Saturday, October 12, 2019
Mending the Relationship of Two Brothers in James Baldwins Sonnys Blu
Mending the Relationship of Two Brothers in James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues According to Liukkonen, James Baldwin is well known for his "novels on sexual and personal identity, and sharp essays on civil-rights struggle in the United States." "Sonny's Blues" is no exception to this. The story takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1950's and tells of the relationship between two brothers. The older brother, who is the narrator and a participant in the novel, remains unnamed throughout the story. The novel is about the struggles, failures and successes of these two African American brothers growing up in the intercity as a minority. The encounters that the narrator and his brother, Sonny, have throughout the story exemplify Baldwin's theme of personal accountability and ethical criticism. The older brother, the narrator, finds himself struggling at the beginning of the story. While riding the subway, he reads in the paper that Sonny has been arrested for possession of drugs. During his day of teaching, he reflects on prior years with Sonny and their past adventures as young boys. He remembers Sonny's "wonderfully direct brown eyes, and great gentleness and privacy." The narrator sees his brother as a good boy, not "hard or evil or disrespectful." He wonders how many of his algebra students are similar to Sonny in appearance and personality along with his drug habits. This comparison allows the older brother to conclude that Sonny was probably not arrested on his initial use of drugs. It also allows the narrator is see that Sonny may be like most of the other young boys in Harlem. As the narrator makes his way to the courtyard heading home from school, a "friend" of Sonny's, another drug-user, approaches him. The narrator ... ...the narrator and all people a way of finding meaning in their pains and joys. The two brothers again can live in brotherhood and harmony. Works Cited Finnessy, Patrick. James Baldwin. 2004. Biographies. University of Illinois at Chicago: Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Heterosexual Concerns (OGLBTC). 26 Apr 2004. James Baldwin. 2004. American Masters. PBS. 23 Apr 2004. Liukkonen, Petri. James (Arthur) Baldwin Books and Authors. 2002. Amazon.com. 20 April 2004. Magill, Frank N. ed. Masterplots II: Short Story Series. Vol 5 Pru-Ter. California: Salem Press, Inc. 1986. Sipiora, Phillip. Reading and Writing about Literature. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002. Wilson, Kathleen, ed. Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories. Vol 2. Michigan: Gale Research, 1997.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Violation of the Law
â€Å"Do you think that most people will break laws and violate traditional moral values if they are confident that they would not be caught†, you may ask? Of course, naturally, people will violate the laws if they can guarantee themselves not to be caught. Explaining further, if they are sure that there are no consequences to what they are about to do then of course, they have the greatest tendency to break the law.  In cases where they have seen people who violated but did not get caught, this particular incident will provide them more confidence in themselves that to break the law will not do them any bad consequence, and that they would not even get caught then all the more that they will carry on with their plan. In psychology, the aforementioned may be logically explained by B.F. Skinner through his theories known as Positive and Negative Reinforcements (Encarta, 2007). Explaining further, he defined Positive Reinforcement as something which motivates a certain action simply by an administered reward (Encarta, 2007). In our case the reward or what motivates the person to do the act, which is violation or breaking of the law, is the fact that, he or she is confident that he or she would not be caught (Encarta, 2007). It is a positive reinforcement the individual set by himself to motivate him to carry out such an act (Encarta, 2007). For the purposes of comparison, Negative Reinforcement is technically defined as boosting an action through the removal of an â€Å"aversive stimulus†(Reinforcement, n.d.). Again, let us look into the case in question (Reinforcement, n.d.). Here, if the individual knows that he or she will be caught violating the law, then surely he or she will no longer carry out such an act (Reinforcement, n.d.). Knowing that he or she would be caught is the Negative Reinforcement set here to prevent the act from occurring (Reinforcement, n.d.). To explain further, allow me to provide another example: An individual who may want to protest against the government may be motivated to do so especially if he knows that he won’t get caught (Reinforcement, n.d.). On the other hand, a person may not push through with the plan of returning a wallet he took since he knows this will be a reason for him to get caught and will surely be punished for it (Reinforcement, n.d.). References Encarta. (2007). B.F. Skinner. Retrieved September 24, 2007 from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563008/Skinner_B(urrhus)_F(rederic).html Reinforcement. (n..d.). Retrieved September 24, 2007 from http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/wasserman/Glossary/reinforcement.html Â
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Bank of Canada and Interest Rates Essay
The Bank of Canada has indicated that it has concerns over inflation being too low. (Parkinson). However, inflation has been rising and the Canadian economy has strengthened over the last several months. Keeping interest rates too low over a long period of time may have a tendency to over-inflate the economy and create asset bubbles while also creating pockets of greater debt, not dissimilar to those that contributed to the global economic collapse of 2008-2009. Although the Bank of Canada has iterated – and reiterated – its current neutrality with respect to interest rates, economists predict that current conditions may require the bank to move more quickly than it may like to bump the rates in the next several months. (Parkinson). Canada is currently facing a housing bubble like that which occurred in the United States, prior to the massive global downturn of 2008-2009. (Altstedter). Home prices have been steadily increasing along with the size of the debt that homeowners are taking on in order to afford the increase in housing prices. Earlier this year, the Bank’s governor, Stephen Poloz, had forward guidance language that cautioned that interest rate hikes could be in the offing removed from Bank of Canada’s policy statements. (Kawa). Since the removal of the language, inflation has begun to increase and the Canadian Dollar has weakened somewhat. This will contribute to further expansion of the housing bubble in Canada. In order to slow the growth of the housing bubble and prevent or delay its eventual bursting, the Bank of Canada will likely be forced to raise interest rates. Bank of Canada Will Not Alter Interest Rates One of the reasons Bank of Canada’s Governor Stephen Poloz removed forward guidance warning of the potential need to increase interest rates from the Bank’s policy statements was to highlight the neutral stance he and the Bank are embracing with respect to interest rates. (Kawa). Poloz said in a September statement that he feels that the global economy is â€Å"performing largely as expected†and that the housing industry in Canada was â€Å"stronger than anticipated.†(Isfield). This month, Poloz stated that he feels that the upside and downside inflationary risks are, at this time, balanced and that, as such, there is no need alter interest rates in the foreseeable future assuming the status quo is not disrupted. (Parkinson). The Bank’s current neutral stance on interest rates, has now been reiterated and strengthened, to such an extent that it is possible, to â€Å"ultra-neutral.†(Isfeld). Because of Poloz’s ongoing statements with respect to interest rate neutrality, the bank’s removal of interest rate hike guidance from its policy statements, and the perception that the risks between and inflationary upside and an inflationary downside are perceived by Poloz and the board to be balanced, it is unlikely that interest rates will be changed in the next six to twelve months by the Bank of Canada. Works Cited Altstedter, Ari. â€Å"Housing Bubble Will Force Bank of Canada to Renew Rate Hike Warnings Soon, Pimco Says.†Financial Post. 1 Oct. 2014. Web. < http://business.financialpost.com/2014/10/01/housing-bubble-will-force-bank-of-canada-to-renew-rate-hike-warnings-soon-pimco-says/> Isfeld, Gordon. â€Å"Bank of Canada’s Stephen Poloz Turns Ultra-Neutral On Interest Rates.†Financial Post. 3 Sep. 2014. Web. Kawa, Lucas. â€Å"Say Goodbye To Forward Guidance From The Bank Of Canada.†Business In Canada. 14 Oct. 2014. Web. Parkinson, David. â€Å"Bank of Canada Still Fears Low Inflation Despite Balanced Outlook.†The Globe And Mail. 3 Nov. 2014. Web.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables Essay
Human actions and human knowledge are two inseparable entities. However, people are confused whether knowledge leads to actions or it is the actions that dictate one’s learning. Moreover, some people said that the two have no difference at all; one is tantamount to the other one. This debatable issue is one of the salient themes in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables. Synopsis of the Story  Set during the middle of the 19th century in New England, The House of Seven Gables is a novel narrating the affairs of two families: the Pyncheons and the Maules. On the first part of the book, the tension between Colonel Pyncheon and Matthew Maule was presented. The colonel actually wanted the land owned by Matthew Maule and so he planted a plan which pointed the latter as a practitioner of witchcraft. From this accusation, Maule was sentenced to death through hanging. Before he finally dies, he whispered a curse for the colonel. Pyncheon, on the other hand, was very happy upon receiving the land and started to build his house of seven gables. Unfortunately, in the exact day of the house’s opening, Colonel Pyncheon died from an unknown reason. Townspeople guessed that it was the curse of Matthew Maule that leads for the colonel’s death, From then on, the house of the seven gables turned to be a gloomy and mysterious place.            The next setting of the story opened after century and a half with the present residents of the house, the old lady Hepzibah and a certain Mr. Holgrave who was renting the room upstairs. The author will then introduced new members of the family: Phoebe Pyncheon , a young, free- spirited, and helpful niece of Hepzibah, Clifford Pyncheon, brother of Hepzibah who was accused for murdering his uncle and spent 30 years in imprisonment, Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, the evil cousin of Hepzibah and the one who set- up Clifford’s imprisonment. The judge wanted the rights for all the wealth of the Pyncheon family and so he visited Clifford, who according to him knows the location of all the necessary documents he needs. While waiting for him though, Judge Jaffrey died from an unknown reason. Frightened, Hepzibah and Clifford left the house. When they returned, Phoebe and Mr. Holgrave were already setting their marriage. Judge Jaffrey’s wicked actions were finally revealed by the investigation. Finally, Mr. Holgrave revealed that he is a descendant of Matthew Maule and that he also possesses hypnotic powers. They went off to a farm where they decided to live at. Hepzibah and Clifford, on the other hand, continued living in the house of the seven gables. Similarities and Differences of Sidney and Shelley            Philip Sidney is an English poet who lived in the Elizabethan age. He wrote the An Apology for Poetry which presents his ideas regarding the relationship between poetry and areas of knowledge like history, ethics, and philosophy. One of the main tenets of the book says that poetry will gain more effectiveness if ethics will be observed in philosophy and liveliness will be incorporated to history.            Percy Bysshe Shelley, on the other hand, lived in the period of Romanticism in England. He was considered by many as one of the great thinkers in the field of arts and philosophy. He is the husband of Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein. He also wrote an essay entitled A Defence of Poetry. Here, he discussed what are his ideals for poetry and his radical opinions regarding the subject. Being a romanticist, Shelley believes that poets’ creations are not merely outcomes of their own individual imagination but also effects of his interaction and exposure to universal ideas.            Both poets believe in the idea of romanticism. Romanticism supports the notion of deeply expressing one’s emotions and ideas through the use of arts, literature, music, and aesthetics. It is a form of revolution towards the aristocratic class in Europe during the 18th century.  Although Sidney did not live in this particular period, he showed already early signs of giving unusual and radical thinking towards literature, specifically to poetry. He actually concentrated in formulating works about literary reforms, giving emphasis in the relationship between art and virtue. For Sidney, virtue is a guideline for poets to create works that can challenge people to move and to act righteously. Through this, a righteous action could be inspired by poetry which will be eventually transformed to experience.            In addition, Sidney and Shelley, and even William Wordsworth, believe in the idea that an artist and his society are two separated entities. When an artist creates an idea, he is actually manifesting a skillâ€â€a skill which Sidney equates to art. For him, this skill is something that one can learn and develop. In addition to this, Sidney strongly believes that we can find the objective world through nature. Once a poet has produced a creation, another nature is automatically cultivated. Sidney followed the idea that human action is as the same as knowledge. For him, all people, no matter what their inclinations areâ€â€arts, philosophy, science, and so forth, will eventually lead their way to the utmost form of knowledgeâ€â€the knowledge of one’s self, giving importance to ethics and politics, and knowing not only the virtuous but most importantly, doing the righteous actions. This for him is the explanation behind his idea that knowledge is just equal with human actions.            Shelley, however, believes that human actions and knowledge should not be regarded as the same or one. Rather, an individual has a separate identity from knowledge, specifically from the collective mind. He talked about how a poet creates his own ideas. For him, a poet uses both his own individual knowledge and collective knowledge or archetypes. These archetypes are ideas that already serve as templates for the people. When a poet produced a creative idea, he does not simply rely on his very own knowledge. He actually uses some archetypes, thus, relating what he has to what it is there in reality. And with this, Shelley disregards the idea that human knowledge is the same as human actions. It is actually human knowledge that leads people to their actions. Analysis of the Characters            Applying the ideas of Sidney and Shelley in the story, the characters in Hawthorne’s story could be analyzed.  The daguerreotypist Mr. Holgrave was actually an artist himself who creates photographs using silver- coated plate and mercury vapor. A twenty-year old descendant of the late Matthew Maule, Mr. Holgrave was portrayed in the story as someone who maintains to live through different jobs. He skips from one occupation to the other. He also believes in surrendering wealth, custom, and even the past. A political radical, intellectually inclined, and with contemptuous view towards emotion, Mr. Holgrave often seeks the comfort in his room at the house of seven gables. He seemed to be detached with his society; even Hepzibah, the owner of the house he rents, barely knows him. He produced photographs, his very own creations, and through that, he is actually creating new environment for himself. His skills as a daguerreotypist were not considered merely as a skill, but an artâ€â€an art that through certain processes he was able to learn and develop. Everytime he takes pictures, Mr. Holgrave is sharpening even more his art and nurturing more his objective, his nature. Moreover, being a jack- of- all- trades, Mr. Holgrave has been continuously going under processes of learning and developing various skills.            Other characters in the novel can be seen through this perspective of Sidney and Shelley. Judge Jaffrey, for example, as a man of intellect and wit, has the initial skills of implementing justice to the people. This is his own art. However, he chose not to develop this skill because of his extreme hunger for power and wealth, thus making him decided to frame-up his own cousin Clifford. In the novel, he embodied the greedy aspect of his ancestor Colonel Pyncheon. Moreover, as Sidney had imposed, his actions were equal to his knowledge. Being a judge requires one to be wise and clever. His knowledge about this was clearly seen through his actions as he became shrewd enough to plant his evil plans. If he would be subjected to Sidney’s ideas regarding the highest form of knowledge, he would definitely fail considering that he did not use his skills in striving to do the right action.            Even Hepzibah, the current owner of the house of the seven gables, can be subjected using the philosophies of Sidney and Shelley. However, as it was proven in the text, Hepzibah can be concluded as an example of a person who could be characterized as the one that Shelley had described. Hepzibah uses first her own knowledge before doing a certain action. When she was running the cent- shop, she was solely thinking about her brother Clifford. Thus, it was reflected through her actions as she loses her focus everytime a customer goes to her. She shows ill-temperedness while scowling most of them.            Phoebe, in comparison with Hepzibah, also concluded her actions through her own knowledge. In the novel, she was portrayed as a young, free- spirited, helpful, and obedient woman. However, if analyzed, Phoebe’s actions are just products of her shallow way of thinking. She seemed to be not so curious and more of an emotional lady, in contrast with her lover Mr. Holgrave. Because of her personality, Mr. Holgrave was actually tempted to use his hypnotic powers to her. This clearly shows that Phoebe’s way of thinking greatly affects her actions is highly prone to be influenced or manipulated by other people whose knowledge is far better than hers.            Although Sidney and Shelley had their differences, the characters in The House of the Seven Gables could be also analyzed through the use of their similar ideas. As said earlier, Sidney and Shelley both believe that an individual and his society are two separated entities. In the novel, this philosophy was evidently portrayed by Hawthorne as each character found his respective place into the society where he belongs. Analysis of the Text            After the analysis of some of the main characters, perspectives of Sidney and Shelley will also be tried to incorporate in the text, particularly in analyzing the plot and the themes presented in the novel.            The plot evidently portrayed both predictable and unpredictable twists. The succession of events was creatively done through the use of suspense, good narration, and logical and organic unity. The idea of mystifying the house through the use of magic and curses was very effective. Hawthorne succeeded in creating his own art, in creating his own nature as Sidney and Shelley had pointed in their discussion about poetry and an artist’s skills.            With regards to the themes of the novel, Hawthorne included the issue of family feuds, greed, and time. The novel was successful because it started with an interesting conflict. The use of time frame was also great as the generations of both families were clearly seen. Finally, the concept of greed was also effective as it was used as the binding theme for the novel’s plot. Work Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables. USA: Pearson Education, 2000
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
The Demand for Money Like Inflation Leading Essay
The Demand for Money Like Inflation Leading - Essay Example I keep my savings in JP Morgan Chase & Co. I find the bank extremely reliable and the staff very amicable and helpful. Depositing money and withdrawal of money can be done conveniently since the staff is always eager to provide their services. Moreover, I stay in New York where the bank has its headquarters. I also have equity shares and for trading purpose, I use the brokerage firm ‘Fidelity Investments’. I have chosen this firm after strong recommendations from several of my friends and colleagues. The firm is completely reliable for making equity trades. They charge reasonable commissions and fees which suit my need. This brokerage firm which is based in the city of Boston ranks in the â€Å"top five in nine out of 12 categories including equity trading tools, research tools and customer service†. The customer service is extremely good, and its research tools help me to make comparisons of four stocks at a time using up to 147 different traits. Since I am an on line customer, I get facilities like a quarter of my mutual funds and 6 per cent of my equity trade is free of commission. I use Allied Insurance for my personal insurance. I find the premium easily affordable. I have insured my car with the American Automobile Association for its lucrative premium. I have a low velocity of circulation which means I have more money than I normally spend. This is because I have the habit of keeping aside some portion of my salary as precautions like sudden emergencies. Since such events do not happen in most months, therefore I can keep my velocity of circulation low.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Canonical Antonyms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
Canonical Antonyms - Research Paper Example Canonical antonyms are investigated through opinion tests, word connection tests, and extraction tests (Grassmayr 36). Within the context of good grammatical language, the canonical antonyms occur together with one another by means of credible constructions better than other word pairs with possible semantics. The diagnostics of canonical antonyms are found out through grammatical word structures and the strengths of language semantics. Words that have opposing meanings may have contrasting viewpoints but that does not necessarily mean that they are canonical antonyms. The paradigm of the application of English language semantics that provides the meaning of words, opposites, and adjectives rely on canonical antonyms. This is evident through dictionaries and thesaurus that provide the basic values and meanings of words and their antonyms, which should have a canonic point of view (Vas 79). Antonym word duos refer to any two words that contrast semantically to each other by virtue of having dissimilar meanings, for example, warm and chilly. A canonic antonym refers to two words that are affiliated because of being together with semantic correlation, for instance, public and private. Therefore, canonic antonyms are twosome words that have lexicon frameworks in the language whose combinations make sense by default without necessarily having to adhere to semantic tenets (Storjohann 89). The conventional way to which canonical antonyms pair with each other occur in a broad array of word contexts in that they do not contrast just because of being in a single phrase. Therefore, poor and rich are more probable to contain a canonic perspective as opposed to rags and riches. To reciprocate the relatedness of the words is also considered to have a canonic affiliation. For instance, searches may show that the best antonym of both rapid and fast is slow.Â
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Consumer Borrowing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Consumer Borrowing - Essay Example On the other hand, there are users whose spending needs exceed their current income levels so they have a deficit. Therefore, they require additional funds to make up the difference. These funds can be trasferred from suppliers to demanders of money in two ways. First is through Financial institutions that are of two types including depository insitutions such as commercial banks, saving and credit unions (also known as financial intermediaries) and non-depository instituions such as life insurance companies, pension funds and finance companies. Depository institutions especially banks accept deposits from savers (lenders) of money that they can withdraw on demand. They pool customer deposits and use these funds to make loans or investments to demanders or borrowers of money (consumers and businesses). These institutions make money because of interests rate that they charge from demanders, which is higher than what they to pay to savers or depositors of money. On the other hand, non-depositry institutions such as insurance companies accept business risks of their customers in return for a series of payments called premiums. They then invest their excessive funds after meeting their operating expenses (insurance claims, salaries etc). Finance companies offer short-term loans to borrowers. They usually sell securities or borrow funds from commercial banks therefore they tend to charge higher interest rates as compared to banks. Second is through financial markets where people and organizations wanting to borrow money are brought together with those having surplus funds. Financial markets are primarily divided into primary and secondary markets. Primary market are those in which corporations raise funds by issuing new securities. In Secondary markets, on the other hand, previously issued securities such as mortgages, bonds and stocks are traded among investors. Stock exchanges are perhaps the best example of these type of markets.
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