Research Proposal Essay

I would like to write about a famous Arabic writer, Naguib Mahfouz. His poetry and works inspire me a lot and I enjoy reading his things. My father always used to read them to me, because his poems were true. Mahfouz always talks about the issues affecting the people of Egypt: generational, historical, religious, and political. Egyptians always have something going on. With his writings, Mahfouz’s introduces the reader to Egyptian reformers and modern and traditional characters as they change. We all know that as a country Egypt constantly reforms, even at an early age, Mahfouz has been able to capture hints of revolution. Mahfouz’s novels are stories of love, ethics, moral responsibility, and crises that characterize a culture that has had many changes. His stories talk about and describe the lives of ordinary individuals caught in struggles of identity and religion. His fictional work paint a picture of Egyptian Muslims that are ruled by their own culture, as well as those they encounter as a result of the outside influence of colonialism. This simultaneity allows Mahfouz to depict the contemporary Egyptian identity as both modern and traditional. In Naguib Mahfouz’s short story â€Å"Zaabalawi† there see a young man in search of the mysterious Zaabalawi, because he afflicted with a disease which doctors are unable to cure. Zaabalawi is known to cure illnesses, a holy man that has healing powers. Zaabalawi is like a mysterious figure that has some strange powers to accomplish the impossible. While in this search, the protagonist visits a variety of figures including a religious lawyer, a book seller, a government officer, a calligrapher, and a musician. Not able to find any definite answers as to the whereabouts of Zaabalawi, he begins to doubt his existence. Eventually, however, while in a drunken sleep in a tavern, he dreams that he is in a beautiful garden and experiences a state of harmony and contentment. He awakes to find that Zaabalawi was with him but has now disappeared again. Though upset at having missed him, the main character is encouraged by his dream and determines to continue his search for Zaabalawi. In this story the author uses symbolism to convey his message to his audience, that the quest to find Zaabalawi is a journey into our souls in search of the inner peace that inside us. Mahfouz uses a lot symbolic meanings, such as irony, that is why I want to write about this work. I have always been drawn to these types of writing. Annotated Bibliography 1. Aboul-Ela, Hosam. â€Å"The Writer Becomes Text: Naguib Mahfouz and State Nationalism in Egypt.† Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 27:2 (2004 Spring), pp. 339-56. – I chose Prof. Aboul Ela because his work because it’s easy to read and very simple, some of the other materials was a bit too hard to put together. 2. Naguib Mahfouz. â€Å"The Happy Man† ONE WORLD OF LITERATURE Shirley Geok-Lin Kim and Norman A. Spencer. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. p.46-p.53 – Im using this source because it’s going to help me explain other literary works of Naguib Mahfouz in this essay. 3. Modern Egyptian Short Stories by El-Gabalawy, Saad (trans.) (Najib Mahfouz, Youssef Idris, Saad Elkhadem) ISBN: 0919966039 – Im using this other source because of the type of writing. This book explains how Mahfouz writes his stories, and what he uses in terms of grammar and how he builds the story, symbolism and irony. 4. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mahfouz.htm – This source is going to help me discuss the state of mind of Naguib Mahfouz when he wrote his books. It explains how Mahfouz became a beginning of an era not only in the Egyptian literature but also in the Arab literature.He was always lonely, maybe that’s the reason why his writings were always kind of sad.

Atwood’s short story “Bluebeard’s Egg” Essay

Atwood’s Bluebeard’s Egg is a narrative that supports the theme of perception being a human characteristic which only presents the truth the particular person wants to believe. The first evidence of this appears in Sally’s description of Edward, her husband, who by her thoughts is a â€Å"dumb blond† that need her protection and intelligence to survive. â€Å"At set intervals an angel appears, bringing him food. That’s fine with Ed who hardly notices what he eats, but the angel is getting tired of being an angel† (168, prgh1) We get this image of the â€Å"caring wife† protecting a not-so-intelligent husband out of love and pity. This is Sally’s perception of the truth. On the other hand we see her immaturity in her diction (â€Å"heart-men† â€Å"fix their hearts†, â€Å"looked like a giant-fig†) which shows her ignorance of her husband’s line of work which is substantially difficult and requires intelligence and dedication that few people possess. This is why the readers start to doubt Sally’s truth and at this point we side with the other â€Å"some† who say that he is â€Å"intelligent and even brilliant, otherwise how can he be so successful†? (151, last pgh) This first conflict that takes place in the readers themselves furthers the theme of the story. Who can we trust and why? Sally’s perception is the lense that we see the story through, but without it we wouldn’t have a vision at all. So we have to take her reality and decide which truth we want to believe. Ed’s truth of a middle-age well-off physician with a beautiful, young wife who â€Å"doesn’t care much for anything† except the nice routine of his life. Or Marylynn’s perception of a liberal, independent and confident woman who doesn’t need a husband to enjoy her life. Or finally Sally’s desperate attempt to hold on to her perfect life – married to a wealthy handsome but not-so-smart husband who provides a normal â€Å"happy† life for her. The point in the story where Sally catches her husband and her best friend crossing that line of appropriateness, is when she realizes that her perception of what was real was actually all wrong from the begging. This sudden crack in her â€Å"perfect† life threatens the very foundations of an her seemingly stable universe. â€Å"Sally has been wrong about Ed, for years, forever.† (182) This is a crucial moment in the story as it shows Sally’s epiphany and provides a mysterious moment as to what she was going to do –  face her husband and her best friend, or try to ignore it in order to save her marriage, her security blanket. â€Å"Sally puts down the spatula, wipes her hand on the hand-towel, puts her arms around him, holds on tighter that she should.† (183, 3rd prgh) This is the image we get – of Sally trying to hold on to her illusory reality. In a way the egg in the story is the truth that humans seek but the truth is covered by the hard protective shell and only people who go beyond the surface and look for change can get to the core – to the truth which provides liberation. The structure of the story with the old â€Å"Bluebeard† tale in the middle of this new story reminds me of the egg which was once created and now has a life inside itself and will create in its turn. â€Å"Sally thinks the egg is alive, and one day it will hatch. But what will come out of it?† (184, 1st prgh) This relates to Atwood’s contemplating of the â€Å"creative process†. Like in other poems by her, we see the birth of new concepts from the roots of our very own creation. This also compares to the ways in which our engagement with a text, the act of reading literature, corresponds to â€Å"reading† reality. Atwood’s story suggests that in both instances, â€Å"guesswork† or â€Å"intuition† is as fundamental as close analysis. But whether our interpretation of the story is intuitive or analytical, the outcome is an unending quest after an illusory truth because nothing is what it seems.

The Legacy of Ruth Ginsburg or Significant Women's Rights Research Paper

The Legacy of Ruth Ginsburg or Significant Women's Rights Contributions of Ruth Ginsburg to the Twenth Century - Research Paper Example It is not possible to fully cover Ginsburgs contributions to womens rights in a paper of this limited scope. However, it will highlight her most importatnt work, and show how the progression of her legal reasoning has become the cornerstone of todays womens movement. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of womens rights foremost advocates, and she has earned a place in history as a woman that has led by example as well as action. Ginsburg immersed herself in womens issues at an early point in her professional life, and they became a hallmark of her career. Ginsburg was a groundbreaker, and at Harvard Law School she was one of only eight women out of a class of 500. She transferred to Columbia, where she graduated at the top of her class, though gender discrimination overshadowed her academic achievements.1 Ginsburg joined the faculty at Rutgers, and became "only the second female on the schools faculty and among the first 20 women law professors in the country".2 She became the first law professor at Harvard, directed the Womens Rights Project at the ACLU, and by 1973 Ginsburg was arguing a Supreme Court case regarding equal benefits for men and women in the armed forces.3 Ginsburg gained the attention of President Jimmy Carter by winning 5 out of 6 Supreme Court cases, and consistently arguing that the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment applied to gender as well as race.4 Carter appointed Ginsbur g to the United States Court of appeals for the District of Columbia, and in 1993 she was "confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 96 to 3, becoming the 107th Supreme Court Justice, its second female jurist", and an outspoken advocate for womens rights on the bench.5 Since that date she has been instrumental in furthering the cause of gender equality in America. Her early work with the ACLU on the Womens Rights Project prepared her legal skills for writing the Supreme Court decision on United States v.

Philosophy-Contemporary Ethical Theory4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Philosophy-Contemporary Ethical Theory4 - Essay Example The ethical realist believes that ethical statements are descriptions of the states of the world, hence are like other fact-stating assertions, true or false independently of the beliefs of the speaker (O’ Neill: 163). According to G.E. Moore’s (1873-1958) intuitionism, good is a simple, unanalysable property similar to a primary colour. Adapting a version of Utilitarianism, Moore believed that right acts are those that produce the most good; but he stated that goodness cannot be defined or identified with a natural property such as pleasure. Moore, an ethical intuitionist believed that good could be understood directly, through moral intuition, so that it is possible to say whether a moral statement is true or false. The simple notion of describing goodness when it is seen, is like trying to define the colour yellow. It is not possible to define the color yellow, but only by showing someone an example can the color yellow or similarly the concept of goodness be explained (Oliphant & Mayled: 10). W.D. Ross’ (1877-1971) intuitionism also believed, like Moore that â€Å"right† and â€Å"obligatory† are as indefinable as â€Å"good†, and stated that certain types of actions called prima facie duties were right. Ross’ seven classes of prima facie duties were: duties of fidelity, reparation when we have done something wrong, gratitude, justice, beneficence or helping others, self-improvement, and duties of non-maleficence or not harming others. When these prima facie duties, which mean duties at first sight, oppose each other, it is essential to follow the one which is right for the situation. Hence, one prima facie duty may have to give way to another. However, deciding on which one to obey in cases of conflict, depended on a person’s moral maturity, realization of self-evident truths and intuition (Oliphant & Mayled: 12). Some criticisms of intuitionism are that if value

Stem cell research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Stem cell - Research Paper Example However, in an embryo that is developing, stem cells can differentiate into a large number of specialized cells and may maintain the normal output of those organs, which regenerate such as blood and skin. The main difference between stem cells and other cells in the body is the fact that they are able to differentiate into other types of cells or tissues. This ability allows them to replace the cells that have died, moreover, this has been used by scientists to replace those cells that are defective in patients who have diseases and effects that cannot be effectively cured by other forms of medicine (Dresser 181). â€Å"Scientists believe that stem cells, from which all other types of cells can grow, will help cure Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, spinal injuries, congestive heart failure and other maladies† (Kelley). The usage of stem cells, especially embryonic stem cells in the cure of diseases such as Parkinson’s disease has come to breed a lot of controversy, and there has been a great deal of support for those who are for it and for those who are against it. There are different types of stem cells andmany different terms have been used to describe them, and these descriptions tend to come from the area of the body or the state of development from which they have come. Among the different stem cell forms are the following: tissue stem cells, fetal stem cells, cord blood stem cells, embryonic stem cells and finally, induced pluripotent stem cells. Moreover, many adult stem cells can substitute cells that die or restore tissues that have been damaged in injuries and such adult tissues as skin and muscle have their own stem cells, and in the bone marrow, blood-forming stem cells help in the production of blood cells. It is yet to be determined whether all organs have stem cells and it can, therefore, be said that the term adult stem cells is used very broadly and may contain other categories of stem cells, which are not necess arily found in adults. There are certain accepted stem cell therapies in the medical field, which require the use of stem cells, which are tissue specific. These tissue stemcells used in these therapies include the bone marrow and cord blood stem cell transplantation, which treat diseases related to blood or the restoration of blood after treatments of such conditions as cancer. In this situation, the tissue stem cells are used to mend the parts of the body from which these cells came. Another adult stem cell type is the mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in a number of tissues, and they are speculated to be able to produce bone, cartilage, and fat (Siegel 215). This has yet to be proven for human beings, but there is ongoing research on animals to determine whether these cells can be used to treat such conditions as bone fractures that do not normally heal. In addition, there is a possibility that these cells or cells that are similar to them play a role in altering the immune system in response to injury. Fetal stem cells are those, whichare taken from the fetus, which is a developing baby that has gone approximately ten weeks into gestation. The majority of the tissues in the fetus include cells that can help in the swift growth and maturity of organs and are extremely much like adult stem cells, which are often tissue specific. The fetus stem cells often produce the cell types that are mature inside the organ from which they were

Shiva Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shiva - Research Paper Example The Denver Art Museum is famous for its rich Asian collection full of distinguished artifacts. More than five thousand objects of this prominent collection are exhibited in twenty two thousand square feet of gallery space. The large-scale Asian art collection occupies the galleries on the fifth floor of the Denver Art Museums North Building and contains objects that extend back over six thousand years ("Asian Art"). A thirteenth century bronze statue of Shiva Nataraja, known as the Lord or King of Dance, is one of the museums oldest high-profile exhibits. It depicts one of the most important of Hindu deities, Shiva, as a divine dancer. Shiva is translated from Sanskrit as "auspicious god", which is one of the primary embodiments of God in Hinduism. According to the Hindu mythology Shiva must destroy the world as we know it to cause the awakening of Brahma, another influential Hindu God responsible for the recreation of the universe (Gruenwald, and Marchand). Hindus believe that every thing that has a beginning must have an end. Thus, the statue of Shiva as a Lord of Dance is a bright illustration of this belief. They believe that Shiva is responsible for destruction of the illusions of individuality in the first place, thus Shivas dance has to be perceived as a catharsis for each and everyone. The abovementioned statue of Shiva has its origins in Tamil Nadu Province of India and was created 1100s during the rule of the Chola dynasty, which was one of the most powerful and long-lasting dynasties in the history of southern India ("Asian Art"). During the rule of Chola dynasty a number of magnificent Shiva temples famous for its exuberant architecture were built in southern India and numerous sculptures and bronzes of Shiva were created (Gruenwald, and Marchand). The sculpture of Shiva Nataraja is probably one of the most sophisticated artworks of exquisite beauty

Qatar Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Qatar - Assignment Example This ranking has been consistent, especially after the 2007-8 global financial crises, and is expected to continue for the next years due to the rising prices of oil and natural gas. This paper purpose to statistically determine whether the values of Qatar’s exports in oil and gas sector depend on Qatar’s economy, the size of the Importing country, or/and by the distance between Qatar and the importing country. The statistical analysis of the link between the value of Qatar’s export and Qatar’s economy, size of the importing country, and the distance between Qatar and the importing country will take the following regression model. When the available data of the value of exports (US $), Qatar’s GDP (Million US $), GDP of the importing country, the Distance (from Doha to the importing country capital), and the natural logs of all these variables were run in SPSS, the following were the results. According to the table above, the coefficient of determination, R square and the Adjusted R square are 0.448 and 0.444 respectively. This figure means that the independent variables have explained 44.4% of the variation in the dependent variable (lnExport). Approximately 44.4% of Qatar’s exports are attributed to Qatar’s economy, the size of the Importing country, and the distance between Qatar and the importing country. The standard error shows the standard deviation of the various sample statistics from the population i.e. the measure of variability of the prediction in the regression model. The standard error of the estimates, as shown in the table above is 2.5046, meaning only 2.5046 of the sample deviates from the population, thereby making the data credible. According to the ANOVA table above, the test for the model validity shows the F-value is 104.682. Assuming the null hypothesis argued in support of the dependence of Qatar’s export

Home Environment and Environmental Audit Research Paper

Home Environment and Environmental Audit - Research Paper Example Finally, I would like to thank my parents for the warm influence and love which has been a source of inspiration for me for the successful completion of the work. Home environment and energy management assumes great importance in modern society as it ensures clean and hygienic surroundings and risk free environment. The environment in which people live is prone to serious epidemic diseases that can cause deadly threats to human kind. The efficient management of home surroundings protects home and its inhabitants from pollutants which contribute to the outbreak of serious illnesses to the people and make damages to homes. Similarly, energy management at home is also essential as it ensures savings of energy and money. The need for energy management is seriously felt in the present day world because of high cost and shortage of energy. Management of energy saves the money and resources not only of individual doing it, but that of the whole society and country as well. Thus, from macroeconomic point of view, energy management is indispensable for a country to sustain and develop in a situation where resource shortage is a serious issue. The two main energies used at home today are gas and electricity. It is indisputable that these two sources of energy are highly essential in human life and are dangerous at the same time. This calls for an efficient management of energies and the emissions that come out of the usage of gas and electricity. The usage of electricity emits carbon dioxide and it is likely to have adverse impact on human lives. A recent report documents that "in the UK, carbon dioxide emissions fell by 5 per cent between 1990 and 2005 despite a 43 per cent increase in GDP" (The Challenges 2006, p. 2). Turing to the impact of consumption of gas energy at home, the environment is affected by Benzene, one of the pollutants of the present day world. It is found that in the UK, 90 of the environmental pollution occur as a result of benzene (Air Pollutants 2006, Table 2, p. 34). It is also estimated that "Carbon dioxide contributed 85 per cent of the potential global warming

Choosing a College Course Essay Example for Free

Choosing a College Course Essay Introduction Many students find it difficult in choosing what course to take in college. For seniors or graduating high school students, the pressure goes higher as the end of their term is coming because the time is running and decreasing for deciding what course they will take. Choosing a course is really a hard decision to make. Your future depends on it and the decision you will make would determine what life you will have in the future. This is the first step in your life as an independent person and this is the first step for your success. You should be careful in choosing a course because when you have started on it there is no way getting back. You can shift to another course but a lot of thing will be wasted: your effort, money and time. So from the start you should pick the right one and you should make up your mind that this is the course for you and this will lead you to success. Many would say that they haven’t chosen yet or they were not sure about the course they want to pursue. Some might have chosen before and decided what to take but in the end they want to change it because they weren’t sure or still confused. And the wide range of choices of college courses made it more difficult to choose. But you are not really â€Å"clueless† in choosing what course to take, there are some factors you would consider and this might help you pick the suitable and best course for you. Your Personal Interests The most basic consideration in the choice of a college major or college course is, of course, what you want. Is there something that you’ve always wanted to get into, something that resonates within the very fiber of your being? If so, that may be where you’re meant to go. The more interested you are in a subject, the more likely you are to study it and achieve a strong result. This is particularly important at college when you are responsible for your own study. List the fields of study that interest you, and come up with a list of courses you would consider studying based on these interests. Add the topics that you were most interested in during school as well as jobs that you envied others for. At some point, many students try to fit in a course or two based purely on personal interest. While their majors may reflect their primary interest, most people are interested in more than one intellectual pursuit, so a biology major who has a passion for movies might take a film course. This is not necessarily what are you good at, but what do you love doing? You might be great at math, but you spend your weekends fixing up bits of old computers. So don’t study math, focus on IT or computer engineering instead. Specialize in your passion. Cost Of Study Affordability is another aspect you need to consider while deciding on your course, as well as the additional costs that occur, such as text books, field trips etc. However, do not let cost hamper your career choice, as there are a number of financial assistance options available to complete the course. College tuitions soar each year, advancing far in excess of the inflation rate. The overall inflation rate since 1986 increased 115.06%, which is why we pay more than double for everything we buy. On the other hand, during the same time, tuition increased a whopping 498.31%. See chart below Many schools have increased tuition fees due to higher overhead costs. Fuel and labor costs continue to rise. Many older college buildings are in need of renovation or replacement. The demand for expanded libraries and new research and computer labs is at an all-time high. Some schools also need additional security measures. But Dont Let College Costs Scare You! These costs may seem overwhelming, but there are ways to keep expenses down. Remember that college educations come at all levels of cost, and that financial aid can reduce that cost. If a school is a great fit for you but seems too expensive, it makes sense to apply and then see whether your financial aid offer will bring the cost down. Dont give up on a college because of its sticker price. Financial Aids Grants and scholarships are the most desirable types of funding you can receive to pay for your college education, since they don’t need to be repaid. While any amount of free money will be competitive, especially in a tough economic climate, the sooner and more often you apply the more luck you’ll have. The list of reasons why a scholarship may be given to a particular student is quite long, although some of the more popular awards are given to students who achieve academically, are athletically gifted, choose to enroll in a particular program of study, are part of a certain kind of organization, or choose to enroll in the military and still further their education. A scholarship might cover the entire cost of your tuition, or it might be a one-time award of some cash. Either way, it’s worth applying for, because it’ll help reduce the cost of your education. Career opportunities Look at the career prospects of the course before selecting one. Consider various factors such as income, job security, stress, responsibility and other benefits while researching a profession. Not all courses are created equal. Yes, they all offer a diploma upon completion, but they dont guarantee a job. When you are choosing a major, it would be wise to check out the job placement statistics of others who have pursued this degree. There is no reason why you should be the guinea pig; if a specific career is your reason for choosing this major, investigate the success of others. If you want to avoid a data entry position, check out all of the opportunities available and your chance at landing one of those positions after graduation. Commitment, Time and Practical Considerations Choosing a college course requires you to look inwards and assess your commitment to your chosen path. Assuming that you have the issue of money and other practical considerations settled, do you actually possess the skills and the patience to go the distance? Moreover, do you actually want to do so? There’s also a chance that your parents may be expecting you to tread a certain academic path; will you have the strength and the will to stick it out against all odds? You should also be aware of what you’re getting into when choosing a college major. What will your college course require you to do? Are you willing to do it? As a case in point, if you’re squeamish about the sight of blood, why should you decide to go for a Nursing Degree? To be certain that you will be committed to your studies, find out the duration of your course. Taking double-degrees, full time or part-time depends on your personal choice. Ensure that you will be able to balance your other priorities along with education. Study flexibility varies amongst universities. Demand If your goal is to be employed immediately after graduation, base your choice not on popular courses, but on employable courses, or courses that are the most in-demand in the job market. Job seeking is becoming an increasingly competitive sport these days. With thousands of students graduating each year and limited number of job opportunities available to them, plenty of job seekers end up resorting to options they wouldn’t had to choose if they had other alternatives. These days, there is no time to get into a career and then decide if it is the right one for you. You should know right from the beginning what is right for you and what career you can excel in. Thanks to the very competitive nature of the employment sector, getting the right job or choosing the right career is not as easy as it once used to be. Everyone is looking for help in deciding what career should be chosen. Obviously, in todays competitive world, everyone wants a job or career that has high pay, job stability, and great future prospects. However, owing to the bad effects of the recently experienced economic recession, a majority of people are looking forward to changing careers. The careers that are being sought after are top jobs in demand for the future, which are mostly from the medical field. The main reason why medical jobs are and will be in demand is because they do not have any impact of the financial crisis arising in the economy. So if you want to secure a job in the future, pick a course that is in demand after you graduate. Conclusion Even you have known some things that you might consider in choosing a course, the choice is still yours and the one who will decide is no other but you. Choose on what you think is the best for you and what you think that will give you success. But remember that even you have chosen a course that is qualified for all the factors listed and will give great results, it not ends in there. The most important thing is in everything you do always give your best shot. Work hard for everything you want to achieve and accomplish. Don’t quit and never give up. And most of all ask God for help and guidance in everything you do. Pray for it. God has the best plan for you. When you do all these things, I’m sure that whatever course you will take, you will be successful and you will have a wonderful future.

Marketing Samsung Essay Example for Free

Marketing Samsung Essay The transformation from a low end to a world class company, Samsung has grown with an electrifying portfolio. ’Next is what’ tag line for all the Samsung mobiles defies its competitors,making them strive more to compete. The underpinning business orientation aids the company to play the market race easily. The coordination between the products and sales is balanced and composed that the net sales mend at a high speed. Samsung targets to capitalize profitability by ensuing an effective marketing mix. A healthy competition is always considered to be one of the most attractive driving sources to triumph. Samsung faces several industrial aspirants, but is significantly distinguished with its marketing management tasks. The company follows a core strategy to keep glowing in the sprint. Superior performance through differentiation providing consumer value, managing lowest deliver cost acts as the imperative competitive advantages. ? The direct competitor targets for Samsung are, Put the companies name like iphone, nokia†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ all its important competitors logo Samsung has a strong infrastructure with all the necessary requirements, producing wide range of well recognized products globally. The company puts its higher investment on RD, thereby building technologically driven niche products. It establishes a brand value , providing greater yields than its competitors. The fast changing company entices young brains by providing fascinating pay, bonuses and incentives as a token of recognition. Samsung has large resources as a powerful work force, who are given full freedom to explore and innovate advancement in technologies and development. The business targets the specific market and creates a revolution, with its high margin products all over the world. With joint investments, the business is customer and market oriented. The brand power creates value chain that integrates competencies of all areas.Samsung positions itself as the digital technology leader, contends with other leading companies by appointing Olympic gold medalist Abinav Bindra and Actor Aamir khan, as its brand ambassador for it consumer electronics business and mobile phones respectively. Samsung meets every challenge, with high investment, with expertise in technology and marketing. Internally, Samsung maintains its own controlled strategy to stay competitive.

Static And Dynamic Spectrum Allocation Computer Science Essay

Static And Dynamic Spectrum Allocation Computer Science Essay As the requirements of the wireless services keep growing, the number of variant wireless standards increases, which consequently imposes increasing stress on the fixed and limited radio spectrum. However, extensive measurements reported indicate that large part of licensed bands is in low utilization, as show in Figure 2.1. Spectrum utilization is strongly depended on place and time. Fixed spectrum allocation wastes resources. [1] Figure .1 Spectrum Utilization Nowadays applications require more bandwidth for better services. Electromagnetic spectrum, however, is a kind of limited natural resource as well as water and crude oil. Recent studies noted the poor utilization of traditional exclusive spectrum assignment. An intuitional way to improve the sparse usage is to allow an unlicensed user to access the resource during idle time. We can improve efficiency by allowing unlicensed users to exploit spectrum whenever it would not cause interference to licensed users. 2.2 Spectrum Assignment Policy: Why A fixed spectrum fraction is assigned to licensed holders on a long term basis for large geographical regions. Figure 2.2 show fixed spectrum assignment to different standards. Figure 2.2 Spectrum Assignment policy According to Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this exclusive assignment limits the usage and results in many spectrum holes, also called white space. It shows most traffic over wireless network concentrates on particular frequency, in particular region, at particular time while a significant amount of the spectrum remains unused. Throughout the whole spectra, utilization varies from 15% to 85% in frequency, time and geographic domains. Much worse is that, 90% of the time, certain portions of licensed bands are unoccupied. As users demand for better quality of services and higher data rate, efficient spectrum usage is becoming a critical issue. [2] 2.3 Static and Dynamic Spectrum Allocation: There has been numerous protocol standards on the wireless spectrum that rely on a static spectrum allocation policy under which each licensed spectrum band is statically assigned to the specific licensed service and its users. Once a spectrum band is assigned to a certain service, its allocation is not allowed to change. However, a new concept of dynamic spectrum allocation has become necessary to overcome critical limitations of the traditional static al location scheme. Recent studies have shown that the use of static spectrum allocation has degraded spectral efficiency significantly. Moreover, current standards cannot guarantee the prevention of unexpected interruptions by wireless network users. To alleviate these problems, FCC has recently suggested a new concept of cognitive radio networks (CRNs) that serves as a framework in realizing dynamic spectrum allocation. It requires the enhancement of current PHY and MAC protocols to adopt spectrum-agile features. The basic idea of s pectrum agility is to allow secondary users (SUs) or unlicensed users to access licensed spectrum bands as far as they do not produce undesirable interference with the licensed users. To achieve this goal, SUs must monitor each channelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s usage pattern by its PUs to identify spectrum holes or opportunities to exploit. Whenever SUs find a channel that can be utilized without interfering with its PUs, it can be assigned to and will be shared by the SUs. The SUs are also responsible for monitoring returning PUs on the channel they are currently using so as to promptly vacate the channel in such a case. [3] 2.4 Unlicensed Spectrum: There are two major advantages of using unlicensed spectrum. First, there is no requirement to register for using the spectrum and its deployment is very fast and cost effective as well. Second major advantage of using unlicensed spectrum is that it is shared among users which is indeed useful for wireless systems in which devices can dynamically change its position like notebooks, cell phones, etc. It would not be practical to require the owners of a portable device to acquire a license that covers every place they may ever wish the system to operate. Fixed applications that transmit sporadically or at fluctuating rates can also make more efficient use of unlicensed spectrum; when one is not transmitting, another can. It has been shown that cellular systems could carry significantly more traffic if they shared spectrum dynamically, provided that competing firms are willing to adopt cooperative strategies that serve their common interest. Metropolitan area networks carrying bursty da ta traffic could expect even greater efficiency gains, if competing networks can be motivated to adopt such techniques. [11] 2.4.1 ISM band: The industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands were originally reserved internationally for the use of RF electromagnetic fields for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications. Figure 2.3 shows spectrum of ISM band. [13] Figure 2.3: ISM Band There are many factors which raises interest for using these bands such as time consuming standardization. Also, there is no requirement of registering the users using these bands, no particular restrictions on users for their usage and users can use the products anywhere at any place. There is no license fee for this band and the devices using these bands are cost effective. Many wireless communication standards are aimed to use unlicensed ISM band because it is easier to coexist with existing wireless networks than to assign a new separate empty spectrum. Currently most of spectrums for wireless communication are saturated. There are heavy interference and competition in ISM band because many wireless devices flow into this frequency area. On the contrary, spectrums of TV broadcasting, digital TV and wireless microphone tend to inactive depend on devicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ location or time. In TV broadcasting, the spectrum is busy in TV broadcasting hours, but no one can use the spe ctrum when broadcasting signs off. Also TV spectrum is changed in compliance with localization. The 2.4 GHz ISM band has become particularly popular in last few years such as household and virtually all commercial buildings are likely to have equipment that operates in this band. Applications include wireless LANs, Bluetooth and infrared devices for short range communication and for Advanced Traveler Information and Management Systems like door openers for garage, home audio system, cordless phones, remote control, etc. 2.5 Wireless Regional Area Network (IEEE 802.22): IEEE 802.22 Working Group came in to being in November 2004 with a purpose of making a standard for wireless regional area network (WRAN) capable of using cognitive radio technology. According to its technical specifications, 802.22 WRAN systems will operate on the VHF/UHF TV bands ranging from 54 MHz to 862 MHz. The target of WRAN is to provide wireless broadband access with the average coverage radius of 33 km and can go up to 100km. The main target is to make unlicensed access to unused TV spectrum. In particular, 802.22 WRAN systems will be able to sense the spectrum, identify unused TV channels, and utilize these channels to provide broadband services for fixed wireless subscribers. While doing so, they must make sure that there is no undesirable interference with licensed users. Figure 2.4 shows the WRAN standards and application.[8] Figure 2.4: WRAN IEEE 802.22 is a standard for Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) which uses unused spectrum (spectrum whole) in the TV frequency spectrum on a non-interference basis. This standard is developed with the intent to give broadband internet coverage in rural areas with acceptable performance comparing with performance of DSL and cable modems. The television spectrum was selected for this application due to its propagation characteristics. Cognitive radios will reuse TV spectrum in an opportunistic way by detecting if the channel is occupied before using it. 2.6 Summary: Due to the rapid growth of wireless services, various wireless standards have been developed which are becoming a cause of major stress in fixed and limited spectrum. However fixed spectrum results in low utilization of spectrum resources as per the spectrum assignment policy. Now days, applications require more spectrum for efficient services. The fixed spectrum is not convenient for these services. Therefore, this problem can be improved efficiently by allowing unlicensed users to exploit spectrum whenever it would not cause interference to licensed users. The fixed spectrum policy that relies on a static spectrum allocation policy under which each licensed spectrum band is statically assigned to the specific licensed service and its users and its allocation is not allowed to change. In order to solve this issue a new concept of dynamic spectrum allocation also known as unlicensed spectrum policy has become necessary to overcome critical limitations of the traditional static allocation scheme. To make this concept more efficient, a new technology called cognitive radio technology has been developed. The basic idea behind this technology is to allow secondary users (SUs) to access licensed spectrum bands as far as they do not cause any harmful interference with the primary users (PUs). The unlicensed spectrum has two major advantages i.e., one is they are fast and cheap in deployment and other is unlicensed spectrum is shared. As sharing is essential for wireless networks, many wireless communication standards are aimed to use unlicensed ISM band because of complete absence of user restrictions and it is easier to coexist with existing wireless networks than to allocate new empty spectrum. Cognitive radio technology is being used in WRAN developed by IEEE 802.22 working group give broadband services in rural areas having the performance statistics comparable to DSL and cable modems by utilizing white spaces on non-interference basis.

An Analysis of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Essays -- GDP Economy Econ

An Analysis of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The current state of the economy in the United States has been slow in recent months. While the economy is not currently in a recession, we may eventually fall victim to the first recession we’ve had in nearly ten years. The economy in general is showing growth, just not much. It will be difficult to predict what exactly will happen to the US economy in the future. Many economists do not agree on what will become of the economy. Some feel that we will begin a recession over the next year, and some feel that there is significant policy implementation that will allow us to dodge a recession and regain our economic strength. There are many factors that make up the US economy. The means in which I will discuss the overall growth and current status of the economy is by analyzing the Gross Domestic Product, and discuss the factors that cause it to rise and fall. The GDP is the total aggregate income of the United States. It is comprised of consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports. The GDP in the fourth quarter of 2000 grew at a 1.1% annual rate, the lowest since a 0.8% increase in the second quarter of 1995. The below par performance in GDP is due to those factors that comprise the GDP. The most important of which is consumption. Consumption in the United States has been less than expected mainly due to low consumer confidence. Consumer confidence has hit a 10 year low with an index of 106.8 as reported by Alan Greenspan. In the past 2 months the index number has plummeted nearly 22 points, the biggest decrease since the 1990-1991 recession. The reason for this recent drop in consumer confidence is due to several key factors. One factor is the poor performance of the stock market. The Dow Jones is down from its peak that was hit last year, but has now rebounded slightly. The Nasdaq took a dive with the decrease in t he prices of tech stocks. The Nasdaq has fallen nearly 56% from its peak in March of 2000. The Wilshire 5000, which is a broader market, is also down by about 22%. Also a factor in dropping consumer confidence is the fear of more layoffs by major employers. The media has paid a lot of attention to large layoffs of companies, yet the labor markets still remain fairly tight. The natural rate of unemployment in the US is approximately 5%, which is higher than the actual rate... ...ints on congress never materialized. If the rate of domestic spending had risen at the same rate as inflation, at the end of his presidency, the government would have had a surplus of almost 250 billion dollars. The way that supply-side economics works is by increasing the disposable income of the taxpayer, which will inevitably increase consumption. The theory is that if people get to retain more of the money that they earn they will work better and longer thus increasing productivity as well as the quality of goods. President Bush’s tax cut plan if done correctly will help greatly to get the US economy to increase its growth. So is the United States in a recession? The answer is no it isn’t. The US has had a period of sluggish growth, but still it has been positive. The economy will have to grow at a negative rate over the next two quarters in order for the US to be in a recession. But is there cause for concern that a recession may occur? Yes there is, but the government’s interventions should keep the US from falling victim to recession. I believe that the economy will eventually pick itself back up and avoid a recession. The GDP will once again grow at a quick pace.

Come Back into My Arms :: Love Letters Dating Email Relationships

Dear Jason, As time goes on and we're apart, I think of how things could have been. What we could have said or done to work things out. I would have been more understanding and not so judgmental, more loving and less hurtful and selfish. I would have told you I loved and cherished you more often. There can never or will ever be another person who I admire like you or who has reached the depths of my heart like you have. I would have told you that I'm so very proud of how far you've come and of all the things you have accomplished. But how could I find the words or actions to explain to you just how much I love you? It would have taken a million lifetimes to comprehend my feelings. I would have told you that you took my breath away the first time I saw you. I would have told you that you made me believe in love the first time you kissed me and you stole my heart the moment you uttered those magical words. I would have told you that every time I looked into your eyes I saw my destiny, my one and o nly. My soul mate, my best friend, my lover, my husband, and the father of my children. I can still close my eyes and feel the softness of your lips against mine and your tender fingers as they caress and explore my body. I would have told you that my knees and entire body shook every time you looked deep down into me with your eyes. You made me feel like you could read my mind and soul. Life just isn't the same without you. I wish that there was a way to make time stop and go back to when we were happy. We both know that before we can go back to being one, we need to change things about ourselves in order to make this relationship last.

Importance of Group Essay

According to Social Boundaries and Adherence to a Special Set of Norms Some sociologists do not consider these kinds of organization per se as mentioned in the succeeding section while other sociologists classify them as types of organization based on social boundaries and their adherence to a special set of norms (Zulueta, 2002). 1. Categorical Group A categorical group refers to a social grouping where members tend to share certain characteristics and interests and are aware of their similarities with other in their own social category. Ex. Students, teachers, farmers, senior citizens, fish vendors and other related groups. 2. Aggregate Group An aggregate group denotes a social grouping whose members stay in one place, but do not necessarily interact with each other. The members of this group are concerned only with their own feelings and attitudes. Ex. People forming a single line in the Araneta Center to buy tickets for the basketball game of their favorite player in the Philippine Basketball Association. 3. Collective Group A collective group refers to a crowd whose members are not governed with laws or norms, but share the same beliefs that motivates them to action. Examples are the EDSA People Power 1 and 2, a mass demonstration for a common cause and others. 4. Associational Group An associational group is composed of a group of people who organize themselves to pursue a common interest with a formal organizational structure such as the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Philippine Association for Teacher Education (PAFTE) and many others. In an associational group, there is a set of officers elected by its members which is responsible for running the association. According to Interaction and Relationship General classifications of groups according to their manner of interaction and relationship are: 1. Primary Group A primary group refers to small, informal group of people who interact in a more personal, intimate manner and who always have direct and face-to-face communication with each other. It includes the family, neighborhood and play groups. The primary group is characterized by Cooley as the nursery of human nature because it is the group where the child is socialized, acquires and experiences love, affection, sympathy, kindness, tolerance, fairness, loyalty and justice. The individual learns the meaning of personal worth and dignity of a person. 2. Secondary Group A secondary group involves indirect, impersonal interaction where members are forced to interact because of business transactions and the like. The business-like, impersonal and formal interactions of secondary groups allow the members to focus on their special skills. The members of secondary groups can function effectively because of the absence of the touch of familiarity where subjectivity comes in. According to Membership Other classifications of groups which are more specific as to membership are as follows: 1. In-group An in-group refers to a group of people whose sense of belongingness is strong. The members have a strong â€Å"we-feeling†, share common orientation, come from the same background, roots and origin and adhere to the ideology. An in-group is further characterized by a feeling of companionship and a great sense of loyalty. 2. Out-group The out-group is exactly the opposite of the in-group. This group is made up of people whose feelings are antagonistic to the group itself. There is physical membership but in mind and heart, the members dislike the group because of the concept that another group is superior to their group. An out-group is a stereotype where members of the group have specialized trademarks. 3. Reference Group A reference group is a group where people identify themselves physically and psychology to which other people refer in evaluating their behavior and actions. The group becomes the individual’s frame of reference in relation to his/her motivations, aspirations, experiences, attitudes and social affiliations. Oftentimes, a reference group tends to give an impression to a particular person as to his/her social, economic and even political status in the community. Sometimes, individual try to identify themselves with groups whose standing is well-known regionally, nationally or even internationally to demand high respect and special treatment from others. 4. Peer Group A peer group refers to a small kind of grouping whose members have the same level, interests and economic standing in the community. This is exemplified in school among students. Consciously and unconsciously, the members group themselves because they share the same interests and talents and perhaps their parents also share the same. There is also a sense of belongingness, sympathy and loyalty among themselves. 5. Voluntary Association A voluntary association, as the name suggests, is an organization where membership is free and voluntary. Though voluntary in nature, members follow some sets of rules or policies. Examples are civic-oriented groups whose primary purpose is to deliver some social benefits to the deprived, depressed and underserved (DDU) sectors of our society. Voluntary associations are found in some relatively simple societies composed of members with varied and competing interests. Here are some voluntary associations: * Military Associations Military associations are noncommercial societies whose goals are to unite members through their common experiences. * Secret Societies Secret societies are characterized principally by limited membership and by secret rituals generally believed to increase the supernatural powers of its members. * Regional Associations Regional associations are clubs that bring together migrants from common geographical backgrounds. Regional groupings actually give rise to out-groups, particularly when in a foreign milieu. According to Their Nature, Form, Objectives and Interaction Some sociologists have identified other social groupings based on their nature, form and objectives and how members relate with each other. These are the formal and informal groups. 1. Informal Group The informal group is the most common type of grouping based on nature, form, objectives and interaction. It occurs when two or more people interact with each other on issues affecting their welfare. An informal group can be a product of an impulsive act but later on grows into a partnership endeavor with the constant sharing of emotions and sentiments of the members. The group ensures cooperation from each member because of their sense of belongingness and self-confidence. 2. Formal Group A formal group is an organization where the specific organizational structure is constructed to achieve specific goals and objectives. This group has to fulfill a variety of specialized social and personal needs that influence one’s personality. Regardless of its nature, a formal organization has established philosophy, mission, vision and goals as its guiding premises in the discharge of its function. It is in this concern that formal organizations meet their fundamental needs to continue their collaborative efforts to attain these aspirations in a highly complex, industrial and business society.

Finance and Business

Study Guide Test 1 Small Business BSMG 2410 TEST 1 REVIEW MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. How a business plan can be useful. A working blueprint outlining ? nances and direction for a new start-up or expansion. Gives you something you â€Å"see†. 2. The doorways to small business ownership. There are three doorways to small business ownership. 1. Buy an existing business. 2. Buy a franchise 3. Start a new business. 3. Not one of the ten killer factors. The Ten Killer Factors for Entrepreneurs 1. Weak personality 2. The loner syndrome 3. Nebulous business ideas 4. No plan 5. Too little financial backing 6.Cash-flow troubles 7. No marketing strategy 8. No controlling 9. The wrong people 10. Underestimating the competition 4. Not one of the ten success factors. The Ten Success Factors for Entrepreneurs 1. Willingness to succeed 2. Self-confidence 3. A clear business idea 4. The Business Plan 5. Exact control of finances 6. Targeted marketing 7. A step ahead of the competition 8. Management su pport 9. Cooperation 10. Clear company structure 5. Not good advice for a budding entrepreneur. When you are the boss, you can take it easy. 6. Not one of the key points for successful entrepreneurs.Entrepreneur A visionary self-starter who loves the adventure of a new enterprise and is willing to risk his or her own money 7. Characteristics of today’s changing family. 8. Impact facts about the baby boomer generation. Baby boomers Persons born between 1946 and 1963: Increase in population: Retirement age. They will probably be your customers. Pg. 33: Baby boomers make up 70% of the population. Have a steady income. 9. Not an example of the new living arrangements. Living arrangements are changing and evolving. 10. What is accomplished by the Opportunity Selection Funnel 11.Not one of the product life-cycle stagesThe Life Cycle Stages A. Embryo B. Growth C. Mature D. Decline 12. What is included in primary research? Secondary research Reading and using previously published (pr imary) research 13. Steps in opportunity selection. Pg. 56: 1. Keep personal and business objectives in mind through the filtering process 2. Learn more about your favorite industry. 3. Identify 3 to 5 promising segments 4. Through research, identify problems that need solutions. 5. Brainstorm for solutions 6. Mesh possible solutions with your objective 7. Concentrate on the most promising opportunities. 4. What is gained by doing primary and secondary research? From my understanding, Primary and Secondary research are the difference in conducting the research. In Primary research, there is no data available for the researcher; hence the researcher has to start from scratch. This means that the researcher needs to design questionnaires, collect data from respondents and then analyses the result. If you are doing secondary research, the researcher have the necessary data available. These data are made available through other publications or reports, like newspaper or annual reports o f companies.If the researcher is doing secondary research, there is no need to start from scratch; he or she uses the data or information done by other organizations or publications. The important thing is that there are advantages and disadvantages for both methods. Primary research is more time consuming and costly. While some secondary research may not suit the researcher's needs. 15. Consider industry breakthroughs. 16. Parts of the NAICS structure. Pg. 62: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 1. Industry sector (20 major sectors) 2. Industry subsector 3. Industry group 4. Industry . U. S, Canadian, or Mexican national specific industry 17. How trade shows work. 18. How to conduct primary research. Interviews 19. How to use a matrix grid. Measurement tool with which ideas are screened and evaluated in order to ? nd solutions 20. What can be gain from market research. Collection and analysis of data pertinent to current or potential viability of a product or serv ice. Do the research up front will save you money in the long run. 21. What is included in a media kit. A media kit is a packet of information about your business that is created for use by the press.Its purpose is to provide media members with the necessary data to report on your business. Business Facts History Products/Services Bios Current News 22. Examples of target customers. Persons who have the highest likelihood of buying a product or service 23. Other things included in a media kit. Readership pro? les, and information, and market research developed by magazines for potential advertisers 24. Helpful websites in profiling target customers. www. newslink. org www. mediafinder. com www. brint. com www. sba. gov 25. What Claritas information is based on.A company providing a household segmentation tool that concisely describes and categorizes people by their age, income level, and social preferences. It is a sister company of National Decision Systems Psychographic: Descriptiv e information on values, attitudes, and lifestyles SHORT ANSWER Chapter 1: 26. Explain two (2) reasons why a business plan is critical to a small business. 27. Provide two (2) reasons for and two reasons against starting your own business. For: Job Security, in today’s economy this is one way of assure an income. You get to choose your schedule and work with flexibility- This has its benefits for sure.Being able to schedule around activities and practices and school is nice. However, it can also mean that you are working late into the evening. Just know that you have to be prepared for this! Against: It takes a lot of work. I’ve been dealing with entrepreneurs for more than 30 years now, and I’ve never seen even one of them who worked less while building a business than when he or she was an employee, or a student, or something else. Failure can cost you big time. Businesses do fail, and not always through the fault of the owner. Even good decisions have bad out comes. There are a lot of factors you can’t control.I know people whose business failure cost them their sense of self, plus their life relationships. If you can’t deal with the possibility, don’t go there. 28. Provide an advantage and a disadvantage of each of the three methods of getting into business. Starting from scratch, buying an existing business, franchise Chapter 2: 29. Explain through the use of an example what is meant by â€Å"new eyes† research. Trends, what people will be doing in the future. Helps provide feedback 30. What are the four (4) stages of a product life cycle and explain which one should be avoided. A. EmbryoB. Growth C. Mature D. Decline: you want to avoid because this means you an a downhill ride and there is no more opportunity for expanding. 31. Explain the concept of brainstorming. It refers to focusing on one subject and recording many ideas and different direction that idea takes you down so you can expand upon them in fu ture works you create. Don't be afraid to think and follow wandering thoughts. 32. Explain how the changing family could open up any two (2) possible small business opportunities. The number of grandparents raising their grandchildren has increased. Chapter 3: 3. Explain how the NASIC/SIC codes are set-up and how they can be used for gathering business information. (pg. 62) The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS, pronounced Nakes) was developed as the standard for use by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the collection, analysis, and publication of statistical data related to the business economy of the U. S. NAICS was developed under the auspices of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and adopted in 1997 to replace the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.It was also developed in cooperation with the statistical agencies of Canada and Mexico to establish a 3-country standard that allows for a high level o f comparability in business statistics among the three countries. NAICS is the first economic classification system to be constructed based on a single economic concept. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) was originally developed in the 1930's to classify establishments by the type of activity in which they are primarily engaged and to promote the comparability of establishment data describing various facets of the U.S. economy. 34. Explain how a matrix to mesh desires with ideas works for the entrepreneur. Chapter 4: 35. Describe how an entrepreneur can use a mass- market magazine to generate a profile of its target customers. Handouts 36. Discuss any three (3) traits from â€Å"Successful Small Businesses Share Five Traits. † 37. Discuss any three (3) points from â€Å"Getting a business of the ground is hard work. † 38. Discuss the relationship between happiness, passion, and owning a small business.

Equity Analyst Project – Individual

Equity Analyst Project – Individual Scott Hatten MBA 737-F1WW (W13) Professor Lauren Thomas March 2, 2013 This paper will assess my ability to maximize my personal return on investment with an allocation of $1,000,000. The overall goal of this exercise is to obtain the highest return possible within the next 12 months. I am limited to the following asset classes for allocation of all investments: * U. S. Equities * U. S. Treasury Bonds * Cash This paper will be my prospectus on the justification of the allocation and potential earnings in each class. U. S. Equities| U. S. 30-Year Treasury Bonds| Cash| Proposed Allocation| 70%| 25%| 5%| $ Amount| $700,000| $250,000| $50,000| Forecast +/- (12 Months)| 13%| 3. 0%| 0%| ROI| $791,000| $257,500| $50,000| Estimated (ROI) for $1,000,000 as of December 31, 2013 = $1,098,500. 00 U. S. Equities As the United States economy continues to grow in areas but struggle in others, the decision to place the largest allocation of funds into this c ategory is made without hesitation. 013 is the 1st year after a presidential election and the second term for our current president. Typically in situations like this there is less hype about a new leader in office and more emphasize placed on making strategic decisions and outcomes. Even though were are currently looking at the possibility of thousands of government based worked to be subjected to mandatory pay reductions through a sequester plan, the United States business machines is moving at a strong pace.Since 2008 business and industry leaders have worked to understand the changing dynamics of both the US and International economic challenges and have positioned their organizations to adapt more quickly to those conditions (Investors, 2013). As consumer spending and consumer confidence continue to increase, U. S. Equities should continue on steady growth plan which is indicated in the strong S&P Indices (currently at 1518. 20), NASDAQ (currently at 3169. 74), and the DOW (cur rently at 14089. 66).These indicators provide direct indication that investor and business confidence levels are extremely high and favorable for positive returns. U. S. 30 Year Treasury Bonds Although this investment class can be considered the most conservative of the three, the low yield of government bonds in the past 10 years does not lend a comparative metric against many other investment opportunities (Jacobs, 2012). The fixed rate of these instruments allows for a guaranteed return, but should only be utilized at a point in an investing cycle when risk is higher than potential income growth.The 25% allocation that is invested in this class is positioned to provide a long term guaranteed investment, with the possible that these lower rates will not rise significantly in the next few years. Cash The lowest of investment allocation classes is cash. The cost to leave any instrument in this category is expensive and provides very little ROI. The funds kept in this allocation are specific for future investment opportunities where transition of funds from other classes could have a significant impact or cost to the overall 12 month plan (Mangla, 2012).Summary Looking back over the past ten years and most especially the past three years for investment returns and economic possibilities, there seems to be more growth in the past 24 months than what we have seen in over a decade. The rapidly changing international economic climate and the current government struggles with tax based polices and the continued climbing US deficit will make 2103 a year where investors must maintain a long term focus while being selective in short term growth opportunities.References Jacobs, D. L. (2012). Are Bonds The Next Facebook–Negatively Speaking?. Forbes. Com, 6. Investor's Business, D. (2013, February 19). U. S. asset demand picks up. Investor’s Business Daily. p. A02. Mangla, I. (2012). Yes, You Can Dump Your Bank. Money, 27-28. Ross, S. , Westerfield, R. , Jaf fe, J. , and Jordan, B. (2011-). Corporate finance: Core principles ; applications. (3rd ed. ).

How does Miller use the character of Alfieri to manipulate the audience? Essay

How does Miller use the character of Alfieri to manipulate the audience? What is his attitude to the events of the play? Miller portrays Alfieri as the symbolic bridge between the Italian and American cultures. Alfieri is seen to appreciate the traditional Italian customs yet he also abides by and respects American law. This causes sympathy for him as he is caught between the two paths and has to choose between them. This brings up a theme of the play; choosing between doing the right thing or being true to your feelings. Alfieri can sympathise with Eddie but he can not do anything about the situation that Eddie is in, as the law can not help him and he is not in a position where he is able to help. Miller uses Alfieri as a narrator in ‘A View from the Bridge; Miller has based Alfieri’s role in the play on the idea of a Greek Chorus. The main purpose of the Chorus was to begin and end the action that takes place in the play, as well as to link the different parts of the play together so it runs smoothly. This is one of the purposes Miller gives Alfieri in the play. Miller establishes a relationship between Alfieri and the audience, by having Alfieri speak directly to the audience. As he is the only character who addresses the audience directly, they feel closer to him than to any other character. Through Alfieri, Miller is able to influence what the audience think of certain characters at different points throughout the play. For instance in reference to Eddie, Alfieri says that â€Å"He was as good a man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even†. This description of Eddie directly influences the audiences’ opinion of Eddie. Miller can also manipulate the audience into feeling different things for characters, for instance creating sympathy for Eddie at the end of the play, â€Å"I confess that something perversely pure calls to me †¦ so I mourn him †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Alfieri also influences the audience by the way he explains certain events in the play. Alfieri provides commentary on what is happening in the play as well as providing his own opinion. The audience is influenced by his words as they have a close relationship with him. When Alfieri talks to the audience he is much more relaxed and talks about his private life as if he was talking to a close friend or relative. He is much more open as he is not being consulted as a professional, â€Å"I no longer keep a pistol in my filing cabinet.† This is not a subject that would come up when talking to someone who you have just met. This adds to the closeness the audience feel with Alfieri. However during his talks with Eddie he tries to be un-biased and give sound advice but he can not help but to like Eddie. This is because something about Eddie’s character and his actions appeal to him, not taking into account how self-centred or selfish theses actions are, â€Å"Give me the number of the Immigration Bureau†. Eddie reporting on Marco and Rodolfo is done for selfish reasons, but Alfieri admires it as he acted without hiding behind a superficial faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade due to his simplistic nature. Miller gives Eddie a person to confide in, someone he can look to for sound advice; a fatherly figure, when he created Alfieri. Alfieri serves multiple purposes throughout the play. During the play most of what Alfieri says is directed towards the audience or towards Eddie, this shows the audience that Alfieri is detached from the actual action happening in the play and can not directly influence what is going to take place. He is seen to omniscient, Alfieri can be seen as the person looking down from a vantage point on top of the bridge from where he can see everything but affect nothing. When Eddie goes to Alfieri for advice various times throughout the play, we can see that he feels he can express his feelings a bit better, but he is almost always disappointed as Alfieri only gives him advice that he feels is not right and there must be better solutions. In the end even this helpful advice is not enough to stop the events that befall Eddie. However this is subjective as, if Eddie had followed this advice it is unlikely that he would have had such a tragic demise. Events followed a tragic path because only Eddie holds the true power to stop things from happening the way they did. This is his fatal flaw. Alfieri’s inability to change the events, affects him deeply and he feels powerless and desperate as he can see how events will turn out and the one person who could change this; Eddie, is too set in his ways and does not heed his advice. When Eddie comes to Alfieri in Act Two he is described as having eyes â€Å"like tunnels†, the effect of the state of his eyes on Alfieri is that he seriously contemplates calling the police. This also shows Alfieri’s desperation as he is willing to turn to drastic measure to stop events, however he does not call the police and therefore events carry on as they were. There are some similarities between the advice Alfieri gives to Eddie and Marco even though they are two very different people with different temperaments and personalities. The gist of the advice he gives them, is that the law can not help them in the situation they are in, and it is better to â€Å"let it go†. The advice he gives them is what they should follow if they want to do the right thing, but it is not what each of them want to hear so they do not heed it. At the end of the play Miller, through Alfieri causes sympathy for Eddie and shows the audience Eddie’s redeeming quality, his love for his family and being â€Å"himself purely† in his actions even if his actions are not purely good. Alfieri can not help but to be drawn to Eddie and this causes internal conflict within him because he is torn between being true to his roots or to abide by the laws of the country in which he resides in. Alfieri whilst being omniscient is also impotent; this is a major contributing factor to the tragic demise of Eddie and the tragic ending of the play.

Atomic

Atomic Essay BombThen a tremendous flash of light cut across the sky . Mr. Tanimotohas a distinct recollection that it traveled from east to west, from the citytoward the hills. It seemed like a sheet of sun. à John Hersey, fromHiroshima, pp.8 On August 6, 1945, the world changed forever. On that day theUnited States of America detonated an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Never before had mankind seen anything like. Here was something that wasslightly bigger than an ordinary bomb, yet could cause infinitely moredestruction. It could rip through walls and tear down houses like the devilswrecking ball. In Hiroshima it killed 100,000 people, most non-militarycivilians. Three days later in Nagasaki it killed roughly 40,000 . The immediateeffects of these bombings were simple. The Japanese government surrendered,unconditionally, to the United States. The rest of the world rejoiced as themost destructive war in the history of mankind came to an end . All while thesurvivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki tried to piece together what was left oftheir lives, families and homes. Over the course of the next forty years, thesetwo bombings, and the nuclear arms race that followed them, would come to have adirect or indirect effect on almost every man, woman and child on this Earth,including people in the United States. The atomic bomb would penetrate everyfabric of Ame rican existence. From our politics to our educational system. Ourindustry and our art. Historians have gone so far as to call this period in ourhistory the Ã’atomic ageÓ for the way it has shaped and guided worldpolitics, relations and culture. The entire history behind the bomb itself isrooted in Twentieth Century physics. At the time of the bombing the science ofphysics had been undergoing a revolution for the past thirty-odd years. Scientists now had a clear picture of what the atomic world was like. They newthe structure and particle makeup of atoms, as well as how they behaved. Duringthe 1930Õs it became apparent that there was a immense amount of energythat would be released atoms of Gioielli 2certain elements were split, or takenapart. Scientists began to realize that if harnessed, this energy could besomething of a magnitude not before seen to human eyes. They also saw that thisenergy could possibly be harnessed into a weapon of amazing power. And with theadvent of World War Two, this became an ever increasing concern. In the earlyfall of 1939, the same time that the Germans invaded Poland, President Rooseveltreceived a letter from Albert Einstein, informing him about the certainpossibilities of creating a controlled nuclear chain reaction, and thatharnessing such a reaction could produce a bomb of formidable strength. Hewrote: This new phenomena would lead also lead to the construction of bombs, andit is conceivable, though much less certain-that extremely powerful bombs of anew type may thus be constructed (Clark 556-557).The letter goes on to encouragethe president to increase government and military involvement in suchexperiments, and to encourage the experimental work of the scientists with theallocation of funds, facilities and equipment that might be necessary. Thisletter ultimately led to the Manhattan Project, the effort that involvedbillions of dollars and tens of thousands of people to produce the atomic bomb. During the time after the war, until just recently the American psyche has beenbranded with the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Here was something so powerful,yet so diminutive. A bomb that could obliterate our nations capital, and thatwas as big as somebodies backyard grill. For the first time in the history ofhuman existence here was something capable of wiping us off the face of theEarth. And most people had no control over that destiny. It seemed like peopleslives, the life of everything on this planet, was resting in the hands of acouple men in Northern Virginia and some guys over in Russia. The atomic bomband the amazing power it held over us had a tremendous influence on AmericanCulture, including a profound effect on American Literature. After the war, thefirst real piece of literature about the bombings came in 1946. The workHiroshima, by Jon Hersey, from which the opening quote is taken, first appearedas a long article in the New Yorker, then shortly after in book form. The bookis a non-fiction account of the bombing of Hiroshima and the immediateaftermath. It is told from the point-of-view of six hibakusha, or Ã’survivorsÓof the atomic blast. In four chapters Hersey traces how the these peoplesurvived the blast, and what they did in following weeks and months to pulltheir lives together Gioielli 3and save their families. The book takes on a toneof sympathy and of miraculous survival à that these people were luckyenough to survive the blast. He focuses not on the suffering of the victims buton their courage (Stone, 7). The following passage from the first chapter showsthis:A hundred thousand people were killed by the bomb, and these six were amongthe survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died. Eachof the counts many small items of chance or volitionà a step taken in time,a decision to go indoors, catching one streetcar instead of the nextà thatspared him. And each that in the act of survival he lived a dozen lives and sawmore death than he ever thought he would see. At the time, none of them knewanything (4). Hersey was attempting to chronicle what had happened at Hiroshima,and to do so fairly. And in emphasizing the survival instead of the suffering hedoes not make his book anti-American or something that condemns the dropping ofthe bomb. He simply gives these peoples accounts of how they survived in a tonethat is more journalistic than sensationalistic. The book empathizes with theirplight while it also gives an American explanation for the bombing (Stone, 7). That it was an act of war to end the war as quickly and as easily as possible,and to save more lives in the long run. Hersey did all this to provide what heconsidered an evenhanded portrayal of the event, but he also did not want tocause much controversy. Although it could be criticized for not giving a moredetailed account of the suffering that occurred, and that it reads more like ahistory book than a piece of literature, HerseyÕs book was the first ofits kind when it was published. Up until then all accounts of the Hiroshimabombing writings about it took the slant that Japanese had Ã’deserved whatwe had given themÓ, and that we were good people for doing so. Theseaccounts were extremely prejudicial and racist. (Stone, 4) Hersey was the firstto take the point of view of those who had actually experienced the event. Andhis work was the transition between works that glorified thedropping of theatomic bomb, to those that focused on its amazing destructive powers, and whatth ey could do to our world. During the period immediately after the war, notmuch information was available to general public concerning what kind ofdestruction the atomic bombs had actually caused in Japan. But starting withHerseyÕs book and continuing with other non-fiction works, such as DavidBradleys No Place To Hide, which concerned the Bikini Island nuclear tests,Americans really began to get a picture of the awesome power and destructivenessof nuclear weapons. They saw that these really Gioielli 4were doomsday devices. Weapons that could change everything in an instant, and turn things into nothingin a moment. It was this realization that had a startling effect on Americanculture and literature. Some Americans began to say Ã’At any time we couldall be shadows in the blast wave, so whatÕs the point?Ó. Thisviewpoint manifested itself in literature in something called the Ã’apocalyptictemperÓ; an attitude or a tone dealing with a forthcoming end to theworld. Also, many people, because of this realization of our impending death,were beginning to say that maybe their was something inherently wrong with allof this. That nuclear weapons are dangerous to everyone, no matter what yourpolitical views or where you live, and that we should do away with all of them. They have no value to society and should be destroyed. This apocalyptic temperand social activism was effected greatly in the early Sixties by the CubanMissile Crisis. When Americans saw, on television, that they could be undernuclear attack in under twenty minutes, a new anxiety about the cold warsurfaced that had not been present since the days of McCarthy. And this newanxiety was evidenced in works that took on a much more satirical tone. And oneof the works that shows this satiric apocalyptic temper and cynicism is KurtVonneguts Cats Cradle. Vonnegut, considered by many to be one of Americasforemost living authors, was himself a veteran of World War Two. He, as aprisoner of war, was one of the few survivors of the fire-bombing of Dresden. InDresden he saw what many believe was a more horrible tragedy than Hiroshima. Theallied bombs destroyed the entire city and killed as many people, if not more,than were killed in Hiroshima. He would eventually write about this experiencein the semi-autobiographical Slaughterhouse-Five. This novel, like Cats Cradle,takes a very strong anti-war stance. But along with being an Anti-war book, CatsCradle is an excellent satire of the Atomic Age. It is essentially the story ofone man, an author by the name of John (or Jonah) and the research he is doingfor a book on the day the bomb exploded in Hiroshima. This involves him withmembers of the Dr. Felix Hoenikker familyà the genius who helped build thebombà and their adventures. In the book Vonnegut paints an imaginary worldwhere things might not seem to make any Gioielli 5sense. But there is in fact anamazing amount of symbolism, as well as satire. Dr. Hoenikker is an extremelyeccentric scientist who spends most of his time in the lab at his company. He isinterested in very few things, his children not among them. His children arealmost afraid of him. One of the few times he does try to play with his childrenis when he tries to teach the game of cats cradle to his youngest s on, Newt. READ: The Harrapan Civilization EssayWhen he is trying to show newt the game Newt gets very confused. In the book,this is what Newt remembered of the incident:Ã’And then he sang, ÔRockabyecatsy, in the tree topÕ;he sang, Ô when the wind blows, the cray-dullwill fall. Down will come cray-dull, catsy and all.Õ Ã’I burst intotears. I jumped up and ran out of the house as fast as I could.Ó(18)WhatNewt doesnÕt remember is what he said to his Father. Later in the book wefind this out from Newts sister, Angela that newt jumped of his fatherÕslap screaming Ã’ No cat! No cradle! No cat! No cradle!Ó(53) With thisscene, Vonnegut is trying to show a couple of things. Dr. Hoenikker symbolizesall the scientists who created the atomic bomb. And the cats cradle is the worldand all of humankind combined. Dr. Hoenikker is simply playing, like he has allhis life, that game just happens to involve the fate of the rest of the world. And little Newt, having a childs un-blinded perception, doesnÕt understandthe game. He doesnÕt see a cat or a cradle. Like all the gamesDr.Hoenikker plays, including the ones with nuclear weapons, this one ismislabeled. This is just one of the many episodes in the book that characterizesDr. Hoenikker as a player of games. He recognizes this in himself when he giveshis Nobel Prize speech:I stand before you now because I never stopped dawdlinglike an eight year on a spring morning on his way to school. Anything can makeme stop and wonder, and sometimes learn (17). And the Doctors farewell to theworld is a game he has played, with himself. One day a Marine General asked himif he could make something that would eliminate mud, so that marines wouldnÕthave to deal with mud anymore. So Dr. Hoenikker thinks up ice-nine, an imaginarysubstance that when it comes in contact with any other kind of water, itcrystallizes it. And this crystallization spreads to all the water moleculesth is piece of water is in contact with. So to crystallize the mud in an entirearmed division of marines, it would only take a minuscule amount of ice-nine. Dr. Gioielli 6Hoenikkers colleagues see this as just another example of hisimagination at work. But he actually does create a small chink of ice-nine, andwhen he dies, each of his children get a small piece of it. They carry it aroundwith themselves in thermos containers the rest of their lives. At the end ofbook one small piece of ice-nine gets out , by mere accident, and ends upcrystallizing the whole world. The game Dr. Hoenikker was playing with himselfdestroyed the whole world. The accident that caused the ice-nine to get outcould be much like the accident that could cause World War III. One small thingthat sets off an amazing series of events, like piece of ice-nine just fallingout of the thermos. And Dr. Hoenikker, like the scientists of the world, wasplaying game and caused it all. Here is a description of the world after theice-nine has wreaked its havoc:There were no smells. There was no movement. Every step I took made a gravelly squeak in blue-white frost. And every squeakwas echoed loudly. The season of locking was over. The Earth was locked up tight(179).This description eerily resembles what many have said the Earth will looklike during a nuclear winter (Stone, 62). In addition to Dr. Hoenikker and hisdoomsday games, Vonnegut provides an interesting analysis of atomic age societywith the Bokonon religion. This religion, completely made up by Vonnegut andused in this novel, is the religion of every single inhabitant of San Lorenzo,the books imaginary banana republic. This is the island where Jonah eventuallyends up, and where the ice-nine holocaust originates. (It also, being aCaribbean nation, strangely resembles Cuba.) Bokonon is a strange religion. Itwas created by one of the leaders of San Lorenzo, a long time ago. Essentially,Bokonon is the only hope for all inhabitants of San Lorenzo. Their existence onthe island is so horrible that they have to find harmony with som ething. Bokononism gives them that. It is based on untruths, to give San Lorenzans asense of security, since the truth provides none. This concept can be summed upin this Bokononist quotation: Ã’Live by thefoma* that makes you brave andkind and healthy and happy. *Harmless untruths (4)Ó The inhabitants of SanLorenzo do not care what is going on in their real lives because they have thefoma of Bokonon to keep them secure and happy. And Vonnegut is trying to saythat is what is happening to the rest of us. Americans, and the rest of theworld for that matter, have this false sense of security that we are safe andsecure. That in our homes in Indiana with our dogs and Gioielli 7our lawnmowers,we think we are invincible. Everything will be okay because we are protected byare government. This is the foma of real life, because we are trying to denywhat is really going on. WeÕre in imminent danger of being annihilated atany second, but to deny this very real danger we are creating a false w orld sothat we may live in peace, however false that sense of peace may be. Throughoutthe entire novel Vonnegut gives little snippets of Ã’calypsosÓ :Bokonon proverbs written by Bokonon. Verse like:I wanted all things To seem tomake some sense,So we could all be happy, yes,Instead of tense.And I made upliesSo that they all fit niceAnd made this sad worldA par-a-dise (90).Thiscalypso expresses the purpose of Bokonon and why it, with its harmless untruths,exists. The following one is about the outlawing of Bokonon. To make thereligion more appealing to the people, the leaders had it banned, with itspractice punishable by death. They hoped that a renegade religion with a rebelleader would appeal to the people more.So I said good-bye to government,and Igave my reason:That a really good religionIs a form of treason (118)Thesecalypsos, and the rest of the book, express the points Vonnegut in a moreabstract , symbolic manner. They only add to the impact of the books messageexpressin g it in a very short, satirical way. The black humor used when talkingabout the end of the worldà the nuclear endà was pioneered by Vonnegut. But what many consider to be the the climax of this pop culture phenomena isStanley Kubricks movie, Dr. Strangelove(Stone 69). Subtitled Or How I learnedto Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb , this movie was Kubricks viewpoint on howmad the entire Cold War and arms race had become. Based a little known book byEnglish science fiction writer Peter George, Red Alert, the movie is about howone maverick Air Force general, who is obviously suffering a severe mentalillness, concocts a plan to save the world from the Gioielli 8Communists. Hemanages to order the strategic bombers under his command to proceed to theirtargets in the Soviet Union. They all believe it is World War Three, and theGeneral, Jack Ripper, is the only one that can call the planes back. Kubrickscharacters: Dr. Strangelove, President Mertin Muffley, Premier Kissof andothers, go through a series a misadventures to try and turn the planes around. READ: Human Sexuality EssayBut the one, plane piloted by Major Ã’KingÓ Kong, does get through,and it drops its bombload. This is where Kubrick tries to show the futility ofeverything. The governments of both the worlds superpowers have thousands ofsafeguards and security precautions for their nuclear weapons. But one manmanages to get a nuclear warhead to be hit its target. And this warhead hits theÃ’Doomsday DeviceÓ. The Doomsday device is the ultimate deterrent,because if you try to disarm it it will go off. It has the capability to destroyevery living human and animal on Earth, and it does So it is all pointless. Wehave these weapons, and no matter how hard we try to control them everyone stilldies. And so to make ourselves feel better about all this impending doom,Kubrick, like Vonnegut, satirizes the entire system. By making such moroniccharacters, like the wimpish President Mertin Muffley, Kubrick is saying,similar to Vonnegut with Dr. Hoenikker, that we are ev en worse off because theseweapons are controlled by people that are almost buffoonish and childish. General Ripper, the man who causes the end of the world, is a portrait of aMcCarthy era paranoid gone mad. He thinks the communists are infiltrating andtrying to destroy are country. And he says the most heinous communist plotagainst democracy is fluoridation of water:Like I was saying, Group Captain,fluoridation of water is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communistplot we have ever had to face . . . They pollute our precious bodily fluids!(George 97)And General Rippers personal prevention of the contamination of hisbodily fluids is equally perplexing. He drinks only Ã’ . . . distilledwater, or rain water, and only grain alcohol . . .Ó Kubrick uses this kindof absurd reasoning in his movie to show the absurd reasoning behind nuclearweapons. Both him and Vonnegut were part of the satirical side of theapocalyptic temper in the early Sixties. They laughed at our governments, ourleaders, the Cold War and the arms race, and tried to show how stupid it allreally was. Bu t as time moved on, the writers, and the entire country, startedto take a less narrow minded view of things. The counterculture of the Gioielli9sixties prompted people to take a closer look at themselves. As thinkers,teachers, lovers, parents, friends and human beings. And people concerned withnuclear weapons started to see things in a broader context as well. Nuclearweapons were something that affected our whole consciousness. The way we grewup, our relationships with others and what we did with our lives. One of theauthors who put this new perspective on things was the activist, social thinkerand poet Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg first made a name for himself in the 1950Õsas one of the foremost of the Beat writers. The Beats in the Fifties were aforerunner of the more widespread counterculture of the late Sixties and earlySeventies. And Ginsberg evolved into this. He became a devoted leader in thecounterculture, who set many precedents for the Hippie generation. He lived invarious communes, delved deeply into eastern religions and experimented withnumerous hallucinogenic drugs. In the earlier part of his life Ginsberg had beena rebel against society. He was still a rebel but now he was taking the form ofactivist. By the Seventies he was involved in many causes that promoted peaceand world harmony. What separated Ginsberg from other activists is that he wasone of the first and original members of many of these movements. Now he was thefather figure to many in the non-mainstream world. While teaching at his schoolof poetry in Naropa, Colorado, Ginsberg became involved in protests against thenearby Rock Flats Nuclear Weapons Factory. During the Summer of 1978 he wasarrested for preventing a shipment nuclear waste from reaching its destinationand for numerous other protests against the facility (Miles 474). From theseexperiences came two poems Ã’Nagasaki DaysÓ and Ã’ Plutonium OdeÓ. Both these poems exhibit Ginsbergs more mature style of writing (Miles 475). The poems are more scholarly, containing many mythological and religiousallusions. But both these characteristics show how post war apocalypticliterature had evolved. By the Seventies many writers, instead of taking thedefeatist, satirical view like Vonnegut, were beginning to take a make activiststandpoint, like Ginsberg. Apocalyptic literature also took on a more mature,scholarly tone, and was more worldly and had a broader viewpoint. This stanzafrom Ã’Nagasaki DaysÓ shows how Ginsberg is putting nuclear weaponsinto the context of the universal:2,000,000 killed in Vietnam13,000,000 refugeesin Indochina 200,000,000 years for the Galaxy to revolve on its core 24,000 theBabylonian great year24,000 half life of plutoniumGioielli 102,000 the most Iever got for a poetry reading80,000 dolphins killed in the dragnet4,000,000,000years earth been born (701)The half life of plutonium is brought together withdolphins and Indochinese refugees. Also, Ginsberg makes a reference to theBabyl onian great year, which coincides with the half life of plutonium. Thiscosmic link intrigued Ginsberg immensely. That fact alone inspired him to rightÃ’Plutonium OdeÓ. The whole poem expands on this connection toplutonium as a living part of our universe, albeit a very dangerous one. Here hementions the Great Year:Before the Year began turning its twelve signs, ereconstellations wheeled for twenty-four thousand sunny yearsslowly round theiraxis in Sagittarius, one hundred sixty-seven thousand times returning to thisnight. (702) Ginsberg is also relating the great year, and the half life ofplutonium, to the life of the Earth. The life of the Earth is approximately fourbillion years, which is 24,000 times 167,000 (Ginsberg 796) In Ã’PlutoniumOdeÓ, Ginsberg talks to plutonium. By establishing a dialogue he gives theplutonium almost human characteristics. It is something, and is near us everyday, and is deadly. In this passage he is asking how long before it kills usall:I enter your secret places with my mind, I speak with your presence, I roamyour lion roar with mortal mouth.One microgram inspired to one lung, ten poundsof heavy metal dust, adrift slowly motion over gray Alpsthe breadth of theplanet, how long before your radiance speeds blight and death to sentientbeings. (703) In putting his nuclear fears and worries on the table, and sayingthat these things have pertinence to us because they affect how we live ourlives and the entire the universe, Ginsberg is showing how intrigued he is withplutonium in this poem. By the time Ginsberg was publishing these poems in late1978, post war literature had evolved immensely. At first people had no ideaabout the bomb and its capabilities. Then, as more information came out aboutwhat the bomb could do, they began to began to start to live in real fear ofnuclear weapons. The power of it, a creation by man that could destroy theworld, that was terrifying. Then some artists and writers began to see theabsurdity of it all. They saw that we were under control by people we did not,or should not, trust, and were a constant state of nuclear Gioielli 11fear. Sothey satirized the system unmercifully, and were very apocalyptic in their tone. But then things evolved from these narrow minded viewpoints, and people began toenvision nuclear weapons in the context of our world and our lives. The atomicbomb and nuclear proliferation affected all facets of our lifestyle, includingwhat we read. Literature is a reflection of a countryÕs culture andfeelings. And literature affected Americans curiosity, horror, anxiety, cynicismand hope concerning nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons raised questions that noone had dare ever asked before, and had given them answers that they were afraidto hear. They have made us think about our place in the universe, and what itall means. BibliographyBartter, Martha A. The Way to Ground Zero. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. Dewey, Joseph. In a Dark Time. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1990.Dr. Strangelove. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. With Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and SlimPickens. Highland Films Ltd., 1966.(This is a novelization of the movie. Allqoutations from the movie were transribed form this book) Einstein, Albert. Ã’SirÓ (a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt) Einstein: TheLife and Times. Ronald W. Clark. New York: World Publishing, 1971. 556-557.George, Peter. Dr. Strangelove. Boston: Gregg Press, 1979.Ginsberg,Allen. Ã’Nagasaki DaysÓ and Ã’Plutonium Ode.Ó CollectedPoems: 1947à 1980. Ed. Allen Ginsberg. New York: Harper and Row, 1984. 699-705. Gleick, James. Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. NewYork :Vintage Books, 1992.Hersey, John. Hiroshima. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,1985.Miles, Barry. Ginsberg: A Biography. New York: Harper Perennial,1989.Stone, Albert E. Literary Aftershocks: American Writers, Readers and theBomb. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994.Vonnegut, Kurt. CatÕs Cradle. NewYork:Dell, 1963.