Law and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law and Religion - Essay Example Religions are one of the Institutions of socialisation, having the influence on people and decide how the people think and live. It does not matter what religion you are belong to, the basic elements are same for all religion. The religion organizes its action around certain beliefs, practice and symbols. The religion is formed by the group of people who bearing similar belief and ideology. There are normally laws within the religion that guides the way the members of the religion should behave. Any member of the religion broken the law, it will be treated as sinful, and which leads to punishments some times. According to Ron Kurtus, Religion can be see as a theological, philosophical, anthropological, sociological and psychological phenomenon of human kind. Religion includes survival in harsh, environmental, moral and social rules, overcoming diseases and mysteries of life including life after death. Religion is a large and complex phenomenon. The root of the word religion is from t he Latin word â€Å"religare†, which means being bound. Religion also may embrace a conception of faith. Law is the social mechanism, which is used to maintain the social order. In other words, law may help to maintain the public order, so that the social and legal interactions can occur within the society. The law is a instrument for the resolution of disputes, social problems, security threat and issue in relation ship between individuals. Three basic components are consisting in the human nature; they are to live, to propagate and to dominate. Law is the parameter, which govern the behaviour of natural state of existence by the humanity. Relation between Law and Religion The law is important factor for the religion. The theoretical structure of the law is designed to support the religion and the religion has the impact of the law. The law accommodates, restrict or influence the religion. The law has the major role in maintaining public and social order. The law has also the specific role in relation to the moral order of the society. The law is the instrument for resolution of disputed between individuals without endangering public order. The law helps to the policy makers to respond to social problem. The lawmakers can use their power to exercise their law making power to change the rules to engage with social problems. The law may also been seen as set of rule regulating individual relationship. The law is the important mechanism for controlling state power in particular in securing the rights and freedom of the individual. This is a particular theme in relation to religious rights. The religious beliefs, identity and practices of individual have t he potential impact on the function of the legal system. And also the legal values have a strong influence on religious values. Law is using to keep order, resolve disputes, respond to social problem, regulate social relationship, control state power or empower individuals. Law is important factor in the religion, since it impinges on individual, community and organization. There are so many religion works in our society. The law makes enforce the law to protect the freedom of speech and racism etc. In the world we can see different countries fighting each other due to different religion and belief of the people in those countries. The interaction between law and religion is important for the society. The religion interest of an individual is not more than an explanation for their activities or spiritual needs rather than a distinctive interest of that individual. The lawmakers need to give weight to the right to individual autonomy, which may arise because an individual wishes to reject medical treatment that would be contrary to their religious beliefs. (Peter W. Edge, 17). Law important for Religion Law may be seen as one of many social instruments, which maintain the social order in the society. The law enforce the transition from an endless war of all against all, to a position

Filipinos as Consumers Essay Example for Free

Filipinos as Consumers Essay Philippines is considered as one of the countries with the lowest economic status, thus most Filipinos earned low or insufficient income to sustain their needs or wants. The insufficiency of their income made them to become wiser when purchasing the products. Some preferred to choose products with affordable prices while others stick to their loyalty to a specific brand. Practically, the Filipinos also prioritize their basic necessities than purchasing other unimportant products and they also look for more affordable alternatives. For example, if the price of rice increased and a certain Filipino citizen cannot afford to purchase it, he will switch to the best alternative which was corn. Sales and discounts have huge roles on how the Filipino consumers purchase. Based on my observations, Filipinos were attracted to â€Å"big discounts and sales† because they believe that they could spend less. There are some that they marked the date of their most awaited sale of their favourite products on malls or stores. Some grabbed the opportunity to purchase the products in their lowest prices though they do not badly need the said products. In my personal experience, I am easily attracted to the products with yellow price tag which signifies discounted prices. But I realized that during regular days, the price were the same on the yellow price tags. This simply shows how influential yellow price tags are and how Filipinos were attracted to discounts and sales. Brand names were one of the concerns also of the Filipinos. Though the prices increase on the products of a specific brand, loyal customers will prefer to purchase it. They were not only purchasing the product alone but also their experience from that product or brand. Nowadays, many stores in our country offer and sell products that were imitated from the original brands. These imitations were very affordable but their durability were not trustworthy. The product might be easily broken and the money that you have spent will be wasted. When a consumer bought a fake Nokia cellular phone, a tendency that it will not function very well and it might contain hazardous parts. I prefer to purchase products from a well-known and trusted store because of the assured durability of the product and they offer customer service. Products with good and large packaging invite more consumers to purchase. As a consumer, good packaging has a great impact on me because those products will be noticed easily. Large packaging may give a thought to the consumers that it has greater amount and lesser in price compared to the other products. Smaller packaged products and sachets were patronized also by the Filipinos. To most Filipinos, the small amount of money they spent on shopping, the better. I can relate this situation on my personal experience. My mother always buys shamp oos in sachet because according to her that it would be more practical to buy in sachets. Instead of buying a shampoo in a 90 mL container, the price was lesser and it has wide availability on sari-sari stores. Amount of money was an important factor when the Filipinos shop. It was very common to the Filipinos that we plan ahead or make a list of the possible items to be purchased. They also made some estimation of the possible prices of the listed items. This was one of the ways on how the Filipinos budget their own money. Nowadays, most consumers preferred the local brands because of its cheaper prices. Such as Happee toothpaste, C2 tea, Human Nature products, Champion Laundry detergent, MyPhone cellular phone and many more. According to current reports from ACNielson, the number one concern of the Filipino consumers was for â€Å"health, wellness, and youthfulness†. Filipinos are worried to acquire diseases because of the expensive medicines or treatments that they would spend. Filipinos cared on how they appear physically and give importance on time, the reason for the increase on the consumption of cosmetics, health and convenience products. When it comes to food products, some Filipino consumers checked the â€Å"nutrition facts† that were placed at the packaging of a certain product. Those Filipino consumers were usually the mothers who were very much concern and secure the health of its own family. When it comes to junk foods, I chose the chips with the â€Å"Sangkap Pinoy Seal† because of the assurance that it contains vitamins and nutrients. Children usually hate the â€Å"healthy foods† and would like to eat more sweets and chips. Their mothers were having a hard time on how to feed healthy and nutritious food to them. But the markets today offered products that the children will surely like its tastes and at the sam e time gives them the right nutrition. Advertisements were very influential to the Filipino consumers. Televisions, mobile phones, newspapers, and radios were the mediums used for advertisements. I have noticed in some advertisements that they used one of the powerful or effective people in the country to attract more consumers. Famous actors and actresses, successful people and politicians were usually the common endorsers of their products. With the help of the product endorsers, a great possibility that the sales of the product will increase and will be well-known in the industry. Consumers from different regions may vary because of the influence of their culture and tradition. There are some that prefer to spend less and save more. Others were known to be â€Å"great spender† because their region was composed of wealthy people. Poor Filipinos prefer to stick on whatever available food or thing that they can afford with their small amount of money. Though majority of the status of the Filipinos have not improved, but recent studies showed that Filipino consumers exhibit wiser purchasing habits. This simply implies that most Filipinos today are becoming wiser consumers.

An Analysis of the Sources of Disagreements between David Cole & Attorn

These two articles, one, an address by Attorney General John Ashcroft to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and the other, an article written by David Cole that appeared on the Amnesty International web site, deal with the ethics and Constitutionality of the United Stated Patriot Act. David Cole, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, argues that the Patriot Act violates citizen’s civil rights and unfairly imprisons innocent individuals. Attorney General John Ashcroft counters that the Patriot Act is justified as a preventive measure to aid in the war on terrorism. Differences in Facts/Interpretation of Facts Both authors try to put an exact number on the number of individuals that have been detained sine the inception of the Patriot Act to suit their respective arguments. David Cole states that the Justice Department had the number at 1,147 less than two months into the Justice Department’s investigation. The Justice Department, according to Cole, reportedly â€Å"responded by simply stopping its practice of announcing the running tally† (p3) due to â€Å"mounting criticism over the scope of the roundup†. (p3) Attorney General John Ashcroft gives a substantially lower number of individuals. In three month’s time, he states that 60 individuals had been placed into federal custody, and that 563 have been detained due to immigration violations. (p17) Attorney General John Ashcroft states that the Patriot Act is Constitutionally sound, and that he and the Justice Departmen...

Escape by W.S. Maugham

â€Å"ESCAPE† By William Somerset Maugham The text under interpretation is â€Å"Escape† by William Somerset Maugham. W. S. Maugham was a well-known English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was the son of a British diplomat. He was educated at King`s school in Canterbury, studied painting in Paris, went to Heidelberg University in Germany and studied to be a doctor at St. Thomas Hospital in England. So, he put his hand in different activities and that`s why he is versatile and experienced person. S.Maugham was critical of the morals, the narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy of bourgeois society. Such novels as â€Å"Of Human Bondage†, â€Å"The Moon and the Sixpence†, â€Å"The Theatre† and others came under his pen. He was also the master of the short story. Among them are: â€Å"Colonel’s Lady†, â€Å"Friend in Need†, â€Å"Lion’s Skin†, etc. S. Maugham was among the most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s. Maugham’s style of writing is clear and precise. He doesn`t impose his views on the reader. He puts a question and leaves it to the reader to answer.I also like his revealing the weak sides and vices of human nature skilfully. His books are chatty and easy to read. This is clearly viewed from the given extract. â€Å"Escape† is a story about common people in common situation, and Maugham manages to tell it with the sense of humour and in a very interesting way. The essence of â€Å"The Escape†, to my mind, is that Roger and Ruth have diverse approaches towards the relations. Of course, the men and the women like the first step: flowers, attentiveness, passion. But then their paths diverge.The romance disappears, the man looks for the way out, he craves for new emotions, but the woman deems that the relations should develop into the marriage. And â€Å"The Escape† is the example of such a mismatch. The story can be logically divided into four main parts: the exposition, passages about Ruth’s and Roger’s love, Roger falls out of love and the break-up. The story has a straight line narrative structure with author’s digressions at the beginning. I think that the beginning of the story serves as its subject matter, where the author recounts his point of view on marriage.He convinces us that if a woman once made her mind to marry a man nothing but instant flight could save him. As an example he told a case, which happened with one of his friends, who seeing the inevitable marriage menacing before him, took ship and spent a year traveling round the world. He hoped the woman would forget him, but was mistaken. When he got back thinking himself safe, the woman, from whom he had fled, was waiting for him on the quay. This funny thing supports the idea that the inevitable loom of the marriage frightens some men and they try to avoid it.It should be mentioned, that he de scribes that awkward situation very skilfully and in a very ironical way. It could be confirmed by some cases of irony, used by the narrator – â€Å"instant flight† and â€Å"inevitable loom menacing before him†, â€Å"escaped with only a toothbrush for all his luggage†, which show us fear and trembling of men before the difficulties of the marriage. Maugham establishes realistic setting to his piece of writing. As the author uses the first-person narrative structure we can guess that the narrator is the secondary character of the story.The main ones here are Roger Charing and Ruth Barlow. To describe them, Maugham uses the direct characterization. For example, he gives it when speaks about of Ruth’s eyes using the epithets (â€Å"splendid†, â€Å"moving†, â€Å"big and lovely†), a detached epithet (â€Å"poor dear†) – all in the ironic way. Further on the narrator says that he knows only one man who escaped succe ssfully. Once upon a time his friend, Roger Charing told him he was going to marry. Roger was tall and handsome, rich, experienced middle-aged man. Of course, many women wanted to marry him.But he was happy to live the life of an unmarried man: the epithets â€Å"sufficient experience†, â€Å"careful† give the direct description of his lifestyle. But then he met Ruth Barlow. He fell in love with her. He immediately wanted to look after her and make her happy. Ruth was twice a widow, she was younger than Roger. She was quite good-looking and she had big, beautiful, dark eyes and she had the gift of pathos. When a man saw those big, sad eyes, he wanted to help Ruth. The epithet â€Å"defenceless† expose the power of her look.It was Ruth’s mode to get what she wanted because she had no other means (money for instance). This â€Å"gift† helped Ruth to reach her goals. The metaphor â€Å"the gift of pathos†, the epithets â€Å"splendid dark eyes †, â€Å"the most moving eyes†, â€Å"big and lovely eyes† and the repetition of the word â€Å"eyes† make us pay our attention to this peculiarity. And Ruth made her mind to marry Roger: he was rich, considerate, and tactful and was glad to take care of her, so he was the best variant for her. He didn’t let down and made a proposal of marriage to her and they were going to marry as soon as ossible. While reading we came across a lot of pure literary words (gift, splendid, wonderful, hazards, sadness, lovely) and some cliches (â€Å"the world was too much for her†, â€Å"stand between the hazards of life and this helpless little thing†, â€Å"how wonderful it would be to take the sadness out of those big and lovely eyes†) which are peculiar to the description of ordinary situations concerning love affairs, so we see what kind of story â€Å"The Escape† is. The narrator provokes us to perceive it ironically.Through Rogerâ €™s vision, Ruth was very unlucky. Indeed, she seemed to be very miserable, everything was wrong with her. If she married a husband he beat her; if she employed a broker he cheated her; if she engaged a cook she drank. She never had a little lamb but it was sure to die. We can observe hopelessness of Ruth’s life through the epithets â€Å"helpless little thing†, â€Å"rotten time†, â€Å"unfortunate†, â€Å"poor dear†, the metaphor â€Å"a little lamb†, parallel constructions â€Å"if she married†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and pure literary words such as â€Å"sufferings†, â€Å"hazards†, â€Å"sadness†.Roger took an interest in her destiny and was ready to relieve it: the repetition of the pronouns â€Å"she† and â€Å"her† in Roger’s speech, the epithet â€Å"dreadfully sorry† prove my assumption. The epithets â€Å"very happy† and â€Å"pleased† make us believe that it wasn’t a nuisance for him. But according to the narrator’s opinion, Ruth was two-faced woman of few ideas: he called her stupid and scheming. This epithets, the simile â€Å"as hard as nails† add some points to her description, so it again proves that the method of character-drawing here is direct.We see two people, Roger and Ruth, as the future family, so this is the idea of this extract of the text. The author describes the first part of their relations which were rather standard. As thousands of men and women, they met, fell in love and decided to be together. But then, on a sudden, Roger fell out of love. This was the second part of their relations. There was no evident reason. Perhaps, his heart-strings were no longer touched by Ruth’s pathetic look. Roger became acutely conscious that Ruth had a mind to marry him. He gave a solemn oath that nothing would induce him to marry Ruth.But he was in a quandary. He was aware that Ruth would assess her feelings at an immod erately high figure if he asked her to release him. Besides, he didn’t want people to say that he jilted a woman. The epithets â€Å"acutely conscious†, â€Å"a solemn oath† and â€Å"an immoderately high figure† stress the importance, significance of his decision; as to the epithet â€Å"pathetic look† and the metaphor â€Å"heart-strings† (at the same time it is a cliche), they produce the humorous effect. Falling out of love is the most terrible thing I can imagine.Recently it was an acute pleasure for Roger to do everything for Ruth. He was charmed, but, as I suppose, it wasn’t a serious and profound feeling – Roger lost it too easily. It is obvious Ruth was a narrow-minded woman and she didn’t really love Roger. But there are some arguments to be said in her defence, she lonely and wanted to be protected. Probably she would be a good wife. The repetition of the expression â€Å"to have a mind to† reveals the conflict of Roger’s and Ruth’s interests. Ruth desired to have relations of long duration – she cried for the moon.On the contrary, Roger wanted to escape with no loss. And again we are the witnesses of the usual continuation of the love story. It’s rather banal. Roger kept his own counsel; he remained attentive to all her wishes. It was decided that they would be married as soon as they found a suitable house. Roger applied to the agents and visited with Ruth house after house. It was very hard to find a satisfactory one. Sometimes houses were too large, sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy, sometimes they were too airy.The idea is that only such dishonest, shabby act as the flat-chase tactics seemed to be appropriate for Roger. I think, it was like a committing a crime. Roger’s behaviour wasn’t fair, it was even disgraceful, but unfortunately such conduct is not uncommon, the m en trick the women very often, because their attitude towards the relations differs. Parallel constructions â€Å"sometimes they were too large, sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy†, the metaphor â€Å"house-hunting†, the epithet â€Å"innumerable kitchens† describe Roger’s scheme of the trouble-free parting.Firstly I took Roger’s side, because I consider that each person should have a right for free choice, but then I was sorry for Ruth, Roger tired her out, she didn’t understand what was happening. The epithet â€Å"exhausted† demonstrates her state brightly. At last Ruth revolted. She asked Roger if he wanted to marry her. There was an unaccustomed hardness in her voice, but it didn’t affect the gentleness of his reply. Roger persuaded her that they would be married the very moment they found a suitable house. Ruth took to her bed. She didn’t want to see Roger, but he was as ever assiduous and gallant.Every day he sent her flowers, wrote that he had some more houses to look at. The epithets â€Å"assiduous†, â€Å"gallant† display his dissimulation. A week passed and he received the letter: Ruth let him know that she was going to get married and claimed that Roger didn’t love her. He answered that her news shattered him, but her happiness had to be his first consideration. He sent Ruth seven orders to view. He was quite sure she would find among them a house that would exactly suit her. So, we can see that Roger appeared to be very smart and sly person.He appeared quite cute to predict Ruth’s following actions. When he got the hang of Ruth, he pretended he was still in love very gallantly, until she got the hang of him, and I should say it was a more civilized way of jilting a woman than just to leave her. So, I think the message of the story is that a woman can be sly and scheming, but a man can make it his way also. This story carried me with its eternal intrigue – the war between male and female. We may be in earnest about it or may try to ignore it, but it really takes place and this problem will exist until the end of human history.

Marketing Sample

Canada is among the leading countries in economic production.   Since its industrialization, much has been achieved from the economic sector especially through manufacturing industries.   Butter fat, Sugars and alcohol could not complete diet until when some foods in Ball Park of 100grams of fat per 750ml bottle, cream liqueur was introduced in the market.   The cream liqueur industries sales in seasons where by the peak is around October, November and December holidays which are the perfect holiday treat- permitted during the gluttony of the season. These sale seasons are cut back after New Year resolution kicks in (Bender & Bender, 1995). Yet even in a climate of health conscious consumerism, cream liqueur sales continues to hold their own. In terms of market growth per year, the liqueur distributing brand reports a 1.7 per cent increment in its sales as compared with the previous 12 months, while   connect logistics in Alberta reports a   0.9 per cent increase for the same period. In some parts like Alberta, the figures are deceptive however, not included in the statistics but can be roughly half of cream liqueurs that benefits from a lower tax rate by being classified in the category with alcohol lender 17 percent.   This category division exists only in Alberta whose flagship cream liqueur lowered its alcohol content in order to distribute within the province.   Research shows that while the average consumer will not be able to detect the decreased alcohol, the price differential will be noticed. Canada has been unique in labeling restrictions which require liqueurs to have a minimum of 22 per cent alcohol.   This has in turn improved their sales both in quality and quantity.   It also implies that most cream liqueurs are actually classified as liquors in Great White, North.   In terms of sales this Canadian company maximizes its sales through selling predominantly on quality basis unlike other companies which attract customers through bargain of prices. This is why the industries continue to grow despite an influx of new products within the category.   The cream liqueur company has widely diversified its production because about 61 cream liqueurs products are in the market. Within the category, however, many agents agree Irish creams have the most staying power, while flavored cream come and go. Their products have fetched market even with international countries which is evident by Highwood distilleries whose sales of flavored creams have been dismissal and Highwood will be discontinuing their maple and chocolate Rose creams. Similarly, mountain crest is phrasing out its just deserts and fruits cream lines.   On the other hand, category leaders of cream liqueurs continue to have a strong presence in the market. Some other products like true Irish creams are made from Irish Whisky where the term often refers to any whisky based cream liqueur like Kemper’s Bavarian Cream made in Germany. Baileys original Irish Cream is still leading the park as number one selling brand in the world.   Launched in Dublin in 1974, Bailey was the very first commercially produced cream liqueur. Corolans Irish Cream Liqueur is ranked as the second best selling Irish Cream liqueur, both globally as well as in Western Canada.   Carolans is known for its honey taste and boosts lower price than its leading competitor. Amarula Cream, selling within the top four cream liqueurs in both Alberta and British Columbia, South Africa reported international volume growth of 12.7% in 2004.   This distell, is recognized for its environmental policies including elephant conservation initiatives (Bender & Bender 1995). References: Bender D and Bender A, (1995). A   Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford, New York.   

Private School Teacher Recommendations

Private School Teacher Recommendations Teacher recommendations are an important part of the  private school admissions process. These assessments schools to hear from your teachers, the people who know you best in the classroom environment, in order to get a better idea of what you’re like as a student. The idea of asking a teacher to complete a recommendation may be intimidating to some, but with a little preparation, this part of the process should be a breeze. Here are some common questions, along with the information you need to prepare your recommendations:   How many teacher recommendations do I need? Most private schools will require three recommendations as part of the admission process, even if you complete one of the standard applications. Typically, one recommendation will be directed to your schools principal, head of school, or guidance counselor. The other two recommendations  are to be completed by your English and math teachers. Some schools will require additional recommendations, like science or a personal recommendation. If youre applying to a specialty school, like an art school or a sports-focused school, you may also be asked to have an art teacher or coach complete a recommendation. The admission office will have all of the details you need to ensure that you complete all the requirements.   What is a personal recommendation? A great characteristic of private school is that your experience goes beyond the classroom. From arts and athletics to living on dorm and being involved in the community, who you are as a person is just as important as who you are as a student. Teacher recommendations showcase your academic strengths and areas in need of improvement, as well as your personal learning style, while personal recommendations cover life beyond the classroom and share more information about you as an individual, a friend and a citizen. Remember that not every school requires these, so dont be concerned if its not an option when you apply.   Should my teachers complete my personal recommendations, too? Personal recommendations should be completed  by an adult who knows you well. You can ask another teacher (not the same teachers completing the academic recommendations), a coach, an advisor, or even a friend’s parent. The goal of these recommendations is to have someone who knows you on a personal level speak on your behalf. Perhaps you’re looking to play in a  private school athletics  program, have a strong passion for  art, or are regularly involved in community service activities. Personal recommendations can tell the admission committee more about these endeavors. In these cases, its a good idea to pick either a coach, art teacher, or volunteer supervisor to complete the personal recommendation. Personal recommendations can also be used to share information about areas in which you need personal growth, which isn’t a bad thing. We all have areas of our lives to improve, whether it’s your ability to get places on time, a need to not overcommit yourself to activities or the ability to keep your room clean that you need to work on, private  school  is the perfect environment in which to grow and gain a greater sense of maturity and responsibility. How do I ask my teacher or coach to complete a recommendation? Some students can get nervous when it comes to asking for a recommendation, but if you take the time to explain to your teachers why you’re  applying to private school,  your teachers will most likely be supportive of your new educational endeavor. The key is to ask nicely, make it easy for your teacher to complete the application (guide them through the process) and give your teachers plenty of advance notice and a set deadline to submit. If the school has a paper form to complete, be sure to print it out for your teacher and provide them with an addressed and stamped envelope to make it easier for them to return it to school. If the application is to be completed online, send your teachers an email with a direct link to access the recommendation form and, again, remind them of a deadline. It’s always nice to follow up with a thank-you note once they have completed the application.   What if my teacher doesnt know me well or doesnt like me? Can I ask my teacher from last year instead? The school to which you’re applying needs a recommendation from your current teacher, regardless of how well you think he or she knows you, or if you think they like you. The goal is for them to understand your mastery of the materials being taught this year, not what you learned last year or five years ago. If you have concerns, keep in mind that some schools will give you the option to submit personal recommendations, and you can ask another teacher to complete one of those. If you are still concerned, talk to the admission office at the school youre applying to in order to see what they recommend. Sometimes, they will let you submit two recommendations: one from this years teacher and one from last years teacher.   What if my teacher is late submitting the recommendation? This one is easy to answer: Don’t let this happen. As the applicant, it’s your responsibility to give your teacher plenty of notice, a friendly reminder of deadlines and to check in to see how its going and if they have completed it. Don’t pester them constantly, but definitely don’t wait until the day before the recommendation is due. When you ask your teacher to complete the recommendation, make sure they clearly know the deadline, and ask them to let you know when it’s done. If you haven’t heard from them and the deadline is approaching, about two weeks before it’s due, do another check in. Most schools today also have online portals where you can track the progress of your application, and you can see when your teachers and/or coaches have submitted their recommendations.   If your teacher recommendations are late, make sure you immediately contact the school to see if theres still time to submit. Some private schools are strict with deadlines and will not accept application materials after the deadline, while others will be more lenient, especially when it comes to teacher recommendations.   Can I read my recommendations? Most simply put, no. One reason why you have to work closely with your teachers to ensure they submit the recommendations on time is that teacher recommendations and personal recommendations are all typically confidential. That means, the teachers need to submit them themselves, and not give them to you to return. Some school even require recommendations to come from the teachers in a sealed and signed envelope or via a private online link in order to make sure the confidentiality of it is preserved. The goal is for the teacher to give a full and honest review of you as a student, including your strengths and areas in need of improvement. Schools want a true picture of your abilities and behavior, and your teachers honesty will help the admission team decide if you are a good fit for their  academic program, and in turn, if their academic program will meet your needs as a student. If teachers think youre going to read the recommendations, they might withhold important information that could help the admission committee better understand you as a scholar and a member of your community. And keep in mind that the areas in which you need to improve are things that the admission team expects to learn about you. No one has mastered every aspect of every subject, and there’s always room to improve. Should I submit more recommendations than requested? No. Plain and simple, no. Many applicants mistakenly think that stacking their applications with dozens of really strong personal recommendations and extra subject recommendations from past teachers is the best way to go. However, your admission officers don’t want to wade through dozens of pages of recommendations, especially not ones from teachers in elementary school when youre applying to high school (believe it or not, that happens!). Stick with the required recommendations from your current teachers, and if requested, choose the one or two individuals who best know you for your personal recommendations, and stop there.

Aesthetic value Essay Example

Aesthetic value Essay Example Aesthetic value Paper Aesthetic value Paper valuable. And to say that X has greater aesthetic value than Y is to say that X has the capacity to afford an experience that is more valuable, on account of its more marked aesthetic character, than any experience that Y has the capacity to afford assuming, again, that such a character is good. The analysis of aesthetic value just sketched is not without its difficulties, at least some of which ought to be acknowledged. Jerome Stolnitz, who defends well what he calls an objective relativist account of aesthetic value that is in its most fundamental respects close to mine (see Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art Criticism, Chapter 15), notes some of the problems in verifying the presence of a capacity. I think he makes the task more difficult by confounding capacity-assertions with predictions, and I would rather not call the basic position he and I share a relativistic one, since it does not entail that the aesthetic value of a painting is relative to the viewer or some class of viewers. Once we distinguish the aesthetic capacity of the painting (how much it is capable of giving those who are able to appreciate it fully) from the capacities of the viewers (who may vary enormously in their ability to appreciate it), we eliminate many common confusions. There are problems about abnormal situations in which a person may seem to be getting more out of a painting than it has in it (see The Aesthetic Point of View); but I think these can be avoided by a proper understanding of the phrase through the cognition of it, inserted in my definition, which rules out not only failures to apprehend the painting but misapprehensions of it. For example, among the problems noted by Joel Kupperman (Aesthetic Value) though he is discussing G. E. Moores definition of beauty is that if we wish to define aesthetic value in terms of the art-receivers experience, we may get into great difficulties in saying what constitutes a proper experience of the work, for it is in terms of such experiences that the value is presumably to be rated. My hope is that such problems can be resolved by the requirement of the receivers cognitive grasp of what is actually in the work. Michael Slote (The Rationality of Aesthetic Value Judgments) also holds that aesthetic value is a dispositional property (of which I consider capacities to be one species), but he treats it as a tendency. (Even brittleness and flexibility, as well as his other examples, can be analyzed either as capacities or as tendencies, and it makes a difference how we consider them for different purposes or occasions. ) He notes that aesthetic value might be definable without specifying the conditions under which (including the features given which) the painting will in fact provide art experience of marked aesthetic character but this is just the difference between a tendency and a capacity: and it seems to me that it is capacities that a critic is in a position to estimate, not tendencies (which require much more empirical knowledge). When the critic gives reasons, pointing out features of the painting that enable it to be aesthetically appreciated, that confer aesthetic value upon it, he needs no statistical generalizations about what proportion of what sample of the population will in fact appreciate the painting (in order to infer a tendency), but only how in certain kinds of paintings certain features can help to increase unity, complexity, or intensity of positive regional qualities on the justifiable assumption (see below) that such increases will enable the painting to give more, aesthetically, to those who can take advantage of it. The concept of aesthetic experience (which was used in the first edition to define aesthetic value) has suffered various vicissitudes in the past two decades; although some of the debate has refined and clarified it, much of the debate has engendered skeptical doubts about whether there is such a thing (or whether such a concept can be rendered usable in aesthetic theory). For example, George Dickie (Beardsleys Phantom Aesthetic Experience) subjected the concept to a sharp critique, which I answered with a further defense (Aesthetic Experience Regained). He, in turn (in Art and the Aesthetic, Chapter 8), has launched a further argument. Perhaps the most serious issue concerns my view that we can characterize aesthetic experience in terms of certain properties of experience, or of an experience, as such notably unity, including especially the dimension of coherence (as well as completeness). Unity is important to my theory because I hold that it is a merit in artworks, and hence a positive criterion of criticism, because it enables the artwork to afford a unified experience, and thus to have aesthetic value (since unity in an experience is part of what makes it an aesthetic experience). Dickie has several penetrating criticisms that deserve considerable discussion. For example, in my idea of a unified experience the percepts are integrated with affects of various kinds, but Dickie is inclined to think that many artworks do not arouse affects at all: some abstract paintings can be taken in, as it were, at a glance; no expectations or emotions are aroused. My reply, in outline, would be that all pattern-perception involves active seeking and searching, however rapid, and in the time it takes for a full apprehension even of a fairly simple abstract pattern there is indeed room for affect, for comparisons and contrasts of parts, for discovery of inward fittingness, for the emergence of human regional qualities. But I see now that aesthetic experience is too narrow a basis on which to construct a concept of aesthetic value. I do not object at all to saying that experiences of some duration, marked throughout or pervasively by aesthetic character, are aesthetic experiences. But I also admit fairly fleeting or persistent but low-keyed experiences such as might involve a glance at a natural or urban prospect in which there is a decided sudden lift of experiential level in an aesthetic way, and I think there is increased coherence, though not the kind of development of demands and fulfillments characteristic of the classic Deweyan phenomenon he called having an experience. For most purposes, in reference to artworks and their aesthetic value, we can still talk of aesthetic experiences. It may be useful to note how the concept of aesthetic experience relates to the concept of aesthetic attitude, which, despite GeorgeDickies continuing attack on it (see Art and the Aesthetic, Chapters 2-5), is still sometimes invoked. Dickie makes much of his distinction between theories of taste and aesthetic-attitude theories. In their strong form, the latter involve the notion that anything can be transformed into an aesthetic object (a source of aesthetic satisfaction) by taking a certain attitude toward it. I have been much persuaded by his arguments against such views. However, sometimes the term aesthetic attitude refers to an ingredient in aesthetic experience, a psychological relation (between the art-recipient and the artwork) characteristic of that experience; and this may be a harmless way of speaking, provided confusion is avoided. In this context, the aesthetic attitude is often characterized as involving disinterested attention and psychical distance both of which have been severely and effectively criticized, though perhaps not totally destroyed, by Dickie. I think distance or detachment withdrawal from practical engagement in some form, although hard to describe accurate ly and safely, is a factor in the aesthetic character. But what is the aesthetic character? My present inclination is to think of it in terms of a set of features we find characteristic of successful encounters with artworks (and also some natural and technological objects), features that are criteria of the aesthetic in experience, that help to make; experience (however short) aesthetic, and when several of them are combined guarantee that experience is aesthetic, although even if one or two are lacking in a particular case, the experience can still be aesthetic. To summarize what no doubt calls for detailed explanation (see final essay in The Aesthetic Point of View), experience has a marked aesthetic character when it has some of the following features, including the first one: attention firmly fixed on a perceptual or intentional object; a feeling of freedom from concerns about matters outside that object; notable affect that is detached from practical ends; the sense of exercising powers of discovery; and integration of the self and of its experiences. Such a description of the aesthetic character comports with the conclusions of others: for example, the illuminating phenomenological analysis by M. J. Zenzen (A Ground for Aesthetic Experience). Recent critics have raised important questions. Kingsley Price (What Makes an Experience Aesthetic? ) distinguishes aesthetic experience by the nature of its object (as I tried, in another way, in The Discrimination of Aesthetic Enjoyment). But he mistakenly attributes to me an effort to isolate a pure aesthetic experience, apart from its object, whereas I consider the perceived phenomenally objective features of tha object as part, although only a part, of the content that is unified in tha experience. Joel Kupperman (Art and Aesthetic Experience) quotes one of my proposed definitions of aesthetic experience (Aesthetic Experience Regained) that it involves having the greater part of ones mental activity . . . unified and made pleasurable by being tied to the form and qualities of a sensuously presented or imaginatively intended object on which ones primary attention is concentrated. This he considers too broad since it could apply to a sexual experience as well as an aesthetic experience. Perhaps my references to mental activity and attention were insufficiently stressed, or perhaps they sound too Cartesian; but I think of aesthetic experience (as in the first criterion above) as requiring a kind of absorption in form and quality, a giving-in to their force, that precludes much overt physical interaction with the environment. Jerome Stolnitz (The Artistic Values in Aesthetic Experience) has advanced a strong claim of a different kind: that aesthetic experience includes (but I have excluded) a recognition and enjoyment of artistic values e. g. , admirable skill and virtuosity, deftness, adroitness, and economy of action. His excellent argument directed against my treatment of skill, for example, as strictly a property of the artist, not of his work, and hence not germane to evaluations of the work shows how skill can be regarded as an experienceable feature of artworks, and thus can make a difference to aesthetic experience and aesthetic value. When judgments of skill are carefully guarded, in Stolnitzs way, they do not lead away from the work to biographical inquiry, but become part of the expressiveness of the work. Finally, it must be noted that if the difficulties in the concepts of aesthetic value and aesthetic experience which we have reviewed in this section remain intractible. the alternative seems to be to reject both concepts and build aesthetic theory without them. Although such an attempt has been initiated by Nelson Goodman (Languages of Art, Chapter 6, and Ways of Worldmaking, Chapters 6 and 7), it is too early to be sure how successful it will be. Goodman dispenses with aesthetic value entirely in favor of a very general concept of cognitive value, or contributiveness to knowledge and understanding; right rendering in art becomes a general cognitive category, of which truth in certain fields of endeavor is a special case; artworks get their value from entering into the activities by which we grasp and at the same time remake our world or worlds, and this being their primary function, they are to be judged by their success in carrying it out. This strong, tempting, and radical view does not seem able to account satisfactorily for the practice of art critics, the reasons they give in support of their judgments (see Languages of Art and Art Criticism), and it is not yet clear how all artworks can be treated as symbols, as this theory requires (see In Defense of Aesthetic Value and Sections 3 and 5 above). But at present it seems to be the most fully-developed alternative to a theory of art that includes a theory of aesthetic value.

Creating Your Own Lesson Plan Calendar

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Leaders and policy makers - making tourism more sustainable - Research Paper Example I declare that this assignment is all my own work and the sources of information and material I have used (including the internet) have been fully identified and properly acknowledged as required in the referencing guideline given in the Course Handbook which I received. Groupwork: all members should be identified at the top of this form, but only one member need submit the work. Please clearly indicate the name/letter of the group. Approval for Extended Submission: Approved Extension Date: (to be completed by the Programme Leader) Contents Contents 3 Eccardt, T. 2004, Secrets of the Seven smallest states of Europe: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. Hippocrene Books. 21 1. Introduction: This research paper â€Å"Leaders and Policy Makers- Making Tourism More Sustainable† will explore the impacts of policies and leadership capabilities on making tourism sustainable. The country chosen in this case study is Malta. The reason behind t he selection of this industry and this country is because the researcher belongs to Malta, and has ample experience in this industry. Tourism is a very important industry and plays an extensive and lucrative role in the economy of any country. The countries which have explored and utilized their own tourism potential are leading the economic charts today all around the world. Analysis of economically developed and developing countries especially those which have a very high per capita income shows that most of these countries have efficiently developed tourism industry at home. Tourism brings foreigners which ultimately lead to increased foreign exchange which is one of the most important indicators of a developed country. For example, Switzerland which is 133rd largest country in the world area wise has 4th highest per capita income figures in the world. Although the economy of Switzerland is very strong and has been persistent over the time but their real source of economic stabil ity and contribution comes from the well developed and lucrative tourism industry. The flourishing GDP of Switzerland is the result of well developed and organized tourism industry. (Aminu, 2009). Tourism industry in Malta can also bring huge foreign capital and foreign exchange to Malta with ample economical benefits. Malta has the tourism potential and can make the best use of it if policies are planned carefully. Tourism industry can be most beneficial if it is developed on a plan that would ensure the future sustainability. Leaders and policy makers can play a very positive and important role in developing a successful, lucrative and sustainable tourism industry. Planning sustainable tourism carefully can lead to sustainable tourism and regular growth of GDP through decades. This is what the policy makers must keep in mind while planning milestones and policies of any industry (Gupta, 2008). This report is based on secondary data. A lot of data has been studied to come up with t his research report. Analysis of the situation has been done on the basis of existing policy documents. Malta’s climate and sea remain the primary reasons why tourists flock to this resort. A natural harbor present in the island, offering significant protection to naval vessels, has enhanced Malta’s strategic location for any conqueror that seeks to dominate the Mediterranean Sea. Romans, Normans, Arabs, British and

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Leaders and policy makers - making tourism more sustainable Research Paper

Leaders and policy makers - making tourism more sustainable - Research Paper Example I declare that this assignment is all my own work and the sources of information and material I have used (including the internet) have been fully identified and properly acknowledged as required in the referencing guideline given in the Course Handbook which I received. Groupwork: all members should be identified at the top of this form, but only one member need submit the work. Please clearly indicate the name/letter of the group. Approval for Extended Submission: Approved Extension Date: (to be completed by the Programme Leader) Contents Contents 3 Eccardt, T. 2004, Secrets of the Seven smallest states of Europe: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. Hippocrene Books. 21 1. Introduction: This research paper â€Å"Leaders and Policy Makers- Making Tourism More Sustainable† will explore the impacts of policies and leadership capabilities on making tourism sustainable. The country chosen in this case study is Malta. The reason behind t he selection of this industry and this country is because the researcher belongs to Malta, and has ample experience in this industry. Tourism is a very important industry and plays an extensive and lucrative role in the economy of any country. The countries which have explored and utilized their own tourism potential are leading the economic charts today all around the world. Analysis of economically developed and developing countries especially those which have a very high per capita income shows that most of these countries have efficiently developed tourism industry at home. Tourism brings foreigners which ultimately lead to increased foreign exchange which is one of the most important indicators of a developed country. For example, Switzerland which is 133rd largest country in the world area wise has 4th highest per capita income figures in the world. Although the economy of Switzerland is very strong and has been persistent over the time but their real source of economic stabil ity and contribution comes from the well developed and lucrative tourism industry. The flourishing GDP of Switzerland is the result of well developed and organized tourism industry. (Aminu, 2009). Tourism industry in Malta can also bring huge foreign capital and foreign exchange to Malta with ample economical benefits. Malta has the tourism potential and can make the best use of it if policies are planned carefully. Tourism industry can be most beneficial if it is developed on a plan that would ensure the future sustainability. Leaders and policy makers can play a very positive and important role in developing a successful, lucrative and sustainable tourism industry. Planning sustainable tourism carefully can lead to sustainable tourism and regular growth of GDP through decades. This is what the policy makers must keep in mind while planning milestones and policies of any industry (Gupta, 2008). This report is based on secondary data. A lot of data has been studied to come up with t his research report. Analysis of the situation has been done on the basis of existing policy documents. Malta’s climate and sea remain the primary reasons why tourists flock to this resort. A natural harbor present in the island, offering significant protection to naval vessels, has enhanced Malta’s strategic location for any conqueror that seeks to dominate the Mediterranean Sea. Romans, Normans, Arabs, British and

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The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane Essay Example for Free

The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane Essay When the word â€Å"witch† comes up in people’s minds, they normally picture an old woman with green skin, warts, a pointy hat, and long fingernails who wears black clothes, flies on a broom, and casts harmful spells on others. However, this stereotype is made up by the imaginations of humanity. It all started when religion conflicts began to rise. This was the clash between Christianity and the old religion. Christian leaders began asserting that witches were devil worshippers and savages. In the year 1233, Pope Gregory IX instituted the Roman Catholic tribunal, known as the Inquisition, in an attempt to suppress heresy. At the request of Pope John XXII in 1320, the church officially declared witchcraft and the old religion of the Pagans as a heretical movement and a hostile threat to Christianity. Witches had now become heretics and the persecution against all Pagans spread like wildfire throughout Europe. Therefore, the persecutions, murders, and the torture of innocent people who are claimed as â€Å"witches† began (â€Å"How Did it Start? †). This history and the idea of witches lead to the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and Katherine Howe’s motivation to write her novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, which is based on the Salem Witch Trials. Katherine Howe was born in Huston, Texas and she holds degrees in Art History and Philosophy from Columbia and in American and New England Studies from Boston University. She is a descendant of Elizabeth Proctor, who survived the Salem Witch Trials, and Elizabeth Howe, who did not. She first learned about her ancestors when her aunt was doing some family research. Due to this discovery, Howe became more interested in this specific time period and she began to wonder how life would be like living as a Puritan in the 1600’s. Her book, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, which is about the Salem Witch Trials, debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Howe moved to Marblehead from Cambridge in summer of 2005 with her husband and she was scheduled to take her Ph. D. qualifying exams that November. So, while trying to relax from her studies, Howe began to think how vastly the popular account of the witch trials differs from the historical understanding of them. As she was walking in the woods, she began to think: â€Å"What if magical were real, but not in the fairy-tale way that we now imagine it? † (Howe â€Å"Question and Answer†). So, as Howe was trying to imagine what magic would have looked like to the colonists of Salem, she was inspired to write her novel. Howe’s writing style is very attractive to readers. The vocabulary is not very difficult and she writes in a way that keeps the reader wanting to read more. As the reader explores the novel, they can feel the emotions that the characters are feeling and so they are able to relate to them. Also, she writes her flashbacks to the late seventeenth century in the diction that they would have spoken in. This catches the reader’s attention and it shows her dedication and research for this novel. In the 17th century, the church was the cornerstone of life in New England. Most people in Massachusetts were Puritans-colonists who had left England seeking religious tolerance. The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid and it was against the law not to attend church. Since the Puritans were expected to live by this strict moral code, they believed that all sins-from sleeping in church to stealing food-should be punished. They believed that God would punish sinful behavior. When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a sick child or a failed crop, the Puritans saw it as God’s will and did not help. In addition, the Puritans believed that that Devil was as real as God. Everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals-women, children, and the insane-to carry out his work. Those who followed Satan were considered â€Å"witches†. To the Puritans, witchcraft was one of the greatest crimes a person could commit and it was punishable by death. A strong belief in the Devil, factions among Salem Village families, and rivalry with near by Salem Town combined with a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion of witchcraft (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). In 1692, children were expected to have under the same strict code as the adults-doing chores, attending church services, and repressing individual differences. Any show of emotion was discouraged and disobedience was severely punished. Children rarely played and so toys and games were scare. While girls had to cook and clean, the boys had to hunt and explore. The children of this time period also had to learn how to read. However, most households owned only the Bible and other religious works (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). This was the childhood of Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris. Their strict way of life that they had to live was probably the reason why they were interested in Tituba’s, the Parris’ slave, magical stories and fortune telling games. On January 20th, 1692, Reverend Parris’ daughter, Elizabeth, age 9, and niece Abigail Williams, 11, started having â€Å"fits†. Ann Putnam, 11, experienced similar symptoms later on. They screamed, uttered peculiar sounds and contorted themselves into strange positions. Doctor Griggs, who attended the afflicted girls, suggested that they were bewitched. In that time, a dog was believed to be a â€Å"familiar† of the Devil. So, Tituba baked a â€Å"witch cake†, which contained the urine of the afflicted girls, and fed it to the dog. This was considered an old English folk remedy (Linder, â€Å"Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692). In late February of 1692, the afflicted girls were pressured by ministers and townspeople to say who cause their odd behavior. The girls accused Tituba, Sarah Good, a homeless beggar, and Sarah Osborne, an elderly impoverished woman. Arrest warrants for the three women were issued and magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin examined them for â€Å"witch teats†. Osborne and Good claimed their innocence, but Tituba confessed, â€Å"the Devil came to me and bid me to serve him† (Blumberg, â€Å"A Brief History†). She described elaborate images of black dogs, red cats, yellow birds and a â€Å"black man† who wanted her to sign his book. She admitted to signing the book and said that there were several other witches looking to destroy the Puritans. All three of them were put into jail. Soon, the group of afflicted girls began to accuse many people such as Martha Cory, Rebecca Nurse, Dorcas Good, Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Cloyce, etc. Subsequently, prisons were filled with more than one hundred fifty men and women from towns surrounding Salem. On May 27th, 1692, Governor William Phipps ordered the establishment of the Special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) to hear the cases of witchcraft. Bridget Bishop, an older woman who was known for her gossipy habits and promiscuity, was the first case. On June 10th, she was the first person to be hanged on Gallows Hill. As the trials went on, five people were sentenced and hanged in July, five more in August and eight on September. On October 29th, 1692, Governor Phipps released many accused witches and dissolved the court of Oyer and Terminer. He eventually pardoned all the people who were in prison on witchcraft charge (Blumberg, â€Å"A Brief History†). Therefore, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was ended. Due to this event, nineteen innocent men and women were hanged for witchcraft, Giles Corey was pressed to death under heavy rocks for refusing to stand trial, and four other died in jail as they awaited trial (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). After the trials were over, many people, such as Ann Putnam, felt guilty and wrong for taking away the lives of over twenty innocent people. In 1697, the General Court ordered a day of fasting and soul –searching for the tragedy that happened five years ago. In 1702, the court declared that the trials were unlawful. Finally, in 1711, the colony passed a bill restoring the rights and good names of those accused during the trials and 600 pounds were granted in restitution to their heirs. It was not until 1957 that Massachusetts formally apologized for what had happened in 1692 (Blumberg, â€Å"A Brief History†). On the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, a witchcraft memorial designed by James Culter was dedicated in Salem. However, the problem of witchcraft still remains today. On March 15th, 2012, there was a conviction of a London couple for a death of a fifteen year-old boy whom they violently abused because they believed him to be a witch. This is not the first time that this has happened in the U. K. Scotland Yard told BBC that they have investigated over eighty-eight faith based child abuse in the last decade. UNICEF reported that in 2010, twenty thousand children were accused of witchcraft were living on the streets in the capital city of Kinshasa. In addition, the Nation Crime Bureau in India states that over 2,500 women have been killed for being suspected for being suspected of practicing witchcraft (Rojas, Witchcraft-Related Violence†). Violence against people accused of being witches is a growing problem in the U.K. , India, and Africa. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane follows Connie Goodwin’s adventure in trying to unravel the truth about the past. Also in her novel, Howe also allows the reader to explore the life of Deliverance Dane, who is included in the Salem Witch Trials in the story. In the novel, Deliverance Dane, a mother who makes tinctures for the sick, is accused of being a witch. Although she posses magical powers, she does not use them for evil. During the time that she is accused, many other women and men are accused along with her. The truth is that â€Å"the people accused in Salem were just regular, everyday people† (Howe 141). No matter how they try to clear their names, the â€Å"witches† are all sent to prison. In prison, their feet are clamped with â€Å"a heavy iron cuff, attached with a short length of nautical-grade chain† (295). Deliverance Dane, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Rebecca Nurse are some of the women that are accused and hanged on Gallows Hill in the novel. Even though this book is fiction, due to Deliverance’s magical powers, the novel contains many people who were convicted during the Salem Witch Trials and their deaths. Deliverance Dane, who was really in the Salem Witch Trials, does not have a lot of information about her, except for the fact that she had a husband named, Nathaniel, and that she survived the trials. Because no one knows Deliverance’s story during the Salem Witch Trials, Howe uses the lack of information to create a story for Dane, which is portrayed in the novel. Because people are so fixed on the idea that witches are not real, Howe shows a surprising twist in her book by giving Deliverance magical powers. Even though the colonists claimed that the accused were witches, there is no exact proof of witchcraft. But, maybe the accused did have magical powers, which could explain the weird fits that the girls wee experiencing. This makes the reader question whether magic truly exists or not. The Salem Witch Trials is not very well known by the people of our nation. So, with the help of this novel, more and more people can be informed about this tragic incident that took place in 1692. Also, this novel shows that witches are not how people in our society imagine them. This books shows to the people that witches are not harmful to the human race and that people should not be wrongly accused for such a ridiculous stereotype. As the critiques of this book are read and compared, they are very mixed reviews. Some readers love the book from the beginning to the end and some people have problems with the way Howe wrote her plot and her characters. Laura Bliss from the Library Journal wrote, â€Å"This enjoyable novel is too slow-paced to be considered a thriller, but its a solid selection that may appeal to readers who enjoyed recent novels about Salems witches. † Although Bliss thought that the book could have gone a little bit faster, overall, she recommends that the book will be a good read. Unlike the Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly states that â€Å"her [Howe] voice is pleasing, her pacing and emphasis good and her diction clear†. However, they also say in their review that â€Å"the characters are thin and the plot is predictable†. According to Publisher Weekly, Howe’s plot in her novel is too original and not exciting. So, because the plot is too easy to guess, it does not leave suspense for the reader, which causes them to get bored when reading the book. They also said that the characters are not built very convincing either. The characters in her novel seem to be missing uniqueness and they lack personality. Even though Howe has received some complains about The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, she has been praised as well for her extensive research that she had to do to write it (â€Å"Editorial Reviews†). For her first debut novel, Howe has done an extraordinary job of bringing the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 back to life. Even though Katherine Howe did not directly experience the Salem Witch Trials, the life of her ancestor, Elizabeth Howe, was taken away because of this event. This gave her the inspiration and maybe some responsibility to let the world know about this event. These trials went on with solely by accusation and without the use of actual evidence of witchcraft. The lives of many innocent people were taken away, which leaves people wondering, â€Å"Why did this ever happen? † This answer to this question will always be a mystery because there could have been many reasons why the colonists reacted like the way they did. Whatever the reason may be, the lives of the people that were taken away will always be in remembrance.

What are Malaysias main imports and exports

What are Malaysias main imports and exports Illustrate the components of Malaysias imports and exports using a graph or chart and elaborate on it. Which countries are Malaysias main trading partners? Components of Malaysias exports According to Malaysias top 10 trade statistics for year 2009 by MATRADE, the major export products are divided into nine subcategories. Electrical and electronic products are the highest export products valued at RM22.68 billion which is equal to 41.5% of the total exports. While for palm oil, it takes off 6.3% of the total exports and it is equal to RM3.44 billion. Ranking number three for Malaysias export product is the liquefied natural gas which account for 6% or RM3.31 billion of total exports. Crude petroleum is account for 5.9% of total exports. The chemicals and chemical products hold 5.8% of the total exports are rank at number five of Malaysias total export. As for refined petroleum products, it represents 4.2% of Malaysias total export or RM2.29 billion. For machinery, appliances, and parts, these components are rank at number seven which take-up 3.5% or RM1.94 billion of total exports. Manufactures of metal hold 2.6% of total exports. The wood products hold 2.4% of total exports in Malaysia. Optical and scientific equipment are categorized as minority of Malaysia export as it stand for 2.3% or RM1.25 billion for total exports. The remaining percentages represent other export products in Malaysia. Components of Malaysias imports For component of Malaysias imports, there are three main categories of imports by end use. Intermediate goods are valued at 66.4% of total imports. For capital goods, it take-up 15.8% of total imports and for consumption goods, it is account for 7.3% of total imports. Other major import products of Malaysia import products include electrical and electronic products which are valued at 38.4% of total imports. Besides that, machinery, appliances, and parts are account for 8.6% and chemicals and chemical products take-up 8.4%. While for manufactures of metal, it is account for 5.2% of total imports. Furthermore, transport equipment account for 5.1%, refined petroleum products take-up 5%, and iron and steel products take-up 3.7% of total imports. For optical and scientific equipment, it has 3% of total imports and processed food take-up 1.7% of total imports. Crude petroleum is the minority of total imports where it takes up of 1.6% of total imports. The remaining percentages represent other import products in Malaysia. Malaysias Main Trading Partners Main trading partners of Malaysia include Peoples Republic of China which it accounted for 12.9%, Singapore hold 12.7%, and United States of America take-up 11.1% of total trade with Malaysia. Besides that, Japan is also trading partner for Malaysia where there is 11.0% total trade between both Japan and Malaysia. Another trade partner for Malaysia is Thailand. Thailand holds 5.7% total trade with Malaysia. On top of that, total trade between Malaysia and Republic of Korea take-up 4.2%. There are 4.1% trade between Malaysia and Indonesia. While for Hong Kong, Germany and Taiwan, those three countries have 4.0%, 3.4%, and 3.3% trading with Malaysia. The remaining percentages represent other countries which also have trade with Malaysia. Malaysias top 10 export markets are Singapore which taken up 14.0% of Malaysias total exports, Republic of China accounted for 12.2%, United States of America holds 11.0%, and Japan holds 9.8% of Malaysias total exports. For Thailand, Hong Kong Republic of Korea, and Australia, those countries respectively hold 5.4%, 5.2%, 3.8%, and 3.6% of total exports. As for Netherlands and Indonesia, both countries are the minority markets of Malaysias export markets as there are only 3.3% and 3.1%. The remaining percentages represent other export markets trade with Malaysia. Malaysias top 10 import origins are Republic of China (14.0%), Japan (12.5%), United States of America (11.2%), Singapore (11.1%), and Thailand (6.1%). While for other import markets, Indonesia account for 5.3%, Republic of Korea account for 4.6%, Taiwan holds 4.3%, and Germany also holds 4.2% of total imports with Malaysia. Hong Kong only holds 2.5% of imports with Malaysia. The remaining percentages represent other import markets trade with Malaysia. For the export components, we compare between the year 1989 and 2009. We use the commodity sections for comparison. The export for foods has increased from 3, 128.9 in year 1989 to 15, 800.9 in year 2009. As the population has increased and there are more and more countries that involved in open economy, this has lead to the increasing in the exports for food in Malaysia. For beverages and tobacco, from the table, it showed that it is increasing from RM80.2 million to 2, 482.3 million. Besides that, the crude materials and inedible goods also increased from RM12, 656.9 million to RM 13, 161.1 million. This does not show much increased. While for mineral fuels and lubricants, it has more significantly rose from year 1989 to 2009, which it rose from RM11, 023.6 million to 81, 685.7 million. From the table, we can see that there is 605% increase in animal and vegetable oils and fats. The growing rate of animal and vegetables oils and fats is more than 600 is logic as it growth for 20 years long. Furthermore for chemicals, there was significant increase which it increased from RM1, 234.2 million to RM33, 345.4 million between year 1989 and 2009. This is because nowadays, there are many companies which need chemical products for the daily operating. With globalization, export products will raise from one year to another as many companies have came into the industry. Increasing in quantity demanded will also follow by increasing in quantity supplied. That is why export of manufactured goods which includes tin has rose 764.1% for the past 20 years. While for machinery and transport equipment, it has grown from RM21, 982.9 million to RM257, 248.7 million. As the technology in Malaysia has improved, we export our technology to other least development countries. On top of that for miscellaneous manufactured articles, the data showed there is 826.12% increased from year 1989 until 2009. Miscellaneous transactions and commodities also increased from RM201.5 million in year 1989 to RM4, 607.3 million in year 2009. Compare using the same data, we now evaluate on import components. According to external trade data taken from Department of Statistics of Malaysia website, Malaysia import food has increased from year 1989 to 2009. The data shown in 1989, we import RM4, 613.9 million of food and in 2009, we import RM26, 770.3 million of food. For beverages and tobacco, our import has increased 769.7% within the 20 years. In average, it increased 38.48% per year. Besides that, crude materials and inedible has also increased 498.11% that is increased from RM 2, 488.9 million in year 1989 to RM 14, 886.3 million in year 2009. Averagely, it increased 24.91% per year. While for mineral fuels and lubricants, it increased from RM 2, 911.1 million to RM35, 686 million for this 20 years. Furthermore, animal and vegetable oils and fats rose from RM257.1 million to RM4, 977.6 million. As we can see from chemicals, it was RM5, 412.7 million in year 1989 and increased to RM39, 492.2 million in year 2009. Manufactured goods includes tin has rose 432.79% where in average; it increased 21.64% per year from 1989 until 2009. Machinery and transport equipment has the most changes where in 1989, Malaysia import RM29, 233.1 million and it increased to RM222, 578.8 million in 2009. As Malaysia is in developing, we need more high technology machines to increase our production. For miscellaneous manufactured articles, we have total of RM3, 257.5 million import in it and it increased to RM25, 735.7million in 2009. Besides that, miscellaneous transactions and commodities have increased from RM2, 522.8 million to RM9, 865.5 million. When we compare those import and export components for 20 years, overall, Malaysia still has positive net export. In 1989, Malaysia has RM6, 966.4 million. While in 2009, Malaysia also has positive net export with RM118, 354.9 million. What are the benefits of engaging in international trading? Are there disadvantages as well? International trade is known as the trade of goods, services, and capital across the international borders with not much difficulty. The international trade accounts for a good part of countrys gross domestic product. International trade system is growing and spreading quickly because of modern production techniques, advanced transportation system, outsourcing in term of manufacturing and services, and rapid industrialization. It is an essential resource of returns for a developing country. The advantages of international trading have been the most important drivers of development for the last half of 20th century. Countries with well-built international trade have turn out to be successful and have the authority to control the world economy. International trade has also turn into one of the main contributor to the decreasing of poverty. There are several benefits from international trade activities which are: Competitiveness. International trade could maintain cost competitiveness in domestic market where they increase effectiveness in productions, because countries will attempt to accept better ways of production to maintain cost as lowest as possible on order to remain competitive. Employment. It helps a lot in generate more employment through the development of newer industries to serve to the demands of various countries. As a result, international trade can reduce the unemployment rate. Inflation. Due to international trade, a new trend has been observed. Countries, all over the world are making all effort to adhere to monetary policies, which have zero inflation, thereby reducing restrictions in trade worldwide. Offer greater variety of goods for consumption. International trade offer users a lot of options which will not only get better in their quality of life but altogether it will help out the nation to develop. Increase sales and profit. International trade provides an opportunity to the countries to boost up their sales and automatically generate higher profit. Effective allocate and fully utilize the resources since countries are going to manufacture merchandises where they have gain in a comparative advantage. The effect is the waste in replication of resources can be prevented. It aids a lot in protecting the environment from any such of pollution and also gives countries with a superior marketing control. Disadvantage of International trade There are numerous disadvantages arising from international trade. First disadvantage is exhausted of Natural Resources. It means all natural resource will decrease over the time of international trade. It encourages a developing country to export all of its raw material early on to gain the return and become the developed company. Secondly is in term of dependence, import of low quality products increases dependence of foreign countries to the extent which lead to that country has no productive. This mean that businesses, workers and customers are tend to decline in the economies of our trading partners. The production between two countries will stop all together. As example during recession in the Malaysia leads to decreased demand for China exports, leading to diminishing in export profits, lower GDP, lower earnings, decrease in domestic demand and increase unemployment. Loss on agricultural countries in considered as one disadvantage of international trade. In international trade predominantly agricultural countries are loser to the maximum extent. This happen as the demand for agricultural  product is less elastic; there is hardly any increase in their demand despite fall in the price. International trade also create unemployment to country. It occurs when labour market is competitive where lead to higher wages and together decrease the employment. Trade unions can cause salary to go higher than equilibrium via the threat of strikes. However when the salary is over the equilibrium, it will cause a drop in employment because the company have to pay higher salary or wages and it become the cost to company. So they will decide to reduce the employment. Barriers in long distance trade and different language also create disadvantage of international trade. The long distance such it becomes hard to keep a close rapport linking the buyers and sellers. Every country has possesses its own language, this in because international trade engage in trade connecting two or more countries where there is variety of languages. The different in language creates problem in international trade. International trade involves preparation of number of documents which also creates difficult in the way of international trade. Some laws and regulations are imposing on export and import of products. International trade involves a great deal of risk on long distance, even though the risk has been covered by insurance but there is still involve the extra cost of production because the insurance cost is added to cost. Lastly is the disadvantage in pollution and other environmental problem. International trade can caused pollution and other ecological problems as corporations fail to take account of these costs in the price of merchandise in trying to fight with corporations operating under weaker environmental laws and legislation in some countries. As a company produce product, the pollution will always occurs and to produce the product they will get raw material from export country. Then as long as they have the part or material to use together with demand of good lead to increase in production and pollution. Define foreign direct investment (FDI). What are some of the policies and incentives provided by the local government to boost FDI in Malaysia? DEFINITION OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ( FDI ) FDI is a component of a countrys national financial account. It can be defined as an investment of foreign assets into a domestic structure. A parent business enterprise and its foreign affiliate are the two parties of this relationship. These two sides of entity, they both comprise a Multinational Company (MNC). An example of FDI is when American company taking a major stake in one of the company in china. The company in china is said to be the parent business enterprise whereas an American company is said to be the foreign affiliate for the investment. On the other word, FDI also exists when there is any joint venture between local and foreign company. Naza Kia Sdn Bhd can be stated as one of a joint venture company in Malaysia where the Kia Motors has made its investment to Naza Sdn Bhd. Instead of having an investment via joint venture, FDI also involves in participation in management, transfer of technologies and expertise. FDI can be classified into two types; Inward and Outward. The Inward FDI means that, when theres an investment of foreign capital in our local resources. There are some factors that determine the growth of Inward FDI. The factors are the tax breaks, the relaxation of existence regulations, loans of low rates of interest and the specific grants. On the other hand, the Outward FDI also can be stated as a direct investment abroad which means, our local capital is being invested to foreign resources. Basically, Outward FDI is dealing with the import and export of a country. MALAYSIA: FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT POLICIES. THE FDI REGIME Basically, FDI policies are some set of a rules and regulations to regulate the investment made within those countries. In Malaysia, there is no specific laws that governed FDI activities. However, it is regulated that all foreign manufacturing activity must be licensed no matter what is the nature of the business it is. Malaysia only has Foreign Equity Guideline as a guideline any foreign investment. Until 1998, under the foreign equity guideline, the share limits were made on the performance and conditions set by the industrial policies of the time. For example, in the past years, the size of foreign equity share that allowed for investment in manufacturing sector is based on the share of the product exported. FDI projects that export at least 80% of production. However, the restriction was abolished through decision made by Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) when Malaysia desperately needs FDI after the economic crisis in 1998. Besides abandoning the export, Malaysia also has minimized the negative incentives such as: Nationalization and appropriation Double taxation Joint venture: requirements. Domestic employment: restrictions. Restriction on remittance of profit. Other than that, there is also some guidance in order to protect the foreign investment. Foreign investors are guaranteed against expropriation of property without compensation by virtue of Article 13 of the Federal Constitution. Due to the absence of the investment law, Malaysia has relied on the bilateral investment guarantee agreement or IGAs to: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Protect against nationalisation and expropriation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ensure prompt and adequate compensation in the event of nationalisation or expropriation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provide free transfer of profits, capital and other fees. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ensure settlement of investment disputes between private parties and Government under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of which Malaysia has been a member since 1966 Investment Regime: Malaysia, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/investment_country_report_malaysia.pdf Other than IGAs, our country also has bilateral Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements. For the employment restrictions, one must examine the restriction in a domestic context For example, Dobson (1998) wrote that while each foreign Banks subsidiary is limited to hiring two expatriate personnel, this restriction was in fact less stringent than that imposed on domestic banks. Furthermore, the restriction has been somewhat relaxed lately to allow for intra-corporate exchanges and short-term assignments after the economic crisis. On 17 June 2003, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MITI) has established new guidelines on the employment of expatriate personnel that guarantee automatic approval of certain number of expatriate posts and extend the length of maximum employment for both executive and nonexecutive posts. Again this shows the extreme fluidity of the investment regime in Malaysia. Investment Regime: Malaysia, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2004/investment_country_report_malaysia.pdf Here, we can conclude that, even with the absence of specific laws regarding to the foreign investment. Malaysia Government still has some guidance to follow in related with Foreign Direct Investment. MITI plays an important role in determining the guidelines for Foreign Direct Investment. INVESTMENT AND INDUSTRIAL POLICIES By the absence of specific laws considering the investment, however Malaysia do has some policies on Investment and Industries. These policies can be referred as trade policies as well. Basically, Malaysia has begun to have the industrial policies since the 70s and 80s which was focusing on the export. However, this was resulting to the export performance to be the main conditionality for foreign equity ownership and incentives were based on investment project. However, after the years, incentives were based on the product and the activities in order to steer investment towards the 12- targeted industries in the First Malaysian Industrial Plan in the 1986 until 1995. Therefore, investment incentive has become more selective and will be depending on the priority sectors. Below are the lists of major incentives for investment: Pioneer Status Investment Tax Allowance Reinvestment Allowance Incentives for industrial adjustment Incentives to strengthen the Industrial Linkage Scheme: Incentives for both large companies and vendors) Incentives for export Incentives for promoting Malaysian Brand Name Training incentives: including the pre training incentives, Double deduction for expenses incurred for approval training, and Human Resource development fund. Infrastructure Allowance Incentives for Research and Development companies