study will follow some methodology such as household survey, case study and key informant interviews. For the analysis of environmental aspects, applied consistently in Muora Jambi and Merangin for the purpose of comparison. As a first step: existing literature and secondary data about environmental aspects of oil palm plantation will be reviewed. For analysis of environmental aspects, different sources of data collection, i.e. smallholder surveys, focus group discussion, and key informant interviews will be used. Some stakeholders will be selected to represent various actors that are directly or indirectly affected by oil palm industry. The smallholder surveys will be repeated in order to update the information of the 2010 survey and to establish a panel data base. As a new aspect in the questionnaire a module on perception of the environmental impacts of oil palm will be added to the questionnaires. To complement information collected smallholder households and to get additional relevant data FGD (Focus Group Discussion) method will be used. Prior to the FGD semi-structure interviews will be conducted with key government official, company representatives, and civil society organizations to complement t he site specific survey data. Finally, this study will analyze environmental aspects using some econometric models. The data will be used to understand the perceptions of smallholder farmers about the long term environmental consequences of oil palm industry in Jambi. In this research, some questions are the same with the phase-1 research such as age, education, and household information, land and crops, oil palm production, off farm employment, asset, saving, oil palm contract participation, investment and future plan and as addition several questions about knowledge and perceptions smallholder farmers of environmental aspects. This information will be included in the smallholder questionnaires. The respondent farmers will be selected by multi stage and random sampling technique. The assessment of opportunities and constraints of oil palm management practices and awareness of stakeholder groups in Jambi province about environmental implications oil palm development will include qualitative approach analysis. The stakeholders group consist of Ministry Agriculture, NGOs local, Company oil palm, Association oil palm, Ministry environmental, research/academies, RSPO, ISPO and palm oil society. Finally, some econometrics models such as OLS (Ordinary Least Square) will be used to develop of a set of policy recommendations to implement a more sustainable oil palm production system. V.2. Data Collection Location Research conducted on oil palm smallholders farmers in the Province of Jambi since has established a data base of some smallholders farmers, 291, in two districts of Jambi province. A household surveys has been conducted in 2010 in three village in Merangin distric and one village in Muaro Jambi district. Province of Jambi is one of the main estate regions in Indonesia that produces rubber, coconut, coffee, tea, cinnamon oil palm, and cacao. Jambi is located in Sumatra which is still home to the majority of the national palm crop, with 75 percent of total matures palm area and 80 percent of total palm oil production. Jambi is chosen because it is one of the largest oil palm producers in Indonesia. There are totally 159,583 households cultivating oil palm in Jambi. It is noted that 59 percent of them are contractual smallholders and 41 percent are independent smallholders. They are distributed in 9 districts, namely Batanghari, Muaro Jambi, Bungo, Tebo, Merangin, Sarolangun, West Tanj ung Jabung, East Tanjung Jabung, and Kerinci. Generally, contract scheme in Jambi consists of PIR and KKPA scheme. For this project, we decided to select Muaro Jambi and Merangin districts. Locations are chosen purposively representing several stages, schemes, and geographic conditions which promote various problems. Source of Data To obtain the required information and meet the aims, it is essential to combine some methods to collect data. This study used primary data and secondary data. Primary data were gathered through field visits to the research area. The method used was surveyed and in depth interviews. Survey A formalized, pre-coded questionnaire will be developed and pre-tested. The questionnaire will include questions on household characteristics, assets, inputs and output of oil palm production activities and marketing, other sources of income, factor and product prices, credit, contractual arrangement, perception of contract farming and the partner (nucleus estate), and perception of changes over the previous five years and environmental aspects will be spread in two districts for totally 291 oil palm farmers in Jambi. The respondent farmers will be selected by multi stage and random sampling technique. Interview Interview will be done to explore concept, process, problems and players behavior in the oil palm contract farming. It also allows us to obtain qualitative data deeply and comprehensively. The interview will involve stakeholders and key players in contract farming in the oil palm industry. Several key stakeholders will be interviewed regarding the partnership policy in the oil palm supply chain in contract farming including: Ministry of agriculture, The Association of Oil, Palm Plantation Companies, Bank, NGO, and Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Invisible Man :: essays research papers

Invisible Man Books related to Invisible Man Although most ethnic groups do not like to be thought of as different, they do come to enjoy the benefits that come with being labeled as a minority. Affirmative action is a program initiated to try and bridge the gap between white Americans and the minorities that reside in America. In addition, bilingual education is constantly an issue in Southern California, especially when choosing political candidates. In the two books I will be examining, Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, both characters in the stories are criticized by their own ethnic groups for not following the path that their parents have laid out for them. Protag, the main character in Invisible Man, chooses to join an organization called the Brotherhood, instead of a similar organization which is made up of all black men. Rodriguez decides to take a stand against affirmative action and bilingual education, two issues which Hispanics have almost always been in favor of. However, th e decisions by these two characters to go against the values widely held by members of their ethnic groups causes a great deal of tension. People want to question how devoted the characters are to the cause. Both characters went against the norm and made choices which brought criticism from members of their ethnic groups, but their choices ultimately led to the strengthening of their groups culture in society. First we will look at what may have influenced the character’s choices, followed by the designation of being labeled a scholarship boy may have played in their decisions. Finally we will look at what exactly they did for their ethnic group and some of the differences that exist between the two characters. Upon his arrival in Harlem after his dismissal from college, Protag became aware of the two groups that were concerned with changing the social conditions in New York City. The first group was led by Ras the Exhorter and was a much more radical group. One woman was quotes as saying, "His hoodlums would attack and denounce the white meat of a roasted chicken" (Ellison 35). The other group in New York City was known as the Brotherhood and was a much less radical organization which was predominately by white men. These two groups often found themselves in the midst of controversy, both in the public eye and between each other.

Was William Shakespeare an Author? Essay -- Biography Biographies Essa

Was William Shakespeare an Author?      Ã‚  Ã‚   "That every word doth almost tell my name / Showing their birth, and where they did proceed..." Some might say that this quote from Sonnet 76 eloquently expresses the narrator's desire to be heard. This is a normal enough emotion to have. In today's society, people will fight behemently for that right. In Elizabethan times, however, to be heard was not a right at all, but a privilege. The queen, Elizabeth I, had the power to silence any opposition. One could easily see how a verse like the above example could find its inspiration. Some would argue that, with the necessary information, one could just as easily see a darker purpose uncovered, William Shakespeare: Did he exist? There is no doubt of that. Was he responsible for the greatest poetry and prose the English-speaking world has ever known? That, it would appear, is a greater mystery than one would initially think. I intend to search for the answer to the question: Was William Shakespeare responsible for the writing s traditionally attributed to him?    When I first became aware of this debate, I was skeptical. Who wouldn't be? A 400-year old conspiracy theory always invokes doubt, especially one of this caliber. The plays and poetry of William Shakespeare are frequently called the greatest writings of the English language. The Guiness Book of World Records, using only his plays and poetry or the word count, lists him as the man with the largest vocabulary. How then can these works be attributed to the son of a glove maker with no formal education? This is the backbone of the debate raging through the literary world today. Stratfordians, the people who hold to the traditional view, have no real answers. Oxfordians, however... ... Haugen, Peter. (1997, April 20). Who wrote Hamlet? [Online] http://www.sacbee.com/leisure/goingout/theater/hamlet.htm. Kathman,Dave, and Terry Ross. (1997) Shakespeare authorship. [Online] http://www.bepl.net/~tross/ws/will.html Kelly, Kathleen. (1997, April 25). The bard by any other name. . . [Online] http://www.dailycal.org/archive/04.25.97/feat/shakespeare.html McFarlan, Donald, ed. (1990, April). Guinness book of world records. New York, NY: Bantam. Shaking the spear. (1997, February 18) [Online] http://hhs.stcharles.k12.la.us/mypages/devere.htm Sim, Kevin. (1992, December 22). The Shakespeare mystery. Frontline. Stevens, John Paul. (1992, April 4). Shakespeare canon of statutory construction. [Online] http://www.shakespeare-olford.com/stevens.htm William Shakepeare: the complete works. (1998). New York, NY: Dorset Press.

Problem of Evil Essay

The traditional problem of evil emerges when people believe in and argue for the existence of a God who is both omnipotent and wholly good. According to Mackie’s study (1955), few of the solutions to the problem of evil could stand up to criticism. Today, someone suggests an alternative: God is not perfectly good, but maximally cool. By cool he means to be free from tension or violence. Since God is maximally cool, he is not so much concerned about either eliminating evil or maximizing goodness than promoting coolness. This God appears to be logically valid, but this essay will show that the existence of such God is impossible. First, we should ask this: if God aims to promote coolness, why would he bother to create evil? It is clear that evil is not cool, given that evil creates tension and violence. It may be replied that God is maximally cool and therefore creates anything based on his will and is not concerned with what happens to his creation afterwards. This reply is arguing that God created some cool thing which later then turned into the uncool evil. Then, the fact that uncool evil exists implies that God cannot make this uncool evil to be cool again, which contradicts with the premise that God is omnipotent. Secondly, good is also uncool. According to most theists, good is defined to be opposite to evil and thus always fights to expel evil (Mackie, 1955), so that good is in constant tension and possible violence with evil. Though the God in argument is claimed to be not perfectly good, this God is still good to a certain degree. Then he will still fights against evil and therefore is not always cool. This leads us to conclude that this God cannot be maximum cool. This guy in defense of the existence of a maximally cool God might argue that uncool is necessary as a counterpart to cool. It seems natural and necessary to consider why there should be uncool things if God is maximum cool. He might argue that if there were no uncool, there could be no cool either, in that if there were no violence or tension to be created and involved in, there could be no violence or tension to be free from. It might be that out of randomness, God created evil that generates tension and good that engages in tension against evil. To detach from involvement in tension or to destroy tension might create another tension and may incur violence. If God were to eliminate uncool things that he created, he would enter a tension between cool and uncool. Then, it would be uncool to make uncool things cool. Because God is maximally cool, he will not enter such tension and therefore he leaves good and evil as uncool as they are. By claiming that cool cannot exist without uncool, this guy shows that God cannot create cool without simultaneously creating uncool. This sets a limit to what God can do, which involves two possibilities: either God is not omnipotent or that omnipotence has some limits. If it is the first case, then we can deny the existence of a God who is omnipotent and maximally cool. If it is the second case, one may argue that these limits are logically impossibility. However, according to Mackie (1955), some theists hold the view that God can do what is logically impossible, while many theists maintain that God created logic. This leads us to the paradox of omnipotence, where we consider whether an omnipotent being can bind himself. According to Mackie, although we can avoid the paradox of omnipotence by putting God outside time, we cannot prove that an omnipotent God binds himself by logical laws. Therefore, it is a fallacious approach to prove the existence of a maximally cool and omnipotent by claiming that cool and uncool are counterparts to each other. To summarize, if a God is omniscience, then he must know the existence of uncool. If he is omnipotent and maximum cool, he will promote coolness to the maximum. However, we observe that there are uncool things which are against God’s will to promote coolness and which God cannot make them cool. Therefore, a God that is omniscience, omnipotent and maximally cool cannot exist. Works Cited J. L. Mackie, â€Å"Evil and Omnipotence,† Mind, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 254. (Apr. , 1955), pp. 200-212. In Pascal’s Wager, Pascal concludes that rationality requires people to wager for god. He bases his argument on mainly three premises. The first premise is his construct of the decision matrix of rewards. The second premise suggests that we are required by rationality to assign positive and not infinitesimal probability to God existing. The third premise states that we are required by rationality to perform the act of possible maximum expected utility. This essay will argue that Pascal’s Wager does not demonstrate solid prudential reasons for us to believe in God, by showing the third premise is not necessarily true. We consider that it is not in all cases that we are required by rationality to maximize expected utility. In Pascal’s Wager, we pay ‘one life’ to wager for God and obtain infinite expected utility. Paying finite amount to play a game with infinite expectation appear to be at our interests and can therefore serve as a prudential reason for us to wager for God. However, in certain cases, this action could be regarded as absurd and alternatively, and to the contrary, taking intuitively sub-optimal actions would actually maximize the expected utility. For example, the St. Petersburg paradox could be representative of this kind of situations. In the St. Petersburg game (Martin, 2011), we keep flipping a coin until we get a coin. The total number of flips, n, yields the prize which equals $2n. There are infinite sum of flips possible, so we have infinite number of possible consequences. The expected payoff of each consequence is $1 and therefore the ‘expected value’ of the game, which equals the sum of the expected payoffs of all the consequences, will be an infinite number of dollars. Then, intuitively we will be willing to play the game as long as we only need to pay a finite number of dollars, given that the ‘expected value’ of the game is infinite. However, Hacking (1980) suggested that â€Å"few of us would pay even $25 to enter such a game. † If we were to pay $25 for the game, half of the time we receive $2 and one quarter of the time the game pays $4, so the probability to break-even is less than one in twenty five. Still, because of the very small possibility of the number of flips to be greater than $25, the expected payoff of the game is larger than the $25 payment. According to standard Bayesian decision theory (Martin, 2011), we should play this game. Then again, because of the very small possibility of getting high enough payment, it is very likely that we will need to flip a coin longer than our physical possibility. In that sense, it will be absurd to pay this finite amount and flip longer than physical constraints for the infinite expected payoff. Therefore, it is not always true that rationality will require us to perform the act that yields maximal expected utility. In the St. Petersburg game we experiment infinitely many trials which yield infinite expectation. In Pascal’s wager, we have a single-trial which also yields infinite expectation. It seems natural for Pascal to assume that expectation is a good guide to solve this decision problem. However, according to Hajek (2012), we need to take variance into consideration to make better decision, because in this one-time shot, a large variance could lead us to an outcome which is much worse than the expectation. When the variance is small, it is probable to get an outcome close to the expectation. However, the further the distribution of outcomes spreads out, the more likely it is to get a bad outcome, and the less compelling the third premise seems to be. Assuming that the expectation of wagering for God is infinite, we can calculate the variance of the outcomes of the wager. Given the infinitely good of the good outcome and the status quo of the bad outcome, the variance is infinite. In the case of an infinite variance, due to our risk-aversion, we might be better off choosing to minimize variance than maximizing our expected utility. Indeed, if f2 is made as low as possible, the variance of wagering for God would be much greater than wagering against God. If the probability of the probability of receiving infinite good, is made as low as possible, the resulted variance might make we deviate much further away from the expected utility in an undesirable direction. Both cases above could happen, and if they do, we would feel less compelled by our rationality to maximize our expected utility because the large variance could lead us to a situation that is much worse than expectation. To summarize, Pascal’s premise three is not necessarily true. This premise says that we are required by nationality to maximize expected utility where there is one available. However, the St. Petersburg paradox suggests that rationality does not always require us to maximize our expected utility. Furthermore, in consideration of large variance, expectation might not be a good measure of choiceworthiness (Hajek, 2012). Without the validity of premise three, we cannot draw the conclusion that rationality requires us to wager for God. Therefore, Pascal’s wager does not solidly demonstrate that we have prudential reasons to believe in God. Works Cited Hajek, Alan, â€Å"Pascal’s Wager†, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed. ), URL = http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/win2012/entries/pascal-wager/ Martin, Robert, â€Å"The St. Petersburg Paradox†, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = . Hacking, Ian, 1980, â€Å"Strange Expectations†, Philosophy of Science 47: 562-567. According to Pollock (1986), you might be a brain floating in a vat filled with nutrient fluid. You do not realize that you are a brain in a vat because this brain is wired to a computer program that produces stimulation in brain to cause experiences that are qualitatively indistinguishable from normal experiences of being a human being. The problem lies exactly in that whether you are a brain in a vat or not, everything seems to be the same to you. Many philosophers have attempted to prove that you are not a brain in a vat and their approaches seem to be valid. Among those, Moore’s argument and Putnam’s argument are two influential but different approaches. This essay tries to show that you cannot use either of these arguments to prove that you are not a brain in a vat. While going through Moore’s argument seems to be an easy way to show that you are not a BIV (brain in a vat), it is not difficult to show how this approach is flawed either. By Moore’s argument, first you open your eyes and form perceptual knowledge that you have hands. Then you deduce that you are not a BIV which does not have hands and thereby you come to know that conclusion. However, it should be argued in the first place that your senses are not reliable. As Descartes argued in Meditations (1986), while you might form the perception that you are wearing a dress in the dream, you are actually undressed in your bed. The flaw in the logic of this approach can be demonstrated in the following analogous story. You see an empty glass on a table. The glass looks orange and in fact it is. You form perceptual knowledge that the glass is orange. You deduce that it is not colorless and filled with orange juice. You thereby come to know that the glass does not appear orange to you because it is colorless with orange juice filled in it. By assuming that there is orange juice in the glass, you establish that the glass does not appear orange to you because it is colorless with orange juice filled in it. Here the problem is that there is no orange juice and you are trying to prove there is orange juicy by assuming its existence. For the same token, if you are a BIV, then the hands that you perceive are hands* produced by one feature of the computer program. The premise asserting that you form a perception of hands is assuming that you are not a BIV and therefore can form a perceptual knowledge of hands. This is begging the question because we want to prove that we are not BIV. Therefore, you cannot prove that you are not a BIV by going through Moore’s argument. Another famous discussion is Putnam’s semantic arguments. One problem of this approach is the narrow scope of the arguments. Putnam started his arguments by drawing analogy between the mental image of a Martian and that of a BIV. Claiming that Mars does not have tree, Putnam established that BIV’s utterance of ‘tree’ has a different referent from the referent of a non-BIV speaking of a tree. While it is possible that you have always been a BIV since you come into being, so you have never seen a tree that a non-BIV sees. It is also possible that you have lived certain part of your life as a non-BIV and then at some point you are made into a BIV. For example, if you recall in The Problems of Knowledge (Pollock, 1986), by the time that Margot tells Mike that he is a brain in a vat, he has been a brain in a vat for three months. According to Margot, Henry, or the brain in a vat that Mike sees, receives a fictitious mental life that merges perfectly into Henry’s past life. To merge perfectly, the language and its referents that the computer generates for Henry must be indistinguishable from those before his envatment. Similarly, if Mike has been speaking English up until three months ago when he was envatted, his utterance of ‘Margot’ after envatment must have the same referent as the one he had before. It must be that now his words retain the same English referents to the same contents in order to achieve a perfect merge (Brueckner, 2012). This perfect merge makes brain* in a vat* the same as BIV, which means whether you are BIV or not, you always speak English rather than vat-English. Because there are no differences in the languages between BIV and non-BIV, the semantic arguments have nowhere to start in this case. Unless you know with certainty that all BIVs have been BIVs since they came into beings, you cannot use semantic arguments to prove that you are not a BIV. To summarize, Moore’s arguments appear to be an easy solution to the problem of knowledge, but these arguments are begging the question and therefore cannot refute the brain-in-a-vat hypotheses. It seems that Putnam’s arguments are more compelling, but still they fail to rule out all possible versions of the brain-in-a-vat hypotheses. Therefore, you cannot prove that you are a non-BIV by using either of these arguments. Works Cited Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960. Print. Pollock, John L. Contemporary Theories of Knowledge. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield, 1986. Print. Brueckner, Tony, â€Å"Skepticism and Content Externalism†, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed. ), URL = .