Facilitating the Transfer of Knowledge to Long-Term Memory

Recommend key Instructional strategies geared toward facilitating the transfer of knowledge to long-term memory. Next, suggest approaches that instructors may use In order to compensate for the challenges of storage Information storage and retrieval that occur with age. A key Instructional strategy geared toward facilitating the transfer of knowledge to long-term memory would be to develop a lesson plan that accommodates all learning styles. The lesson plan should relate to all students from experiences which would trigger long term feeling, emotions and thoughts.This would help when it comes to facilitating learning. An approach I would suggest would be before every lesson has the learners write out some of their most memorable memories that they have experience in life and incorporate those memories into learning which would compensate for the challenges of storage information and retrieval that occur with age. From the e-Actually, compare the results of the two (2) quizzes / tests that you have taken. Dullness's the common thread(shore lack thereof?that the results yielded. Next, suggest which type of knowledge?I. , procedural or procedural?would yield the best results with an adult learner like you. Provide a rationale for your response. Http://move. Utopia. Org/multiple-intelligences-assessment Interpersonal This test showed that my learning style closely correspond with the interpersonal intelligences. I agree with this test because I am aware of my feelings and others feeling. Also I am an introvert. I have all these thoughts, feelings and emotions bottles up Inside and at times are afraid to share them with others because I'm not ere how they would react to them.I prefer being alone because I like focusing on myself and Improving myself as a person. I enjoy being alone that give me time to plan my next move and strategies on how I want things to go. So I agree with the test http://www. Bark-learn. Com/English/results. Asp Kinesthesia: 13 This shows that I'm was a kinesthesia learning and I wasn't quite aware of it. I agree with this to a certain extent. I'm not good at sports but I am in touch with my hand eye coordination and have quick reactions. And at times I have a high level of energy.But while in high school and undergrad I never participated in any sports other than trying out for cheerleaders. But while in my sports class I found that I was pretty good at playing volleyball. After being In so many classes throughout my life I've found that I learn more through visual aid. By seeing how to figure out formulas or given examples on how to write papers I've become successful at learning and processing information. So I enjoy lectures, step by step pictures and charts and

Do Girls in Elementary Schools get better grades. Than boys when the achievement levels are the same?

Marion T. Academy Charter schools are one of the independent public schools in the US. A charter school that establishes each school in a performance contract detailing the scholastic mission, program, goals, and measures of success. They are accountable to their authorizers, parents, and to the public. It’s freed from bureaucracy that often found in traditional schools, charters design and deliver programs tailored to educational excellence for the student and community needs.The creation of the charter school legislation is intended to improve student learning; encourage the use of different and innovative or proven school environments in teaching and learning methods; and provide parents and students with improved measures of school performance and greater opportunities in choosing public schools within and outside their school districts; in order to provide a well-educated community. This research will discuss about the following concern namely:†¢ The Problem: Do girl s in elementary schools get better grades than boys even when the achievement level is the same? †¢ Interpretation of data school profile †¢ Measures applied for the problem †¢ Recommendations findings for the problem Page 3 Do girls in elementary schools get better grades than boys even when the achievement level is the same? Studies believe that both genetics and environment are a factor that can make girls more intelligent than the boys; nutrition is also a huge factor, for example, especially during the developmental years of the child.Some individuals are born with more innate math ability than others. Just as some people are born with radically different physical attributes, and capabilities, the same holds true for their mental attributes. Then, environment kicks in, which is also extremely powerful. In regards to whether males have more innate math ability and if females have more innate ability in verbal/language, most of the studies That have supported the h ypotheses that males have a genetic advantage in spatial-visual stuff, and that females have an advantage in language .Early in the 20th century-old study of researchers discovered that all tests of mental ability ranked individuals in about the same way. Although mental tests are often designed to measure specific domains of cognition–verbal fluency, say, or mathematical skill, spatial visualization or memory–people who do well on one kind of test tend to do well on the others, and people who do poorly intelligence generally do so across the board. This overlap, or Interco relation, suggests that all such tests measure some global element of intellectual ability as well as specific cognitive skills.In recent decades, psychologists have devoted much effort to test intelligent isolating that general factor, which is abbreviated, from the other aspects of cognitive ability gauged in mental tests. The statistical extraction of intelligent quotient is performed by a techni que called factor analysis. Introduced at the turn of the century by British Page 4 Psychologist Charles Spearman, factor analysis determines the minimum number of underlying dimensions necessary to explain a pattern of intelligence.The Interesting thing about the study was that sex hormones may play a part, which would explain why this could be accounted for partly through genetics, since the hormones kick in at puberty. I think this is obviously just the A general factor suffusing all tests is not, as is sometimes argued, a necessary outcome of factor analysis. No general factor has been found in the analysis of personality tests, for example; instead the method usually yields at least five dimensions (neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to ideas), each relating to different subsets of tests.But, as Spearman observed, a general factor does emerge from analysis of mental ability tests, and leading psychologists, such as Arthur R. Jensen of the U niversity of California at Berkeley and John B. Carroll of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have at this point, and goes against much of gender feminism, although not â€Å"classic† feminism. According to recent studies, girls outperform boys in primary and secondary school and have higher high school graduation rates and higher rates of college admission.In Arizona, the disparity is startling: Statistics published online by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne show that girls score more than five percent higher on the AIMS reading and writing sections at all four tested grade levels. Schools across America report having high female-to-male ratios on honor rolls and in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes, according to The New York Times. For the Class of 2004 in Arizona, graduation rates among white students were 88.7 percent for females and 83. 7 percent for males. The percentage gaps were nearly identical for Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American students. Interpretation of data School profile Page 5 Marion T. Academy Charter School opened in September 2000. The Department of Education and State Board of Education approved this school. The plan for the school was to open with grades K-5 and then add a grade each year until the school was K-7.In September 2000, it opened at a temporary site in modular buildings at 97 Vandever Avenue on the east side of Wilmington, while a permanent facility was under construction. The first year, the school served approximately 400 students in grades K-5. During 2003-04 and the school enrolled approximately 600 students in grades K-8. In summer 2001, the school moved into a permanent facility at 1121 Thatcher Street on the east side of Wilmington, a few blocks away from the original temporary site.To accommodate additional students due to expansion, the school leased additional space at the Police Athletic League Building in Wilmington beginning in school year 2003-04. The school’s charter has been renewed by the Delaware Department of Education and State Board of Education for operation through school year 2007-08. The Secretary of Education and State Board of Education required that the school’s Marion T. Academy Charter School, offers classes for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.It's classified as being in or near a mid-sized city having a population less than 250,000 With 34 full-time classroom teachers, and the school has an approximate student population of 521 with a student/teacher ratio of 15. 6:1. This school allocates approximately $2,977 per pupil for instructional expenses. It is committed in providing a safe, nurturing and challenging learning environment, with the aim of producing responsible and productive citizens in the future. Marion T. Academy Problems encountered Page 6 Marion T. Academy encountered problems during the operations stated as follows:†¢ Marion T. Academy were not offer ed the school choice option and it failed to attempt to enter into a cooperative agreement with another LEA that would have allowed for parents of students with a home â€Å"feeder† school identified for the improvement to select choice options and transfer to a school not identified for improvement. †¢ Marion T. Academy did not budget funds for school choice of transportation to meet the federal spending requirement for school choice transportation costs This school does not have adequate funding to accommodate the transportation costs†¢ Associated with the school choice option of students had been offered and had exercised the school choice option. †¢ Two LEAS’ did not comply with supplemental educational service requirements. The SES parental notification letters sent by CSD and IRSD failed to include all of the information required by the ESEA. And the school had procedural failures contributing to the insufficient implementation of SES at one school . †¢ SES Notification Letters Deficiencies, are the delayed sending of important letters to the parents and other important persons for all the activities and all the achievement and problems of the students.

Journals reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Journals reading - Essay Example Additionally, these guidelines are necessary for guiding the decision-making the process of the writer. Just like the writing process demands the writer to come up with everything before writing, artists also look for ideas and inspiration before beginning their artwork. They brainstorm and come up with various ideas they feel suitable to their topic or intention. Equally important, the artist also plans and structure before painting (Armstrong 24). The article uses direct speech quoted from various speakers. Use of direct speech is important in sentence construction since it makes the message look authentic and real to the reader and different audience. Furthermore, it also limits distortion of the message because it is quoted. According to the chapter Planning, the cool down is the reduction in intensity of writers’ frustration and temper. Various authors when faced with difficult writing tasks always develop frustration and anger that leads to random thinking. Through random thoughts, writers get the ideal and perfect opportunity to cool down and rationally think. As a result, they manage to solve the problems and eventually start writing. Moreover, free writing is the best and most useful writing strategy. According to Stafford, free writing is useful since it allows the writer to write various articles or material quickly (32). It also helps writers to enhance their speed, creativity, and memory. Equally, free writing provokes critical thinking since a writer is expected to write what he/she can recall. Moreover, it ensures construction of relevant and detailed work because writers are expected to proofread. Through proofreading, writers can remove irrelevant and unusual points or sentence from their work. They also correct grammar and spelling mistakes in their work. Besides, Speculation is to conceive or try to figure out an idea without knowing the exact meaning or purpose of it. Speculation of ideas is important to

Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Case - Essay Example Ethical principles together with the doctrine of social responsibility however develop a more intrusive understanding into the matter. Based on the ethical principle of utilitarianism and the general need for social responsibility, the institutions’ move to campaign for education for homeless is called for. Utilitarianism advocates for consequential judgment and the need to ensure social good (Carroll and Buchholtz, p. 228). 2. While it may be argued that some of the sponsored individuals do not complete their studies and pass the financial burden to tax payers, it should be noted that cutting the funding would block some of the homeless who are determined complete the university programs but lacks the opportunity. This is because even though the institutions rely heavily on government expenditure for their revenue and that the government has increased allocations for financing the program, the government has a responsibility to undertake such expenditures (Carroll and Buchholtz, p. 228). 3. The ‘for profit’ institutions may similarly be exploitative in their initiative but the results of their drive, if the recruits complete the programs are beneficial. Though most of the recruits into the for profit university programs are also motivated by the availability of funds rather than academic needs, stopping the funding may unfairly hinder education to genuine students (Carroll and Buchholtz, p.

Is it Correct for Successive Governments to Manipulate the Personal Research Paper

Is it Correct for Successive Governments to Manipulate the Personal Taxation System for Economic Purposes - Research Paper Example Individual income taxes often tax the total income of the individual (with some deductions permitted), while corporate income taxes often tax net income (the difference between gross receipts, expenses, and additional write-offs)† (Balachandran 2010, p. 146). Taxation in the UK may involve payments of two different layers of government, the National Government and the Regional Government. The central government taxes include revenues and Customs. The central Government revenue comes primarily from Income Tax, National Insurance, Contribution of VAT, Corporate Taxes and Fuel Duty. The income tax forms the single largest source of revenue collected by the government. In the UK, each person has a taxable income and personal allowance up to a certain amount, free for everyone. The success of the personal taxation system depends upon the principles of taxation procedure. Taxable income is in different ways - depends on income and employment status. â€Å"These include PAYE (Pay As You Earn), self-assessment, tax deducted at source, and one-off payments† (Ways You Pay Income Tax n.d.). There are four important canons of taxation. They are economic principles, it includes the cost-effectiveness and how should cost less to collect the taxes than the revenues. A system of tax in the UK is reflected the communal values and power. To create a taxation system, a nation makes the choice of distribution for the tax that will pay the taxes and how much amount will pay for the tax. And the government can decide how will spent the collected taxes. The government collects taxes in a cost-effective manner.  

Herman Melville's Billy Budd and Bartleby; Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Essay

Herman Melville's Billy Budd and Bartleby; Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins - Essay Example It’s name means the Atheist and it is the French ship that engages the â€Å"Bellipotent† after Billy’s death. It’s shot leads to the death of Captain Vere, removing the guiding spirit of the â€Å"Bellipotent† which has been corrupted by adherence to tradition. These lines are spoken by Claggart after Billy’s soup spills and leaks across the master-at-arms’ path. They reveal Claggart’s singular attention on Billy, if not his animosity toward him, and indicate the reason why Claggart hates Billy as much as he does. The Dansker says this to Billy after the incident with the gold guineas, warning him that the after-guardsman is working for Claggart to try to implicate Billy in a mutiny scheme. If Billy were smart, he would have gone directly to the authorities about the incident, but, in keeping with his personality and understanding, he keeps quiet. Billy Budd says these words just before he is hoisted up into the rigging as his execution. The phrase is echoed by all the men on the ship and demonstrates Billy’s continued loyalty to the Captain as well as his respect for the rule of law that the Captain upheld in executing Billy. The significance of the brick wall is its ability to personify the character of Bartleby. Like a brick wall, he is described as having very little personality of his own, which makes him ideal for his role as a scrivener. However, he also proves to be equally as unmovable, as uncommunicative and progressively less useful as a brick wall. This was a friend of Judge Driscoll who died at about the same time as Percy Driscoll. Toward the end of the story, Roxy reveals that he was the father of her son, the man most people have known as ‘Tom’ through most of his life. This is Roxy’s real son who is switched with the baby Thomas a Becket Driscoll, the son of Roxy’s owner to be raised as a white man. He is the spoiled and rotten main character who abuses his ‘slave’, the true heir. They are both involved in the case

Scuba Dive in Zanzibar Island Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Scuba Dive in Zanzibar Island - Essay Example It is one of the few and unique diving sites that provides yoga and diving services combined in the world. Each day the preparations begin early around five in the morning. We chose to join the expedition from kendwa beach which remained planned according to the tides that gave the best visibility in the least current. And we got to choose deep diving, drift diving, and fish identification. We wanted to see the more than three hundred and fifty fish species. There were nighttime dives to see the diverse beauty of the coral bommies close to the shore. The orientation experience widened our scope to incorporate a few more dive sites that extremely interested us. For snorkeling kendwa reef and kendwa gardens that remain located eight hundred meters from the dive base that makes it easily accessible. In case one chooses snorkeling it is vital to get safety tips and pointers at the dive center. We were also recommended to try Tumbatu Island, which is hidden, but a piece of beauty and fifteen minutes ride to it by speedboat. The prices are affordable and flexible to everyone. To get to tumbatu Island, the transport charge is forty-five dollars. To Mnenba Island a thirty minutes ride and dive costs eighty-five dollars. To learn snorkeling the charge is still eighty-five dollars. Since we had no kids, the costs for children remained omitted the regular expenses for children or teens. The PADI course costs a bit expensive as they cost three hundred and sixty-five dollars. The cost only accommodates the twelve meters dive. Since we chose a double dive on the northwest reef with the depth of twelve to eighteen meters and boat travel of fifteen minutes was charged a hundred and twenty dollars. For proper preparation, we chartered boats from the local scuba diving providers for diving and snorkeling lasting for five days. The five days had a minimum of ten dives and remained charged five hundred dollars. My niece loved adventure dives so we dedicated two  dives specifically for underwater photography of the sea creatures we got informed told would be found specifically on each dive.  

Suggest a Strategy for Nan Fung Group up to 2021 Essay

Suggest a Strategy for Nan Fung Group up to 2021 - Essay Example Strategy formation: Many organizations face pluralism; meaning conflicting objectives from different stakeholders. Usually there is a conflict between share holders, management, employees and customers. However, in NanFung case there is extremely low pluralism..Customers are an active part of the board that governs NanFung along with local authority members. As a result the views and interests of the stakeholders move in the same direction to promote the welfare of the community. When developing strategies, all internal and external factors should be taken into account. NanFung housing has major strengths compared to other smaller associations but when compared to larger associations it lacks consistency in service and customer focus. Although many improvements have been recorded in significant weak areas such as diversity performance and cutting the time taken to let out empty properties there is a lack of initiative on the value for money front. NanFung should focus its strategy on four weak areas; customer focus, diversity and equality, value for money and internal processes. Strategy implementation: NanFung needs to improve customer focus and make sure it is instilled in every aspect of service. Even in strong areas such as gas servicing and repair services, the customer centric approach is lacking as appointments have to be made by customers and routine checks are no longer in place. The customers need to be made aware of the services that the association offers and what level of service to expect. This can be done by implementing routine checks and maintaining a higher standard in customer service. NanFung has already developed specific standards in consultation with its tenants but there needs to be follow through. During new lettings all information must be provided to customers. Customer needs should be anticipated rather than just responded to. Gas servicing reports should be provided to the board on a regular basis. As majority of the tenants are age d and many face disabilities, the association should not wait for requests for adaptation and aid rather provide them from the beginning. As this is the majority segment communities should be focused singularly on their needs and satisfaction. NanFung should comprehensively address the diverse needs of its tenants. Although it has recently started making use of diversity data in it services there is still much progress to be made. NanFung must ensure that all staff is trained and aware of the diverse needs of clients and questions or requests are not required. Satisfaction levels amongst diverse customers must be monitored and assessed. At present there are no measures to assess this factor. There should be recording of calls and of diverse backgrounds on satisfaction surveys to record feedback from diverse clients. NanFung should focus on meeting diversity and equality requirements. These measures will help NanFung provide tailored services. They will also decrease costs as it will enable efficiency and effectiveness of service to diverse customers. The value for money strategy is an imperative part of TSA’s standards. It has been in place for long period and NanFung has failed to fully implement it and reap its benefits. The strategy focuses on economy, efficiency and effectiveness. VFM means attaining the best outcomes with the available resources. NanFung faces high void costs and is focusing on decreasing the time taken to let out empty property. It is succeeding to a certain extent but the focus is not

Indoor Play Area for Children in Highcross Mall in Leicester in the UK Essay

Indoor Play Area for Children in Highcross Mall in Leicester in the UK - Essay Example The creative ideas and innovative designing of play centre are discussed in detail to land on a conclusion that an effectively designed play centre at Highcross Leicester would certainly attract more and more number of parents enclosed by their kids to the shopping mall, the sales graph of which has the chance of ever going up. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 4 Problem†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 4 Aims and Objectives†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 5 Methods†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 5 Business Plan†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 6 Time-frame†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 11 Possible constraints†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 12 Outcome/Discussion†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 12 Conclusion†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 16 Introduction: Customised childcare in UK was very poor two decades ago. When compared to other European countries and Western side of the Globe, UK’s child care systems were low in intensity. Mothers of UK found the period between childbirth and schooling too long to sustain especially when they happened to be employees. Lack of state and private initiatives to find out alternative childcare systems were ascribed to their opting part-time employment rather than full-time jobs. However, internal and external influences have paved way for emergence of a series of childcare legislations in the final decade of 20th Century. The years that followed Childcare Act 2006 saw a leap in childcare development. The Brighton and Hove City council has recently published in February 2010 an updated information sheet ‘Running a Crecheâ⠂¬â„¢ in which a clear definition of creches is envisaged. It reads: - facilities which provide occasional care for children under eight and which are provided on particular premises on more than five days a year. They need to be registered where they run for more than two hours a day, even when individual children attend for shorter periods. Some are in permanent premises and care for children while parents are engaged in particular activities, eg, shopping or sport. Others are established on a temporary basis to care for children while their parents are engaged in time-limited activities, eg, a conference or exhibition. Problem: Our aim of designing a play space inside the shopping Mall at Leicester, UK should never be considered as an easing knack for parents in their busy schedules of shopping and other activities so that they can lessen the burden of their childcare activities. Instead, the play area is to be designed in such a way it nourishes creativity among kids. Aim and Ob jectives: The purpose of this report is to investigate and analyse information in connection with formation of a creche in the busiest shopping centre in Leicester. Although a play zone in a shopping Mall in which the ‘play’ serves a subsidiary (Sarah and Valentine, 2009, p.89) and supporting function, our aim in this study is to evolve a method/ design of creche with creative elements so that parents’ responsibility of robust childcare is shouldered. The chief predictors in this endeavour are obtaining valid permission from authorities and ensuring a considerably greater natural environmental design. Methods: The method in gathering information to plan and implement this project included primary and secondary

What Is Justice For Socrates And Augustine Who (Or What) Is The Essay

What Is Justice For Socrates And Augustine Who (Or What) Is The Highest Authority To Judge - Essay Example Socrates and Augustine were two philosophers that were born into very different ages, filled with different social influences, different religions and different pressures. These differences drove the philosophical theories of the men, and how they defined justice as well as who or what they perceived as the highest authority to judge them. Socrates was born in 470 BC and executed by poison in 399 BC, a time at which Greek religion was prominent. His philosophy was auditory, through dialogue and the exchange of questions and answers with those he was talking with. As a consequence he produced no written works of his philosophy; however, his student Plato produced many written dialogues of Socrates’ philosophy. The dialogues Apology and Crito provide strong indications of his philosophy in regards to justice and the authority to judge. Augustine was born into a much later time, 354 AD, where parts of the Roman Empire were collapsing, and Christianity was becoming the dominant re ligion. His series of autobiographic books Confessions chronicle his life up till his early 40s and include many philosophical and theological discussions concerning God. These books show the way in which Augustine views justice and judgment. Socrates Socrates was born in 470 BC and died in 399 BC. ... This ‘Socratic Method’ involved him asking probing questions in a manner that eventually led them to the truth. He would spend a large amount of time in public places, engaging citizens in discussion in an attempt to draw them into greater levels of self-analysis. Plato was a student of Socrates from a young age and wrote many dialogues based on the philosophy that he learned. In the years surrounding 380 BC Plato established a school which forwarded education with focuses on math, music, athletics, philosophy and sciences. Beyond Plato, the only other writer who recorded the philosophy of Socrates was Xenophon; however he did not always portray Socrates philosophically. As a consequence, the writings of Plato are the only indication of Socrates’ philosophy, and it is difficult to tell what parts is Plato’s own philosophy and which are from Socrates. Apology Apology is titled for the term for a Greek defense speech, apologia. Socrates has been brought to tr ial before the court of Athens with the accusations of corrupting youth, inventing new gods and not recognizing those gods that are accepted by the state. Apology consists of his defense speech against the charges which includes the cross examination of his main accuser, Meletus. In his dialogue with Meletus, Socrates leads him through questions into charging Socrates both with the invention of new gods and with atheism, two contradictory charges. When asked what method of punishment he would prefer on the verdict of guilty, Socrates opts for death over prison or exile, as he will never stop philosophizing and does not fear death. Throughout Apology, Socrates repeatedly and consistently defends his right to be a philosopher and to the way in which he lives. He makes it clear to the court that the aim

People’s Home Gadgets Essay Example for Free

People’s Home Gadgets Essay 1. Provide advice to Paula regarding the nature of the HR system she should recommend for the customer service representatives at the six stores. There is a problem that PHG has faced employee turnover issues the figures indicates over the 70% more than management’s expectation. To reduce, turn over issues I’d like recommend an improvement of entire salary systems employees get their salary based on their performance, it makes high turnover issues that mean a representative who has remarkable ability when he sailing PHG stuffs. However, other people who can’t sales as much as sales top representatives ended up they got a lowest salary. So I recommend Paula to do establish fixed salary policies regardless of their sales abilities. 2. Identify a key strategic performance driver for this organization. They have strategic performance drivers based on low costs-high quality policies. It indicates a core concept of competition. In other words, it is called Cost leadership strategy. By lowering costs, they are able to get a high market positions more that other competitive. To maintain that position they always consider in respect of cost benefits. 3. How do the customer service representatives contribute to the strategic performance driver you identified? The company gives representatives a discretion which is able to provide lower prices by cutting margin of percentages. It was a unique policy. Finally, it makes them to maintain cost leadership so illustrated polices could give company a competitive edge in the market. A processes that establishing strategic performance is following. 4. Design an HR system to realize the strategic performance driver you identified. Be certain to explain how you would (a) design the work

Male Bias In Heart Of Darkness English Literature Essay

Male Bias In Heart Of Darkness English Literature Essay It seems that the essential uncertainties and inconsistencies in Conrads metanarrative, the indirectness and ambiguous nature of the narrative Marlow gives. Marlow in Conrads Heart of Darkness has the typical nineteenth century view of women; women are not as good as men, they are not as smart and are not worth as much. There are only 3 women in the text, Marlows aunt, Kurtzs fiancà © and Kurtzs Amazon lover. None of these characters are not important to tale Marlow is telling. Marlow even says its queer how out of touch with truth women are, they live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be (Conrad, 27). Even though there are few women in the text and they have very small roles, Marlow makes women seem significant when he talks about them. Marlow outright talks about the relationship between men and women The mind of man is capable of anything because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the futureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Very well: I hear: I admit; but I have a voice too, and for good or evil mine is the speech that cannot be silenced. (Conrad, 51) He goes on this rant the he believes only men are intelligent enough to understand what he is saying. He is saying that men cannot be silenced, but by saying this he is implying that there is a chance that male voice can be silenced. Its like he secretly believes women can somehow silence men. It seems that Conrads goal is to silence the women in the text. Marlow states They, the women I mean, are out of I, should be out of it. We must help them to stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worse (Conrad, 63). The language he uses makes it seem like women keep the world of men from falling apart. Of course this is a male narrative telling the story of a man doing manly things. The Heart of Darkness exhibits a biased male view of women demonstrated by Marlows use of the sexual metaphor of penetration and other diction used in the text. Gilbert and Gubar argue that Heart of Darkness penetrates more ironically and thus more inquiringly into the dark core of otherness that had so disturbed the patriarchal, the imperialist, and the psychoanalytic imaginations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Conrad designs, designs for Marlow a pilgrimage whose guides and goal are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ eerily female (Conrad, 44) (Gilbert and Gubar). The narrative seems to keep with the male-controlled design, with a hero conquer whom defeats hurdles and becomes one of the socially elite. The plot itself follows the typical male hero who saves the day and becomes a hero, just like the stories Bewolf, and the Odyssey. The storyline, however Marlow seems to sit on the fence as to whether he sides with the colonialists or the natives, and the story itself doesnt provide a closing and we never really know which side Marlow is on. Conrad shows some characters in his writing style that portray the Congo women, as well as his attitude toward the moral issues of social system in Heart of Darkness, as Là ©criture Feminine (Kristeva). He shows characteristic of feminism, which Kristeva associates with a genderless, pre-oedipal stage. Kristeva relates the semiotic as a female whose sexuality has not yet been constructed (Kristeva). While acknowledging that the fictive world of Heart of Darkness belongs to men, nineteenthcentury, imperialistic, European men, Sedlak, for example, says that Conrads women do display a separate consciousness (Crouch, 2). French feminists, such as Helene Cixous, state that the diction is essentially bi-sexual, one which proposes to analyze all the rigorous binary by bewildering the boundaries between the masculine and feminine and the binaries, such as; proper and improper, normal and divergence, rational and irrational, expert and subservience, by which civilizations live on. According to Eagleton, Most women are like this: they do someone elses-mans- writing, and in their innocence sustain it and give it voice, and end up producing writing thats in effect masculine. Great care must be taken in working on feminist writing not to get trapped by names: to be signed with a womans name doesnt necessarily make a piece of writing feminine. It could quite well be masculine writing, and conversely, the fact that a piece of writing is signed with a mans name does not in itself exclude femininity. Its rare but you can sometimes find femininity in writings signed by men; it does happen. (, 232). Bode claims that Heart of Darkness portrays a powerful female network, which frequently takes charge and assumes control of the novellas events (20). This may seem absurd because as the story opens, the narrator describes the Thames as a manly domain crowded with memories of men and ships it has borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea (Conrad, 18). It is a place to think about the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germ of empires (Conrad, 19). However these ships sailed only for the glory of the Queens highness, and when she meets the ship, it thus pass out of the gigantic tale (Conrad, 19) of masculine venture and splendor and into a domanin which apparently allows women on board. The issue is not one of elaborating a new theory of which woman would be the subject or the object, but of jamming the theoretical machinery itself, of suspending its pretension to the production of a truth and of a meaning that are excessively univocal (Irigaray). Therefore is it possible for a male text such as Heart of Darkness also be as popular if it was on a feminine text and not a masculine one? Well, while listening to Marlows narrative about his journey to fill in the blank spaces on the earth (Conrad, 22) or in this case Africa his journey seems to seem quite feminine; because he has to rely on others to help him, his motives are questioned, and he makes moral decisions that dont seem masculine. This is first evident when he has to get help from his aunt to get a job. This is something that was typical of women in the late 1890s. He seems humiliated when he has to ask would you believe it? I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work- to get a job. Heavens! (Conrad, 23). Then before leaving for the Congo he has tea with his aunt and says good by, she gives him her blessing, like mothers of the Great War who send their sons of to battle, expcecting to have him return a hero. However, Marlow returns more tame than hero, m ore feminie than conquering hero. Then Marlow questions himself about being able to become a conquering hero when he says I dont know why a queer feeling came to me that I was an imposter (Conrad, 27), which is considered a feminine quality. Then when he gets to the Congo he eavesdrops on a conversation involving the station master and his nephew where they are plotting to foli Kurtz. Then he doesnt let anyone know what he heard. This makes him seem incapable and weak, which is again making him seem feminine. Why would Marlow still make this journey with all these doubts? The answer rests in his masculine boyhood when he was a child, there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map I would put my finger on it and say, When I grow up I will go there (Conrad, 22). When he got to the Congo it was no longer this virgin space, it now has rivers and lakes that have already been explored. All that was left for him was a river that is reminiscent of a giant snake with its head in the sea and body turning through the country. He concludes, the snake had charmed me. (Conrad, 23) According to Straus, It is Conrads text itself that stimulates the notion that the psychic penury of women is a necessary condition for the heroism of men, and whether or not Heart of Darkness is a critique of male heroism or is in complex complicity with it, gender dichotomy is an inescapable element of it (125). Marlow first views the map of the river as a snake in a Brussels office, where two knitting women operate as protectors of the gates of Hell. Marlow says, it was fascinating-deadly-like a snake-ugh! (Conrad, 23). When Marlow enters the chief officials office he is metaphorically entering the underworld of the snake river, the sinister female power Marlow wishes to explore in order to purge the feminine inside himself; however he ends up embracing this femininity instead of purging it. From the very start of the text Conrad exposes Marlows feminity, by first showing him as a submissive man, because he follows Buddha who believes in obtaining peace by being enlightened. This idea is directly contrasting the attributes of a conquering hero, which he is supposed to be in this story he is telling us. Then the text itself leaves us full of questions about who Kurtz is and how Marlow feels about Kurtz and his crime. Furthermore we dont really know what Kurtzs crime was. All of theses questions make us question Marlow. As Marlows expedition continues, we see more binary oppositions, as his compassion shifts between the white colonialists (whom are viewed as superior) and the blacks whom have been robbed of their culture and deprived of their homes. This is evident when he is outraged by the treatment of the natives as less than human as they are moving around as ants (Conrad, 29). He cannot stand the fact that the natives, who are creating the railway that will support the expansion of the colonialst, are being treated worse than most animals. You can see this viewpoint is evident in Conrads picture of the chain gang: A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound around their loins, and the short ends waggled to and from like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar around his neck, and all were connected together with a chain, whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking (Conrad, 30). Then he goes on to depict them as black shapes crouchedin all the attitudes of pain, abandonment and despair and further describes standing horror-struckas one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees, and went off on all fours to the river to drink (Conrad, 32). Chinua Achebe in his article An Image Of Africa, states that Conrad in this passage is stereotyping the African as savage and primitive, deserving of our compassion but not our respect. However you can look at this passage as Marlow identifying with the natives and being disgusted by their treatment at the hands of the colonialists. Therefore he would be taking the natives side over that of the white colonalists; he feels sympathy for the unempowered female, because he may end uo powerless like the natves he has come to defeat and the marginalized women at home. Nevertheless, Brook Thomas (as quoted in Murfin) believes there is another way of looking at this depiction of the natives in a chain-gang; Even though Conrad had himself been there, he chose to tell his story indirectly through an idiosyncratic, first-person narrator, Marlow, whose narrative is in turn relayed by another narrator who presumably has not even been to Africa. This elaborate structure makes us aware of structure as structure; thus, the novel, doesnt pretend to offer us a perfectly clear, uncluttered, unbiased, perfectly natural view of the facts of the past (Murfin, 236). Thomas viewpoint validates the idea that the language and structure of this story allow for a lot different interpretations. Another important fact that most people overlook is that Conrad is Polish and is actually exiled in England. His second language is English and therefor he was also not always accepted as normalin the English society. Edward Said declares: Because Conrad also had an extraordinarily residual sense of his own exilic marginality, he quite carefully qualified Marlows narrative with the provisionality that came from standing at the very juncture of this world with another, unspecified but different (Culture and Imperialism, 24). Furthermore North describes how Conrads polish nationality was viewed as a racial differentiation by his friends in England. Conrads Polish accent was associated by them with the Orient, and further that his appearance and mannerisms were considered by H.G. Wells and Ford Mad Ford to be Oriental. Several critics thought he was Jewish. Another found him positively simian (North, 50). This view of him being different from his English friends also made him seem inferior, and may have lead to his understanding for the women and natives in the text. Marlows expedition is a journey toward the realm of multiple perspectives caused by the exiled life of Conrad. Said commented on the imperial background of Conrads Heart of Darkness; Like most of his other tales, Heart of Darkness is not just a recital of Marlows adventures; it is also a dramatization of Marlow telling his story to a group of listeners at a particular place in a particular time Neither Conrad nor Marlow offer us anything outside the world-conquering attitudes embodied by Kurtz and Marlow and Conradthe circularity of the whole thing is unassailable. Except as I said a moment ago that Conrad is self-conscious about setting and situating the narrative in a narrative moment, thus allowing us to realize after all, that far from swallowing up its own history, imperialism has in fact been placed and located by history, one that lies outside the tightly inclusive ring on the deck of the yawl Nelly. (Said, 49) Therefrore Conras is self-consciousness, and this causes multiplicity in the perceptions within the narrative. This idea is further repeated by Kristevas feminist viewpoints about the obliqueness, uncertain and ambigious perceptions essential in a narrative genre. In Marlow journeys to the semiotic he avoids his real feelings about Kurtz because he is worried that he may identify that his is like Kurts, therefore he can end up like Kurtz. Marlow states I think it had whispered to him [the wilderness] things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception, so he took counsel with the great solitude and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating (Conrad, 73). Conrad displays a comparable uncertainty in describing Marlows conflict with the feminine standards personified in Kurtzs mistress, who is viewed a dominant female goddess as well as a sumptuous temptress, both connected with the native savage race by the white English males. Marianna Torgovnick contends that the African woman is the crux of Heart of Darknessthe representative native the only one fully individualized and described in detail, except for the Helmsman, who also dies in the story. She is, the text insists, the symbol of Africa (154-55). Kurtzs mistress has a sexual power that Marlow fears, because he fears the female inspiration within himslef. This female inspiration shows herself in the uncertainties and oversights of the narrative. Conrad has a hard time getting through to his narrator, Marlow. He struggles to speak about the conquest over the savage temptress; however he is unable, or unwilling to do so. Marlow is articulate in his ability to deacribe, however at the end of the text the silent look from the savage native woman is more powerfulk than Marlows own words; And from right to left along the lighted shore moved a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman. She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed cloths, treading the earth proudly with a light jingle and flash of was done in the shape of a helmet; she had bright leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every stepShe was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress, and in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her, pensive, as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul Her face had a tragic and fierce aspect of wild sorrow and a dumb painSuddenly she opened her bare arms and threw them up rigid above her head, as though in an uncontrollable desire to touch the skyA formidable silence hung over the scene. (Conrad, 76) This section of text shows Marlows split attitude toward female power; on one side Conrad and Marlow are concerned by the native womans sexual ambiguity, and on the other side they are captivated by her. Kurtzs savage lover is seen as almost mute in the text and this silence is symbolic of the undiscovered and unexplored spots in Africas jungle that Marlow and secretly Conrad had longed to travel. However these blank spaces, unexplored areas are fantasy; as he admits the muteness of the women to be fantasy, on the linguistic level. The idea of a silent female is in fact a fantasy because he shows the savage mistress to have a very powerful diction, just as powerful as that of the colonists. This is evident when she rushed out to the very brink of the stream. She put out her hands, shouted something, and all that wild mob took up the shout in a roaring chorus of articulated, rapid, breathless utterance (Conrad). According to Gilbert and Gubar, she is a silent symbol in the text that expresses her unknown history as well as her intimidating hystery. The mistress is the typical monster female in the text. She is not only a threat to the men because of her voice she is also standing in direct opposition to Kurtzs Intended. She is seen as the strong hostile monstrous monster woman while Kurtzs fiancà © is seen as the angle, pure Victorian fantasy. Torgovnick states that, Marlow clearly conceives of her as a substitute for, an inversion of Kurtzs high-minded, white intended. Like the Belgian woman, she is an impressive figure, but unlike the Intended she is not high-minded: she is presented as all body and inchoate emotion. The novella cuts from the figure of the African woman with outstretched arms to the Intended: one woman an affianced bride, one woman all body, surely an actual bride (Torgovnick, 146-147). The British code states that miscegenation is wrong and therefore Marlow is scared to fall in love with a savage native woman and end up like Kurtz. However the savage woman is so attractive and seductive, as exposed by the texts illustration of her, that Marlow has a hard time fighting it; this is seen as a representation of Conrads true feelings about femininity. The African woman, who purposely remains unnamed, represents Conrads natural idea of the savage female, because not lonely is she seductive, she is also deadly, just like Africa . Kurtz has been ruined by a devastating femininity; while this femininity is mesmerizing it also destroys men because it is forbidden. The Savage native woman is the femininie standard that Marlow needs to block in order to triumph. Torgovnicks and Gilbert and Gubars, are the only studies of Conrad that notice that the native woman may have something to do with his concerns with inptralism. This native woman makes Marlow tackle his boyhood desire for filling up the blank spaces on the African map he pointed to as a child. He travels all the way to the Congo and instead of finding blank spaces he finds other humans who have their own culture. So the question is: how can he fill up a blank space on a map is another people are already living there? This question or a variation of this question has been contemplated by Conrad regarding the connection concerning masculinity and feminity, when looking at the power of colonialism and their weakness, and Conrads racism and his compassion for the conquered Conjoins. Is this not woman as dark continent which Marlow fears in himself but cannot re-press (Kristeva). The savage womon in the text is seen in three differet ways, the first being as the other, as an African temptress, and as a mute savage with no individual characteristics. Faced with anything foreign, the Established Order knows only two types of behavior, which are both mutilating: either to acknowledge it as a Punch and Judy show, or to defuse it as a pure reflection of the West. In any case, the main thing is to deprive it of its history (Barthes, 96). The native African woman cannot be seen as just one of these things, she is walsy multi-dimensional and will never be understood in Marlows view of the world. Conrad places the African temptress in the middle of his issues with colonialism, by making her speechless. I ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of languageone of the elements in the man of colors comprehension of the dimension of the other. For it is implicit that to speak is to exist absolutely for the otherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (He argues) further that Existence is language, and language is always a matter of politics (Fanon, 17-18). Therefore, in order to exsits you must have language and the subordinate of the colonialists must learn their conquorers language in order to be viewed as human. Therefore when Conrad makes the African temptress mute he is making her unable to speak with her master and therefore less than human, except through her sexual power over Kurtz. Eric Cheyfitz points out that; The conception of the orator as emperor, conquering men with the weapon of eloquence, is a classical and Renaissance commonplace, and argues that this imperial common place finds its place in the story of the orator as the first settler, that is as the first civilizer and colonizer of humans (112-113). Marlow learns about the various accomplishments of Kurts and his eloquence through stories he hears, however by the end of the story his articulacy is gone and all he can utter is the horror, the horror. A colonized person confronts the language of their civilizing nation; that is with the culture of the mother country, the colonized is elevated above the jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother countrys cultural standards. He becomes whiter as he renounces his blackness, the jungle (Fanon, 18). As you can see with Kurtz the opposite is true, he accepts the blackness of the jungle, and he doesnt loose his western way of behaving. According to Marlow, All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz (Conrad, 65). Fannons belief that the colonized will assume the language and philosophy of their colonizer, the native seductress remains her darkness, whereas Kurtz loses his whiteness. Conrads representation of the savage temptress insinuates that you must look at her with all three perspectives, instead of just looking at her with one or two opposing perspectives. Therefore Conrad echoing the feminist ideals of vagueness, obscurity, and various perceptions characteristic of most female narratives, thus Marlows arrival back to England is reiterating Gilligans psychosomatic interpretations regarding female moral growth. There is very little written about Marlows motivation for being dishonest with Kutzs Intended. What I did find didnt even look at the idea of female awareness that has been evident in the anaylsis so far in this research. For example, Marlow never shrinks from judgement, but he judges without abstract ideals, without general principles, indeed without consistency. He derides moral absolutes and willingly suspends universals in favor of concrete discriminations (Levenson, 56). We know from his characterlization in the text that he hates lieing and believes that Kurtz is due honesty; however when he meets with the Intended he is not fully honest, and doesnt even speak about justice. Instead he acts like a saint who would rather, not hurt her feelings, than tell the truth. Marlow explains his motivation for lying to Kurtzs Intended, he doesnt try to bring up their progress, or show pity on her. He merely believes that the truth would have been too dark-too dark altogether (Conrad). In this text the darkness becomes a moral sensation (Levenson, 56-57), which promotes the idea of several different perceptions in Conrads moral replies to racism, feminism, imperialism, and colonialist exploitation. Nevertheless, the ridicule of moral fundamentals in Marlows choice to lie, as pointed out by Levenson, is a female focused approach that Gilligan creates the framework for and Levenson doesnt seem to contemplate. The moral development and judgemnet of women, according to Levenson, is linked to Marlows reaction to Imperalisim and also to Kurtz. This makes it seem like he was being compassionate and not sexist when he lied to Kurtzs Intended. Therefore due to Marlows experiences in Africa his moral awareness has taken on a feminine characteristic. In her text In A Different Voice Gilligan hypothesizes that womens ethical rationalizing is not founded on the ideas of right and wrong, however unlike men, it is based on the situation and the observations of anguish and compassion. The reluctance to judge may itself be indicative care and concern for others that infuse the psychology of womens development and are responsible for what is generally seen as problematic in its nature (Gilligan, 172). Women will usually choose the option that will not hurt anyone, or hurt the least number of people. Why should we believe that the moral sequence through which boys pass constitutes moral development tout court? (Gilligan, 174). Perchance, females are more concerned with kinship and accountability; furthermore not moral in the formal tone of the word, but more reasonable morality. Whereas Men have a more definite idea of right and wro ng, neutral justice (so they would have us believe). If Marlow was judged by Gilligans philosophy for his conclusion to lie to the Intended, then he would be believed to have lied to her to safeguard her from unnecessary pain that telling her the truth would have caused her. In this critical reading of Heart of Darkness Conrads text has been viewed as having a feminine writing style. It has also been revealed that Conrad was viewed as an outsider, exiled by his own Polish people and an immagrant to his home of England, and this created his compassion for the subjugated people of the colonlized Congo. This does not mean that Conrad isnt racist and isnt imperialistic. The reading advocated that the lot of women are unable to making moral choices based on a more definite idea of right and wrong. Marlow uses various sexual metaphors, such as penetration, and other diction used in the text; exhibit a male biased view of women and their roles in society.

Trends in Nigerias telecommunications sector

Trends in Nigerias telecommunications sector CHAPTER 4 This section reviews the various trends in the flow of FDI in Nigerias telecommunications sector; the pre-liberalisation era and the post liberalisation era of the sector putting into consideration the circumstances that led to this policy change by the government of Nigeria. The determinants of telecoms FDI and its impact on Nigerias economic growth is analyzed taking note of the trend in inflow before and after the adoption of the liberalisation policy (1980 and 2008) 4.1.1 Pre-Liberalisation Era: Move towards Liberalisation (1980-1999) Prior to 1980, the telecommunications sector was viewed as a strategically imperative but comparatively neglected sector in Nigeria. It was one of the most undeveloped telecoms sector in Africa as it was largely characterized by poor performance manifested in low profitability, large unmet demand for services, poor technical and operational quality of service, and absence of new services. The sector was heavily dominated by the state-run monopoly-NITEL In spite of the mounting hitches of the telecom sector in Nigeria, the need for its privatization was not felt until the mid 1980s with the commencement of the structural adjustment programme (SAP). Between 1988 and 1991, the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC) carried out a comprehensive diagnostic appraisal of NITELs operations and adopted the commercialization option because the enterprise was considered strategic. The aim of this sector reform was to increase competition, lead to greater managerial autonomy and improve the incentive structure through the eradication of some of the principal-agent problems (Jerome, 2002). The resort to privatization/commercialization was informed by several considerations. First, by 1985, the quantum of resources required to sustain the state owned enterprise (SOE) NITEL had become an excruciating burden on Nigeria. Second, it was predicted that a carefully planned privatization programme would be an effective strategy to improve efficiency of operations, broadening share ownership, attracting foreign investment and reduce government participation where the private sector has the capabilities to operate more efficiently and lastly, the success of developed countries privatisation programme (Jerome, 2002). Prior to commercialization, NITEL operated as a very inefficient monopoly grappling with lack of clear policy direction, counterproductive bureaucratic red tape and a myriad of other problems. These negative factors put together prompted the government to make policy changes towards FDI. Subsequently, the telecommunications industry in Nigeria witnessed the deregulation of telecommunications services in 1992 through the promulgation of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Decree, No. 75 of 1992, introducing private participation in the provision of telecommunications services in Nigeria, thus ending the state-owned NITELs monopoly of the sector and ushering in competition. The federal government, through the promulgation of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Decree No. 75 of 1992, introduced private participation in the provision of telecommunications services in Nigeria. The telecommunications business was hereby open to foreign operators in different telecommunications se rvice areas to improve the sectors efficiency (Jerome, 2002). During this period, the government issued a new policy framework and set the following sector targets to increase telecommunication growth rate to an annual minimum of 13.5% such that 10% of the rural communities are served in the short term, 30% in the medium term and 60% in the long term; achieve a teledensity of 1.5 by 2001 by installing 1.5 million lines and 1.2 million mobile telephone lines. Install 8 million fixed lines by 2005; and ensure that in the medium term, telephones are within 5 kilometres walking distance in stead of the current 50 kilometres (Tella et al, 2007). All this and even more was achieved within a short period of time after foreign investors entered the telecoms market. Under the new dispensation, NITEL was denied access to subsidies, privileges and other forms of soft capital that enabled it to compete without improving efficiency. More importantly, commercialization was quickly followed by deregulation, which put an end to state owned NITELs monopoly of the sector. NITEL responded to the competitive environment by articulating a strategic plan aimed at ensuring growth and retaining a greater market share. The company was reregistered as a public limited company (Plc) under the Companies and Allied Matters Decree of 1990 with a completely new capital structure of fully paid 55 million ordinary shares of N100 each, giving an equity base of N5.5 billion and a new gearing ratio of 3:2 (Jerome, 2002). The companys stature as a fully commercialized enterprise invariably meant greater expectation from government, consumers and the general public. However, the commercialization of NITEL has not been a huge success as NITEL still operates like the civil se rvice, with functions structured within hierarchical and poorly coordinated departments and service provision organized along geographical lines corresponding to administrative regions in the country. 4.1.2 Liberalisation and FDI promotion Era (1999-2001) After the first step towards deregulating the telecoms sector by the military government in 1992 to boost the sectors development failed, and also due to the inefficiency of NITEL, the democratic government in 1999 further saw the need to liberalise and encourage foreign investment in the telecoms sector. As foreign investors seemed to have the expertise and finances required to provide telecommunications services in Nigerias market which was served by the monopoly of NITEL. The liberalization of Nigerias telecommunications industry started in the early 1990s and accelerated in 2000, after the election of a democratic government. By 2001, foreign investors were issued licences to commence operations. Prior to the auction of the license, Nigeria was viewed as a high-risk investment country, however, from 2001 all the companies have recorded impressive trading profits (Ndukwe, 2008). This could suggest that the factors that encouraged foreign firms to invest in Nigerias telecoms sector and the substantial improvement in the sectors efficiency was as a result of the regime shift. The democratic government encouraged greater private sector and foreign firms participation in the delivery of telecommunications services in Nigeria to introduce competition in the sector, and to strengthen ongoing reform efforts to embrace full privatization of NITEL with a view to overcoming prolonged constraints on telecommunications performance and growth (Jerome, 2002). There fore, it can be said that the involvement of the democratic government during the liberalisation era acted as an important locational advantage that encouraged market seeking FDI such as telecommunication service firms to invest in Nigeria. Some of the policies embarked on by the Nigerian government to attract foreign investors as a result of the introduction of the SAP are the establishment of the Industrial Development Coordinating Committee (IDCC), investment incentive strategy, the privatization and commercialization programme, and the shift in macroeconomic management in favour of industrialization, deregulation and market-based arrangements. Evidence from literature also found that the macro policies in place before the SAP discouraged foreign investors (Odozi , 1995). Some of the other incentives for foreign investors include the new Nigerian Enterprise decree in 1989 which authorized 100% foreign ownership in any new venture except those in banking, oil, insurance, and mining. Furthermore, the military government decreed the establishment of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the commission was charged with the responsibility facilitating the process of businesses set up in Nigeria and thereby reducing the time required to set up a foreign affiliate)as well as the liberalization of the foreign exchange market. The government also introduced a new visa policy to enable genuine foreign investors to acquire entry visa to Nigeria within 48hours of submitting the required documentation, furthermore, the expatriate quota requirement for foreign nationals working in Nigeria was replaced with work permit. The government also provides non-fiscal incentives to foreign investors in the telecommunication sector in addition to a tariff struc ture that ensures that investors recuperate their investment over a reasonable period of time, bearing in mind the need for differential tariffs between urban and rural areas. Rebate and tax relief are provided for the local manufacture of telecommunications equipment and provision of telecommunications services (UNCTAD, 2010). These, with amendments, are the policies implemented by the Nigerian government to attract foreign investment. The relative success of this era, though very little flow of FDI inflow entered the country initially, marked the beginning of increased foreign investors interest in Nigeria. As a result, there has been discernible change in the relationship between telecoms FDI and economic growth in Nigeria after these policies were implemented. Subsequently, the reform undertaken resulted in increased profitability, network expansion and modernization of telecommunications services in Nigeria. 4.1.3 Post Liberalisation Era (2001-2008) During this period, the sector recorded strong growth in the Nigerian telecommunications sector especially in the fixed-line market; also, private operators have recently increased investments as the market plans for the expected boom in internet broadband. Between 2000 and 2009, the telecommunications sector has contributed to Nigerias economy in various ways such as the creation of direct and indirect employment in the economy. Also, reliable telecommunications networks has improved the productivity and efficiency of other sectors of the economy such as the banking, stock transaction, e-payment, distance learning, e-health and other commercial transactions are now ICT enabled hereby enhancing the quality of life (Ndukwe, 2004). It has further assisted the country to attract FDI into other sectors of the economy; theoretically, greater FDI flow into developing countries that have better telecommunications networks (Lydon and Williams 2005). Which will invariably improve the standard of living of the inhabitants, as the number of people that have direct access to telecoms services have increased; previously telecoms services was seen as useful to and affordable for the educated and wealthy people in the country. Also through competition, it has helped improve sector efficiency and the costs of services and the telecommunications products such as phones, laptops, etc have become affordable for the average Nigerian population. Lastly, it has been a source of revenue generation for the government in form of tax. NCC (2006) reported that MTN paid N9.8million tax to the Federal Government of Nigeria, while the workers paid N 1.1 billion as tax to the government. The company also paid N34.8 billion to the government for license fee, duties and other statutory payments to the government. At the end of 2007, MTN had paid a total tax of approximately N150 billion since it began operations in 2000. The government has earned a total of N250 billion from spectrum licensing fee (NCC 2008, Mawoli, 2009). The rising share of greenfield projects amoung FDI investment in Nigerias telecoms (as in the case of MTN and Etisalat) reflects the effects of opening the sector to competition and the shrinking number of assets to be privatized (World bank, 2006). With the liberalization of the telecommunication sector, Nigerias telecommunications sector is evidently experiencing rapid growth. Figure 4.2 below shows the trend of telecoms FDI inflow into Nigeria between 1999 when the sector was liberalised and 2008; obviously the growth of the telecommunications sector in Nigeria has exceeded all estimated forecasts. With this growth rate between 1999 and 2008, theres enormous growth potential in the market, as there has been a continuous increase in demand for telecom service because of the market liberalization and massive telecom investments from foreign MNCs. Figure 4.3 below shows the increase in telecoms operators in Nigeria and other African countries. In the first quarter of 2008, there were 22 telecommunications operators in the country, compared to only the monopoly by NITEL as at 1999 (NCC, 2009). Over recent years, all branches of the telecom industry have generated considerable growth and the telecom industry has emerged as a main motor of the countrys economy. It is only the oil sector that has seen more investment and telecom is now seen as the second most lucrative branch for investment in Nigerias economy. As a result, Nigeria presently possesses Africas largest and most promising telecom market. Even though Nigeria is trying to meet up with other countries in terms of providing phone technology at an affordable price and doing so reliably, the market has taken significant strides in its development (Ariyo 2005). Concomitant with the encouraging volume of FDI inflow for the telecoms sector was a very successful policy which succeeded in effectively changing the pattern of FDI flow into this sector. This growth potential has also attracted foreign operators that have recently acquired some of the private players (HSBC global research, 2009). Such as in the case of Zain which was formely owned by Econet and was later acquired by Vmobile, in July 2010, Zain announced the sale of 100% of its shares to Bharti Airtel at $10.7 billion on an enterprise basis. The sectors contribution to Nigerias GDP increased from 0.6% in 2001 to 2.8% in 2008 which is an increase over fourfolds. This can be attributed to the increase in foreign investment in the sector. Also, the sector recorded a real GDP growth of 32.54 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared with 31.75 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2009. The figure below shows the performance of the sector in the first quarter of 2010. The total telecom productivity capacity, number of connected line, competition, GSM telecoms services, service quality, FDI inflow and employment generation in the telecoms sector improved significantly after full liberalization. However, the industry is still currently facing some challenges such as high operation costs and service tariffs of the telecom companies as a result of the poor electricity supply in the country (Mawoli, 2009). 4.2 Determinants of FDI into the telecoms sector of Nigeria It is important to note that various factors determine the choice of a firm to invest abroad. Because this case is that of a service firm where their services cannot be easily exported or traded, FDI is the best option. This is market seeking FDI therefore its determinants might be different from that of non-service firms. Theoretically, a firm must possess ownership of some firm-specific tangible or intangible asset or skill that gives it an advantage over other firms (Ownership advantage) before it can engage in FDI (Dunning, 1988). From the discussion above the determinants of foreign investment into the Nigerian telecommunications sector in the early 2000 till date can be deduced to be the following: 4.2.1 Liberalization of the sector The first sector specific step Nigeria took to attract foreign investment was to liberalize the telecommunications sector therefore opening it up to foreign investors to allow competition and efficiency. This is the most fundamental factor for attracting FDI because if there is no opportunity to invest in a country (other than purchasing the current operator, where that option is offered), there can be no FDI (Worldbank, 2006). By deregulating the domestic telecommunications sector, the Nigerian government predicted that this would make the telecoms markets attractive to foreign investors which was the same strategy adopted by developed nations to improve the state of their telecoms sector. The democratic government embarked on the reform of public enterprises, including privatization, within the framework of macroeconomic reform and liberalization which has been a successful strategy to attract FDI into the telecoms sector of the country (Afeikhena 2002). There was no way foreign investors would have invested in the market without the liberalisation policy which makes it the major determinant of FDI into the sector. 4.2.2 Regime type Positive improvements have taken place in Nigeria since May 29, 1999 when democracy replaced the flurry of military governments. The democratic government encouraged a number of strong-willed actions in an effort to attract foreign investors into the country (Fatoki 2006). It is obvious that during the military era, foreign firms did not have the interest of investing in Nigerias telecoms market despite the first move towards liberalizing the economy by the military government in 1992 until during the democratic era in 1999 when foreign firms entered the market the following year. Also, the involvement of the democratic government in 2000 encouraged market seeking FDI as it served as a locational advantage for telecommunication service firms to invest in Nigeria. 4.2.3 Market size and growth After the liberalisation of the sector, strategic foreign investors were drawn into Nigeria to seek new market opportunities, higher returns and diversification of risks. The failure of NITEL to meet the demand of subscribers must have influenced foreign investors been that they have prospects to gain large market share because of their knowledge, familiarity and past experiences of foreign investment in other developing countries (as the first entrants MTN and ECONET are multinational firms who have previous investment in other developing countries). With the success of the first few entrants into the sector further attracted more foreign firms into the country in subsequent years despite the perspective of Nigeria as a high-risk investment country. Theoretically, the investment incentive for market seeking FDI such as telecom firms who seek to expand their market presence by increasing their penetration in local markets is the market size and growth. These firms focus on local production and local sale (as opposed to exporting) they hereby place high emphasis on market size, market growth, and consumption ability (Na and Lightfoot 2006). As this is the case for Nigeria telecoms sector whos main aim is to serve domestic markets and become competitive in other ways-such as through proximity to the market and being able to respond to changing local circumstances and preferences (Lim 2001). Moreover, tapping the demand for services in a host country requires a physical presence when services are difficult to trade, which implies that FDI in services is likely to be market-seeking. 4.2.4 Institutional Environment Various policies and incentives were adopted by the government to attract FDI in Nigeria. Such institutional factors (as mentioned above) include the 100% foreign ownership, the NIPC, the visa policy to enable genuine foreign investors acquire entry visa to Nigeria within 48hours of submitting the required documentation, work permit in place of expatriate quota for foreign nationals, quick return on investment, rebate and tax relief provided for the local manufacture of telecommunications equipment and provision of telecommunications services. This factor directly affects business operations and has further encouraged foreign investors in Nigeria telecoms sector. 4.3 Impact of telecoms FDI on Nigerias economic growth Telecommunications in Nigeria has performed dual role as a traded service likewise a vehicle for trade in other sectors of the economy. Since the liberalization of the telecoms market in 2000, Nigeria has attracted foreign investors into the country and has been declared as one of the highest growing telecoms market in the world. Concomitant with this is the growth of the economy as a result of this inflow. The impact of the industrys FDI inflow on economic growth can be measured from various aspects but the four most important will be addressed in this section. Figure 4.6 below shows the revenue from telecoms as a percentage of GDP. There has been an increase in the revenue from telecoms as a percent of GDP between 1990 and 2008. In 1999 it was at 0.8% which continued to increase to 1.05% in 1992; it however dropped between 1993 and 1997 to 0.7%. In 1998, it increased to 1.35 and declined to 0.65% in 2000. However, the revenue from telecoms between 2001 and 2008 is very much higher than the revenue from telecoms recorded between 1990 and 2000. It increased from 1.5% in 2001 to 3.2% in 2004 but declined in 2005 to 3.1% and grew to 3.4% in 2008. 4.3.1 Telecoms FDI and employment generation. Subsequent to the entry of foreign investors into Nigerias telecom market, the sector has contributed to the economy in various ways one of which is through the generation of employment for a significant number of Nigerians. Over 3,500 people were directly employed and an estimated 400,000 indirect employment created by GSM operators in 2003. However in 2003, total subscribers of telecoms service were about 4million and approximately 59 million in 2008 which would infer that the number of direct and indirect employment created by the telecoms industry would have increased in manifolds (Mawoli, 2009). Though, in recent times no proper estimate has been made of the volume and impact of new employment creation due to this growth in the sector. Table 4.1 below (although a bit outdated as a result of unavailability of a more recent one) shows that the telecommunications sector accounts for the highest amount of employment creation in the whole economy as at 2005. However as at March 2010, the telecoms sector created a total of over 3million direct and indirect employment related to the telecoms service in the country. The telecoms sector has hereby increased employment through self finance businesses some of which include dealerships, cyber cafes, one-man phone boot operations, phone repairs, sale of accessories, GSM vendors, PR agencies, call centre employees, security personnel, etc (NCC, 2010). Based on this evidence, the fastest growing employer of labour in Nigeria is the telecommunications industry especially the wireless telephone service provider. This increase in employment is as a result of the liberalisation of the sector which was dominated by a single national telephone provider (NITEL), increase in competition among telecoms players thereby requiring more labour in order to meet the increasing demand for their services and improve the performance of the under-performing sector. Many young Nigerians who would have otherwise remained unemployed are finding steady employment in this sector. Hereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country, although it cannot be concluded that this sector has to large extent helped curb unemployment but it has created more employment in the economy. 4.3.2 Telecoms FDI and infrastructure development Since 2001, the telecommunication companies in Nigeria have jointly contributed to the development of the nations infrastructural facilities by investing billions of dollars in infrastructure deployments, network rollouts, upgrades and expansions due to the previous state of Nigerias infrastructure as highly underdeveloped. These consist mainly of fibreà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ optic cables, base stations and satellite connections, transmitting traffic between cities and to other countries. To support the mobile infrastructure, operators have also embarked on building backbone networks to improve their operations. Such investments include the construction of three networks: a core telecommunication network, a transmission network, a power supply network and also bringing in skilled ICT employees (NCC, 2010). Telecoms investment has focused on infrastructure development in the fixed and mobile networks, growing subscriber base from 17.4million in 2005 to over 24.1million in 2007. A look at a specific operator illustrates the magnitude of telecom players role in the overall infrastructure and operational investment in Nigeria. MTN which is also the operator with the highest market share has invested the most in Nigeria. After the initial network rollout, which took the lions share of its revenue in 2004, MTN claims to have allocated more than 30% of its revenue to capital expenditure (capex). During this period, MTN focused its investment on building up the transmission network to substitute for the lack of established telecom infrastructure (NCC, 2010). Figure 4.7 below shows the percentage of MTNs revenue allocated to capex. In April 2009, Nigerian operators declared that $10bn in further investment is needed for network upgrades and expansion over the next 10 years. Etisalat Nigeria has a budget to invest about $2bn to build network infrastructure in Nigeria over the next three years. MTN has also secured a loan of $600million for expansion of its operations in Nigeria (NCC, 2010). MTN has received N318 ($2.15 billion) bank loan from 17 local and international banks to further expands it network capacity across the country (Nkanga, 2010). Recently, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China agreed to provide $200 million worth of credit for another telecoms company Zain Nigeria to purchase telecoms equipment (NCC, 2010). Theoretically, the efforts of these firms to expand capacity reflect the strategic rivalry between firms in the global marketplace in order to compete effectively. 4.3.3 Telecoms FDI, Technology and Knowledge Transfer Foreign investment in Nigerias telecommunications sector has introduced new technology, research projects and initiatives which have brought significant revenue and an employment boost to Nigeria. So far, most Nigerian mobile operators, such as MTN, Zain and Glo (second national carrier), have undergone a technological evolution from 2G to 2.5G and even 3G. Following Glo Mobiles entry in 2003, the operator started operating on a 2.5G network and brought to Nigeria the benefits of value added services: Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS), Glo Mobile Internet, Glo Mobile Office and Glo Fleet Manager (a vehicle tracking application that gives the subscriber the ability to track and trace equipped vehicles which is an early implementation of an M2M (machine to machine) service). Glo was also the first operator to launch mobile access to the Internet, with other 3G licensees replicating the move soon thereafter. MTN launched an HSDPA enabled 3.5G network in June 2008, while Zain launched its 3G service in early 2009. The introduction of BlackBerry handsets is another step in the transition to next generation services. The BlackBerry was launched in Nigeria by Globacom in 2006, and MTN followed suit in March 2007. The BlackBerry platform is a powerful tool for business people across Nigeria, given the patchy fixed line and Internet penetration in the country. In May 2009, Zain contributed to further popularizing the device by introducing prepaid BlackBerry service. In Nigeria, and at the overall African level, the most immediate wave of innovation will come in the form of connectivity for the growing pools of laptop and smartphone users. In addition, mobile broadband has positive effects on societies through the development of human capital. After analyzing developments in Nigeria, it can be suggested that the rollout of Internet services has positive effects on three broad aspects of the society: development, resource management and networking. Telecommunication ser vices improve social transformation in Nigeria by bringing connectivity to remote areas and to lower income strata. In less than a decade, mobile technologies have enabled network access for a large share of the countrys population, with respect to the ability of these technologies to reach remote and sparsely populated areas both faster and more cost effectively than fixed infrastructure. The transfer of technology to Nigeria has reduced the technology gap between developed nations and Nigeria which is a great step towards development which is an essential determinant of long-term economic growth (NCC, 2010). Subsequently, there has been an increase in the number of technologies and a quality improvement of Nigerias existing technologies which both play a crucial role in economic growth. Transmission of this new ideas and technologies, adoption of high technology products from more advanced economies through FDI, are channels through which technological diffusion can spread to the different sectors of the recipient economy (Toulaboe et al. 2007). Conclusion This chapter has analysed the various determinants of telecoms FDI in Nigeria and the impact of telecoms FDI on Nigerias economic growth. The determinants are liberalisation of the telecom sector, market size and growth, regime type and institutional environment. Factors such as low transaction costs, political stability and trade openness are cannot be said to be determinants of FDI in Nigerias telecom sector as operators still face a lot of challenges in the cost of setting up and maintaining their companys operations in Nigeria such as poor power supply and security, high import duties on telecoms equipments (30-70%). Though international trade in services is on the rise, the fact remains that many services such as telecommunications are non-tradable or costly to trade. And for the telecoms sector whose products to a large extent cannot be subjected to cross-border trade, the trade openness of a host country can be expected to have less of an impact on FDI inflows in that sector. This section further discussed that FDI in the telecoms sector has contributed to economic growth through the generation of employment, infrastructure development and technology/knowledge transfer. The next chapter discusses the findings and concludes the research work.

Bill Gates :: essays research papers fc

Bill Gates When one thinks of computer software, one must think of Microsoft. In fact if you use a computer, chances are that you will have some type of program on there that is developed by Microsoft. The CEO, chairman, cofounder, and owner of 147 billion shares of Microsoft is Bill Gates. William Henry Gates III was born in the midst of a scenic Seattle on Thursday, October 28, 1995 to his parents Mary and William Henry Gates Jr. His childhood was uneventful and was well raised. He went to Sunday school at the Congregational church and sang in the choir. He was a Boy Scout but never showed interest for either of these activities. Gates was an unusual child who spent long periods in his room in deep thought. He loved science and showed great skill in the area of math. In fact he scored a perfect on the math section of the SAT. His high school English teacher Anne Stephens was amazed at Gates' memory. She commented on how Gates had remembered a 3-page soliloquy for a school play in one reading. He read often, tried to take up the trombone, had no interest in philosophy but rather thought of himself as a "scientist." His science teacher, William Dougall, remembers if the teacher wasn't going fast enough, "Bill always seemed on the verge of saying, 'But that's obvious.'" Gates once said to a teacher that some day he would be a millionaire. A grossly underestimated statement. Today Gates is one of the richest men in the world. In the fall of 1968, Bill Gates was entering the 8th grade at lakeside School, and his best friend Paul Allen, entered the 10th grade. Lakeside invested $3,000 into a Teletype machine which could connect to the business computer via a phone line. When the computer courses began in January 1969, both Gates and Allen discovered their passion for programming. Since very few teachers knew anything about computers, the boys taught themselves with every manual they could get their hands on. Some days both would cut gym to gain extra time on the terminal. Gates first program was a ticktacktoe game. Gates and Allen would soon be restricted to time on the terminal because the school's electric bill was ever increasing. In a long series of mishaps Gates and Allen would soon be programming away at Lakeside. The math teacher that had been assigned to do class scheduling, manually, died in an airplane accident. Gates and Allen were offered $2,400 worth of computer time in exchange for a class scheduling program.

Critical Essay Of Slaughterhouse Five -- essays research papers

Slaughterhouse Five   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Critics of Kurt Vonnegut’s are unable to agree on what the main theme of his novel Slaughterhouse Five may be. Although Vonnegut’s novels are satirical, ironical, and extremely wise, they have almost no plot structure, so it is hard to find a constant theme. From the many people that the main character Billy Pilgrim meets, and the places that he takes us, readers are able to discern that Vonnegut is trying to send the message that there will always be death, there will always be war, and humans have no control over their own lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of the book is the narrative from Billy Pilgrim a unique character who has the ability to become â€Å"unstuck in time†, which means that he can uncontrollably drift from one part of his life to another â€Å"and the trips aren’t nessicarilly fun†. The whole books is organized in the same way Billy moves in time. In consists of numerous sections and paragraphs strung together in no chronological order, seemingly at random. The whole narration is written in the past tense, so that the reader cannot identify where the author’s starting point is. This aspect of the book is almost identical with the Tralfamadorian type of book:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"There isn’t any particular relationship between all the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that,when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and suprising and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I agree with Mark Vit when he says that the most often expressed theme of the book is that we, as people, are â€Å"bugs in amber†. The phrase first appears when Billy is kidnapped by the Tralfamacorian flying saucer:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Welcome aboard, Mr. Pilgrim.† said the loudspeaker. ‘Any questions,?’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at least: ‘Why me?’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That is a very Earthling quest... ...  When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead I simply shrug and say   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is â€Å"so it goes†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Because of passages like this, many people are able to draw inferences to an almost spiritual quality in the book. The ideas that the Tralfamadorians hold defiantly point to predestination and maybe even a type of eternal life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So what was Vonnegut trying to say to us? That it does not matter what we do in our lives because they will end up the say way regardless? Several people have read the book and come away with that message.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regardless of Vonnegut’s intent, his final product was a book about the absurdity of war and death. Someone may live a noble life or be a war hero, but in the end, they will die, and the war will go on. It is futile to try and change the cycle.

The Accidental Tourist :: essays research papers

In what ways is Macon the Accidental Tourist?The logo on the front of all Macon's travel guides is a picture of a winged armchair and Macon's wife Sarah believed that this was not only the logo for The Accidental Tourist books, but for Macon himself. Julian describes metaphor of the winged armchair as "while armchair travelers dream of going places, travelling armchairs dream of staying put", and Macon does his best to help his readers feel as if they have never left home. He advises them on the best places to eat and stay, the places that are most like those in America. However, inventing these methods and systems to make it feel as if he never left home is not a chore for Macon. He does not invent the systems to help other people, but himself.Sarah is correct in claiming that the winged armchair is Macon's logo, because it does represent him - he wants to stay home, but is being moved around all over the world, and has to do his best to make it seem like home. In reality , Macon is the Accidental Tourist and the book is more a documentation of the systems he uses to get through life than a 'guide' book. The Accidental Tourist books are less travel guides and more 'instructional guides for life', telling the reader how to live with minimum discomfort, without opening up and hiding within your own cocoon oblivious to the rest of the world. This is exactly how Macon lives every day of his life, and not just those when he is travelling. He lives his entire life trying to package himself so that nothing will change him, nothing will upset him and nothing can harm him. His books reflect this clearly and this is why Sarah considers his books so similar to himself. The books are about Macon - The Accidental Tourist.Above all, Macon wants to control everything. He likes for nothing to be left to chance. When travelling, he only takes what he can carry on to the plane, to eliminate the risk of lost luggage, as well as taking his own travel sized soap powder so that he can clean his clothes without having to worry about foreign laundries and their detergents. His aim is to control his life - to make sure that nothing can ever go wrong, to make sure that nothing can break through his protective 'cocoon'.

English Oral Text

Where have you been? We have not seen each other for two years. ‘ miss you a lot. A:Ooh! C didn't tell you? ‘ have to move that weekend because my father has transferred to other place and he needs to start his work immediately. ‘ try to look for you on the last day but there was nobody in your house.B:At that time,' was on vacation with my family at Singapore. C Just informed to me after I came back from loudly. Let felt so bad because I couldn't meet you to say goby. A:But,when I think back about it,' think maybe it is better to go without saying goodbye. At least,we don't need to say goodbye and feel sad. B:Yeah! That's true. Hey,do you live here? A:Yes. Lam living here,This is my hometown. By the way,do you have a phone number? B:Yeah! Of course. Do you want it? A:Yup. So we will be keep in touch after this. B. Okay. Give me your phone because I need your phone number too. A:Sure. Here is it.B:Okay. L got it. Let's done. A:So,what are you doing here? B:Ooh,l was on a school trip for three days and two nights. Today is our last day here. A:Wow,that's fun. Well,what are you going to do now? B:' want to buy some souvenirs for my family and friends. How about you? What are school. ‘ want to thank her for her sacrifice. Anyway,let me help you with it. ‘ know the best souvenir's shop here. B:Well,that is a good idea. A:' also want you to try ‘Alaska',the famous local dish here. Let's absolutely very appetizing if you take it with a bowl of BBC. B:Wow,that sound interesting. Shall we go now?A:Yeah,this way. The shop is over there. Let's go! EXAM FAA : Haw, Sahara our exam is Just around the corner? Have you prepared? Sahara : Yes, I am. I have my own time table and I follow it carefully so then I have many time for study. Btw have you prepared? Flash : 50/50 I think. I want to achieve my target that is sea's but I don't assured. Sahara : Fyi, I Just tell my parent about my time table, if I forgot they will remember me. I know ou r class teacher give us many haw but I did it one by one as long I don't delay it. Flash : Wow :O don't you feel uncontrollable with that time table?Sahara : Sometime I feel like that too but I catch up again. All we need is our attempt and support from our family. Flash : Thanks Sahara I will tried start from today. One more thing friend, how you study at home? Just read reference book or Just do exercise book. I Just read reference book, if I do exercise book I Just do a few then I felt lazy and put it away. Sahara : No Flash you can't do like that, if you want to achieve your target you should attempt. Like me I do that two way to be more better. Flash : Oh I see! You great Sahara. I should fast, you are in the front.Btw I GTAG, thank for the info really appreciate and I hope I'll be like you. Sahara : Haw its okay, I really enjoy talk with you BTW later we can had a study group together bye, make sure arrange your time table carefully 🙂 A friend that change school A : H ey guys! Long time no see. I missed you guys a lot! B : We're too babe! 😀 So bored when you not with us at school. C : Absolutely freaking boring you know? Well, here you are the one that always cheer us up. So how your life in hostels? A : Whoa! Whoa! I miss you guys a lot too 😀 First week I feel like â€Å"Mama, take me back home! So lonely there. I'm too awkward to speak with others and them too. But now everything was fine. B : Hawaii pity you! 😛 That's why I said don't you ever moving to other school. Our school are good what, everything was perfect. C : Agree B! Don't you feel like want school here back? A : Of course I want school here back! But what should I do? Everything is my mama decision. I still loves our school and you know what? I cried when remember our memory together. B : Whoa same goes with me! Haw 😀 I cried when realizes that you no longer with us. C : What? You too B?You always imitate me 😛 A, when we walk, we always tal k to you pretend that you're here. A : You're guys make me proud to have a bestrides like you 😀 Don't worry every weekend, I'll be home. Just came to my house. B : Nah it's not same okay. C : So A, who's your friends there? A : Relax B, long time later you'll be okay without me. My friends there? Me, her mama is D. She's a talkative girl that always make me laugh. B & C : Him okay VACATION A very good morning to our English teacher Pin Numismatists, and fellow friends. Today my group and I would like to act out a dialogue with the title VACATION.Now before I start allow me to introduce my group that is Barium, Gaskin and myself Mira. Mira: (1st day of school after the summer holidays) Hi ABA Hi siskin how was your holiday guys? ABA : It was great. My family went to Pula Language which is known as the Jewel of Asked. We visited many tourist attractions. Some of my favorite spots are the Bird Park, The crocodile farm and The Underwater world. We also got the chance to visit Ma sseur's grave. While we were there I saw a painting of Mashers. Do you guys know the reason why Mashers is special?Gaskin: No I don't, why is Mashers so special? Mira: I heard that Mashers was a pregnant woman who was sentence to death for eating the kings precious fruits right. ABA: Well it is true about that but that's only half of it. Like you said she is a pregnant woman that was sentence to death and legend had said the day of her prosecution she had prayed to god never to let Pula Language to be modernized before her seventh generation was born. Since then Language was never modernized until it is said that Masseur's seventh generation was born, but enough about me how was your summer holiday Siskin?Gaskin: Oh how interesting. My holiday however was not as interesting as yours did but to me it was the most memorable. We went to visit my grandmother at my mother's hometown in a small village situated at Amelia. My grandmother has a garden there and the time was right because th e fruits have fully ripened. She grew many fruits there like Durian, Mangos and Managements. It feels like an island paradise there especially after we finished harvesting the fruits and that's how my vacation went. So how was yours Mira? Mira: Your vacation sounds tons of fun ABA and you to Sick.Well for my vacation my parent's brought us to Cameron highlands where we stayed at Strawberry Park Resort. When we arrived at Cameron it was raining and the temperature there is way cooler than here and you could hardly imagine how it was at night we went there for 3 days 2 nights. On the day that we arrived in Cameron we went to check in the hotel and rest because we were tired after staying in the car for 4 hours. The second day of the trip to Cameron we went to see many places some of my favorites are the Tea farm, Strawberry farm and the Lavender park.It was so nice there at the tea farm we could smell the scent of tea all around us. While at the strawberry farm we could hand pick the strawberries ourselves and we got to taste many types of food made out of strawberry. There was strawberry ice cream, strawberry dipped in chocolate and there were even strawberry muffins with strawberry toppings and large chunks of real strawberries in it. Well while at the lavender farm we got to smell lavender, buy lavender perfume and lavender Hampton other than that we also got to buy lavender flowers. Well that's my vacation and Oh before I forget guys come to my class during recess.I have something to give to you guys. (The bell rings time to go to class)OK then that's the bell I better get going don't want to be late for class. Bye guys see you during recess. ABA & Asking: (together) K bye see you during recess. B: Good morning, Sherry! A : You look so beautiful today! You buy a new down coat? B: Haw! Yes, yes. I went shopping last Sunday! You know there were so many beautiful clothes discounting! A: Really? Oh, what a pity! I'm so busy these days and eave no time going out! B: In fact , I nearly can't stand so cold day in Hairpin.You know I am a new comer, and the weather here hard to suit for me! I almost fear to go outside and stay in the dormitory all day long . But now, I have this down coat and also a hat and a scarf. So I can go out to play. A: I am sorry to hear that . Four years ago when I came here the first year, I'm also feel so cold to go out. Gradually I used to it. Take it easy, today I listened to the radio and it said in the next few days it will be worming up. B:Oh,Let is so grateful ! A: Oh, Annie, do you find these days the price of goods , for example vegetables, pork ND so on, has so sharp drop.?What's your opinion about this fact? B: I think the financial crisis in the United States has affected China Under the condition of economic globalization, no country has a narrow escape in this crisis. A: I think so.. L heard that a quantity of goods in China exported to America. Just because the crisis happened in the USA, a lot of enter prises in the coastal areas of China go bankrupt and then many people lose their Jobs. I am afraid that we will have some difficulty to find a suitable Job in the next year. B: What a terrible thing it is! In today's newspaper,I learned that at the end of this year , about one hundred million college students cannot find a Job. And the next year , there will be six hundred college students graduated. So you can imagine the way to find a ideal Job for us will be a hardships. A: He! Maybe the topic we have today is too sad. B: Ye. Don't too worry about it now . The only thing we can do is to work harder and try to learn more things appropriate to social application. And the government will also take actively steps to stimulate more Job opportunities. A: K! Let's correctly face opportunities and challenges in the future. B:Yes. OK! Let's coordinate our efforts!