Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Financial analysis and risk management of Kingfisher Plc Free Essay Example, 2500 words
Financial trend analysis The financial trend analysis has been done on last five years, which is 2010-2014. The ratios included in the analysis are liquidity ratio, performance ratio and efficiency ratio. For calculation, refer to the excel sheet. The data related to financial statements have been collected from the company website (Kingfisher, 2011; Kingfisher, 2012; Kingfisher, 2014c). Table 1 (Source: Authorââ¬â¢s creation) Liquidity ratio The liquidity ratio measures a firmââ¬â¢s ability to meet its short-term obligations. These obligations are generally met within a yearââ¬â¢s time. One of the important liquidity ratios is the current ratio. The current ratio, which is also known as working capital ratio, helps in determining companyââ¬â¢s capabilities to pay-off the liabilities, if and when they are due with the current assets. The accepted standard of current ratio is 1. In Kingfisher Plc, current ratio has been calculated for last five years and represented graphically in figure 1. Figure 1 (Source: Authorââ¬â¢s creation) The current ratio trend of Kingfisher Plc shows that working capital position has been quite stable and has increased consistently 2012 onwards. It was further observed that the firm had negative working capital during 2010, 2011 and 2012.We will write a custom essay sample on Financial analysis and risk management of Kingfisher Plc or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Essay on The Process of Obtaining a Home Mortgage
To begin this executive summary, we first look at the issue of research. In our semester project we are discussing the steps one would take in order to get a home mortgage. The reason we have chosen to do this project is to see how one goes about not only becoming approved for a loan but also how to service your mortgage and keep it up to par. The sources that we used in obtaining this information were sources that were able to help educate us on home mortgage and also help us further understand the entire process. The web-site www.mortgage-x.com was to me the most useful in our research. This site provided thousands of articles on the issue, a glossary and dictionary to help us in our search, and also provided a number of linksâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦As soon as the closing of the mortgage is complete, the mortgage is put on the books at the financial institution and they begin to service the mortgage. In the mean time the borrower begins to make monthly payments to the financial institution to pay back the mortgage amount. The third and final main finding that we came across was the sale of the mortgage in the secondary market. The financial institution may sell the mortgage to another institution in the secondary market. The primary business of these secondary markets is servicing mortgages. Examples of these secondary markets are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When servicing is sold the secondary market investor will begin to take your payments. If the financial institution intends to sell your mortgage they are required to give the borrower a mortgage service disclosure statement. The sale of the mortgage does not affect the terms of the mortgage at all. At this point the borrower will only deal with the secondary market institution. At this time we cannot really give a specific recommendation for action. The reason for this is the action one would take in getting a home mortgage would all depend on the size of the mortgage and whom they would want to deal with. Mainly, a person needs to find a financial institution that he/she is comfortable dealing with. Table of Contents 1) Introduction 1 2) Obtaining a Mortgage 1 A) Approaching theShow MoreRelatedBuying A Home Right Away798 Words à |à 4 Pagesare looking to purchase a home right away or you will not be ready to buy one for several years, if you have not already started, now is time to start preparing financially to buy a home. To aid you in the process of preparing financially for your home purchase, we would like to offer five financial tips. Build Strong Credit It is important to know that your credit score will affect your mortgage rate. A low score will make it hard and sometimes impossible to buy a home. Checking your credit scoreRead MoreHome Loan Essay945 Words à |à 4 Pages5 Steps - How to Pre-qualify for a Home Loan There is usually no best time to buy a new house. However, there might be wrong times, especially when the rates are on the higher side. The interest rate is one of the major components to be considered when buying a home. This is so as it determines the cost of the home. Therefore, it is not particularly advised that you wait for a period when the interest rates will be at their lowest. This is so as the factors that determine the interest rates are notRead MoreEssay On Buying A New Home806 Words à |à 4 PagesFamilies who are getting ready to buy their first home are sure to be bombarded with advice on how to go about purchasing it. With so much advice, it may be hard to know exactly how to get started with financing a first home. Having a step-by-step guide can help first-time home buyers through this process. Types of mortgages It is essential for people who are ready to buy a home to have a basic understanding of the different types of mortgages. Depending on a familyââ¬â¢s financial circumstances, thereRead MoreAnalysis Of The Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act844 Words à |à 4 Pagesinterest rates went up and the value of homes stopped increasing at the extremely fast rate that they had in the past number of previous years, which caused many people to become behind on their mortgages or be foreclosed on. While interest rates were low and the value of homes was increasing drastically, many people decided to get second mortgages. One of the social issues that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau policy is trying to address is regulating mortgage lenders. According to Slack (2012)Read MoreThe Crisis Of The New Millennium1418 Words à |à 6 Pagescrippling recession in the mortgage/real estate field. This crushed the American economy as countless individuals lost their homes due to foreclosure as banks and other various lending institutions were forced to freeze their practices to ensure their survival. While this seemed to happen virtually overnight, there were several factors that served as signs and eventual learning points, providing insight into the cause of the crash. One of the contributing factors to the mortgage crisis of the new millenniumRead MoreEssay Business Negotiations 1648 Words à |à 7 Pagesthat will be acceptable. Obtaining a desirable outcome from negotiations is the goal for parties with a direct or indirect interest in the issue receiving consideration. Negotiating a desirable outcome may be dependent on two major negotiating factors, communication, and personality. The methods of communication and personality of the negotiators are influences on the negotiation process and outcome. Gaining an understanding of communication in the negotiation process and an understanding of personalityRead MoreHousing Markets And The Housing Crisis804 Words à |à 4 Pagesreal economy. Housing booms and bust are often reflections on the mortgage market, labor mobility and consumer spending. With interest rates near zero, at the moment, the real estate market has experienced a steady rise in new and existing home sales, prices and mortgages. Likewise, developments in the U.S. housing market have been instrumental to gains in home improvement spending. In 2015, home improvement retailers, Loweââ¬â¢s and Home Depot have delivered better than expected results thanks to theRead MoreRole Of The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau1433 Words à |à 6 Pagesduring their application for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products. The mortgage market is the single largest market for the consumer of financial products and the services in the United States, with approximately $10.4 trillion in loans outstanding. Since last decade, market went through an unprecedented cycle of the expansion and the contraction that was fuelled in the part by securitization of mortgages and the creation of increasinglyRead MoreSales Process For Real Estate Transactions1522 Words à |à 7 PagesSales Process for Real Estate Transaction The real estate agents have the duty and the responsibility to represent clients throughout the sales process. Agents plays significant roles such as managing lists of contacts, advising clients on mortgages, pricing and market conditions, guiding buyers and sellers through the transaction process, generating lists of appropriate properties for buyers, mediating negotiations between sellers and buyers among others. In this paper, we focus on the sales processRead MoreSubprime and Adjustable Mortgages1156 Words à |à 5 PagesSometimes, when people buy a home for first time, they usually get subprime mortgage rates. Lenders grant these types of rates are to borrowers whom their credit history is not sufficient to get a typical mortgage. Sometimes, these borrowers have bad or even insufficient credit history. Subprime mortgages regularly offer loans that are interest only. These loans, that are ââ¬Å"interest-only,â⬠are easier for buyers to afford. When you get one of these l oans, the lender does not require you to pay any
Around the Tables Around the Globe free essay sample
Boiled brains dangled from sticks, congealed blood floated like Jell-O in thick red fluid, gouged eyeballs and severed feet laid about. No, this isnââ¬â¢t a torture scene or even that of a reality TV show, but merely the contents of dinner tables I have shared. Food goes much deeper than just the nutrients it provides; it goes to the very fiber of a culture itself. The appreciation of local delicacies, the sharing of stories around the table, and the traditional preparation of the common meal all serve as windows into the very heart of any society. One such evening began as we were seated at a round table overlooking the busy city. In the middle was a giant pot; much like something you would see at a fondue restaurant. Our hostess, dressed in her kimono, brought out a hot teapot and began to pour thick red pigââ¬â¢s blood into the pot. We will write a custom essay sample on Around the Tables Around the Globe or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The liquid began to boil and emit a stomach wrenching smell. Plates of chicken feet, unknown animal stomachs, three-foot long intestines, and fresh slippery brains were proudly placed before us. We stabbed the mystery meat with our chopsticks and plunged them into the boiling blood. Since we barely knew a word of Chinese, we smiled weakly as we apprehensively loaded our plates with our now rubberized meats. We quickly gulped down the slimy substance and were now ready to dig in ââ¬â not only into the food but also into the culture itself. The ability that I now have to control my gag reflex has given me the chance to do much more than just say I have eaten eyeballs. I have had the opportunity to sit in kitchens around the world and learn from people, to listen to the stories about their lives, their triumphs and their difficulties. Gathering around the dinner table, whether it is in the boroughs of New York or on the floor of a hut in Kenya, a meal is a time that allows us to relate to one another and uncover our commonalities, as well as appreciate our differences. Through these experiences the one constant that flows through all of my encounters is my treasured trips into the kitchens where meals are prepared with utmost pride. When I left my table in Nairobi and found my way to the separate cooking hut, I walked into a joyful cooking lesson unlike anything found on Food Network. Fifteen women, who were dressed in brightly colored fabrics, circled a fire pit in the floor and filled the hut with sounds of robust laughter and rhythmic singing. They welcomed me into their circle and proudly showed me the ways to prepare their favorite dishes. Before I knew it, I was eating hot mandazis fresh off the fire and learning how to make their beloved African chai. For the brief time that I joined in the laughter and dance, there was no barrier of culture or race. I was one of them. My passion to study international cultures has been fueled by my opportunity to travel to several different countries around the world. No matter where I go in life, I will always carry a piece of these cultures inside of me. My quiet, modest hostess in India, who humbly taught me to make dal, lives in my heart alongside the stout Sicilian woman who exuberantly hugged my head to her bosom as she insisted I accept her homemade gelato. In my quest to get to know the peoples of the world, I believe the best place to start is in the kitchens around the tables around the globe.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Nuture in Robert Frosts Poetry free essay sample
Robert Frosts Departure from and Return to Nature ? ? . , , , : ; ; ; ; ; ; ABSTRACT Through the analysis of some of Robert Frostââ¬â¢s poems, this paper tries to reveal Frostââ¬â¢s unique concept of nature, which differs greatly from that of Wordsworthââ¬â¢s and Emersonââ¬â¢s. His attitude toward nature is between love and horror, departure and return. The contradiction between the desire to widen the life circle and the decision to live wisely in the real world is reflected in most of Frostââ¬â¢s poetry. Then the thesis concentrates on the study of the causes of Frostââ¬â¢s unique attitude toward nature from three aspects: social transformation, cultural permeating as well as personal traits. Keywords: concept of nature; love; horror; departure; return Robert Frosts Departure from and Return to Nature Introduction Robert Frost was one of the greatest poets in America in the 20th century. Long before his death at eighty-nine, Frost attained an enviable position as unofficial Poet Laureate for the nation, receiving the Pulitzer Prize four times and was the only poet ever invited to read one of his poems (The Gift Outright) at the Presidential Inauguration?. We will write a custom essay sample on Nuture in Robert Frosts Poetry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As for his poetry,Frost employed the plain speech of rural New Englanders and preferred the short, traditional forms of lyric and narrative to describe the simple, nice scenery of rural New England. Just as most of Frostââ¬â¢s poetry set New England s the background, he was often regarded by some critics as a regional poet. But as a matter of fact, New England in Frostââ¬â¢s poetry is far more than a small rural region, but a microcosm of the whole country. Also the natural scenery in New England described in the poetry is also far more than just the picturesque view, but endowed with many metaphorical meanings. It may be the symbol of another world as opposed to the real society, or may represent the myth unknown to the human being, etc. By describing the relationship between the New Englanders and nature there, Frost contemplates on the issues concerning the modern society such as the relationship between man and the real world; the relationship between man and nature as well as the relationship between man and man. Frost reveals the contradictions in the real society, and the confusion, helplessness as well as loneliness of people. We can safely conclude that if one understands Frosts attitude toward nature rightly, then he can grasp the meaning of most of Frosts poetry perfectly. As most of Frostââ¬â¢s poetry set the rural New England as the background, describing the natural scenery, emphasizing the beauty and simplicity of the country life, he is widely recognized as a pastoral poet. Critics usually focus their attention on his attitude toward nature, and compare him with the English romantic poet William Wordsworth and the representative of the American Transcendentalism Emerson on their concepts of nature. In this thesis, the writer will try to make clear Frosts unique concept of nature, and point out the differences of Frosts concept of nature from that of William Wordsworths and Emersons. Frosts attitude toward nature is between love and horror, departure and return. The contradiction between the desire to widen the life circle and the decision to live wisely in the real world is reflected in most of Frosts poems, while Wordsworth and Emerson show deep love for nature, emphasizing the natures role in consoling and protecting the soul of human being. Furthermore this essay mainly concentrates on probing the causes of Frosts concept of nature from social, cultural and personal aspects. In this way the readers can have a clearer idea of the significance of the natural scenery in Frosts poetry, and by extension understand better Frosts attitude toward the whole universe. I Frosts Concept of Nature Frost has so often written about the rural landscape and wildlife that one can hardly avoid thinking of him as a nature poet. As the beautiful natural scenery frequently shows up in Frosts poetry, most people take Frosts poetry as they take Wordsworths. Yet nature in Frosts eyes is a little bit more complex, as there is an apparent bleakness in his landscape in spite of the bright side of it. Most of Frosts poetry is very simple both in language and style, but it does not mean that the meanings of the poetry are skin-deep. If his poetry is analyzed in depth, one will find that his poetry are not the simple description of nature and the rural life, but contain rich meaning in terms of the relationship between man and nature, between man and the real world, between man and man. New England in Frosts poetry is far more than a small rural region, but a microcosm of the whole country. The natural scenery in New England described in the poetry is also far more than just the picturesque view, but endowed with rich metaphorical meaning. His view of nature is quite complex. To sum up, he has a love-hate attitude toward nature. His complicated feeling toward nature is reflected in most of his poems. He loves nature. Also he is afraid of nature. Though he wants to escape from the real world to an imaginative wonderland free of secular desires and worry, he wants to live wisely in the real world. There is the contradictory feeling underneath the simple language. In one of Frosts most widely anthologized poems Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, readers can sense his complicated feeling easily. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farm house near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake The only other soundââ¬â¢s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. ? It is extraordinarily cold in the woods as it has a heavy snow, and the wind is cold and freezing. But the speaker feels the wind as easy, and the flake as downy: ââ¬Å" easy wind and downy flakeâ⬠, from which we can conclude that Frost feels a strong love for nature, despite the bad weather condition. Also as Frost refers to the woods, he uses the adjectives ââ¬Å"lovelyâ⬠, ââ¬Å"deepâ⬠. The woods is very tranquil at that dark winter evening, so that it is like a quiet wonderland that attracts the human being, and bears with it rich myth for man to explore. But at the same time Frost expresses his horror of nature, as he writes that ââ¬Å"Between the woods and frozen lake/ The darkest evening of the yearâ⬠, ââ¬Å"The woods are (lovely), dark and (deep)â⬠. Though dark gives the woods quietness, but at the same time arouses the horror of the poet. Usually dark is used to indicate something frightening, because when it is dark, one cannot see what is there, and nothing is more frightening than the unknown, than imagine what might be there. Thus the dark in the woods may symbolizes that man is alienated from nature. The remoteness of nature reveals the tragedy of mans isolation and his weakness in the face of vast, impersonal forces. Nature is beautiful, pure and simple, and this beauty and tranquility make it a wonderland that attracts human beings to stay and to enjoy. But as for the unknown aspect, nature is too deep and vast for man to know, the great unrivaled force makes people horrified. The two opposite sides of nature are analogous to those in the real society: the physical needs: food, shelter, interpersonal relationship in the real world drag people in, but on the other hand, the hardships, chaos and cruelty make it a hell which compels people to escape. The speaker in the poem, on the one hand, wants to stay in that beautiful wonderland so as to have a good rest without the bother of the duties in the real world; on the other hand, he is horrified by the unknown and uthlessness in the natural world and meanwhile summoned in consciousness by the responsibilities left unfulfilled in the real world. In the end he is pulled back to reality. The three lines But I have promises to keep. / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep. indicate the disappointment on leaving the woods. Man can never find a home in nature, nor can he live outside of it. Encounters with nature are not always contemplative or symbolic. Frost sometimes just shows nature as it is without adding any metaphorical meanings. In the poem ââ¬Å"Storm Fearâ⬠, Frost describes nature as a powerful, destructive force that causes fear in a storm night. When the wind works against us in the dark, And pelts with snow The lower chamber window on the east, And whispers with a sort of stifled bark, The beast, ââ¬ËCome out! Come out! ââ¬â¢ It costs no inward struggle not to go, Ah, no! I count our strength, Two and a child, Those of us not asleep subdued to mark How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length, How drifts are piled, Dooryard and road ungraded, Till even the comforting barn grows far away, And my heart owns a doubt Whether ââ¬Ëtis in us to arise with day And save ourselves unaided.? In the above poem the speaker encountering nature is not just fearing what it may represent, nor reading storm for its significance; rather he expresses genuine fear of the annihilation prompted by actual circumstancesa nature unleashing dangerous and untamed forces that have the power to destroy him and that, consequently, dramatize his helplessness and render him subdued and fearful. Nature in this poem is quite hostile to the human beings, which compels them even into the fortresses they have built against it. The wind whispers, barks, and creeps. The ââ¬Ëpeltingââ¬â¢ snow adds to the visual image of the destructive nature that even doors and windows cannot shut out. As the fire dies out, the cold advances inside. The strength of the house as physical protection against the cold, and home as spiritual protectiontwo and a child, love and familyseem increasingly inadequate. The fear of the powerful nature is the one that antedates buildings and institutions. We are in the grip of a primitive, elemental fearback in a world in which fire gave temporary security against the cold and the dark and frightened away the beastsuntil it went out.? From this we can clearly know that Frost is afraid of nature, especially its destructive power. In the presence of the powerful nature, man is like the ants with little strength to compete with. However, the best state of life is also displayed in one of Frosts best poems Birches. Id like to go by climbing a birch tree, And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more, But dipped its top and set me down again. That would be good both going and coming back.? It seems that the speaker enjoys a good time in climbing a birch tree as if in heaven. But the last lineâ⬠That would be good both going and coming back. â⬠reveals the speakerââ¬â¢s best desire. Surely the ideal state of living lies not in going but in going and coming back. Then why does Frost consider going and coming back the best? The real society is not orderly, and the hardships people undergo make them want to escape to another world free of secular desire and worries. The natural world just meets the needs of human being with its purity, innocence and beauty, which could console the tired body and disturbed soul of human being. So man needs to live in the imaginative wonderland located in nature. On the other hand, man needs to live wisely in the real world as it is the best place to live, where there are physical needs and advanced technology which could improve the material life of people. Whatââ¬â¢s more, people have to undertake all the responsibilities in the real society, while the natural world could never provide the material things indispensable for human being, and nature could be very dangerous as it is inhuman and remote, also with measureless, unconquerable force. So the ideal state of life should be living in the harmony of reality and imagination. As most of Frosts poems give large space to the description of natural scenery, many critics compare him with William Wordsworth on their concepts of nature. William Wordsworth is a leader of the Romantic Movement in England (1798-1832). As all the romantic poets at that time had a deep interest in nature, not as a centre of beautiful scene but as an informing and spiritual influence on life. Wordsworth also focused his attention on nature.? As in most of his poems he showed deep love for nature. And the theme of Wordsworths poetry is the spirit immanent in nature and man. He constantly emphasizes the union of mind and external reality and expresses this union most often through suggesting a blending of thought and landscape and portraying the subtle affinities between the natural scene and the moral sentiments. In Wordsworthââ¬â¢s opinion, nature is the embodiment of the Divine SpiritGod and Universe are identical, that is, God is everything and everything is God. For example, in one of his famous poems I wandered lonely as a cloudâ⬠, Wordsworth describes the daffodils he came across in a valley. â⬠¦ Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, â⬠¦ Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazedand gazedbut little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.? The first two stanzas show Wordsworthââ¬â¢s love for the beautiful daffodils: ââ¬Ëflutteringââ¬â¢, ââ¬Ëdancingââ¬â¢. In the dull society, men had nothing to rely on, and therefore they resort to the natural world to seek belief. By being near to the natural world, men can have the genuine happiness and comfort, and also have their spiritual world filled fully. The last two stanzas then reflect the harmony and union of man and nature. The beautiful scenery present gives people the happiness, and leads to the dance with it. And then my heart with pleasure fills, / And dances with the daffodils. â⬠. By these two sentences he sang of the harmony between nature and man. Because nature consoles human soul, it fills the empty spiritual world of human being, and enhances human spirit. Wordsworths view of nature is primarily on the bright side, emphasizing the union of nature and man in the spiritual wo rld. But Frost sees bleakness in nature which is quite foreign to Wordsworth as described above, and also never endowed nature with spirit. Besides the comparison with Wordsworth, Frost is often put together with Emerson. Ralph Waldo Emerson is the first and greatest American Transcendentalist and revolutionary Romanticist. Transcendentalism is a break from Puritanism, and it revolts against the puritanical thought of nature: regarding nature as inferior to human being. Transcendentalism places emphasis on Spirit or the Oversoul that is contained in everything on earth, and takes as it as the most important thing in universe. According to Emerson, Universe is made up of two things: Nature and Soul. As for nature, it means everything that is ââ¬Å"Not Meâ⬠, such as mountains, rivers, birds and flowers, even human body. Emerson thinks that everyone can commune with God if he wills, so man is divine. By being near to nature, man can be closer to God and comprehend the will of God from what can be seen in nature. In his essay Nature, Emerson expresses his constant, deeply felt love for the natural scenery and shows us nature as the symbol of spirit serves man as the source of language and beauty and self-knowledge. In the essay Emerson writes, ââ¬Å"Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part of parcel of God. â⬠? In this part he earnestly shows the great beauty of nature and the role of it in consoling and protecting human soul. By being in the beautiful nature, the egotism vanishes and man gets closer to God. So nature in Emersonââ¬â¢s writings is the manifestation of God, and contains the signs of Godââ¬â¢s will. If man gets near to nature, he could commune with God and know the will of God. The Oversoul is present in everything. It exists in human being as man is created by God and only one step inferior to God; it exists also in nature as nature is the manifestation of God and contains the will of God. This aspect is quite similar to the English Romanticism, but bears the color of oriental religion. But nature in Emersonââ¬â¢s writing is not just the objective natural world, nature is not independent from the human soul. Its beauty is comprehended by the human soul, as the soul is unified, active and divine, so is the nature. So Emersonââ¬â¢s concept of nature, to a large extent, is dependent on the high emphasis on the human spirit or the Oversoul, which is surely different from Frostââ¬â¢s. Frost is using nature to see the nature of human being, while Emerson uses the spirit of human to see the beauty of nature. Whatââ¬â¢s more, the theme that man could be closer to God by being near to nature in Emersonââ¬â¢s essay is not expressed in Frostââ¬â¢s poetry at all. In Frosts poetry nature is by no means that high, it is glamorous, changeable, yet indifferent and hostile sometimes. The relationship between man and nature is love and horror, rather than harmony or enlightenment as reflected in Emersonââ¬â¢s essays. II Social Reason for Frosts Concept of Nature Frosts concept of nature does not come from nothing, but come into form with the influence of various factors. Among those factors, social reason is surely the most important one. Development in New England at that time exerts great impact on the formation of Frosts concept of nature. Before the 1850s, America was essentially a rural? agrarian and isolated republic, whose idealistic, confident and self-reliant inhabitants for the most part believed in God. American literature at that time was mainly influenced by the European Romanticists. Writers wrote of the mysteries of life, of love, of birth and death. But after the Civil War, industry had a rapid development and the United States was transformed into an industrial and urban nation, which witnessed dramatic changes both in social and political areas. Large numbers of rural people immigrated to the cities, so that the simple, tranquil rural life was disappearing. Monopoly was intensified, therefore the nation became a land of contrasting wealth and poverty. Because of the cruel exploitation of the bourgeoisie, the workers movement was becoming more and more fierce. The great advances achieved in science and technology further the distance between man and natural world. On the surface, there were elegance, security and comfort, but underneath there were all disappointment and anguish. All these made people begin to question the assumptions shared by the transcendentalistsââ¬ânatural goodness, the optimistic view of nature and man, benevolent God. At the same time people began to be tired of the sentimental feelings of the Romanticism after the Civil War. American literature now began to produce works that reveal the irreconcilable contradictions between the labor and the bourgeoisie, the corruption of the politics as well as the confusion, and loneliness of the people after stripping off all the concealments. The natural scenery of rural New England was used by Robert Frost to contemplate on the situation of the whole world and the psychology of the people. Nature in Frosts poetry was far more than pure picturesque scene, it had been endowed with various profound metaphorical meanings. Firstly it may be the symbol of a wonderland as opposed to the real society. The bustling real society compelled people to work continuously with little rest, to fulfill the demanded responsibilities without complaint. The hardships people underwent made them want to escape, while the beautiful nature was like an attractive wonderland, a preserved virgin land where people could rest quietly and comfortably without worrying about all the duties in the real world. In one of Frostââ¬â¢s best known poems Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, he expressed the desire to escape. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farm house near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake The only other soundââ¬â¢s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. In this poem, the speaker goes out to enjoy the beauty of nature on a freezing winter night. It is very strange for a person to appreciate natural scenery on a winter night. Yet the purposeful selection of night indicates the awkwardness of modern people. It implies that the stress and burden in the society is so heavy as to leave no time for human to approach nature. Though it is freezing and dark, the speaker is totally attracted by the beautiful woods covered with snow. The nature is so beautiful, quiet, innocent and tame. It is like a wonderland or a paradise where people can rest to his heart content without worrying about anything. In the poem, there is a sharp contrast of white and dark, illusion and consciousness, love and horror. From another aspect, in the capitalist society everything had been possessed by human being including the natural world. Farmland, woods and forests had been owned by someone. In the poem, the speaker chooses the darkest evening as the proper time to appreciate the woods. Then why does he choose the darkest evening as the proper time to appreciate the woods? It is not only because of the numerous responsibilities encumbered in the real world, but also because only in this way could he not be seen by the owner of it. So moved is the traveler by the sight of woods filled up with snow that he stops. Conscious of the owner whose house is in the village, safely and sensibly away from snowy woods, the speaker seems to need to assure himself that the owner will not see him stopping there. For one thing, he would presumably prefer that the owner not see him trespassing; for another, sensitive as he is to the mentality of the horse, he would probably feel foolish if he were seen by the owner. In such society, man could no longer freely enjoy the beauty of nature, but has to appreciate it stealthily. This situation, in turn, makes Frost show more love for nature and want to stay there in order to have the great enjoyment. Furthermore, in an industrial society, with the advanced science and technology, people were at loss. Everything in the society was out of their control, and they were treated as standardized commodities. But in the natural world, people could get satisfaction by handling the plants or farmlands. In the poem ââ¬Å"birchesâ⬠, Frost shows us this role of nature. Some boy too far from town to learn baseball, Whose only play was what he found himself, Summer or winter, and could play alone. One by one he subdued his fatherââ¬â¢s trees By riding them down over and over again Until he took the stiffness out of them, And not one but hung limp, not one was left For him to conquer. The boy in the poem could find no other things to play in his residential area, which is just like the situation of the modern people who could find nothing to control, to manipulate. So he had to resort to nature for help. There are things in the natural world that can satisfy the soul of human being by giving man the sense of achievement to offset his disturbed feeling stirred by the chaotic society. Therefore Frost deeply loves nature and admires its vastness and great strength. But for frost, nature is indifferent? ruthless and ignorant of the existence of humankind. In the boundless natural world, human may be confronted with great danger. The invincible force of nature is more than anything hostile to the human being, it may become extraordinarily cruel and make people unaided and perplexed. It is like a boundless? mysterious island with beautiful scenery. But the weak human stands alone with horror because of the smouldering? unrivaled force around him. Frost shows his horror toward nature in some of his poems. â⬠Storm Fearâ⬠is a case in point. When the wind works against us in the dark, And pelts with snow The lower chamber window on the east, And whispers with a sort of stifled bark, The beast, ââ¬ËCome out! Come out! ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length, ââ¬â How drifts are piled, Dooryard and road ungraded, Till even the comforting barn grows far away, And my heart owns a doubt Whether ââ¬Ëtis in us to arise with day And save ourselves unaided. Nature in this poem is described as a beast that is quite hostile to human being. People show his helplessness in facing the invincible destructive force, especially when living in a place that is far away from the towns. Human could not just live in the remote natural world far from civilized cities where the safe equipments could be provided. So the real society is not quite that bad, there are many facilities in the civilized cities that can protect human, and improve their material life. Frostââ¬â¢s horror toward nature made him want to depart from the natural world and wisely live in the real society. Whats more, people could never just live in fantasy, but had to face bravely the imperfect real world in order to break out of the psychological trap. III Cultural Influence on Frosts Concept of Nature Frosts concept of nature is not only the result of the influence of society at that time, but also the outcome of the influence of culture in the 20th century America. American literature originated in about 1607, when the first colony was set up in Jamestown, Virginia, 13years later following the establishment of the second English colony in Plymouth, New England. The immigrants at that time were all puritans, who escaped from England to the new continent in the hope of finding a refuge from the religious persecution in their motherland. This immigration played an important role in the establishment and development of the new colony as well as the formation of the new idealism and literature in the new continent. Puritanism takes as its ancestor the Calvinism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Calvinists believe in creeds: ââ¬Å"heredity depravityâ⬠of human beings, the original sin of human beings, the absolute sovereignty of God, and limited salvation by God. Puritans believe in almost the same creeds as that of Calvinists except that they believe they could be saved by God through the Covenant of Grace by hard work and pious pray. It is this belief that makes them so persistent in developing the new country. Puritans firmly believe that all sorts of entertainment are evil; man should devote himself to hard work in order to be saved by God from his original sin, and make the soul exist eternally in heaven. Therefore they take nature as evil and inferior as nature is beautiful, which could provide man with pleasure. Frost, as a native New Englander, is much influenced by the traditional culture. To puritans all sorts of entertainment are evil, so it is also evil if people are indulged in the beauty of the natural world. Whatââ¬â¢s more, nature is ephemeral and will wither at proper time. But human, on the contrary, though the body may decay when passing away, the soul would be eternal. So nature is inferior and man could not be too close to nature so as to maintain mans superiority. To some extent, Frostââ¬â¢s poetry reflects this puritan thought. In his poem ââ¬Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningâ⬠, the speaker is attracted by the beauty of the natural world and even wants to rest there. But as the responsibilities summon him in consciousness, he surrenders to the call and leaves the natural world as the poem states: ââ¬Å"But I have promises to keep. / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep. â⬠The sentences indicate that in the poetââ¬â¢s mind the duty of human assigned by God is still very important, and the entertainment in the beautiful nature is improper or even evil. Puritanical thought explains why Frost always wants to leave nature once he steps into it. Transcendentalism may be another factor that contributes Frostââ¬â¢s particular concept of nature. Transcendentalism is a ââ¬Å"remarkable outburst of Romanticism on Puritan groundâ⬠. It is fundamentally a religious movement, and one that has its root in the old New England Puritan consciousness. But it is a religious movement imbued with Romantic attitudes and emphases, and it expresses itself often in poems about natural phenomenon as in essays about God-in-nature.? It places emphasis on Spirit or the Oversoul that is contained in everything on arth, and takes it as the most important thing in universe. According to Emerson, Universe consists of two aspects: Nature and Soul. As for nature, it means everything that is ââ¬Å"Not Meâ⬠, such as mountains, rivers, birds, flowers and even human body. Emerson believes that everyone can commune with God if he wills, so man is divine. N ature in Transcendentalism has been put in a high status: it is the manifestation of God, which man could sense by being close to it, and communicate spiritually with it. Frost is greatly influenced by this idea, and reflects his transcendental thought in his poetry. In his best known poems Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Frost used the vocabulary characteristic of mystical experience, an encounter with the Absolute in which man is in great happiness and afraid that his own sense of selfhood might be threatened with annihilation. The line ââ¬Å"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,â⬠does reflect the contradictory feeling simultaneously. Although Frost appears to be indulged in the state of enjoying heaven on earth, the transcendental moment when his intuition dominants his consciousness, he never regards nature as pure good or completely bad, but takes it as something neutral. In fact, Frostââ¬â¢s concept of nature is the result of combination of the traditional puritan thought and modern transcendentalism. IV Personal Reason for Frosts Concept of Nature Robert Frost has an ambivalent attitude towards nature. He loves it and at the same time is afraid of it. This complicated feeling toward nature is also influenced by his personal life experiences and his personality. In 1895 Frost married his high school sweetheart, Elinor. Their first born, a boy, died in 1900, which caused a great tension between the young couple. In order to ease the tension, Frost and his wife moved to a farmland in Derry, New Hampshire bought by his grandfather. They did not leave there till September, 1909.? This ten yearsââ¬â¢ life on the farm played a great role in the literary life of Frost. He reveled in the simple joy of farming and being in touch with the earth. By being totally involved in the simple rural life of the New Englanders, Frost freely enjoyed the beautiful scenery there, and keenly listened to the musical, rhythmical dialect there. However, what Frost saw on the other side of the quiet life disturbed him. During the time he spent farming in Derry, New Hampshire, working in the fields might have brought him some of the most peaceful moments of his life. The simple, quiet life in the countryside gave him the happiness and comfort. Yet, when Frost turned away from his chores, he found that his world was crumbling around him. The village life was both hermetic and thrifty. He had to supplement the inadequate income of his farming by several periods of school teaching and other odd jobs. Whatââ¬â¢s more, his family members were down with illness, his child died and consequently, his marriage was on the edge of collapse. As reflection of his personal life, he saw nature as beautiful and full of hope, yet random and chaotic. Frosts personality also exerts influence on his view of nature. Frost is actually a very sensitive person, which can be seen from one of his poems ââ¬Å"Nothing Gold Can Stayâ⬠. Natureââ¬â¢s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leafââ¬â¢s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. 011 In this poem, Frost pays great attention to the change of color of the spring leaves, and from which he extends to other issues concerning human being. Leaves will fall as spring ends. ââ¬Å"Eden sank to griefâ⬠reminds us that among other ââ¬Å"grievesâ⬠caused by a loss of Eden is the major grief of death and loss which no one can escape. Human being will pass away at proper time like the spring leaves. So the life of man must change too, as the color of leaves do. Man should not just confine himself to one space. Frost, while living in the rural New England, enjoying the beauty of nature and the simple, quiet life in the countryside, still keeps close ties with cities. Countryside is too far away from the modern life. It seems as if people in the rural areas are forsaken by society. The urban life makes him feel the quick pace of modern life as well as the elaborate division of work in the factories, so he tried to keep a balance between the two ways of living. As the most conspicuous trait of Frost is neutral, so whenever he drops into a dilemma, he will perform his perfect skill of reconciling the contradictions. Frostââ¬â¢s principle in dealing with matters could be summed up as follows: absolute surrender or independence in the real world all has its own deficiencies. Complete belonging to a group, no matter what kind of group it is, one has to sacrifice something, either his hobbies or his freedom, sometimes even his precious life. To Frost, the real world is neither too chaotic nor perfectly orderly, but somewhere between. One has to treat the world objectively, bearing in mind that it includes both hope and desperation, comedy and tragedy, joy and agony. Likewise nature is beautiful as well as hostile. The imaginative world is attractive, but the real world also has its good aspect and people have many responsibilities to fulfill. So man should not linger on the imaginative natural world, but should live wisely in the real world with imagination. Conclusion Frosts attitude toward nature is between love and horror, departure and return. The contradiction between the desire to widen the life circle and the decision to live wisely in the real world is reflected in most of his poems. This paper puts forward three reasons for his love for nature. Firstly, the society at that time was quite different from the past. Industry got a rapid development, which demanded large labor forces. People therefore were under much stress due to continuous work. People began to be tired of the life in the real world, and resort to the beautiful, pure nature for relief. Secondly, Frost was influenced by the new thought-Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism puts nature at a high place, takes it as the manifestation of God. By being close to nature, man could communicate with God spiritually and sense the will of God. Thirdly, Frost had lived on the farmland in Derry, New Hampshire for ten years. This period of time was the most peaceful moment in Frosts life and by farming there, Frost experienced great happiness and comfort. This paper also probes into three causes of his fear of nature. Firstly, in Frosts eyes, natural world is not at all that nice. It is like the real society, also has the dark side. Nature is inhuman, ruthless as well as indifferent. It does not care about human well-being. It may become extraordinarily cruel and make the people unaided and perplexed. It is like a boundless? mysterious island with beautiful scenery. But the weak human stands alone and with horror because of the smoldering, unrivaled forces around him. Secondly, the puritan thought more or less influenced Frost, as he is a native New Englander. For puritans, any sort of entertainment is evil, so it is also evil if people are indulged in the beauty of the natural world. Whatââ¬â¢s more, nature is ephemeral and will wither at proper time. But human is on the contrary, though the body may decay when passing away, the soul would be eternal. So nature is inferior. Thirdly, during Frosts life on the farm, he underwent many tragedies. His family members came down with illness, his child died and consequently, his marriage was on the edge of collapse. As reflective of his personal life, he viewed nature as quite bleak. And his most conspicuous trait is ââ¬Å"neutralâ⬠, so he views nature both lovely and horrible. Frosts ambivalent attitude towards nature can be viewed as a wise way of living for the modern people. Man is not satisfied with the linear life in the real society. Man should hold a poetic lifestyle by living between nature and the real world. By detailed analysis of Frosts unique concept of nature, this paper distinguishes the concepts of nature of Frost, Wordsworth and Emerson. Wordsworths view of nature is primarily on the bright side, emphasizing the union of nature and man in the spiritual world. Nature in Emersonââ¬â¢s writing is the manifestation of God, and contains the signs of Godââ¬â¢s will. If man got near to nature, he could commune with God and know the will of God. By analyzing the concept of nature of Frost and distinguishing it from that of Wordsworthââ¬â¢s and Emersonââ¬â¢s, the writer aims to enable readers grasp the implication of Frosts poetry more clearly, and understands the role of nature in Frostââ¬â¢s poetry better. (Approximately 6,448 words) Notes: ? Annette T. Rubinstein. ââ¬Å"American Literature Root and Flowerâ⬠( ). : , 1998, p608, p609 , . . : , 2003, p166, p165 ? 011 Judith Oster:ââ¬Å"Robert Frost: The Reader and the Poetâ⬠. Georgia University Press, 1991, p137, p224 ? Ibid, p137 , . . : , 2002, p69, p72 ? Cleanth Brooks. ââ¬Å"American Literature The Makers and the Makingâ⬠Vol. 2. N ew York: St. Martinââ¬â¢s Press, 1973, p691 ? Ibid, p676 Bibliography 1. Annette T. Rubinstein. ââ¬Å"American Literature Root and Flowerâ⬠( ). : , 1998 2. Cleanth Brooks. American Literature The Makers and the Makingâ⬠Vol. 2. New York: St. Martinââ¬â¢s Press, 1973 3. James M. Coxed. ââ¬Å"Robert Frost A Collection of Critical Essaysâ⬠. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1962 4. Judith Oster. ââ¬Å"Robert Frost The Reader and the Poetâ⬠. Georgia University Press, 1991 5. Robert Faggen. ââ¬Å"The Cambridge Companion to Robert Frostâ⬠. Cambridge University Press, 1994 6. . . : , 2002 7. . . : , 1999 8. . . : , 2000 9. , . . : , 2003 10. , . . : , 2002
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Understanding the Bible Belt in the United States
Understanding the Bible Belt in the United States When American geographers map rates of religious belief and regular attendance at places of worship, a distinct region of religiosity appears on the map of the United States. This region is known as the Bible Belt, and while it can be measured in a variety of ways, it tends to include much of the American South.à First Use of Bible Belt The term Bible Belt was first used by the American writer and satirist H.L. Menckenà in 1925 when he was reporting on the Scopes Monkey Trial which took place in Dayton, Tennessee. Mencken was writing for the Baltimore Sunà and used the term in a derogatory way, referring to the region in subsequent pieces with such quotes as the Bible and Hookworm Belt and Jackson, Mississippi in the heart of the Bible and Lynching Belt.à Defining The Bible Belt The term gained popularity and began to be used to name the region of the southern U.S. states in the popular media and in academia. In 1948, the Saturday Evening Postà named Oklahoma City the capital of the Bible Belt. In 1961, geographer Wilbur Zelinsky, a student of Carl Sauer, defined the region of the Bible Belt as one in which Southern Baptists, Methodists, and evangelical Christians were the predominant religious group. Thus, Zelinsky defined the Bible Belt as a region stretching from West Virginia and southern Virginia to southern Missouri in the north to Texas and northern Florida in the south. The region that Zelinsky outlined did not include Southern Louisiana due to its preponderance of Catholics, nor central and southern Florida due to its diverse demographics, nor South Texas with its large Hispanic (and thus Catholic or Protestant) population.à History of the Bible Belt The region known as the Bible Belt today was in the 17th and 18th centuries a center of Anglican (or Episcopalian) beliefs. In the late 18th century and into the 19th century, Baptist denominations, especially Southern Baptist, began to gain in popularity. By the 20th century, evangelical Protestantism could be the defining belief system in the region known as the Bible Belt.à In 1978, geographer Stephen Tweedie of Oklahoma State University published the definitive article about the Bible Belt, Viewing the Bible Belt, in theà Journal of Popular Culture.à In that article, Tweedie mapped Sunday television watching habits for five leading evangelical religious television programs. His map of the Bible Belt expanded the region defined by Zelinsky and included a region that encompassed the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas. But his research also broke the Bible Belt into two core regions, a western region and an eastern region. Tweedies western Bible Belt was focused on a core that extended from Little Rock, Arkansas to Tulsa, Oklahoma. His eastern Bible Belt was focused on a core that included the major population centers of Virginia and North Carolina. Tweedie identified secondary core regions surrounding Dallas and Wichita Falls, Kansas to Lawton, Oklahoma.à Tweedie suggested that Oklahoma City was the buckle or capital of the Bible Belt but many other commentators and researchers have suggested other locations. It was H.L. Mencken who first suggested that Jackson, Mississippi was the capital of the Bible Belt. Other suggested capitals or buckles (in addition to the cores identified by Tweedie) include Abilene, Texas; Lynchburg, Virginia; Nashville, Tennessee; Memphis, Tennessee; Springfield, Missouri; and Charlotte, North Carolina.à The Bible Belt Today Studies of religious identity in the United States continually point to the southern states as an enduring Bible Belt. In a 2011 survey by Gallup, the organization found Mississippi to be the state containing the highest percentage of very religious Americans. In Mississippi, 59 percent of residents were identified as being very religious. With the exception of number two Utah, all of the states in the top ten are states commonly identified as being part of the Bible Belt. (The top 10 were: Mississippi, Utah, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Oklahoma.)à The Un-Bible Belts On the other hand, Gallup and others have pointed out that the opposite of the Bible Belt, perhaps an Unchurched Belt or a Secular Belt, exists in the Pacific Northwest and the northeastern United States. Gallups survey found that a mere 23 percent of Vermont residents are considered to be very religious. The 11 states (due to the tie for tenth place) that are home for the least religious Americans are Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island.à Politics and Society in the Bible Belt Many commentators have pointed out that while religious observance in the Bible Belt is high, it is a region of a variety of social issues. Educational attainment and college graduation rates in the Bible Belt are among the lowest in the United States. Cardiovascular and heart disease, obesity, homicide, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections are among the highest rates in the nation.à At the same time, the region is known for its conservative values, and the region is often considered to be a politically conservative region. The red states within the Bible Belt traditionally support Republican candidates for state and federal office. Alabama, Mississippi, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas have consistently pledged their electoral college votes to the Republican candidate for president in each presidential election since 1980. Other Bible Belt states usually vote Republican, but candidates such as Bill Clinton from Arkansas have sometimes swayed the votes in Bible Belt states.à In 2010,à Matthew Zook and Mark Graham utilized online place name data to identify the preponderance of the word church locally. What resulted is a map that is a good approximation of the Bible Belt as defined by Tweedie and extending into the Dakotas. Other Belts in America Other Bible Belt-style regions have been named in the United States. The Rust Belt of the former industrial heartland of America is one such region. Other belts include the Corn Belt, Snow Belt, and Sunbelt.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
How to Pronounce Xi Jinpings Name
How to Pronounce 'Xi Jinping's' Name China has been growing as a world power, and Xi Jinping, the countrys leader since 2012, is ever-present in the news and on the world stage. Its important, therefore, for students of Chinese- and indeed for anyone keeping up with current events- to be able to pronounce the Chinese leaders name. But saying his name correctly is not simple; it requires understanding the Chinese alphabet as well as the tones you must use when pronouncing Chinese letters and words. Basic Pronunciation The alphabetical letters used to write sounds in Mandarin Chinese (called Hanyu Pinyin) dont often match sounds they describe in English, so simply trying to read a Chinese name and guess its pronunciation is not sufficient.à (Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan.) The simplest way to pronounce the name of the president of China is to say Shee Jin Ping. But you also must account for the Chinese tones. The Four Tones In Mandarin Chinese, many characters have the same sounds, so tones are necessary when speaking to help differentiate words from each other.à The four tones are: First: a level and higher pitchSecond: a rising tone that starts from a lower pitch and endsà at a slightly higher pitchThird:à a falling-risingà tone that begins at a neutral tone then dips to a lower pitch before ending at a higher pitchFourth:à a falling tone that starts the syllable at a slightly higher-than-neutral pitch then goes quickly and strongly downward You can listen to a recording of a native speaker pronouncing the name and mimic the pronunciation. The BBC notes that the name is pronounced -sh as in ship, -j as in Jack, -i as in sit, -ng as in sing. Breaking Down the Name The presidents name is ä ¹ è ¿âÃ¥ ¹ ³ (or ç ¿âè ¿âÃ¥ ¹ ³ written in traditional form). His name, as do most Chinese names, consists of three syllables. The first syllable is his family name and the two remaining are his personal name. Xi, the first part of the name, can be difficult for non-native Chinese speakers to pronounce because the hardà x sound does not exist in English. It is alveolo-palatal, meaning that its produced by placing the body of the tongue against the front part of the hard palate. The tongue position is similar to the first sound in yes in English. Try producing a hissing sound and youll get pretty close. The i is like the y in city but longer. The tone rises when pronouncing this part of the name, so it takes on the second tone. Jin is also tricky, but if you know how to pronounce the hard x in Chinese, it becomes a lot easier. J is pronounced like the xà sound but has a stop in front of it. Think of it as a very light t, or tx. Take care not to breathe out too hard when pronouncing the t because it will turn into a Chinese Pinyin q. The i in jin should sound similar to the i in xi but shorter. The tone falls in this part of the name, so it takes on the fourth tone. Ping is fairly straightforward; it is pronounced much as it looks in English written form. One minor difference is that the ng is pronounced farther back and is more prominent than in English. The tone rises in this part of the name so it takes on the second tone.
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Human Cloning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Human Cloning - Essay Example Besides therapeutic and reproductive cloning another category of cloning called the replacement cloning is also gaining prevalence. Replacement cloning is an amalgamation of therapeutic as well as reproductive cloning. The term gained prominence as it involves comprehensively injured, abortive, or weakening body, and replacement of the whole or partial organ or part of the body. The present article discusses the pros and cons of human cloning while extracting attention to understand the significance of human cloning in the advancement of human civilization. Human cloning is the process of generating a genetically indistinguishable replica of human being. It is a technique of imitating genetic information (Roxanne, 2010). The process is thought to be of therapeutic or reproductive importance. Therapeutic cloning encompasses cloning cells for their exploitation in treating various ailments. On the other hand reproductive cloning generates human clones, this is prohibited in many nation s because of ethical concerns. The moral predicament of human cloning lies on the argument either to promote or to impede cloning (Robert, 2001). Numerous molecular techniques are involved in the process of cloning encompassing molecular cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning (Manninen, 2010). There are numerous controversies associated with the cloning procedures some may favor cloning while others oppose the same. The present thesis discusses various aspects of the cloning as 1. The Cons/ Problems/Dangers and Controversies of Cloning a. Cloning is discouraged by various nations as cloning is against the rule of nature, which is generating humans, nurturing them and paving the way for uncertainties related with the repercussions of science. At present human population has crossed the figure of 7 billion, a huge burden on the planet. Is cloning going to resolve the issue of exponentially increasing human population is a big question imposed by the detractors of human cloning (Gary, 2012). b. Detractors of human cloning have their say about the loss of genetic diversity leading to higher probability and pervasiveness of genetic diseases. Poor adaptability of clones may become detrimental for situations of jeopardy. Inbreeding leads to self-annihilation. c. Cloning is inhumane as it abolish the bond of love and care and is said to be transgressing the nature. The process of cloning highlight that the human or scientists can play the role of Creator or God as cloning is a kind of asexual reproduction, therefore reduces the sense of distinctiveness of a character, lacking uniqueness and freedom. It is also noteworthy to have an insight regarding the amplification in human population and ecological burden on resources and on other surviving species. Growing population is putting pressure on the demands of basic amenities, infrastructures and social set ups; with human cloning, further contribution to disaster cannot be eluded. According to Savulescu (1999), human cloning is accountable to abuse, a person's right to individualism and self-sufficiency and being self is violated, moreover genetic individuality is also lost and human beings are used as a model organism. Cloning also enhances the risk of self safety due to genetic irregularity, cancer and diminished lifespan. 2. Pros/ Advantages of Cloning a. According to
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)