Heart Sutra Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Heart Sutra - Term Paper Example Thus, all things are empty. It states that nothing is born and nothing dies; nothing is pure or stained, and nothing either increases or decreases. Hence, none of the five aspects actually exists in emptiness. This is essentially the same as the current teaching of science that nothing is created or destroyed; rather, it merely changes form, which is a result of the theory of conservation of energy. Consequently, there is also neither of the five senses nor imagining, nor are any of these processes experienced. The point of stating this reality is to highlight their delusory nature, and pointing to the way of the Bodhisattva, which is to have no fear and rely only on the perfection of wisdom, as it will lead to nirvana (spiritual enlightenment). The perfection of wisdom is identified in the sutra as the greatest, clearest and highest mantra, which is also capable of removing all suffering. Besides mentioning the five skandhas with respect to their emptiness, the Heart Sutra also ment ions the twelve ayatanas (abodes), the eighteen dhatus (elements of consciousness), the twelve nidanas (origins) and the four noble truths.

Perfect competition and demand curve Essay Example for Free

Perfect competition and demand curve Essay COMPARE(SIMILAR) similarity. The cost functions are the same. [16] Both monopolies and perfectly competitive companies minimize cost and maximize profit. The shutdown decisions are the same. Both are assumed to have perfectly competitive factors markets. compare monopoly and perfect competition is the four characteristics of perfect competition: (1) large number of relatively small firms, (2) identical product, (3) freedom of entry and exit, and (4) perfect knowledge. * Number of Firms: Perfect competition is an industry comprised of a large number of small firms, each of which is a price taker with no market control. Monopoly is an industry comprised of a single firm, which is a price maker with total market control. Phil the zucchini grower is one of gadzillions of zucchini growers. Feet-First Pharmaceutical is the only firm that sells Amblathan-Plus, a drug that cures the deadly (but hypothetical) foot ailment known as amblathanitis. * Available Substitutes: Every firm in a perfectly competitive industry produces exactly the same product as every other firm. An infinite number of perfect substitutes are available. A monopoly firm produces a unique product that has no close substitutes and is unlike any other product. Gadzillions of firms grow zucchinis, each of which is a perfect substitute for the zucchinis grown by Phil the zucchini grower. There are no substitutes for Amblathan-Plus. Feet-First Pharmaceutical is the only supplier. * Resource Mobility: Perfectly competitive firms have complete freedom to enter the industry or exit the industry. There are no barriers. A monopoly firm often achieves monopoly status because the entry of potential competitors is prevented. Anyone can grow zucchinis. All they need is a plot of land and a few seeds. Feet-First Pharmaceutical holds the patents on Amblathan-Plus. No other firm can enter the market. * Information: Each firm in a perfectly competitive industry possesses the same information about prices and production techniques as every other firm. A monopoly firm, in contrast, often has information unknown to others. Everyone knows how to grow zucchinis (or can easily find out how). Feet-First Pharmaceutical has a secret formula used in the production of Amblathan-Plus. This information is not available to anyone else. The consequence of these differences include: * First, the demand curve for a perfectly competitive firm is perfectly elastic and the demand curve for a monopoly firm is THE market demand, which is negatively-sloped according to the law of demand. A perfectly competitive firm is thus a price taker and a monopoly is a price maker. Phil must sell his zucchinis at the going market price. It he does not like the price, then he does not sell zucchinis. Feet-First Pharmaceutical can adjust the price of Amblathan-Plus, either higher or lower, and so doing it can control the quantity sold. * Second, the monopoly firm charges a higher price and produces less output than would be achieved with a perfectly competitive market. In particular, the monopoly price is not equal to marginal cost, which means a monopoly does not efficiently allocate resources. Although Feet-First Pharmaceutical charges several dollars per ounce of Amblathan-Plus, the cost of producing each ounce is substantially less. Phil, in contrast, just about breaks even on each zucchini sold. * Third, while an economic profit is NOT guaranteed for any firm, a monopoly is more likely to receive economic profit than a perfectly competitive firm. In fact, a perfectly competitive firm IS guaranteed to earn nothing but a normal profit in the long run. The same cannot be said for monopoly. The price of zucchinis is so close to the cost of production, Phil never earns much profit. If the price is relatively high, other zucchini producers quickly flood the market, eliminating any profit. In contrast, Feet-First Pharmaceutical has been able to maintain a price above production cost for several years, with a handsome profit perpetually paid to the company shareholders year after year. * Fourth, the positively-sloped marginal cost curve for each perfectly competitive firm is its supply curve. This ensures that the supply curve for a perfectly competitive market is also positively sloped. The marginal cost curve for a monopoly is NOT, repeat NOT, the firms supply curve. There is NO positively-sloped supply curve for a market controlled by a monopoly. A monopoly might produce a larger quantity if the price is higher, in accordance with the law of supply, or it might not. If the price of zucchinis rises, then Phil can afford to grow more. If the price falls, then he is forced to grow less. Marginal cost dictates what Phil can produce and supply. Feet-First Pharmaceutical, in comparison, often sells a larger quantity of Amblathan-Plus as the price falls, because they face decreasing average cost with larger scale production. * The single seller, of course, is a direct contrast to perfect competition, which has a large number of sellers. In fact, perfect competition could be renamed multipoly or manypoly, to contrast it with monopoly. The most important aspect of being a single seller is that the monopoly seller IS the market. The market demand for a good IS the demand for the output produced by the monopoly. This makes monopoly a price maker, rather than a price taker. * A hypothetical example that can be used to illustrate the features of a monopoly is Feet-First Pharmaceutical. This firm owns the patent to Amblathan-Plus, the only cure for the deadly (but hypothetical) foot ailment known as amblathanitis. As the only producer of Amblathan-Plus, Feet-First Pharmaceutical is a monopoly with extensive market control. The market demand for Amblathan-Plus is THE demand for Amblathan-Plus sold by Feet-First Pharmaceutical. * Unique Product * To be the only seller of a product, however, a monopoly must have a unique product. Phil the zucchini grower is the only producer of Phils zucchinis. The problem for Phil, however, is that gadzillions of other firms sell zucchinis that are indistinguishable from those sold by Phil. * Amblathan-Plus, in contrast, is a unique product. There are no close substitutes. Feet-First Pharmaceutical holds the exclusive patent on Amblathan-Plus. No other firm has the legal authority to produced Amblathan-Plus. And even if they had the legal authority, the secret formula for producing Amblathan-Plus is sealed away in an airtight vault deep inside the fortified Feet-First Pharmaceutical headquarters. * Of course, other medications exist that might alleviate some of the symptoms of amblathanitis. One ointment temporarily reduces the swelling. Another powder relieves the redness. But nothing else exists to cure amblathanitis completely. A few highly imperfect substitutes exists. But there are no close substitutes for Amblathan-Plus. Feet-First Pharmaceutical has a monopoly because it is the ONLY seller of a UNIQUE product. * Barriers to Entry and Exit * A monopoly is generally assured of being the ONLY firm in a market because of assorted barriers to entry. Some of the key barriers to entry are: (1) government license or franchise, (2) resource ownership, (3) patents and copyrights, (4) high start-up cost, and (5) decreasing average total cost. * Feet-First Pharmaceutical has a few these barriers working in its favor. It has, for example, an exclusive patent on Amblathan-Plus. The government has decreed that Feet-First Pharmaceutical, and only Feet-First Pharmaceutical, has the legal authority to produce and sell Amblathan-Plus. * Moreover, the secret ingredient used to produce Amblathan-Plus is obtained from a rare, genetically enhanced, eucalyptus tree grown only on a Brazilian plantation owned by Feet-First Pharmaceutical. Even if another firm knew how to produce Amblathan and had the legal authority to do so, they would lack access to this essential ingredient. * A monopoly might also face barriers to exiting a market. If government deems that the product provided by the monopoly is essential for well-being of the public, then the monopoly might be prevented from leaving the market. Feet-First Pharmaceutical, for example, cannot simply cease the production of Amblathan-Plus. It is essential to the health and welfare of the public. * This barrier to exit is most often applied to public utilities, such as electricity companies, natural gas distribution companies, local telephone companies, and garbage collection companies. These are often deemed essential services that cannot be discontinued without permission from a government regulation authority. * Specialized Information * Monopoly is commonly characterized by control of information or production technology not available to others. This specialized information often comes in the form of legally-established patents, copyrights, or trademarks. While these create legal barriers to entry they also indicate that information is not perfectly shared by all. The ATT telephone monopoly of the late 1800s and early 1900s was largely due to the telephone patent. Pharmaceutical companies, like the hypothetical Feet-First Pharmaceutical, regularly monopolize the market for a specific drug by virtue of a patent. * In addition, a monopoly firm might know something or have a piece of information that is not available to others. This something may or may not be patented or copyrighted. It could be a secret recipe or formula. Perhaps it is a unique method of production. * One example of specialized information is the special, secret formula for producing Amblathan-Plus that is sealed away in an airtight vault deep inside the fortified Feet-First Pharmaceutical headquarters. No one else has this information. CONTRAST Arguably, perfect competition has the advantage of promoting consumer sovereignty, in the sense that the goods and services produced are those that consumers have voted for when spending the pounds in their pockets. When consumer sovereignty exists, the ‘consumer is king’. (However, the extent to which consumer choice exists in a perfectly competitive world would be extremely limited. All the firms in a particular market would sell identical goods at an identical price, namely the ruling market price. ) Firms and industries that produce goods other than those for which consumers are prepared to pay, do not survive in perfect competition. By contrast, a monopoly may enjoy producer sovereignty. The goods and services available for consumers to buy are determined by the monopolist rather than by consumer preferences expressed in the market place. Even if producer sovereignty is not exercised on a ‘take-it-or-leave-it basis’ by a monopoly, the monopolist may still possess sufficient market power to manipulate consumer wants through such marketing devices as persuasive advertising. In these situations, the ‘producer is king In contrast to perfect competition — and once again assuming an absence of economies of scale — monopoly equilibrium is both productively and allocatively inefficient. Figure 6. 6 shows that at the profit-maximising level of output Q1, the monopolist’s average costs are above the minimum level and that P MC. Thus, compared to perfect competition, a monopoly produces too low an output which it sells at too high a price. The absence of competitive pressures, which in perfect competition serve to eliminate supernormal profit, mean that a monopoly is also likely to be X-inefficient, incurring average costs at a point such as X which is above the average cost curve. A monopoly may be able to survive, perfectly happily and enjoying an ‘easy life’, incurring unnecessary production costs and making satisfactory rather than maximum profits. This is because barriers to entry protect monopolies. As a result, the absence or weakness of competitive forces means there is no mechanism in monopoly to eliminate organisational slack. 62 Marginal revenue and price In a perfectly competitive market price equals marginal revenue. In a monopolistic market marginal revenue is less than price. [17] * Product differentiation: There is zero product differentiation in a perfectly competitive market. Every product is perfectly homogeneous and a perfect substitute for any other. With a monopoly, there is great to absolute product differentiation in the sense that there is no available substitute for a monopolized good. The monopolist is the sole supplier of the good in question. [18] A customer either buys from the monopolizing entity on its terms or does without. * Number of competitors: PC markets are populated by an infinite number of buyers and sellers. Monopoly involves a single seller. [18] * Barriers to Entry Barriers to entry are factors and circumstances that prevent entry into market by would-be competitors and limit new companies from operating and expanding within the market. PC markets have free entry and exit. There are no barriers to entry, exit or competition. Monopolies have relatively high barriers to entry. The barriers must be strong enough to prevent or discourage any potential competitor from entering the market. * Elasticity of Demand The price elasticity of demand is the percentage change of demand caused by a one percent change of relative price. A successful monopoly would have a relatively inelastic demand curve. A low coefficient of elasticity is indicative of effective barriers to entry. A PC company has a perfectly elastic demand curve. The coefficient of elasticity for a perfectly competitive demand curve is infinite. * Excess Profits- Excess or positive profits are profit more than the normal expected return on investment. A PC company can make excess profits in the short term but excess profits attract competitors which can enter the market freely and decrease prices, eventually reducing excess profits to zero. [19] A monopoly can preserve excess profits because barriers to entry prevent competitors from entering the market. [20] * Profit Maximization A PC company maximizes profits by producing such that price equals marginal costs. A monopoly maximises profits by producing where marginal revenue equals marginal costs. [21] The rules are not equivalent. The demand curve for a PC company is perfectly elastic flat. The demand curve is identical to the average revenue curve and the price line. Since the average revenue curve is constant the marginal revenue curve is also constant and equals the demand curve, Average revenue is the same as price (AR = TR/Q = P x Q/Q = P). Thus the price line is also identical to the demand curve. In sum, D = AR = MR = P. * P-Max quantity, price and profit If a monopolist obtains control of a formerly perfectly competitive industry, the monopolist would increase prices, reduce production, and realise positive economic profits. [22] * Supply Curve in a perfectly competitive market there is a well defined supply function with a one to one relationship between price and quantity supplied. [23] In a monopolistic market no such supply relationship exists. A monopolist cannot trace a short term supply curve because for a given price there is not a unique quantity supplied. As Pindyck and Rubenfeld note a change in demand can lead to changes in prices with no change in output, changes in output with no change in price or both. [24] Monopolies produce where marginal revenue equals marginal costs. For a specific demand curve the supply curve would be the price/quantity combination at the point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost. If the demand curve shifted the marginal revenue curve would shift as well and a new equilibrium and supply point would be established. The locus of these points would not be a supply curve in any conventional sense. [25][26] The most significant distinction between a PC company and a monopoly is that the monopoly has a downward-sloping demand curve rather than the perceived perfectly elastic curve of the PC company. [27] Practically all the variations above mentioned relate to this fact. If there is a downward-sloping demand curve then by necessity there is a distinct marginal revenue curve. The implications of this fact are best made manifest with a linear demand curve. Assume that the inverse demand curve is of the form x = a by. Then the total revenue curve is TR = ay by2 and the marginal revenue curve is thus MR = a 2by. From this several things are evident. First the marginal revenue curve has the same y intercept as the inverse demand curve. Second the slope of the marginal revenue curve is twice that of the inverse demand curve. Third the x intercept of the marginal revenue curve is half that of the inverse demand curve. What is not quite so evident is that the marginal revenue curve is below the inverse demand curve at all points. [27] Since all companies maximise profits by equating MR and MC it must be the case that at the profit maximizing quantity MR and MC are less than price which further implies that a monopoly produces less quantity at a higher price than if the market were perfectly competitive. The fact that a monopoly has a downward-sloping demand curve means that the relationship between total revenue and output for a monopoly is much different than that of competitive companies. [28] Total revenue equals price times quantity. A competitive company has a perfectly elastic demand curve meaning that total revenue is proportional to output. [29] Thus the total revenue curve for a competitive company is a ray with a slope equal to the market price. [29] A competitive company can sell all the output it desires at the market price. For a monopoly to increase sales it must reduce price. Thus the total revenue curve for a monopoly is a parabola that begins at the origin and reaches a maximum value then continuously decreases until total revenue is again zero. [30] Total revenue has its maximum value when the slope of the total revenue function is zero. The slope of the total revenue function is marginal revenue. So the revenue maximizing quantity and price occur when MR = 0. For example assume that the monopoly’s demand function is P = 50 2Q. The total revenue function would be TR = 50Q 2Q2 and marginal revenue would be 50 4Q. Setting marginal revenue equal to zero we have 1. 50 4Q = 0 2. -4Q = -50 3. Q = 12. 5 So the revenue maximizing quantity for the monopoly is 12. 5 units and the revenue maximizing price is 25. A company with a monopoly does not experience price pressure from competitors, although it may experience pricing pressure from potential competition. If a company increases prices too much, then others may enter the market if they are able to provide the same good, or a substitute, at a lesser price. [31] The idea that monopolies in markets with easy entry need not be regulated against is known as the revolution in monopoly theory. [32] A monopolist can extract only one premium,[clarification needed] and getting into complementary markets does not pay. That is, the total profits a monopolist could earn if it sought to leverage its monopoly in one market by monopolizing a complementary market are equal to the extra profits it could earn anyway by charging more for the monopoly product itself. However, the one monopoly profit theorem is not true if customers in the monopoly good are stranded or poorly informed, or if the tied good has high fixed costs. A pure monopoly has the same economic rationality of perfectly competitive companies, i.e. to optimise a profit function given some constraints. By the assumptions of increasing marginal costs, exogenous inputs prices, and control concentrated on a single agent or entrepreneur, the optimal decision is to equate the marginal cost and marginal revenue of production. Nonetheless, a pure monopoly can -unlike a competitive company- alter the market price for its own convenience: a decrease of production results in a higher price. In the economics jargon, it is said that pure monopolies have a downward-sloping demand. An important consequence of such behaviour is worth noticing: typically a monopoly selects a higher price and lesser quantity of output than a price-taking company; again, less is available at a higher price. [33] Sources of monopoly power Monopolies derive their market power from barriers to entry – circumstances that prevent or greatly impede a potential competitors ability to compete in a market. There are three major types of barriers to entry; economic, legal and deliberate. [6] * Economic barriers: Economic barriers include economies of scale, capital requirements, cost advantages and technological superiority. [7] Economies of scale: Monopolies are characterised by decreasing costs for a relatively large range of production. [8] Decreasing costs coupled with large initial costs give monopolies an advantage over would-be competitors. Monopolies are often in a position to reduce prices below a new entrants operating costs and thereby prevent them from continuing to compete. [8] Furthermore, the size of the industry relative to the minimum efficient scale may limit the number of companies that can effectively compete within the industry. If for example the industry is large enough to support one company of minimum efficient scale then other companies entering the industry will operate at a size that is less than MES, meaning that these companies cannot produce at an average cost that is competitive with the dominant company. Finally, if long-term average cost is constantly decreasing, the least cost method to provide a good or service is by a single company. [9] Capital requirements: Production processes that require large investments of capital, or large research and development costs or substantial sunk costs limit the number of companies in an industry. [10] Large fixed costs also make it difficult for a small company to enter an industry and expand. [11] Technological superiority: A monopoly may be better able to acquire, integrate and use the best possible technology in producing its goods while entrants do not have the size or finances to use the best available technology. [8] One large company can sometimes produce goods cheaper than several small companies. [12] No substitute goods: A monopoly sells a good for which there is no close substitute. The absence of substitutes makes the demand for the good relatively inelastic enabling monopolies to extract positive profits. Control of natural resources: A prime source of monopoly power is the control of resources that are critical to the production of a final good. Network externalities: The use of a product by a person can affect the value of that product to other people. This is the network effect. There is a direct relationship between the proportion of people using a product and the demand for that product. In other words the more people who are using a product the greater the probability of any individual starting to use the product. This effect accounts for fads and fashion trends. [13] It also can play a crucial role in the development or acquisition of market power. The most famous current example is the market dominance of the Microsoft operating system in personal computers. * Legal barriers: Legal rights can provide opportunity to monopolise the market of a good. Intellectual property rights, including patents and copyrights, give a monopolist exclusive control of the production and selling of certain goods. Property rights may give a company exclusive control of the materials necessary to produce a good. * Deliberate actions: A company wanting to monopolise a market may engage in various types of deliberate action to exclude competitors or eliminate competition. Such actions include collusion, lobbying governmental authorities, and force (see anti-competitive practices). In addition to barriers to entry and competition, barriers to exit may be a source of market power. Barriers to exit are market conditions that make it difficult or expensive for a company to end its involvement with a market. Great liquidation costs are a primary barrier for exiting. [14] Market exit and shutdown are separate events. The decision whether to shut down or operate is not affected by exit barriers. A company will shut down if price falls below minimum average variable costs. Monopoly versus competitive markets While monopoly and perfect competition mark the extremes of market structures[15] there is some similarity. The cost functions are the same. [16] Both monopolies and perfectly competitive companies minimize cost and maximize profit. The shutdown decisions are the same. Both are assumed to have perfectly competitive factors markets. There are distinctions, some of the more important of which are as follows: * Marginal revenue and price In a perfectly competitive market price equals marginal revenue. In a monopolistic market marginal revenue is less than price. [17] * Product differentiation: There is zero product differentiation in a perfectly competitive market. Every product is perfectly homogeneous and a perfect substitute for any other. With a monopoly, there is great to absolute product differentiation in the sense that there is no available substitute for a monopolized good. The monopolist is the sole supplier of the good in question. [18] A customer either buys from the monopolizing entity on its terms or does without. * Number of competitors: PC markets are populated by an infinite number of buyers and sellers. Monopoly involves a single seller. [18] * Barriers to Entry Barriers to entry are factors and circumstances that prevent entry into market by would-be competitors and limit new companies from operating and expanding within the market. PC markets have free entry and exit. There are no barriers to entry, exit or competition. Monopolies have relatively high barriers to entry. The barriers must be strong enough to prevent or discourage any potential competitor from entering the market. * Elasticity of Demand The price elasticity of demand is the percentage change of demand caused by a one percent change of relative price. A successful monopoly would have a relatively inelastic demand curve. A low coefficient of elasticity is indicative of effective barriers to entry. A PC company has a perfectly elastic demand curve. The coefficient of elasticity for a perfectly competitive demand curve is infinite. * Excess Profits- Excess or positive profits are profit more than the normal expected return on investment. A PC company can make excess profits in the short term but excess profits attract competitors which can enter the market freely and decrease prices, eventually reducing excess profits to zero. [19] A monopoly can preserve excess profits because barriers to entry prevent competitors from entering the market. [20] * Profit Maximization A PC company maximizes profits by producing such that price equals marginal costs. A monopoly maximises profits by producing where marginal revenue equals marginal costs. [21] The rules are not equivalent. The demand curve for a PC company is perfectly elastic flat. The demand curve is identical to the average revenue curve and the price line. Since the average revenue curve is constant the marginal revenue curve is also constant and equals the demand curve, Average revenue is the same as price (AR = TR/Q = P x Q/Q = P). Thus the price line is also identical to the demand curve. In sum, D = AR = MR = P. * P-Max quantity, price and profit If a monopolist obtains control of a formerly perfectly competitive industry, the monopolist would increase prices, reduce production, and realise positive economic profits. [22] * Supply Curve in a perfectly competitive market there is a well defined supply function with a one to one relationship between price and quantity supplied. [23] In a monopolistic market no such supply relationship exists. A monopolist cannot trace a short term supply curve because for a given price there is not a unique quantity supplied. As Pindyck and Rubenfeld note a change in demand can lead to changes in prices with no change in output, changes in output with no change in price or both. [24] Monopolies produce where marginal revenue equals marginal costs. For a specific demand curve the supply curve would be the price/quantity combination at the point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost. If the demand curve shifted the marginal revenue curve would shift as well and a new equilibrium and supply point would be established. The locus of these points would not be a supply curve in any conventional sense. [25][26] The most significant distinction between a PC company and a monopoly is that the monopoly has a downward-sloping demand curve rather than the perceived perfectly elastic curve of the PC company. [27] Practically all the variations above mentioned relate to this fact. If there is a downward-sloping demand curve then by necessity there is a distinct marginal revenue curve. The implications of this fact are best made manifest with a linear demand curve. Assume that the inverse demand curve is of the form x = a by. Then the total revenue curve is TR = ay by2 and the marginal revenue curve is thus MR = a 2by. From this several things are evident. First the marginal revenue curve has the same y intercept as the inverse demand curve. Second the slope of the marginal revenue curve is twice that of the inverse demand curve. Third the x intercept of the marginal revenue curve is half that of the inverse demand curve. What is not quite so evident is that the marginal revenue curve is below the inverse demand curve at all points. [27] Since all companies maximise profits by equating MR and MC it must be the case that at the profit maximizing quantity MR and MC are less than price which further implies that a monopoly produces less quantity at a higher price than if the market were perfectly competitive. The fact that a monopoly has a downward-sloping demand curve means that the relationship between total revenue and output for a monopoly is much different than that of competitive companies. [28] Total revenue equals price times quantity. A competitive company has a perfectly elastic demand curve meaning that total revenue is proportional to output. [29] Thus the total revenue curve for a competitive company is a ray with a slope equal to the market price. [29] A competitive company can sell all the output it desires at the market price. For a monopoly to increase sales it must reduce price. Thus the total revenue curve for a monopoly is a parabola that begins at the origin and reaches a maximum value then continuously decreases until total revenue is again zero. [30] Total revenue has its maximum value when the slope of the total revenue function is zero. The slope of the total revenue function is marginal revenue. So the revenue maximizing quantity and price occur when MR = 0. For example assume that the monopoly’s demand function is P = 50 2Q. The total revenue function would be TR = 50Q 2Q2 and marginal revenue would be 50 4Q. Setting marginal revenue equal to zero we have 1. 50 4Q = 0 2. -4Q = -50 3. Q = 12. 5 So the revenue maximizing quantity for the monopoly is 12. 5 units and the revenue maximizing price is 25. A company with a monopoly does not experience price pressure from competitors, although it may experience pricing pressure from potential competition. If a company increases prices too much, then others may enter the market if they are able to provide the same good, or a substitute, at a lesser price. [31] The idea that monopolies in markets with easy entry need not be regulated against is known as the revolution in monopoly theory. [32] A monopolist can extract only one premium,[clarification needed] and getting into complementary markets does not pay. That is, the total profits a monopolist could earn if it sought to leverage its monopoly in one market by monopolizing a complementary market are equal to the extra profits it could earn anyway by charging more for the monopoly product itself. However, the one monopoly profit theorem is not true if customers in the monopoly good are stranded or poorly informed, or if the tied good has high fixed costs. A pure monopoly has the same economic rationality of perfectly competitive companies, i. e. to optimise a profit function given some constraints. By the assumptions of increasing marginal costs, exogenous inputs prices, and control concentrated on a single agent or entrepreneur, the optimal decision is to equate the marginal cost and marginal revenue of production.

Once More to the Lake and The Ring of Time Essay -- Comparative, White

In E.B. White’s essays, â€Å"Once More to the Lake â€Å"and ‘The Ring of Time†, he demonstrates two different interpretations of time and how time is used to symbolize meaning in each piece. â€Å"Once More to the Lake† is an essay that is derived mostly from White’s personal experience while â€Å"The Ring of Time† is an essay that mostly examines a teenage girl performing at the circus, in the eyes of White. Both these essays give the reader insight of how the author uses the theme of time to show different aspects to the storyline. In White’s essays, he uses similar strategies that reflect on the past and foresee the future, use other individuals as vehicles to access an alternative temporality, and demonstrate his own perceptions and visions in order to explore the reality and different notions of time. Both stories are similar in a sense that White writes them from a present time setting; however, he explores the notions of time differently since he reflects on his past in â€Å"Once More to the Lake† while he foresees the girl’s future in â€Å"The Ring of Time.† In â€Å"The Ring of Time,† White writes about his being at the circus and spotting â€Å"a girl of sixteen or seventeen, politely treading her way through the onlookers who blocked the entrance†¦the richness of the scene was in its plainness, its natural condition-of horse, of ring, of girl...a ring of ambition, of happiness, of youth† (2-3). However, after a week or two, â€Å"all would be changed, all lost: the girl would wear makeup† (White, The Ring of Time 3)and, because of that, he envisions her â€Å"twenty-five years ahead, and she was now in the center of the ring†¦wearing a conical hat and hi-heeled shoes, the image of an older woman, holding the l ong rein, caught in the treadmill of an after... ...ity of time in both â€Å"The Ring of Time† and â€Å"Once More to the Lake.† These strategies include reflecting on the past and foreseeing the future, using other characters as vehicles, and having a personal perception of time. To sum it all up, both stories have similarities such as being written in the present. However, they have many differences. Both stories may use a technique of viewing the theme of time, but they are each solitary and dissimilar to each other. Also, each story has a character that isn’t the narrator but instead, the one that is used to explore time, whether it is looking back at the past or looking ahead in to the future. White made both these stories personal pieces of writing; however â€Å"Once More to the Lake† is more reflective while â€Å"The Ring of Time† is more of a public piece. All in all, each story is quite similar but very different as well.

Space Exploration :: Space Exploration Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People have been venturing out into the universe for many years now. In addition to satellites, both women and men astronauts have traveled into space to collect data about the universe. The first human being, the first animal, and the first spacecraft in orbit, were all achievements of the Soviet Union.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1958 a group known as The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded. The first probe to escape Earth's gravity was the Soviet LUNA 1, launched on Jan. 2, 1959. It passed the Moon and continued into interplanetary space. The U.S. probe Pioneer 4, launched two months later, followed the same path. Later Soviet probes either hit the Moon or passed it and took photographs of the hidden far side, relaying them back to Earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first man to travel to space was Yuri Gagarin. History was made on April 12, 1961, when he successfully orbited the earth in the Votsok 1. His flight lasted one hour and 48 minutes and as he circled the earth, his speed was about 17,000 mph on the Votsok 1. Following this mission, Gagarin was killed in a test airplane crash .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neil Armstrong was the first person to ever land on the moon. Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, he graduated from college in 1955 and joined the NASA team. In 1962, he became the first civilian to enter into an astronaut training program. In 1969, Armstrong headed the Apollo 11 mission, becoing the first human being to set foot on the moon. Other astronauts the accompanied Armstrong on this mission were Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. In 1971, Armstrong became a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Valentina Vladimora Nikolayeva Tereshkova was the first woman to enter into space. She joined a Soviet training program in the year 1961 and two years later she successfully orbited the earth 48 times in the Votsok 6.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. It was an aluminum sphere, 58 cm (23 in) in diameter, weighing 83 kg (184 lb). Its orbited around the earth lasted 96.2 minutes. At the end of 57 days the satellite returned to earth's atmosphere and was destroyed by aerodynamic frictional heat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were both spacecrafts that were launched to Jupiter. Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977, and Voyager 1 was launched 2 weeks later on September 5, 1977.

The Return: Midnight Chapter 23

In the car, Matt sat by the sleeping Meredith with Saber crammed in at their feet, listening in shock and horror as they recounted Meredith's story. When they were done, he was able to speak about his own experiences. â€Å"I'm going to have nightmares al my life about Cole Reece,†he admitted. â€Å"And even though I slapped an amulet on him, and he cried, Dr. Alpert said he was Stillinfected. How can we fight something this far out of control?† Elena knew he was looking at her. She dug her nails into her palms. â€Å"It isn't that I haven't tried to use Wings of Purification over the town. I've tried so hard that I feel as if I'l burst. But it's no good. I can't control any Wings Powers at all! I think – after what I've learned about Meredith – that I may need training. But how do I get it? Where? From who?† There was a long silence in the car. At last Matt said, â€Å"We're al in the dark. Look at that courtroom! How can they have so many werewolves in one town?† â€Å"Wolves are sociable,†Stefan said quietly. â€Å"It looks as if there is a whole community of werewolves in Ridgemont. Seeded among the various Bear and Moose and Lions Clubs of course. For spying on the only creatures they're scared of: humans.† At the boardinghouse Stefan carried Meredith to the first-floor bedroom and Elena pul ed the covers over her. Then she went to the kitchen, where the conversation was continuing. â€Å"What about those werewolves'families? Their wives?†she demanded as she rubbed Matt's shoulders where she knew the muscles must hurt fiercely from being handcuffed behind his back. Her soft fingers soothed bruises, but her hands were strong, and she kept kneading and kneading until her own shoulder muscles began to swear at her†¦and beyond. Stefan stopped her. â€Å"Move over, love, I've got evil vampire magic. This is necessary medical treatment,†he added sternly to Matt. â€Å"So you have to take it no matter how much it hurts.†Elena could Stillfeel him, if faintly, through their connection and she saw how he anesthetized Matt's mind and then dug into the knotted shoulders as if he was kneading stiff dough, meanwhile reaching out with his Powers of healing. Mrs. Flowers came by just then with mugs of hot, sweet cinnamon tea. Matt drained his mug and his head fel back slightly. His eyes were shut, his lips parted. Elena felt a huge wave of pain and tension flood away from him. And then she hugged both of her boys and cried. â€Å"They picked me up on my own driveway,†Matt admitted as Elena sniffled. â€Å"And they did it by the book, but they wouldn't even look at the – the chaos al around them.† Mrs. Flowers approached again, looking serious. â€Å"Dear Matt, you've had a terrible day. What you need is a long rest.†She glanced at Stefan, as if to see how this would impact him, with so few blood donors. Stefan smiled reassuringly at her. Matt, Stillbeing kneaded pliant, had just nodded. After that his color started coming back and a little smile curved his lips. â€Å"There's m'main man,†he said, when Saber butted his way through traffic to pant directly in Matt's face. â€Å"Buddy, I love your dog breath,†he declared. â€Å"You saved me. Can he have a treat, Mrs. Flowers?†he asked, turning slightly unfocused blue eyes on her. â€Å"I know just what he'd like. I have half a roast left in the refrigerator that just needs to be heated a bit.†She punched buttons and in a short while, said, â€Å"Matt, would you like to do the honors? Remember to take the bone out – he might choke on it.† Matt took the large pot roast, which, heated, smel ed so good it made him aware that he was starving. He felt his morals col apse. â€Å"Mrs. Flowers, do you think I could make a sandwich before I give it to him?† â€Å"Oh, you poor dear boy!†she cried. â€Å"And I never even thought – of course they wouldn't give you lunch or dinner.† Mrs. Flowers got bread and Matt was happy enough with that, bread and meat, the simplest sandwich imaginable – and so good it curled his toes. Elena wept just a little more. So easy to make two creatures happy with one simple thing. More than two – they were al happy to see Matt safe and to watch Saber get his proper reward. The enormous dog had fol owed every movement of that roast with his eyes, tail swishing back and forth on the floor. But when Matt, Stillchomping, offered him the large piece of meat that was left, Saber just cocked his head to one side, staring at it as if to say, â€Å"You have to be joking.† â€Å"Yes, it's for you. Go on and take it now,†Mrs. Flowers said firmly. Final y, Saber opened his enormous mouth to take hold of the end of the roast, tail twirling like a helicopter blade. His body language was so clear that Matt laughed out loud. â€Å"This once on the floor with us,†Mrs. Flowers added magnificently, spreading a large rug over the kitchen floorboards. Saber's joy was only surpassed by his good manners. He put the roast on the rug and then trotted up to each of the humans to push a wet nose into hand or waist or under a chin, and then he trotted back and attacked his prize. â€Å"I wonder if he misses Sage?†Elena murmured. â€Å"I miss Sage,†Matt said indistinctly. â€Å"We need al the magic help we can get.† Meanwhile Mrs. Flowers was hurrying around the kitchen making ham and cheese sandwiches and bagging them like school lunches. â€Å"Anybody who wakes up tonight hungry must have something to eat,†she said. â€Å"Ham and cheese, chicken salad, some nice crisp carrots, and a big hunk of apple pie.†Elena went to help her. She didn't know why, but she wanted to cry some more. Mrs. Flowers patted her. â€Å"We are al feeling – er, strung out, â€Å"she announced gravely. â€Å"Anyone who doesn't feel like going right to sleep is probably running on too much adrenaline. My sleeping aid wil help with that. And I think we can trust our animal friends and the wards on the roof to keep us safe tonight.† Matt was practical y asleep on his feet now. â€Å"Mrs. Flowers – someday I'l repay you†¦but for now, I can't keep my eyes open.† â€Å"In other words, bedtime, kiddies,†Stefan said. He closed Matt's fingers firmly around a packed lunch, then steered him toward the stairs. Elena gathered several more lunches, kissed Mrs. Flowers twice, and went up to Stefan's room. She had the attic bed straightened and was opening a plastic bag when Stefan came in from putting Matt to bed. â€Å"Is he okay?†she said anxiously. â€Å"I mean, wil he be okay tomorrow?† â€Å"He'l be okay in his body. I got most of the damage healed.† â€Å"And in his mind?† â€Å"It's a tough thing. He just ran smack into Real Life. Arrested, knowing they might lynch him, not knowing if anybody would be able to figure out what had happened to him. He thought that even if we tracked him it would come down to a fight, which would have been hard to win – with so few of us, and not much magic left.† â€Å"But Saber fixed 'em,†Elena said. She looked thoughtful y at the sandwiches she'd laid out on the bed. â€Å"Stefan, do you want chicken salad or ham?†she asked. There was a silence. But it was moments before Elena looked up at him in astonishment. â€Å"Oh, Stefan – I – I actual y forgot. I just – today has been so strange – I forgot – â€Å" â€Å"I'm flattered,†Stefan said. â€Å"And you're sleepy. Whatever Mrs. Flowers puts in her tea – â€Å" â€Å"I think the government would be interested in it,†Elena offered. â€Å"For spies and things. But for now†¦Ã¢â‚¬ She held her arms out, head bent back, neck exposed. â€Å"No, love. I remember this afternoon, if you don't. And I swore I was going to start hunting, and I am,†Stefan said firmly. â€Å"You're going to leave me?†Elena said, startled out of her warm satisfaction. They stared at each other. â€Å"Don't leave,†Elena said, combing her hair away from her neck. â€Å"I had it al planned out, how you'l drink, and how we'l sleep holding each other. Please don't leave, Stefan.† She knew how hard he found it to leave her. Even if she was grimy and worn out, even if she was wearing grungy jeans and had dirt under her fingernails. She was endlessly beautiful and endlessly powerful and mysterious to him. He longed for her. Elena could feel it through their bond, which was beginning to hum, beginning to warm up, beginning to draw him in close. â€Å"But, Elena,†he said. He was trying to be sensible! Didn't he know she didn't want sensible at this particular moment? â€Å"Right here.†Elena tapped the soft spot on her neck. Their bond was singing like an electric power line now. But Stefan was stubborn. â€Å"You need to eat, yourself. You have to keep your strength up.† Elena immediately picked up a chicken salad sandwich and bit into it. Mmm†¦yummy. Real y good. She would have to pick Mrs. Flowers a wildflower bouquet. They were al so well taken care of here. She had to think of more ways to help. Stefan was watching her eat. It made him hungry, but that was because he was used to being fed round the clock, and not used to exercise. Elena could hear everything through their connection and she heard him thinking that he was glad to see Elena renewing herself. That he had learned discipline now; that it wouldn't do him any harm to go to bed one night feeling hungry. He would hold his sleepy adorable Elena al night. No! Elena was horrified. Since he'd been imprisoned in the Dark Dimension, anything that hinted at Stefan going without fil ed her with appal ing terror. Suddenly she had trouble swal owing the bite she'd taken. â€Å"Right here, right here†¦please?†she begged him. She didn't want to have to seduce him into it, but she would if he forced her to. She would wash her hands into pristine cleanliness, and change into a long, clinging nightgown, and stroke his stubborn canines in between kisses, and touch them with her tongue tip gently, just at the base where they wouldn't cut her as they responded and grew. And by then he would be dizzy, he would be out of control, he would be hers completely. All right, All right! Stefan thought to her. Mercy! â€Å"I don't want to give you mercy. I don't want you to let me go,†she said, holding her arms out to him, and heard her own voice soft and tender and yearning. â€Å"I want you to hold me and keep me forever, and I want to hold you and keep you forever.† Stefan's face had changed. He looked at her with the look he'd worn in prison when she had come to visit him in an outfit – very unlike the grubby one she wore now – and he'd said, bewildered, â€Å"Al this†¦it's for me?† There had been razor wire between them then. Now there was nothing to separate them and Elena could see how much Stefan wanted to come to her. She reached a little farther and then Stefan came into the circle of her arms and held her tightly but with infinite care not to use enough strength to hurt her. When he relaxed and leaned his forehead against hers, Elena realized that she would never be tired or sad or frightened without being able to think of this feeling and that it would uphold her for the rest of her life. At last they sank down together on the sheets, comforting each other in equal measure; exchanging sweet, warm kisses. With each kiss, Elena felt the outside world and al its horrors drift farther and farther away. How could anything be wrong when she herself felt that heaven was near? Matt and Meredith, Damon and Bonnie would surely al be safe and happy too. Meanwhile, every kiss brought her closer to paradise, and she knew Stefan felt the same way. They were so happy together that Elena knew that soon the entire universe would echo with their own joy, which overflowed like pure light and transformed everything it touched. Bonnie woke and realized she had only been unconscious for a few minutes. She began to shiver, and once she started she couldn't seem to stop. She felt a wave of heat envelop her, and she knew that Damon was trying to warm her, but Stillthe trembling wouldn't go away. â€Å"What's wrong?†Damon asked, and his voice was different from usual. â€Å"I don't know,†Bonnie said. She didn't. â€Å"Maybe it's because they kept starting to throw me out the window. I wasn't going to scream about that,†she added hastily, in case he assumed she would. â€Å"But then when they talked about torturing me – â€Å" She felt a sort of spasm go through Damon. He was holding her too hard. â€Å"Torturing you! They threatened you with that?† â€Å"Yes, because, you know, Misao's star bal was gone. They knew that it had been poured out; I didn't tel them that. But I had to tel them that it was my fault that the last half got poured out, and then they got mad at me. Oh! Damon, you're hurting me!† â€Å"So it was your fault it got poured out, was it?† â€Å"Well, I figure it was. You couldn't have done it if I hadn't gotten drunk, and – wh-what's wrong, Damon? Are you mad too?†He real y was holding her so that she real y couldn't breathe. Slowly, she felt his arms loosen a little. â€Å"A word of advice, little redbird. When people are threatening to torture and kil you, it might be more – expedient – to tel them that it's someone else's fault. Especial y if that happens to be the truth.† â€Å"I know that!†Bonnie said indignantly. â€Å"But they were going to kil me anyway. If I'd told about you, they'd've hurt you, too.† Damon pul ed her roughly back now, so that she had to look him in the face. Bonnie could also feel the delicate touch of a telepathic mind probe. She didn't resist; she was too busy wondering why he had plum-colored shadows under his eyes. Then he shook her a little, and she stopped wondering. â€Å"Don't you understand even the basics of self-preservation?†he said, and she thought he looked angry again. He was certainly different from any other time that she'd seen him – except once, she thought, and that was when Elena had been â€Å"Disciplined†for saving Lady Ulma's life, back when Ulma had been a slave. He'd had the same expression then, so menacing that even Meredith had been frightened of him, and yet so fil ed with guilt that Bonnie had longed to comfort him. But there had to be some other reason, Bonnie's mind told her. Because you're not Elena, and he's never going to treat you the way he treats Elena. A vision of the brown room rose before her, and she felt certain that he would never have put Elena there. Elena wouldn't have let him, for one thing. â€Å"Do I have to go back?†she asked, realizing that she was being petty and sil y and that the brown room had seemed like a haven just a little while ago. â€Å"Go back?†Damon said, a little too quickly. She had the feeling that he'd seen the brown room too, now, through her eyes. â€Å"Why? The landlady gave me everything in the room. So I have your real clothes and a bunch of star bal s down there, in case you weren't through with one. But why would you think you might have to go back?† â€Å"Well, I know you were looking for a lady of quality, and I'm not one,†Bonnie said simply. â€Å"That was just so I could change back into a vampire,†Damon said. â€Å"And what do you think is holding you up in the air right now?†But this time Bonnie knew somehow that the sensations from the â€Å"Never Ever†star bal s were Stillin her mind and that Damon was seeing them too. He was a vampire again. And the contents of these star bal s were so abominable that Damon's stony exterior final y cracked. Bonnie could almost guess what he thought of them, and of her, left to shiver under her one blanket every night. And then, to her total astonishment, Damon, the ever-composed, brand-new vampire blurted, â€Å"I'm sorry. I didn't think about how that place would be for you. Is there anything that wil make you feel better?† Bonnie blinked. She wondered, seriously, if she were dreaming. Damon didn't apologize. Damon famously didn't apologize, or explain, or speak so nicely to people, unless he wanted something from them. But one thing seemed real. She didn't have to sleep in the brown room anymore. This was so exciting that she flushed a little, and dared say, â€Å"Could we go down to the ground? Slowly? Because the truth is that I'm just terrified of heights.† Damon blinked, but said, â€Å"Yes, I think I can manage that. Is there anything else you'd like?† â€Å"Well – there are a couple of girls who'd be donors – happily – if – well – if there's any money left – if you could save them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon said a little sharply, â€Å"Of course there's some money left. I even wrung your share back out of that hag of a landlady.† â€Å"Well, then, there's that secret that I told you, but I don't know if you remember.† â€Å"How soon do you think you'l feel well enough to start?†asked Damon.

The Origins of Afro-Caribbean Dance essays

The Origins of Afro-Caribbean Dance essays All forms of Afro-Caribbean dance have their roots in Africa. In the 15th to 18th century when the slaves were being brought over to America from Africa, they were mostly gathered from the western coast of North Senegal and South Angola. The reasons for most of them coming from this region is because the European traders thought it easier and less expensive to transport slaves from the west coast of Africa. It was impractical to take slaves from the east side of the continent because of the high mortality rates. The Goree Island, which is right off the shore of Senegal, was a holding place for the slaves, before they made their long journey to their final destinations. It was here that many of the diverse cultures seemed to have merged and later formed what would become different aspects of Afro-Caribbean dance. For example, the Woulousodong is a dance of the Wolorf people in Senegal. One of this dance's different interpretations, when learned in America, is that the movements represented those of the slaves while they walked up the gang plank. The African explanation tells us the movements signify adolescents breaking away from their parents' household and taking on new responsibilities. This is one instance where the interpretation of African dance has changed oversea. The meaning of the dance now became the experience of the people, as a whole. The one thing that they had in common was the slave trade, so many of the earlier forms of these dances reflected that experience. As these slaves began to settle in different countries, the emergence of a more cultural specific dance for started to form. Yet these new forms of dance still had strong African roots. For example, many of the slaves brought to Brazil, Haiti and Cuba were Yoruba-speaking people from southwest Nigeria. They worshipped more than 400 gods, which are still worshipped today. No doubt, they brought their religious practic ...

Answers to Questions About Formatting

Answers to Questions About Formatting Answers to Questions About Formatting Answers to Questions About Formatting By Mark Nichol Three questions from DailyWritingTips.com readers about various aspects of formatting content, and my responses, follow. 1. Is it bad form to indent the first sentence of an email paragraph? Email programs may not preserve indentations, and using a line space instead makes the format more visually appealing (and the line space and the indentation are redundant for indicating a transition from one paragraph to the next). 2. Facebook does not support italicized fonts. What is a good substitute to imply a gentle emphasis on a word? â€Å"I ‘love’ you†? That’s too wrong. Framing the word or words to be emphasized with asterisks â€Å"I *love* you† is a common method for indicating emphasis, but its not necessarily subtle more, in this case, suggesting a squeal by one person smitten with another. In nonamorous contexts, asterisks can still be somewhat forceful: â€Å"You are *so* in trouble!† But they can also suggest a softer emphasis: â€Å"Be sure to pull the lever *gently* so that it doesn’t break.† A more neutral option is to frame the word or phrase with _underscores_ (Shift+Hyphen). 3. Which is the correct way to format time in the case below? (a) 9:30 11:15am (b) 9:30 11:15 am (c) 9:30 11:15a.m. (d) 9:30 11:15 a.m. Do I leave a space after the last number for the am to follow, or not? Do I use periods, or not? Should I use the am after 9:30 as well as after 11:15? Is a dash OK to use to mean to? Or should I use â€Å"9:30am to 11:15am†? The lack of a letter space between the closing time and the abbreviation am in (a) and a.m. in (c) is problematic because the abbreviation appears to apply only to the closing time. (However, the convention is that abbreviations for â€Å"before noon† or â€Å"after noon† appear after only the second time element unless one time is before noon and the other is after noon, or vice versa.) Also, periods in initialisms are becoming obsolescent, though The Chicago Manual of Style recommends retaining them when they follow a lowercase letter Mr., etc., and so on but not MD, DC, and so on so either (b) or (d) is correct. Also, speaking of letter spaces, no space should precede or follow the hyphen in the time range (and the hyphen technically should be an en dash, though some newspapers and websites use the simpler symbol). A more formal piece of content such as a book is likely to spell out to within a time frame, but in most other contexts, the symbol is appropriate. The best choices, therefore, are (formally) â€Å"9:30–11:15 a.m.† and (less formally) â€Å"9:30–11:15 am.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should KnowRound vs. AroundOppose and Opposed To

Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia Essay Sample

Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia Essay Sample Childhood Childhood The problem of schizophrenia remains one of the most important psychosomatic problems in the modern psychiatry and requires more multidisciplinary research. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder, which manifests in abnormal mental functions and behavior. Schizophrenia is characterized by the severe psychotic symptoms, such as various forms of nonsense (false beliefs), hallucinations (false perception), frustration of thinking, extremely disorganized behavior, a catatonia (motor dysfunctions: from over excitation to a full immovability), the extremely inadequate or poor emotional reactions (flat affect), and also considerable deteriorations or social functioning violations. Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is similar to regular schizophrenia, however it appears at early age. It is one of the most severe forms of schizophrenia, but is not an independent disease. At present, the psychosis, which begins in children up to 10 year old, is defined as COS. Moreover, the psychosis is divided i nto the subgroups according to the age of a child accepted in pediatrics, such as the early childhood until 3 years old, pre-preschool age from 3 to 5 years and preschool from 5 to 7 years (Addington Rapoport, 2009, p. 156; Bartlett, 2014, p. 736). The given research paper describes the prevalence rates and risk factors of COS, its diagnostic criteria, clinical characteristics, as well as prevention of the disease. COS Prevalence Rates According to Bartlett (2014), the prevalence rates variate in different regions of the globe. The COS prevalence rates, extremely rarely found among children up to 12, increase in teenage years and reach its critical point at the age of 20-25: The prevalence of COS makes from 0.14 to 1.0 cases per 10 000 children; Schizophrenia occurs among the adults 100 times more often than among children; COS at earlier age (2-4 years) in boys happens twice more often than in girls. However, the specified distinctions between genders disappear at teenage years (Bartlett, 2014, p. 742). The general risk of the disease is 0.4 0.6% (4-6 cases per 1000 people). Boys and girls get sick equally, however, the prevalence of the disease in boys is explained by the general biological vulnerability of males to the neurological disorders, or different etiology (origin) of the processes in boys and girls. In adulthood, schizophrenia is met more often among the representatives of the lowest social and economic segments of the population. The symptoms in children with COS occur in the representatives of various cultures, ethnos and racial groups (Naguy Al-Mutairi, 2015). COS Risk Factors The biological conditions, family, social and cultural factors as well as drug use and alcoholism are among the risk factors of COS. At the early stage of the neuronal development, including during pregnancy, the causal factors can increase the risk of the future development of the disease. In this regard, the COS risk is dependent on a birth season, indicating that the disorder is more often observed in children born in winter and spring. Moreover, the prenatal infections increase risk, thus confirming the direct connection of the disease with the developmental disorders. Childhood-onset schizophrenia is a hereditary (familial) disease. However, the fact that not both monogerminal twins become sick in all schizophrenia cases says that not only genetic factors affect the probability of the development of schizophrenia in children. The non-genetic factors, including infections, toxins, trauma and stress during prenatal and post-natal development, also play a role in causing schizophrenia, apparently, having more mediated impact on the neurologic development (Bartlett, 2014, p. 735; Starling Feijo, 2012, p. 2). The modern views on the causes of COS are based on the vulnerability stress model, which focuses on the role of the interaction between a child’s predisposition and stressful and protective factors. The predisposition factors include a genetic risk, defects of the central nervous system, lack of the conditions necessary for training or pathological forms of family relations. The events increasing the probability of schizophrenic episodes, such as a death of a close relative, or sources of a chronic stress, such as ill-treatment of a child in a family, belong to stressors. The protective factors include the conditions reducing the probability of schizophrenic episodes in children belonging to a risk group. These factors include a highly developed intelligence, social skills or a favorable situation in a family (Addington Rapoport, 2009, p. 157). The vulnerability stress model emphasizes the role of the neuropathology in developing schizophrenia at early age. Moreover, it is confirmed by the data, which proves that psychotic symptoms expressed in motor and cognitive deficiencies and disorders of a social interaction are found in babies and children earlier than the psychosomatic symptoms, expressed in the motor and cognitive deficits and violations of the social interconnections. The neuropsychological researchers testify that attention and information processing deficiency found in the adults with schizophrenia are characteristic for the children with COS. Moreover, the record of the brain activity during the performance of such tasks testifies to the existence of the limited ability to process cognitively the information (Starling Feijo, 2012, p. 4). There is a strong influence of the genetic factors on the COS probability, which even exceeds the probability of a disease at mature age. In particular, the quantity of COS cases among the relatives of sick children approximately twice exceeds the number of the cases affecting the relatives of the adults sick with schizophrenia. This data in general confirms that COS is the most severe form of schizophrenia (Addington Rapoport, 2009, p. 158). Among the social factors, there is a stable correlation between the COS risk and the urbanization degree. The social factors include a low social status, including poverty, migration caused by social disparities, racial discrimination, problematic families, a high level of unemployment and bad living conditions. The mockeries and injuring experiences in the childhood also promote the future development of schizophrenia. The parental education does not pose a risk of COS, but the broken relationship characterized by a lack of support can make its contribution. In addition, loneliness is one of the social factors of COS (Naguy Al-Mutairi, 2015). COS occurs in all cultural, social and economic classes. There is a larger number of children with schizophrenia in lower social and economic sectors of society. This fact is explained by the downward drift hypothesis, according to which sick people either move to the lower classes, or cannot get into the higher due to the disease. The stresses endured by the representatives of the lower class are the factors promoting the development of schizophrenia. Thus, that social stresses have an impact on the development of COS (Naguy Al-Mutairi, 2015). Immigration, industrialization and tolerance to abnormal behavior existing in certain sectors of society have an impact on the etiology of schizophrenia. The high prevalence of COS among recent immigrants can cause the change of the cultural features, which, being a stressful factor contributes to the development of the disease. In addition, the spread of schizophrenia in the developing countries is caused by the interaction with more advanced equipment and culture. Some types of culture can be more or less prone to schizophrenia depending on how a patient mentally perceives stress, what his role is or what social protection system is, and how complex social communications are. Schizophrenia has more favorable forecast in less developed nations. COS and drug addiction are connected, and do not allow to trace the relationships of cause and effect with ease. There is an evidence that certain drugs are capable to cause the disease in some teenagers or to provoke the next attack. Amphetamines and alcohol stimulate the emission of dopamine, and the excess of a dopaminergic activity causes the psychotic symptomatology in schizophrenia. In addition, the excessive use of hallucinogenic and excitants can provoke COS (Starling Feijo, 2012, p. 8). COS Diagnostic Criteria and Clinical Characteristics The initial stages of COS can be manifested in a child’s inability to concentrate his/her attention, a sleep disorder, difficulty to study and avoidance of communication. The development of disease can be characterized by the incoherent speech; besides, a child can start seeing or hearing what people around cannot. After the progressing periods, may appear severest recurrence characterized by the incoherent thinking when a child starts jumping from one thought to another one without any logical communication. During the psychotic phases of COS, children can be convinced that they possess superhuman abilities or that some people constantly watch them. During a psychotic attack, a patient can start behaving in an unpredictable way, sometimes tending to aggression or a suicide (Naguy Al-Mutairi, 2015). The clinical manifestations of the disease at the age of 1- 3 are mainly presented by the monotonous excitement, circle walking, impulsiveness, unmotivated laughter and tears, run in the uncertain direction, etc. At late preschool age, the thinking disorders in the form of the nonsense-like imagination can appear. After the age of 12, schizophrenia is characterized with hallucinatory and crazy manifestations, though these symptoms can appear at the earlier age. The most severe form of COS is characterized by the alternation of the periods of motive excitement and immobility with the disintegration of the speech (a catatonic form). At teenage years, the hebephrenic form of the disorder is characterized by emotional emasculation, silliness, ridiculous â€Å"clownish† behavior and incoherent speech (Starling Feijo, 2012, p. 6). The lack of emotions when voice and look do not change in the situations assuming the emotional response is another manifestation of COS. The events, which force a healthy person to laugh or cry, do not cause any reaction in children with COS. The defective intelligence, characteristic to children, whose schizophrenic process arose at the stages of the formation of informative abilities during the first years of life, is the most severe complication of COS. The signs of the disorder should be observed continuously, for at least 6 months. In addition, after the emergence of the frustration signs in a child such symptoms as an essential lowering of the level of functioning in one or several areas, or inability to achieve the expected level of results in the interpersonal, educational or professional sphere are observed. The explanation of the observed disorders with mood, schizoaffective disorder, the use of any preparations or chemicals, and the general state of health should be excluded. In the presence of the diagnosis of autism or other severe diseases caused by developmental disorders, the additional diagnosis of schizophrenia can be made only if nonsense or hallucinations continue to occur for a month. The use of the general diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia for children and adults facilitates the comparison of COS and the schizophrenia at mature age and allows defining the cases in which the continuous course of disease throughout the entire period of individual development takes place. However, schizophrenia can be revealed differently depending on age. In particular, nonsense, hallucinations and formal thinking disorders occur extremely rarely and, thus, are unable to diagnose the disease up to the age of 7 (Starling Feijo, 2012, p. 6). The rejection of age distinctions when using the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia can lead to the incorrect diagnosis of COS in children. However, the full form of disease does not develop until a more mature age. The other factors connected with the individual development can also matter, when making the diagnosis of schizophrenia. In particular, it is sometimes difficult to draw the line between such pathological symptoms as the nonsense and usual imaginations caused by the phantasies characteristic to many young children. In addition, it is necessary to consider the fact that unlike adults, young children do not feel discomfort and disorganizing character of the psychotic symptoms. Therefore, if they emerge at early stages of development, children may not distinguish them from the normal experiences. COS Prevention The modern prevention of mental diseases includes the concepts of primary and secondary prevention. The primary prevention of children’s schizophrenia as an endogenous disease is quite problematic. Nevertheless, the modern data on the genetic risk of COS allow giving the relevant advice on the prevention or interruption of pregnancy. Another prerequisite of the COS primary prevention includes the data of many children’s psychiatrists on the frequency of exogenous harm in the early anamnesis of the COS patients (pre-natal, perinatal and early post-natal harm). Therefore, the measures connected with health protection of pregnant women, obstetric aid improvement, and also strengthening of the health of newborns and children of early age can be conditionally related to the primary prevention of COS (Naguy Al-Mutairi, 2015; DeVylder, 2015). The COS’s psychogenesis includes the dependence of this disease on the surrounding microsocial environment, emotional deprivation, common accommodation with COS patients, etc. The measures directed on the improvement of environment and the prevention of the psychologically difficult and stressful situations are related to the COS secondary prevention (DeVylder, 2015). At present, there are no reliable markers capable to predict the development of schizophrenia. However, there are the researches estimating the possibility of the future diagnosis through the combination of genetic factors and the psychosis-like experiences. The children belonging to the high-risk group, which assumes the existence of the transit or the self-checked psychotic experiences against the family history of schizophrenia, are diagnosed with COS within a year with the probability of 20-40% chance. Various methods of psychotherapy and medicines are capable to reduce the COS development among the children of a high-risk group (Naguy Al-Mutairi, 2015). The diagnosis of COS is an area of scientific knowledge much discussed in the middle 20th century. The given research paper showed that the symptoms of the subsequent development of schizophrenia can be revealed at early stages of a child’s development. The process started in the first critical period leads to the profound changes in the ontogenesis of a child. Thus, the development of COS depends on the nature of interaction of the enduring psychobiological vulnerabilities, environmental and biological stressors, protective factors caused by the nature of a child’s development and favorable family conditions. Despite the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, the probability of the schizophrenic episodes is high only when a person is also exposed to rather strong influence of the stressful factors, and has no sufficient resources to resist the disease.

Levendary Cafe Case Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Levendary Cafe Case Assignment - Essay Example Numerous attempts to make him change his style yield no such results and another individual has to be taken to the office in China and ensure that he is implementing the changes being made by the management back in the US and monitor his work in the process. The other problem being faced is that of Chen being insubordinate towards the overall changes and order provided by the head CEO of the company. His attitude is what makes him have all these problems with sticking to the rules provided about the way to do business in China despite him being the head. It is these negative attitudes and the lack of subordination towards the CEO that is making questions to be raised about his future working in the company and whether a new manager should start being sought to replace him. The last problem that seems to be in existence in the China branch is that of financial reports. The Levendary Cafà © uses the GAAP format to make its reports so that they are all uniform and easy to translate but Chen seems rather resistant in adopting this system leaving the accountants in the US to have to carry out another set of extra work reading and changing the report to the format used which is international. As a result of the lack of properly recorded and provided financial reports, the mother branch is thinking of bringing in a financial analyst into the China branch to examine the books and explain whether this branch is making profits or not and to whether these profits can sustain expanding of the China branch as well. This analysis will determine Chen’s future with the company. The other alternative is to let Chen continue working on the China project despite his negative attitudes, insubordination and problems with the financial reporting but provide a new deadline to break even or be replaced. If Chen cannot accept a new deadline to be set for him or accept a financial analyst to be brought in to access the financial

Windshield survey of Los Angeles California Assignment

Windshield survey of Los Angeles California - Assignment Example In reference to public health, the community is usually viewed as the client. It is imperative that proper planning is done in addressing the welfare of a community. One way of planning is through surveys. This paper is a Windshield Survey of Los Angeles, California. Housing and zoning The policy of land use is how land is used by communities within their boundaries. This policy establishes density for zonal development and development intensity for industrial and commercial uses. The overall plan is to manage all uses of land occurring in Los Angeles County by providing the scheme on how the to plan and address challenges of land use that may be faced. The element of land use uses short-term programs and strategies of providing comprehensive and flexible guidelines for the decisions on county land use and future development. This element also identifies the policies and goals that guide the extent of land housing, general location of housing, and other land uses in the county (Todd, 2007). Transport One of the major means of transport are, air transportation as evidenced by the presence of airports such as Lax (Los Angeles international Airport) and Ontario international airport. Other means of transport are train and bus services between cities, ferry services for water transport, bus services within the city and walking on foot. Race and ethnicity The downtown consists of Asians, African Americans, white non-Hispanic, Chinese, Filipino, Mexican, Korean, and Indian among others. These groups are said to outnumber whites. Open space The open space has Los Angeles union station which is the major transportation Hub that converge railways and bus services. It also has a collection of shops, a museum, and eateries police departments, with their buildings, shopping malls, city hall and commercial banks. Service centers There are various service centers which look into the welfare of the parties involved. These include; AIDS Service Center, Korean American Family S ervice Center, Ori's Automotive Service Center, Chinatown service center, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. Religion and politics The main religious bodies include; Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Lutherans, Jewish, Islam, Eastern, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian, and other Christians. The county has different political parties. (Brint, 2009) American independent party pledges to stop wars which are claiming lives of more Americans, stop impulse spending on foreign aid, do away with federal income tax, slow down immigration, stop illegal alien entering the country, defend national moral values, stop abortion, raise the standards of education, among other pledges. Communist party pledges to defeat the Bush administration agenda, ensure people’s wellbeing, and replace large business with labor to ensure that rights, expanding needs of the people and economic security are put on the forefront. Republican Party has a mission of winning elections. Reform party promotes job openi ngs, budget balance, alternative energy sources, debt repayment, military families’ fairness, and reform in healthcare, government waste elimination, finance reform campaigns and many others. Other parties include; Constitution Party, Democratic Party, Democratic Socialists , Green Party, Libertarian Party, Natural Law Party, Socialist Party (Peterson, 1994). Official Boundaries of the County The county boundary starts from the southwesterly of California to northeasterly of rancho Simi then to southeast of the township line. Stores and street people The county contains the largest number of homeless people in the whole nation. This is approximated to be

ArcelorMittal's use of internet and its website Essay

ArcelorMittal's use of internet and its website - Essay Example User Friendliness of the Website ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s leading companies in the steel and mining. They are into all major steel markets like automobile, construction, packing and household appliances. Before discussing about the user friendliness of the website the factors affecting the basics of the website should be understood well. Access The website has to be easily accessible to the public. Once a service is found, it should be visible immediately when called and in minimum response time. At the same time while designing a website, the problem of disabled people should be taken into account. There is the law relating to the design of websites for people with disability. The website of ArcelorMittal is easily accessible to the customers, with very less response time. But the website may not be user-friendly for the people with disability. Quality Content The content of the website should be presented in an easily understandable language with clarity, trustwor thiness and correctness. The content should be quickly retrieved to answer the queries of common people. The website should contain details about their service, responsibilities, communication and transitional facilities. The website of Arcelor Mittal has all the above mentioned basic requirements. Along with this it also contains data which are really helpful to the investors. IT Security In this era where cyber crime is an area of concern, therefore website security takes an important place. Though no one can guarantee 100% security but the website security has to be reviewed and enhanced from time to time. In connection to this loss and unauthorized use or alteration should also be taken into consideration. In the website of Arcelor Mittal though they have not given any commitment of 100% security but they do try to keep their websites away from cyber threats. Responsibility for content The issue regarding responsibility for content and youth safety should be address by the compa ny while designing their websites. Arcelor Mittal’s website is perfect from that respect too (Quality Criteria for a Public-User-Friendly and Secure Website, n. d., pp. 10-12). Thus it can be concluded that the website of Arcelor Mittal is quite user friendly and contains a lots of information. It not only provides information related to their business and investors but also information related to their commitment towards the society. The language used in the website is very simple and easily understandable. Meeting With the Requirement of The Customer The customer and the investors are always interested towards the performance and the growth of the company. The website of ArcelorMittal has sections that provide information related to what they do, their corporate responsibilities, information related to people interested to join ArcelorMittal for growing career and information related to the investor (Homepage of ArcelorMittal, n. d.). The investor section provides a lot of information regarding their financial condition for past few years as well as present. The investor’s toolkit present in the website of the company can help the investor to decide their investment strategy. The supplier segment can also be of great interest to the customers. In the segment â€Å"What we do† (What we do, n.d.) the website traces on their main activities and sub activities. They highlight on their research and development, commenting on how their research work can be helpful to

A Critical Literate Review Concerning Consumer Perception of Privacy Literature

A Critical Literate Concerning Consumer Perception of Privacy and Security Risks for Online Shopping - Literature review Example The information provided by the New Media Age (2006) indicates that the total number of internet users worldwide had long surpassed the 1 billion mark by the year 2005; a number that was only 45 million a decade earlier. Accordingly, dozens of internet-based ventures have surfaced in record numbers, forcing the hitherto conventionally operated enterprises to turn digital in order to remain relevant (Yang, 2005). By definition, electronic commerce [often called e-commerce or e-shopping] refers to buying and paying for commodities (goods and services) from the comfort of a computer connection to the worldwide web. A number of recent studies points to a largely stagnating market share of transactions over the internet with scholars questioning whether the predicted enduring ubiquity will ever become a reality (Grewal et al. 2004). The brave five-year forecasts of consulting agencies in the mid 90’s came to pass with comparatively negligible enthusiasm over the internet than earli er envisaged. Similarly, many visions of total transformation of the world to a digital village, from Being Digital to The Third Wave, all became somewhat more remote than originally planned. Nonetheless, there still exists the momentum of integrating new information and communication technology as a modern way of life across the globe, either in private life or into the business practices. Laroche, Zhilin, McDougall, and Jasmin, (2005) mentions in their piece that consumers’ adoption of online shopping would be shaped by an inevitable future demand; a transformative process that has kicked-off, but yet to pick up substantially. In as much as e-shopping offers people the convenience of real-time completion of transaction from mobile locations, internet security is no longer guaranteed (Zhou, Dai and Zhang, 2007). Scholars in the computing sphere are fully aware of the ever-emerging challenges that they need to address by offering dynamic solutions. Central to the current conc erns is the ever growing creativity among the technology savvy criminals skillfully breaking the privacy codes to access clients’ information deemed confidential. Issues of privacy and security risks emanating from unsolicited e-mails to security threats of point- transactions continue to generate contentious debates in the realms of academia as well as policy conferences (Meinert et al. 2006). As the literature on online shopping experience expands, there is need to identify with the underpinnings of the shopping phenomenon and why then new experience seems sluggish in picking up in an era of pervasive technology. This paper endeavors to analyze decisively the current literature on online shopping with regard to consumer perception of privacy and security risks associated with the new trend. 2.0 Insights from the Current literature A large body of researchers has emerged communicating the criteria that consumers adopt when choosing to either to shop online or not. Lee and Ta n (2003) hypothesized that consumers do choose to shop online or physically in a store depending on their perception of utility afforded from the purchases while minimizing their exposure to risks. Alba, et al. (1997) argues that consumers’ attraction to the alternative retail arrangements is largely determined by the number of existing alternatives, their [consumers’] capacity to scrutinize the alternatives, the availability and authenticity of information availed for a convincing comparison, credentials of the organizations involved and the external [the extra]

The Cold War was inevitable Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Cold War was inevitable - Research Paper Example The reason behind these contending forms of history is that one or other political pioneer was answerable for the incredible ideological crash that overwhelmed the second portion of the 20th c. I oppose this idea. I accept that the Cold War was the practically inexorable spin-off of World War II2. As long as they were both battling Nazi Germany, the U.SA and the U.S.S.R had motivation to save their organization together and paper over any differences. When their regular foe was vanquished, and Americans and Russians met one another in the heart of Europe, their political and financial investment wandered pointedly. Fellowship turned to contention in barely a second3. With his curved, however, infrequently splendid handle of authentic strengths, Adolf Hitler took care of business when he finished up in April 1945 that the annihilation of the Third Reich might leave "just two extraordinary Forces fit for facing one another - the United States and Soviet Russia." He happened to anticipate "the laws of both history and topography will constrain these two Forces to a trial of quality, either military or in the fields of money making concerns and philosophy."4 Basically, all the watershed occasions of the early Cold War could be followed once again to the 6th period that spread over the Yalta meeting, the demise of Franklin Roosevelt, World War II end , the crumbling of the opposition to Hitler cooperation, and the dawning of the nuclear age. The Czechoslovak overthrow emulated an example secured an example built in Romania in the weeks promptly taking after Yalta, with the Moscow-sponsored Communists utilizing their control over the security strengths to seize complete force. Trumans backing for professional Western governments in Greece and Turkey in 1947 took after coherently from his prior imperviousness to Soviet arrangements to obtain army installations along the Dardanelles and in the Mediterranean. The 1948-1949 Berlin bar had its

A Critical Literate Review Concerning Consumer Perception of Privacy Literature

A Critical Literate Concerning Consumer Perception of Privacy and Security Risks for Online Shopping - Literature review Example The information provided by the New Media Age (2006) indicates that the total number of internet users worldwide had long surpassed the 1 billion mark by the year 2005; a number that was only 45 million a decade earlier. Accordingly, dozens of internet-based ventures have surfaced in record numbers, forcing the hitherto conventionally operated enterprises to turn digital in order to remain relevant (Yang, 2005). By definition, electronic commerce [often called e-commerce or e-shopping] refers to buying and paying for commodities (goods and services) from the comfort of a computer connection to the worldwide web. A number of recent studies points to a largely stagnating market share of transactions over the internet with scholars questioning whether the predicted enduring ubiquity will ever become a reality (Grewal et al. 2004). The brave five-year forecasts of consulting agencies in the mid 90’s came to pass with comparatively negligible enthusiasm over the internet than earli er envisaged. Similarly, many visions of total transformation of the world to a digital village, from Being Digital to The Third Wave, all became somewhat more remote than originally planned. Nonetheless, there still exists the momentum of integrating new information and communication technology as a modern way of life across the globe, either in private life or into the business practices. Laroche, Zhilin, McDougall, and Jasmin, (2005) mentions in their piece that consumers’ adoption of online shopping would be shaped by an inevitable future demand; a transformative process that has kicked-off, but yet to pick up substantially. In as much as e-shopping offers people the convenience of real-time completion of transaction from mobile locations, internet security is no longer guaranteed (Zhou, Dai and Zhang, 2007). Scholars in the computing sphere are fully aware of the ever-emerging challenges that they need to address by offering dynamic solutions. Central to the current conc erns is the ever growing creativity among the technology savvy criminals skillfully breaking the privacy codes to access clients’ information deemed confidential. Issues of privacy and security risks emanating from unsolicited e-mails to security threats of point- transactions continue to generate contentious debates in the realms of academia as well as policy conferences (Meinert et al. 2006). As the literature on online shopping experience expands, there is need to identify with the underpinnings of the shopping phenomenon and why then new experience seems sluggish in picking up in an era of pervasive technology. This paper endeavors to analyze decisively the current literature on online shopping with regard to consumer perception of privacy and security risks associated with the new trend. 2.0 Insights from the Current literature A large body of researchers has emerged communicating the criteria that consumers adopt when choosing to either to shop online or not. Lee and Ta n (2003) hypothesized that consumers do choose to shop online or physically in a store depending on their perception of utility afforded from the purchases while minimizing their exposure to risks. Alba, et al. (1997) argues that consumers’ attraction to the alternative retail arrangements is largely determined by the number of existing alternatives, their [consumers’] capacity to scrutinize the alternatives, the availability and authenticity of information availed for a convincing comparison, credentials of the organizations involved and the external [the extra]

Habits of mind Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Habits of mind - Assignment Example Translation of such approach into an amicable enhanced strategy entails use of past knowledge related to the given English concept in establishing the most relevant interpretation. Enhancement of the strategy is critical in enabling a more viable restrictive approach within the study. Moreover, an enhancement strategy domineers in realization of the most dominant approach towards the given study. Consequently, enhanced creativity assists in a more visionary thinking and attainment of the most relevant analysis. Consequently, effective application of critical thinking and creativity dominates in proper potential restriction of the most imperative concepts within a specific study. It is domineering to enhance such self-articulated strategies using previously acquired knowledge for more amicable understanding. Essentially, such previously gained knowledge is authoritative in augmenting an existing idea that is crucial in a given poetic analysis. Moreover, a vivid understanding the specified concepts assists in augmenting analysis and improvement of the desired potential approach. Therefore, engagement of the most relevant and amicable potentially restrictive approach assists in essential understanding. My habits of mind reacted to the poem with questioning, thought, listening, empathy and striving to attain accuracy. Foremost, I struggled to reconnect the essay with my past experiences relating to interpretation of a poem and its accurate analysis. Above all, I was forecasted to manage any potential risks that might associate with interpretation and analysis of the poem. Through extensive listening and association of previous experiences involving poem interpretation, I evaluated the poem’s theme and deduced its intended meaning (Walcott 1). The habit of mind relating to intelligence listening and questioning enabled me to link the

The power of psychological time in poetry Essay Example for Free

The power of psychological time in poetry Essay Poetry is always connected to various time representations. Poets replace real time with different psychological visions and ideas of past or future events. We frequently find ourselves in a situation, when we cannot completely understand the time implications of a specific poem. Thomas Hardy and T. S. Eliot were well known for their poetic skills in representing various dimensions of time. In their works, time has become a symbol, and their â€Å"instinctive mode as writers was figurative, not analytic; their most habitual method was symbolism, not argument. † In Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights†, and Eliot’s â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night†, time acquires new meaning. It is no longer the clock measurement of our actions; it is a psychological dimension which creates the virtual space in which we live. Our memories signify the power of psychological time; in their poems, Eliot and Hardy underline the significance and power of psychological time and oppose it to the clock or seasonal time, under the impact of which we traditionally live. â€Å"Wessex Heights† and Hardy’s meaning of psychological time Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights† is invariably linked to the way Hardy interprets the meaning of philosophical and psychological notions of time and space. Evidently, temporal subject is central to â€Å"Wessex Heights†, and the poet creates a conjunction of numerous elements, which ultimately form what we call â€Å"psychological time†. There are some heights in Wessex, shaped as if by a kindly hand For thinking, dreaming, dying on, and at crises when I stand, Say, on Ingpen Beacon eastward, or on Wylls-Neck westwardly, I seem where I was before my birth, and after death may be. (Hardy 1989, 23). This trope becomes the beginning of a reader’s journey to Hardy’s representation of psychological time and the continuity of human emotions. It is not surprising that the poet uses the exact geographical names, and seems to determine the exact geographical location for the reader. This â€Å"geographical† character of the poem is initially deceptive. Moreover, Hardy uses these names to oppose the reality to psychology of time, and geography serves the instrument of such opposition. â€Å"It is not surprising that â€Å"Wessex Heights† uses the title of a specific locality only to emphasise dislocation, moving the speaker in and out of abstracted spaces that have, as it turns out, little connection to physical place. † The first stanza actually becomes the start of the reader’s journey into the depth of Hardy’s psychological time. The dislocation, about which Richards writes, is one of the most prominent characteristics to emphasise the power of psychological time, which makes memories and feelings eternal. The first stanza smoothly moves the reader into the clearer representations of the psychological time. It seems that the poet was preparing us to what we would later see after we move to virtual lowlands: â€Å"Down there I seem to be false to myself, my simple self that was, / And is not now, and I see him watching, wondering what crass cause / Can have merged him into such a strange continuator s this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The reader seems to appear in the center of an action, where the past plays with the present, and where one sees one’s self as a separate being. Hardy evidently opposes reality of time to its psychology, underlining the effects which psychological time may cause on a person. In order to strengthen the effect, Hardy presents the second stanza in a more structured metrical form than the first one. As a result, â€Å"the past self, the chrysalis, encloses the present subject in the same paradoxical way that rhyme enfolds Hardy’s chaotic language, so that these structures play against other as the poem progresses. † Hardy uses the notion of locality, and exact geographical names to emphasise the mixture of the geographical and the aesthetical. In his work, geography loses its meaning when the poet speaks about ghosts in the third stanza: â€Å"There is a ghost at Yell’ham Bottom chiding loud at the fall of the night. † The ghosts represent the circulation of the psychological time. In distinction from the real clock or seasonal time, in psychological time a person has an opportunity to return to the past memories. In this aspect psychological time is evidently stronger than the real one. As the reader retreats from these ghosts in the first stanza, he meets them again in the third passage; â€Å"the conventional ghosts of the lowlands repeat their presence in a form that revises their past forms. This repetition constitutes human temporality in a particular way: time is movement toward a future which will be, but never yet is, the perfected assumption of the past. † The psychological time, in which the reader appears when reading â€Å"Wessex Heights† creates favourable conditions for separating the self and analyzing it through the prism of the past events. In Hardy’s vision, this separation and the absence of a psychological line between the past and the present creates an incredible emotional atmosphere, in which any person can find a key to oneself. â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night†: Eliot and Bergson The first impression from reading Eliot’s â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† is in that the poet creates a kind of â€Å"coherent imaginative vision of time. † Eliot has brilliantly incorporated Bergson’s understanding of time into his poetic work . As with Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights†, Eliot underlines the impossibility to measure time in traditional clock or seasonal terms. The poet clearly keeps to the idea of time being more psychological than seasonal. As a result, the reader acquires additional opportunities to return to the past, and to analyze the future actions through the prism of the past events. The major difference between â€Å"Wessex Heights† and â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† is in that Hardy creates a vision of unlimited time through the use of geographical names and localities. In his turn, Eliot emphasises the opposition between the clock time and psychological time. His poem takes the reader away from traditional clock measurements which do not give any space for the analysis of the self and the continuity of time: Twelve o’clock. Along the reaches of the street Held in a lunar synthesis, Whispering lunar incantations Dissolve the floors of memory And all its clear relations Its divisions and precisions, Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum†¦ (Eliot 1991, 16) Eliot starts each stanza in a similar way: the passing of the clock time symbolises its irrelevance and insignificance towards the relations, divisions, and precisions of the psychological time. It is not a secret, that Eliot’s creative work was dramatically influenced by the works of Henri Bergson in terms of time concept. In his works, Bergson distinguished the two different types of time: real and mathematical. In Bergson’s view, real time was indivisible and continuous, while mathematical time could be measured. In Eliot’s poem, the reader faces the challenge of distinguishing real time from mathematical time measurements. Real time in Eliot’s view stands in the form of indivisible psychological continuum, which is broken by mathematical measurements in the form of clock time at certain regular intervals. There is a persistent impression that Eliot’s â€Å"Rhapsody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  continues the logical time line of Hardy’s â€Å"Wessex Heights† by mixing past with present, and recognising the insignificance of â€Å"mathematical† measurable time: â€Å"The past exists in the present, which contains the future. The concrete and ever present instance of duration is life, for each of us living in his own time. † Eliot speaks about memories, which do not change with time. He speaks of time as psychological notion, which cannot be measured. â€Å"Half-past three. / The lamp sputtered, / The lamp muttered in the dark. / The lamp hummed: / â€Å"Regard the moon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The moon, and not the clock is the sign of the reality of time, but even the moon can lose memory: â€Å"The moon has lost her memory. † Through the whole poem, Eliot seems to seek the means of time measurability: he tries to use lamps, moon, and clock to divide his time into separate passages. Yet, these measures only confirm the continuity of psychological time, and the continuity of memories which actually constitute this psychological time. In his â€Å"Rhapsody†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , Eliot â€Å"adds the influence of time and its inescapable nature. Memory and the past bring into focus relationships and lack of personal fulfillment. † As psychological time cannot be measured, it serves a measure in itself: the measure of Eliot’s passion, emotiveness, and the memory which is the key to eternity. Conclusion Poetry is inherently separated from any traditional measurements of time. In their works, Hardy and Eliot were trying to create a border between the clock (seasonal) and psychological time. Both were striving to mix past with future, and to show the futility of traditional time measurements against the power of memories and psychological time. Both have incorporated either geographical names or traditional measures of time to emphasise their irrelevance towards people’s emotions. Bergson says that â€Å"reality has extension as well as duration. However, space is not a void or vacuum which is filled by reality. Things are not in space, space is in things. † As a result, psychological time is not an objective reality: it is extremely subjective and stems from the personal memories and interpretations. Subjective notions cannot be measured, and both poets were trying to deliver this essence to the reader. Ultimately, after reading the two poems, the reader finds oneself in a new environment, which breaks traditional limits of time and produces a completely new vision of the self. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bergson, H. The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics. New York: Kensington Publishing Group, 1946. Eliot, T. S. â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night. † In Collected Poems, 1909-1962, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991, p. 16. Hardy, Thomas. â€Å"Wessex Heights. † In Thomas Hardy: Wessex Heights, ed. N. Philip, London: Bloomsbury Pub Ltd, 1989. , p. 23. Maxwell, D. E. S. The Poetry of T. S. Eliot. Routledge Kegan, 1960. Richards, J. â€Å"The History of Error: Hardy’s Critics and the Self Unseen. † Victorian Poetry 45 (2007): 24-29. Siebenschuh, William R. â€Å"Hardy and the Imagery of Place. † Studies in English Literature 39 (1999): 101-103. Thomson, E. T. S. Eliot: The Metaphysical Perspective. Southern Illinois University Press, 1963.