Nullification Crisis of 1832 Precursor to Civil War

The nullification crisis arose in 1832 when leaders of South Carolina advanced the idea that a state did not have to follow federal law and could, in effect, nullify the law. The state passed the South Carolina Act of Nullification in November 1832, which said in effect that South Carolina could ignore federal law, or nullify it if the state found the law to be damaging to its interests or deemed it unconstitutional. This effectively meant the state could override any federal law. The idea that states rights superseded federal law was promoted by South Carolinian  John C. Calhoun, vice president in Andrew Jacksons first term as president, one of the most experienced and powerful politicians in the country at the time. And the resulting crisis was, to some extent, a precursor to the secession crisis that would trigger the Civil War 30 years later, in which South Carolina also was a primary player. Calhoun and the Nullification Crisis Calhoun, who is most widely remembered as a defender of the institution of slavery, became outraged in the late 1820s by the imposition of tariffs that he felt unfairly penalized the South. A particular tariff passed in 1828 raised taxes on imports and outraged Southerners, and Calhoun became a forceful advocate against the new tariff. The 1828 tariff was so controversial in various regions of the country that it became known as the Tariff of Abominations. Calhoun said he believed the law had been designed to take advantage of the Southern states. The South was largely an agricultural economy with relatively little manufacturing. So finished goods were often imported from Europe, which meant a tariff on foreign goods would fall heavier on the South, and it also reduced demand for imports, which then reduced demand for the raw cotton the South sold to Britain. The North was much more industrialized and produced many of its own goods. In fact, the tariff-protected industry in the North from foreign competition since it made imports more expensive. In Calhouns estimation, the Southern states, having been treated unfairly, were under no obligation to follow the law. That line of argument, of course, was highly controversial, since it undermined the Constitution. Calhoun wrote an essay advancing a theory of nullification in which he made a legal case for states to disregard some federal laws. At first, Calhoun wrote his thoughts anonymously, in the style of many political pamphlets of the era. But eventually, his identity as the author became known. In the early 1830s, with the issue of a tariff again rising to prominence, Calhoun resigned his position as vice president, returned to South Carolina, and was elected to the Senate, where he promoted his idea of nullification. Jackson was ready for armed conflict―he got Congress to pass a law allowing him to use federal troops to enforce federal laws if necessary. But ultimately the crisis was resolved without the use of force. In 1833 a compromise led by the legendary Sen. Henry Clay of Kentucky was reached ​on a new tariff. But the nullification crisis revealed the deep divisions between the North and the South and showed they could cause enormous problems―and eventually, they split the Union and secession followed, with the first state to secede being South Carolina in December 1860, and the die was cast for the Civil War that followed.

Essay on Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King...

Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail, was very persuasive to a wide variety of audiences. Not only did he directly address the writers of the newspaper article, but included fellow African Americans with their struggle to gain acceptance. What makes this letter persuasive, is the amount of examples and situations described by Martin Luther King Jr. King also gains credibility by citing these sources without a history book, using only his own intellect that shows that he is not just your average man. Martin Luther King Jr. directed his letter to the white clergymen of Birmingham, in a response to their newspaper article criticizing him for his actions. At the†¦show more content†¦Martin Luther King uses historical examples to prove his point, using logos which most intellectuals can understand, and then uses examples for any African American can understand. In paragraph 16, King talks about St. Thomas Aquinas and his definition of an unjust law. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.(King, Pg.3) In Paragraph 21, In the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake.(King, Pg.4) He discusses Nebuchadnezzar and how people in that time refused to obey his laws because they were unjust, just as he did in Birmingham. Socrates, the Boston tea party, early Christians who gave their lives for their religion. These historical events gave King an edge in his persuasiveness. Now he isnt just someone who has broken laws, now he is now just like all other famous ancient historical figures. However he also addresses his Negro brothers in paragraph 14, when he describes what its like to have to tell your children that they cant go somewhere or do something because they are black, or what it is like to watch as your family is beaten or lynched in front of your eyes. He is directing this at theShow MoreRelatedMartin Luther King Jr., â€Å"Letter f rom Birmingham Jail†3011 Words   |  13 Pages[Date] Martin Luther king Jr., â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† Outline 1. Introduction i) Argument about â€Å"Justice and injustice† ii) Religious appeals in King’s latter iii) Paragraph fourteen of King’s latter 2. Discussion 3. Conclusion Introduction The pressure of racial segregation was reaching a boiling point in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. After being arrested for his part in the Birmingham Campaign, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter in responseRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr : Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay1678 Words   |  7 Pages Martin Luther King Jr: Letter from Birmingham Jail Hao Ran Hu SUNY Broome Hao Ran Hu Global History Professor St.Clair 2016 Martin Luther King Jr: Letter from Birmingham Jail One of the interesting Documents in World History is the ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ by Martin Luther King Jr who was born as Michael King in 1929 in Atlanta. His parents were partRead MoreLetter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr.1259 Words   |  6 PagesLetter from Birmingham Response The Letter from Birmingham jail was written on April 16th, 1963 by Martin Luther King jr. Martin was a prominent leader and protester in the fight against racism. King was put in jail for protesting in the streets without a permit and that is where he read the letter. The letter was written as response to the Letter from the Eight Clergymen. Their letter called for the end of the peaceful protests which were lead by King and his supporters. During the time the letterRead MoreThe Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr.990 Words   |  4 PagesThe Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. is written to the injustices of the African Americans by the white man supremacy, and to address the direct actions African Americans were making to change the people’s perspective. The books that have been read in this class reflect the same injustices that Martin Luther King Jr is addressing in his letter. The main point of this letter is to address the direct actio n being taken by the African Americans and how they sacrificing everythingRead MoreLetter From A Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr.920 Words   |  4 PagesIn his â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail,† Martin Luther King Jr. makes appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos to convince the clergymen that colored people have been waiting for too long for political, economic, and social justice and freedom. He argues that it’s unfair to promise someone, or a group, for a change and not fulfill that promise. Along with demonetizing and/or belittling a person to the point where they don’t feel as important or as worth as they should; making them feel hatred and angerRead MoreLetter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr. Essay1683 Words   |  7 PagesIn â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail†, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a response to clergymen defending his actions that placed him in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. King did not respond to all the criticis m that crossed his desk, but this time King felt he was compelled to respond. This obligation King felt was due in part to men with good will and intentions stating that his actions were â€Å"unwise and untimely† (Pg. 835). King’s purpose in writing â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† was to defend the strategyRead MoreLetter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King Jr. Essay1211 Words   |  5 PagesA Letter’s Purpose In â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther King Jr. writes specifically to southern clergy men but also expands to anyone who opposes the civil rights movement. He informs his audience about the purpose of the civil rights movement and its importance to black and white people in terms of living as equals in a more peaceful society. King urges the public to understand the purpose of peaceful protests and the civil rights movement. He also wants people to understand the hardshipsRead MoreLetter from Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr. Essay938 Words   |  4 Pages Is it not ironic that Martin Luther King Jr. s, â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail†, which testifies to his struggle for Civil Rights; not only contradicts the time Martin Luther King wrote it in, but also echoes the same sentiments of today’s moral causes and laws? . Dr. King (*) then known as Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter to Birmingham in response to his fellow clergymen’s criticisms of him being locked up for his actions in Birmingham’s Civil Rights protest. The letter’sRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr. s Letter From A Birmingham Jail1157 Words   |  5 PagesMartin Luther King Jr.’s â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail† is directed towards the clergymen, although America is his audience, King had come to Birmingham to address the segregation problem in the United States. He refuses to stay silent, even though people told him to wait for the change to happen. King is a part of the Southern Christian Leadersh ip Conference that has many organizations across the South. He felt that he has a right to be in Birmingham because his organizations have connections withRead MoreEssay on Letter From Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr.742 Words   |  3 PagesDr. Martin Luther King Jr. one of many great influential speakers wrote a life changing letter after being arrested for peacefully protesting African American rights. While sitting in jail Dr. King received a letter from clergymen questioning his motives and timings for being in Birmingham. In a response Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes a â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† vividly expressing physical and emotional purposes for his presence in Birmingham, AL. First, in the â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail†

Tree of Knowledge Free Essays

The Tree of Knowledge It is important for society to find a reliable source of knowledge, as it is a powerful factor which helps society to attain success. As a good example of the significance of knowledge for society, the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden represents, not just a source of absolute knowledge, but how desperately human nature seeks that perfect source. However, the Tree of Knowledge does not exist in the real world. We will write a custom essay sample on Tree of Knowledge or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus, society is facing a problem of finding the most effective way to produce accurate knowledge because mistaken knowledge has no value. In his essay â€Å"The Hive,† historian and writer Marshall Poe points out two sources for knowledge: social consensus and experts. In the past, it was hard to gather knowledge efficiently due to equivocation, and experts were considered to be the most reliable source of knowledge. But today, the Internet has provided society with the convenient environment for finding and storing information. In his essay, Poe discusses the phenomenon of the web-site Wikipedia as an example of a successful effort in collaborative knowledge, which is produced during the process of communication and negotiation by society and experts concerning the information regarding an object of study. A professor at Harvard University and author of â€Å"Reporting Live from Tomorrow,† Daniel Gilbert suggests relying on the experiences of others, whom he calls â€Å"surrogates,† in order to obtain more reliable knowledge. Collaborative knowledge is based on society’s collective experiences. It is meant to accumulate and constantly update information from society. On the other hand, experts are a key for progress in society as they perform deeper research about a subject. Therefore, in order to produce reliable knowledge, society must consult with experts, while experts should consider the experiences of other people when conducting their research. It might seem at the first sight that the only reliable source of knowledge are experts, as they have more intense and prolonged experiences through practice and education in a particular field. Therefore, it is a common belief that in order to obtain true knowledge, society has to rely on the competence of experts. In his essay, Poe says that one of the criticisms of Wikipedia in its early stage was the point that â€Å"unless experts were writing and vetting the material, the articles were inevitably going to be inaccurate† (Poe 275). However, human history provides evidence that refutes this statement by proving that what once was considered as absolute knowledge was later questioned. For example, in the 18th century, Isaac Newton’s laws of motion became a revolution in a scientific world and for the next 200 years they remained incontestable until Albert Einstein introduced his ideas that revealed shortcomings of Newton’s theory. Thus, society cannot blindly rely on the conclusions of experts because, at their core, they are like all other people who â€Å"pass along [their] beliefs in an effort to create people whose minds think like [theirs]† (Gilbert 171). According to Gilbert, â€Å"almost any time we tell anyone anything, we are attempting to change the way their brains operate – attempting to change the way they see the world so that their view of it more closely resembles our own† (Gilbert 171). Experts attempt to do same thing, but their reputation in society gives their ideas an advantage to be successfully transmitted and accepted as knowledge. Still, accuracy of this knowledge might be questionable in the future. In order to understand how society decides if a certain idea or belief can become knowledge, it is important to look at the process of producing knowledge. Individuals generate personal beliefs from their own views. However, these views are based on already existing socio-cultural knowledge. Afterwards, using shared language, individuals bring their ideas and beliefs to society by making public statements. Further, these beliefs may become knowledge through social interaction, communication, discussion, clarification, and negotiation. According to Gilbert, â€Å"any belief †¦ that increases communication has a good chance of being transmitted over and over again† (Gilbert 173). Therefore, social interaction is a medium that allows ideas to become a part of collaborative knowledge. However, in his essay, Gilbert points out that while â€Å"accurate beliefs give [society] power, which makes it easier to understand why they are so readily transmitted from one mind to another,† false beliefs have a great chance to be propagated if they â€Å"happen to promote stable societies †¦ because people who hold these beliefs tend to live in stable societies, which provide the means by which false beliefs propagate† (Gilbert 173). Thus, even false ideas may become knowledge if society decides so. Such decisions might lead to absurd conclusions that have no value for society. According to Poe, â€Å"the community decides that two plus two equals four the same way it decides what apple is: by consensus †¦ [but] if the community changes its mind and decides that two plus two equals five, then two plus two does equal five† (Poe 275). In other words, society has an ability to make judgments of truth and falsehood, and knowledge produced by social consensus can be misleading and inaccurate. Nevertheless, inaccurate knowledge, sooner or later, will be revealed and questioned by society because the primary purpose of knowledge is to serve the needs of society and help it to improve and grow. Individuals, as well as the whole society, can only attain success and progress if they have a reliable source of knowledge. It is a strong incentive that makes people search for truth. In his essay, Poe points out that people who contribute into Wikipedia have â€Å"no interest other then truth in doing all this work† (Poe 277). Today, the vast interconnectedness of the Internet makes it possible for individuals from all over the world to share their experiences and ideas on the global level. Thereby, collaborative knowledge can be constantly negotiated, updated, and renegotiated, and its quality may improve just like â€Å"the quality on articles [in Wikipedia] generally increases with the number of eyeballs† (Poe 276). As the process of producing collaborative knowledge improves its reliability, efficiency, and fecundity with the new era of Internet technologies, it creates a very valuable database for experts, who can use collaborative knowledge as a resource of information and experiences collected by society for expertise. According to Gilbert, â€Å"humanity is a living library of information about what it feels like to do just about anything† (Gilbert 171). Every individual possesses a great deal of unique accumulative knowledge that he or she gained throughout life. That is why experiences of other individuals should be taken into account by experts in order to produce more accurate and objective knowledge. Today, in the Internet environment, it has become much easier to find surrogates with particular experiences. Experts should consider these experiences during their research and constantly update their data and information based on collaborative knowledge. On the other hand, the fact that the Internet has gained so much popularity in society might make people neglect the role of experts in the process of producing knowledge. Since it has become relatively easy to find surrogates in the virtual environment and ask them directly about their experiences, collaborative knowledge might be sufficient enough to fulfill society’s needs as a dependable source of knowledge. In his essay, Poe points out that given the right technology, large groups of self-interested individuals will unite to create something they could not produce by themselves† (Poe 267). Wikipedia is a good example of this phenomenon. â€Å"Instead of relying on experts to write articles according to their expertise, Wikipedia lets anyone write about anything† (Poe 264). Based on a large number of individuals who are constantly working on improving articles and people’s tendencies to strive for truth, Wikipedia could become the end of the search for a reliable source of knowledge. However, it is important not to underestimate the role of experts in society. In his essay, Gilbert noticed that, if you ask a child what to do when an individual is hesitating about making some decision, the child will say that â€Å"[he or she] should ask the teacher† (Gilbert 170). Throughout all human history, experts were called in for advice on their respective subject because of their extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation in a particular area of study. Their knowledge and experiences are already unique, simply because experts spend more time studying the subject than an average person. It explains the fact that most innovations in human society were made by experts. Moreover, by collecting and systematizing experiences of other individuals, experts serve as surrogates for society as well. Overtime, results of their research projects accepted as knowledge become a part of social consensus. Thereby, expertise is still very important and must be taken into consideration by society as a source of knowledge. In order to be completely reliable, knowledge requires absolute certainty, as opposite to belief or opinion about which there is more doubt. However, as a process of social communication, knowledge is never absolute. Although its character is to be taken as final truth, knowledge remains as a subject of possible future questioning, reinterpretation, and negotiation. The Tree of Knowledge, as a source of true knowledge, is an unattainable aim for society. Neither expertise nor collaborative knowledge alone can be considered as the best way to produce knowledge. Only their collaboration can bring the most reliable results. Today, the Internet helps to speed up the processes of communication, storage, and negotiation of information that play a significant role in producing collaborative knowledge and positively affecting its quality. Thus, referring to society’s collaborative experience, experts can produce more objective and reliable knowledge. Works Cited Gilbert, Daniel. â€Å"Reporting Live from Tomorrow. † Emerging: Contemporary Readings for Writers. Ed. Barclay Barrios. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 169-189. Print. Poe, Marshall. â€Å"The Hive. † Emerging: Contemporary Readings for Writers. Ed. Barclay Barrios. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 264-277. Print. How to cite Tree of Knowledge, Papers

Truth and Socrates free essay sample

Euthyphro is a dialogue between Socrates and a traveling cleric. The two men meet at court, where the cleric, Euthyphro, claims to have a clear definition of piety. Socrates exclaims that he wishes to know the definition of piety so that he may better defend himself in his upcoming trial. Euthyphro agrees to teach Socrates, and so they begin to discuss. Early on, Socrates makes clear his desire for a universal truth, or a definition of piety that will be true in every case. Euthyphro makes several attempts to define piety in a way that satisfies Socrates. The first attempt at a definition does not satisfy Socrates because it is merely an example. In trying to define piety, Euthyphro merely states that his current undertaking at court is pious. While Socrates does not disagree outright, he presses Euthyphro for a universal definition of piety that could be used in every situation. We will write a custom essay sample on Truth and Socrates or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Euthyphro’s second definition, â€Å"what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious,† pleases Socrates because it is a universal statement. This definition is general enough to be widely applicable, and seems to outline the defining characteristics of piety. Upon closer inspection, however, Socrates finds the definition unsatisfying. Because the gods disagree about so many things, and act in contradiction to each other, it would be foolish to assume they would all agree upon the definition of piety. Euthyphro points out in his defence that all the gods would agree that Euthyphro’s current action of bringing his father to trial is pious. Socrates dismisses this, as it is not a universal definition and is essentially just another example. Euthyphro attempts to satisfy Socrates by amending his definition slightly. Piety, says Euthyphro, is what all the gods love, and the impious is what all the gods hate. Socrates is not satisfied by this definition, either, and so he tries a different tack to extract a definition from Euthyphro. Socrates does this by asking: â€Å"Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods? † When Euthyphro seems unsure, Socrates simplifies his question with an analogy. He asks Euthyphro if something is â€Å"carried† because it is â€Å"a thing carried,† or if it is â€Å"carried† because something is carrying it. Both men agree that the action confers the state of being. That is, a thing loved is so because someone loves it, and the thing itself is not creating a state of â€Å"loving† within the people around it. Likewise, being loved is not a state inherent to the thing loved, but is the result of the love others bear for the thing. Moving from his analogy back to Euthyphro’s definition, Socrates shows the fallacy in Euthyphro’s statement. Being god-loved cannot confer piety, as it confers â€Å"god-loved-ness† instead. Therefore, in Euthyphro’s statement, all the gods loving something would make that thing universally god-loved, but in no way makes it pious. An act is loved by the gods because it is pious, and not the other way around. Socrates, presumably tired of Euthyphro’s poor definitions, takes a stab at defining piety himself. He muses to Euthyphro that piety is a species of the genus justice, and that perhaps starting there would help the two men to agree on pious qualities. Socrates uses a poem as an example: â€Å"You do not wish to name Zeus, who had done it, and who made all things grow, for where there is fear there is shame. † While surely, says Socrates, those who feel shame also feel fear for their reputation or good name, those who feel fear do not necessarily feel shame as well. Being fearful of disease or poverty is not shameful, and is quite understandable. Shame is a smaller part of fear, covering a smaller area, just as piety covers a smaller area than justice, although the two entirely overlap. With a newfound agreement on the properties of piety, Socrates again asks Euthyphro to define piety by what part of justice it constitutes. Euthyphro states that â€Å"the godly and pious is the part of the just that is concerned with the care of the gods, while that concerned with the care of men is the remaining part of justice. † Socrates seems pleased by this new definition, but has one area that must be further defined – namely, the term â€Å"care for. † Socrates points out that the term â€Å"care for† means to benefit the object of care. Caring for the gods would then benefit them and make them better, an impossible act of hubris that flies in the face of the religion of the day. Euthyphro quickly enhances his definition: it’s the kind of care that a slave gives to his master. Socrates continues to press Euthyphro and demands to know what goal the gods intend to achieve by way of human service. Euthyphro gives a long-winded answer that Socrates immediately reduces to two independent clauses. The first is that the gods achieve, by way of human servitude, piety on earth in their servants’ actions. The second is that piety is the knowledge of how to sacrifice and pray. Socrates points out that Euthyphro’s latest definition reduces piety to a sort of commerce between gods and men, where pious men are the best bargainers and most skillful traders. Euthyphro agrees, although he would prefer grander wording. Socrates then asks: If pious men are trading with the gods, and the gifts from gods to men are obvious, then what are the gifts from men to gods? Euthyphro answers that the gods desire from men pleasing attitudes such as honour and reverence. Socrates once again reduces Euthyphro’s statement to a simpler form: â€Å"The pious is once again what is dear to the gods. † The argument has come full circle, back to a point where an object is conferring an action upon actors, and logical analysis leads round and back again. Socrates points this out, eager to dive back into defining piety, but Euthyphro claims he is now in a hurry and must continue the conversation some other time. While Euthyphro is unable to define piety in a convincing way, Socrates himself takes up the challenge in The Apology. While he doesn’t come right out and say it in so many words, Socrates clearly details how a man should act throughout his life and care for his soul to ensure a pious existence. According to Socrates, a man who wishes to live a pious life, insofar as he wishes to take the greatest care of his soul and follow the purest pursuits on Earth, should seek the truth in any form, at any cost. This is most clearly expressed by the statement â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living. † Socrates would presumably define piety as the pursuit of truth. Piety, in the religious world of Socrates, can be taken as a more all-encompassing trait than it might be in modern times. Because everyone in Socrates’s society participated in the same religion, piety was a universally positive trait. Good things came from the gods, and men who engaged in religious acts were generally also pillars of Athenian society. Today piety has a narrower definition. Because religion no longer holds the position it once did in the world, and because people follow so many different religions, piety has been relegated to a rather specific set of qualities, most of which involve devotion to the church. In Socrates’s time, goodness and godliness were so close as to be inseparable, and so to be pious was to be a multitude of positive adjectives that existed in the wide realm of goodness and godliness. Piety is a desirable trait in humans, spawning bravery, kindness, wisdom, and all manner of positive attributes in those who are considered to be pious. However, each of these positive attributes is directly connected with discovering truths. Bravery or courage, one of the most readily identifiable positive traits, is a special kind of knowledge (Plato, Laches 196. c). By understanding the risks and rewards of a particular action in a certain situation, brave people will risk themselves to a certain degree, presumably because they have calculated the rewards to be justifiably great. An equally courageous act, the admission of ignorance, would allow a general to withdraw his troops from a potentially compromising situation, probably to the disdain of his fellow generals. While scorn may be heaped on this general for â€Å"fleeing,† his courage and strength of character saves the lives of his soldiers to fight another day; a prouder or more ignorant general would foolishly stand his ground and lose. Prudence, it would seem in this situation, is part of bravery. The observance of the truth, that of the general’s previous ignorance of the current field of battle, allows the general to be courageous and brave. Truth is far more important than anything else. Truth is possessed by the gods, and occasionally discovered by man, perhaps by some design of the gods. When mathematics was discovered, and the objective truths of the hypotenuse and division were used, the gods were credited with the creation, or perhaps the release of, these intangible and indisputable truths. Men could not touch them, overturn them, or argue about them. They simply were. When the prophet at Delphi relayed a message from the gods, specifically that no man was wiser than Socrates, the truth of the matter was unquestioned by Socrates. Socrates, incredulous at this prophecy, began to pursue the meaning of the statement. Socrates refers to this as â€Å"my investigation in the service of god. † Wisdom, a desirable trait on its own, seems to be the knowledge of things. But how could Socrates be the wisest man? He had no knowledge of many things, such as politics, poetry, or craftsmanship. As he interviewed learned men in Greece, he began to realize an important difference. Many men in Greece had knowledge of things. They knew how to write, fight, or create, but these were not the truths Socrates sought. These were merely the men’s experiences, an amalgamation of experience. An objective truth, such as the use of a hypotenuse, was nowhere to be found. Socrates, in his staunch pursuit of truth, considered what he knew to be true in the same manner as geometry. He realized there was little he knew so well as his own ignorance – namely, the truth was that he did not know much at all. And so it became clear to Socrates that his wisdom was a by-product of the admission of his own ignorance, and that the pursuit of truth, no matter how damaging to the reputation of the seeker, was considered wise by the gods. Truth and piety became intermingled for Socrates, as he followed his divine mission in the pursuit of truth, no matter the cost to his reputation, or the danger it posed for him. Socrates’s willingness to die for the truth is an act of piety, as is his impoverished life and disregard for his reputation. When Socrates meets someone who thinks he is wise, Socrates believes he is coming to the assistance of the gods by showing that person his ignorance (Plato, Apology 23. b). Socrates devotes his whole life, and his death, to the pursuit of truth, no matter the cost. Because Socrates associates the notion of truth so closely with the gods, it could be said that his god is truth, and vice versa. When the notions of â€Å"god† and â€Å"truth† become synonymous, Socrates’s definition of piety becomes apparent.

Life of early man free essay sample

But these changes in early humans life had taken a very long time. Through Early Humans Life educational series, we are trying to take some snapshots f efforts made by early humans to become civilized. Today, we live a better life in concrete fiats and facilitated with TV, Video, schools and colleges; have variety of nutritional foods, and better means of communication and transportation. But can you imagine a life without such facilities for us? A life where there is no big society, no house to live, no good food, no clothes to wear etc. How does It feel to listen? Yes, you are right. we are talking about the wild life. And this was the life of none other than our ancestors (Early man) who used to live in Jungle nd lived a very hard life. Life style and food of early humans: Early humans lived in Jungle and were afraid of bigger and stronger wild animals. We will write a custom essay sample on Life of early man or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page t Of2 themselves behind the bushes. But it could provide them security from wild animals, rain, winter and sun heat. So, they started living in caves. As food and clothes is the basic necessity of humans, they started wrapping tree leaves and animal skin over their body to protect themselves from cold and heat. But they needed food also to live. They do not know how to grow crops in fields and finding food was not easy. In search of food, they had to go from one place to another. Earlier, they used to eat fruits from tree or roots of plants. Then they started hunting animals for food. Discovery of tools: In start, early man started killing small animals for food. But they could not kill large animals with their bare hands. So, they used sharp edged stones to kill animals. Probably, this was the first tool he had started using for his need. They kept on improving their tools with time and requirements. They found that if they tied a sharp stone to a long piece of wood, they could throw it to a wild animal at a longer istance and they did not require go near to kill it. This was the invention of a spear. Later, on they improved it by making with bones and started using tools not only for hunting but also for cutting, digging and sewing. Discovery of Fire: Early humans ate raw flesh as they did not know how to cook their food. They had seen broken out fire in Jungle severally, but did not know how to make it and how they could use it. Rather, they were afraid of it like animals. With time, they felt that they could use it for keeping themselves warm in winter. But making fire was really a big problem. So, they decided to keep Jungle fire burning and started to adding dry grass or leaves to it. But it was not a permanent solution. One day, they saw sparks coming out from rubbing stones who were rolling down from the hills or some other way and got idea to make fire by rubbing two stones. This was really a great discovery as now they were able to make fire whenever required. With time, they learnt other uses of fire too. They found that they can light up their caves and protect their family from cold and wild animals using fire. They also came to know that the roasted food is much softer than raw one and also tastier to eat and this was the beginning of cooked food. In this article, we discussed about hard life of early humans and their efforts to make it more comfortable. We explored the ways he invented tools, fire and searched better place to live in. In our next article, we shall discuss some more very interesting discoveries by early human and the expected ways he explored them. We shall also discuss his efforts to be more cultured and what make him social in behavior.

This is about weapons of mass destruction including anthrax etc...

This is about weapons of mass destruction including anthrax etc... Weapons of Mass DestructionChemical and Biological Warfare, use of harmful or deadly chemical or biological agents as weapons of war. These agents can kill many people and are considered weapons of mass destruction. Chemical weapons are made up of poisonous chemical compounds, whereas biological weapons are living microorganisms. Toxin weapons contain poisonous chemical products of living organisms and are sometimes classified separately. Chemical and biological weapons can cause injury in several ways. Most cause injury or death when inhaled, and some cause injury through contact with skin or through ingestion of contaminated food.A chemical or biological attack usually involves dispersing agents into the air. This can be done in various ways, such as firing artillery shells that burst in midair, or using airplanes to spray the agents over an area. If released outdoors, these types of weapons can be affected by weather conditions. Rain would reduce the effectiveness of the agents, a nd wind might spread them in unexpected directions.Major Tá » ± Ä Ã¡ » ©c Phang was exposed to dioxin-cont...In the 20th century, chemicals were used extensively as battlefield weapons only in World War I and the Iran-Iraq War. The release of the nerve agent sarin in a Tokyo subway in 1995 was a rare terrorist chemical attack. The mailing of anthrax bacteria to government and news media offices in the United States in 2001 was a rare terrorist biological attack.The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention are the most recent international agreements prohibiting these types of weapons. Both have been signed by many countries. Nevertheless, analysts contend that following the Iran-Iraq War, more countries began to secretly develop chemical and biological weapons, and the threat of their use has become greater. Iraq in particular has been accused of stockpiling such weapons, and Iraqi resistance to United Nations (UN) weapons inspections in...

Linguistics Language Acquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Linguistics Language Acquisition - Essay Example It is also dependent on knowledge of local linguistic situation. The best methods are therefore those that will generate interest among the students. In deciding how to develop language teaching methods and materials, three approaches will be more relevant: 1) Make use of second language acquisition theory, 2) Utilize applied linguistics research, and 3) Make use of ideas and intuition from experience. It was reported that considerably larger section (>45,000) of population of Trinidad and Tobago communicate in Trinidad English Creole (TEC) and have been using the dictionary for the same (EN1). There has been practice of code switching in which the people use English and Creole simultaneously. The behaviourist approach and the cognitive approaches were found to be effective in explaining the language acquisition by children in Caribbean islands (EN2). They will make students to mimic the words uttered by teachers and memorize the same by repeated exercise and in that process help the teachers. The language acquisition facilitates learning process as the living language generates more interest among the learners and paves the way for easily digestible mode of teaching. The importance of acquiring knowledge of linguistics in facilitating educational and learning process was confirmed by Carter,2002 (EN3). In addition, the basic knowledge about the following five theories of language acquisition by teachers is essential for effective teaching techniques in TEC. 1. The acquisition-learning disctinction. It states that language learning and language acquisition are completely different and teachers must keep this in mind while explaining in TEC. 2. The natural order hypothesis. It postulates that for a any language, some grammatical structures tend to be acquired early, others late, regardless of the first language of a speaker. 3. The monitor hypothesis. It states that the language that we have consciously learned acts as an editor in situations where the learner has enough time to edit. 4. The input hypothesis. It answers the question of how a language acquirer develops comptency over time. 5. The affective fi lter hypothesis. It concludes that motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety affect language acquisition and hence the teachers must keep this in mind while formulating theories for students in TEC. Approaches to language teaching Knowledge about different approaches to Language Teaching like grammar-translation, audio-lingualism, cognitive-code, the direct method, the natural approach, total physical response, and Suggestopedia will certainly aid in efficient teaching (EN4) in TEC. 1. Grammar-translation: It explains the grammatical rule and vocabulary and makes language acquisition more complex. 2. Audio-lingualism: It is better than the previous method in language acquisition as it allows the students to mimic the dialogue and eventually memorize it. 3. Cognitive-code: It focuses on developing all four skills of language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. 4. The direct method: It is more effective than earlier methods as it involves all discussion in the target language. The teacher uses examples of language in order to inductively teach grammar; students are to try to guess the rules of the language by the examples provided. 5.The natural

The Concept of Disinterestedness as Central for the Ethics of Kant Essay

The Concept of Disinterestedness as Central for the Ethics of Kant - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that the chief postulate of the philosophy of Kant is that the mind can know objects existing in the external world only via notions of space and time, which are sensible forms produced by the mind itself. Kant maintains that these forms, by virtue of structuring the sensual information, enable the knowledge as such, and concludes that all we know about objects is their appearance in time and space, in this way drawing attention to the fact that the mind adds something to its knowledge, fundamentally limiting itself in the process. Kant used these views as an argument in his moral philosophy to show that humans are free because it is the power of their reason that posits a moral law for their actions. In frames of the classical tradition, moral philosophy was viewed as ethics based on the human situation in the world, and on the realities external in relation to mind. Under this view, moral goodness is rooted in the natur e of man, the nature of things, and God. This approach gave rise to Natural Law theory of ethics, and since the classical period, the moral philosophy offered few new perspectives. It was Kant who offered a truly new perspective in the moral philosophy as he rationalized ethics by his exaltation of Pure Reason as a system of beliefs that does not depend on sensual experience, and at the same time used his Christian background to absolutize his moral ideal. He grounded morality not on the traditional notion of good but on the pure obligation, akin to his perception of knowledge as based on some a priori, i.e. independent of experience, forms inherent to mind. In this way, Kant replaced the traditional Christian ethics with reason, which became the factor that shapes human life, and ascribed to morality absolutized and sacred status. Thus, as the external reality has been demoted as the source of morality, a total change of the foundation of moral philosophy occurred and the rational ethics had to be separated from external objects and had to be inferred only from the internal qualities of the human mind. In Kantian disinterestedness, love is absent, which makes the ethics based on Pure Reason distinct from the traditional Christian morality. Indeed, Kant thought that to have a truly disinterested motive, any striving for good, including love and our desire for pleasure and happiness, as the end of an action must be disqualified as being not moral but as the one which is inevitably interested. Of course, the desire for pleasure, our self-interest, our self-love, and after all our prudence may seem to be related to morality, as these elements of our motivation accompany most actions of man, but for Kant they cannot constitute even slightest motives of the moral act, and instead deprive it of morality. As Kant says that the only possible thing which can be considered unqualifiedly good is a good will, therefore human desires cannot be motives for the pure and auto nomous moral will. Similarly, goodwill remains good only because it is an exposition of Pure Reason, and because it conforms to obligation exclusively for the sake of obligation, forming the only possible mode of a truly moral motivation. There is just one impulse that can lead us to this authentic motivation - reverence of the moral law because such a respect is the only factor that reason lets into moral life.

Major depression with poly-substance abuse Assignment

Major depression with poly-substance abuse - Assignment Example He had emotional problems and would cry even for silly reasons according to his wife. He had no job, despite being a graduate. The last job he did was an year ago after which he did not try for any new employment. For the past one week, James ate very little food, was restless most of the times, had easy fatigability and complained of tiredness several times. He was brought to the hospital in view of deteriorating health status. On examination, James appeared dehydrated and confused. He appeared unhygienic, dirty and unattended. he had poor oral hygiene. Pulse rate was 100 per minute, respiratory rate was 20 per minute, blood pressure was 130/90mmHg. He was afebrile. He had pallor and icterus. Systemic examination revealed tenderness in the right hypochondriac region. James was admitted to the psychiatric ward and investigations were sent. Complete blood picture revealed mild iron deficiency anemia, liver function tests were suggestive of acute hepatitis, urine analysis was suggestive of marijuana abuse. Ultrasound abdomen revealed acute fatty liver. James has Major Depressive Disorder or MDD. The condition is a common mental illness that falls into the category of mood disorders. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, 2000, diagnosis of MDD is made as in table-1. Depressed mood, irritability, low self esteem, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and guilt, decreased ability to concentrate and think, decreased or increased appetite, weight loss or weight gain, insomnia or hypersomnia, low energy, fatigue, or increased agitation, decreased interest in pleasurable stimuli (e.g., sex, food, social interactions) and recurrent thoughts of death and suicide The importance of MDD lies in the fact that it causes considerable impairment in social functioning, role functioning, employment and physical health of the afflicted person (Wells et al, 1989). Experts are of the opinion that depression is actually a

Globalisation Effect on Singapore

Globalisation Effect on Singapore Globalization can be described as an ongoing process where resources, believes, ideas and technology from different cultures are integrated to each other and promote new ways of thinking and practices among the society. As a continuing progression, globalization aroused from the influences of other cultures, which has been adapted with the local cultural conditions and modified to fit in the context of social behaviour. The external influences will directly override some local particularities, and the culture itself will be altered, or maybe damaged, or even enhanced, according to the perspective of society life. Therefore, the expression of culture itself will be interpreted and analysed in different way which encouraged the people to think, act, and learn the new disciplines in every aspect of life. These processes, hence, have an outcome of a cultural diversity, in which introducing the local values in global culture. In other words, it offered a global and local linkage of social changes that happened in the nation. Looking through the contemporary social life, globalization has become a major issue all over the world. Many countries have developed new approaches in most of the living aspects, and transformed peoples lifestyle in order to follow the major flow that happened globally. In todays modern days, globalization can act as a tool to open the opportunities of influence by other countries, and expand the cross-cultural interaction that may build up the cohesion among the nation. Globalization, however, implies to westernization in present days. The nature of western countries seems to appear as a science based tradition and the world is highly developed towards that tradition, as a sense of control. These global forces appear to superficially standardized and homogenized cultures, and equivalent to westernization. Majority of cultures are converging to the western standards, local identities have been replaced with global culture, and western values have become significant trends in this modern world. Looking at Singapore, a cosmopolitan city, where variety of cultures merges together, is one of a good example of a country that embraces globalization. Besides accepting the westernization, Singapore has been spanning borders through other cultures, such as Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Caucasian. These four interwoven cultures has created a genuine blending of traditions, believes, and ideas. A fusion of cultures in which Singapore brought in, has created a multi-disciplinary notions and practices, rooted in many cultural traditions. This synthesis has altered and transforms the peoples way of life according to the local context. On the other hand, not only western value that the world, including Singapore, has been developing on, but also majority of the countries have welcoming influences from Asian culture. Japan has brought a significant shift in the worlds globalization. Beside westernization, it has been become a popular culture among the world. Japanese culture has generated a different approach in global trends. Its tradition does not rest on science based technology and for them technology is a choice, not a necessity. Japan has greatly developed their long standing traditions towards something that instinctive rather than rationalistic way of thinking, like what the western do. Japan has its own original characteristic, which has a capacity to adapt and integrate new forms and function. Hence, there is no doubt that Japanese influence has an impact on the worlds culture, such as, in space, design, architecture, style, and even food culture. There is no large city in the world in which a Japanese restaurant cannot be found. Far from being a passing fad, Japanese cuisine is an establishment item in restaurants all over the world. The popularity of Japanese food is in part due to its reputation as a healthy alternative and also the curiosity and willingness to constantly introducing new tastes in their daily meals. Japanese way of dining, since the olden days, has put emphasized on food arrangement as a piece of art. For the Japanese, food must be enjoyed visually and pleasing to the eyes. They have developed the aesthetic sense to design exquisite harmony between colours, texture and shape throughout the food arrangement. This visual pleasure is an essential prelude and accompaniment to the savoury pleasure that follow. The influence of Japanese cuisine has been successfully creating a new atmosphere in Singapore food culture. It is proven that Singapore people accepted the taste and ambience of Japanese food by looking to the increasing number of sushi chain restaurant, such as Sushi Tei, Sakae Sushi; numerous traditional and contemporary Japanese restaurant, and also Japanese themed food court such as Ishimura and Manpuku. The diversity of food which has been influenced by Japanese cuisine, has become an inspiration for the designers to introduce innovative and exciting solutions to design dining spaces, through the essential aspect of Japanese dining and design in new ways that suit todays restaurant-goers. Recognizing the context of social behaviour in Singapore, innovation is the key elements for Singaporean. In terms of food culture, people like an excitement and it is a challenge for them to try something fresh and different, both in food and also ambience of dining space. Experience is another strong point, another extra ordinary atmosphere can attract people to get in and try a new restaurant. Besides the tendency to look for new things, the image of Singapore as a fast paced country gave an impact to the society. The time-oriented and multi-tasking people have built a busy working environment and hectic lifestyle in this metropolis city. Consequently, they are likely dont have time to have the luxury of enjoying social fellowship during the weekdays. This could be why it seems that forms of entertainment in Singapore tend to be designed to fit peoples activity on weekends. The big leisure activity that Singapore offers is shopping. There are numerous numbers of malls and shopping centres have been build or even renovated to drag people in the shopping as an attraction. Other than shopping; casinos, theme parks, nature reserves, are the other forms of leisure that Singapore provided. Despite the fact that all those type of facilities can serve as a very relaxing and stress relieving activity, people need to spend their time on weekend to do these activities.

Relationships Between Mothers and Daughters in Tans The Joy Luck Club

Relationships Between Mothers and Daughters in Tan's The Joy Luck Club â€Å"Now the woman was old.   And she had a daughter who grew up speaking only English and swallowing more Coca-Cola than sorrow.   For a long time now the woman had wanted to give her daughter the single swan feather and tell her, â€Å"This feather may look worthless, but it comes from afar and carries with it all my good intentions.†Ã‚   And she waited, year after year, for the day she could tell her daughter this in perfect American English (Tan 3).† The American culture focuses more on the individual.   Typical Americans always want to be independent.   Traditionally, they never appreciate anything that they have, are selfish, and ignorant to other cultures.   On the other hand, the Chinese culture has many strong beliefs concerning the family.   Chinese women value their parents, especially their mothers.   It is expected that their daughters also do the same.   â€Å"Women from Asia value family.   Family is all important.   Husband, children, parents, relatives come first.   Husband and children never take second place to her career (China Bride).†Ã‚   The Joy Luck Club emphasizes family values by explaining how each mother, Suyuan Woo, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair, came to America so that their daughters could have better lives and everything that they didn’t have.   Because the daughters in The Joy Luck Club were born in America, they wanted to be more Americanized than t o recognize their true Chinese culture.   In particular, Waverly Jong was less successful than her mother, Lindo, in finding her true identity.   Lindo honors family and self.   Waverly has a hard time finding her true identity.   She builds a wall between her and her mother and tries to be he... ... when she â€Å"let’s her mother in†.   Waverly lets her mother in when they are at the salon.   Lindo tells her daughter about her childhood and how she ended up in America.   She tells Waverly that she named her after the street they lived on so that when she grew up and left, that she would take a piece of her with her.   Waverly finally understands her mother.   â€Å"Her mother has been waiting for Waverly to let her in, to accept her Chinese heritage so that she can accept Waverly’s Chinese-American future (49).† Works Cited Carey, Gary.   Cliff notes on Amy Tan’s   The Joy Luck Club. Lincoln, Nebraska. Cliff Notes. 1994. The China Bride. 23 March 2000. http://www.chinabride.com/gen/whyasia.html Chinese –American Women in The United States. Liu, Spring. 1997. http://www.ics.uci.edu/~tdo/ea/chineseWomen.html Tan, Amy.   The Joy Luck Club. New York. Ivy Books.1989.

Costal Features Along Maracas Bay

Tides often determine the range over which sediment is deposited or eroded. Areas with high tidal ranges allow waves to reach farther up the shore, and areas with lower tidal ranges produce deprossosition at a smaller elevation interval. The tidal range is influenced by the size and shape of the coastline. Tides do not typically cause erosion by themselves; however, tidal bores can erode as the waves surge up river estuaries from the ocean. [3] Waves erode coastline as they break on shore releasing their energy; the larger the wave the more energy it releases and the more sediment it moves.Coastlines with longer shores have more room for the waves to disperse their energy, while coasts with cliffs and short shore faces give little room for the wave energy to be dispersed. In these areas the wave energy breaking against the cliffs is higher, and air and water are compressed into cracks in the rock, forcing the rock apart, breaking it down. Sediment deposited by waves comes from eroded cliff faces and is moved along the coastline by the waves. This forms an abrasion or cliffed coast. Sediment deposited by rivers is the dominant influence on the amount of sediment located on a coastline. 4] Today riverine deposition at the coast is often blocked by dams and other human regulatory devices, which remove the sediment from the stream by causing it to be deposited inland. Like the ocean which shapes them, coasts are a dynamic environment with constant change. The Earth's natural processes, particularly sea level rises, waves and various weather phenomena, have resulted in the erosion, accretion and reshaping of coasts as well as flooding and creation of continental shelves and drowned river valleys

Progressive Reform essays

Progressive Reform essays Despite the creation of the NAACP in 1909, many progressive reformers tended to be Anglo-Saxon elitists critical of the lack of accomplishments of African Americans, and other diverse, ethnic groups. At first led by the most influential black leader of the day, Booker T. Washington, and later continued with scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, African American reforms were beginning mold together and take form. Washington and Du Bois, achieved success in the reforms of blacks in America, all while holding different strategies and perspectives. Although Booker T. Washingtons methods were appropriate in that past time, W. E.B Du Bois had some good points that fit in more with modern society. Their success however contained errors in spite that Washingtons views were that of a realists and Du Bois of an idealist. Born a slave, Booker T. Washington was an educated man who gave his life to promote the education of blacks, and believed strongly that education was the first step to acceptance. He was not wealthy, and saved pennies for his own schooling by sleeping under a board sidewalk. Washington started an industrial school for blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama, teaching the students useful trades; where it was said by one Black activist and newspaper editor, What is practical will best fit these young people for the work of life. Booker T. believed that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. Therefore, the educating blacks would elevate them in societys opinion, and eventually prejudice would die away. In an 1895 speech delivered at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, Washington outlined the key themes of a realists philosophy. Cast down your buckets where you are, Washington told black people, meaning they should focus on improving their vocational skills as in...

Chronology in Death of a Salesman †English Essay (100 Level Course)

Chronology in Death of a Salesman – English Essay (100 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Chronology in Death of a Salesman English Essay (100 Level Course) Arthur Miller uses irregular chronological sequencing to convey themes to the reader effectively. Strategically placed flashbacks help to explain what Willy is feeling and why he is struggling in life now. These flashbacks give the reader insight to the past that has caused his troubled present. In addition, they serve to illustrate Willy’s mental breakdown caused by a hard-fought life. Willy expresses his idea of the â€Å"American Dream† throughout the play. His idea is that success will magically descend upon those who wait for it. In other words, success is not measured by hard work and perseverance and you cannot earn it, it has to find you and decide that â€Å"it† will make you successful. Willy displays this to Biff his entire life and now Biff cannot work for anyone. Biff tells this to Willy at the end of the play. The reader sees Willy have flashbacks earlier in the book to when Biff was still a quarterback for his school. He fills Biff’s head with fantasies about being well liked and successful, but ignores the fact presented by Bernard that Biff is failing math and could possibly not graduate because of it. Yet, Willy even goes so far as to convince him not to go to summer school after he fails math. The flashback to the time this occurs aids the reader in being able to understand why Biff is unsuccessful now. Without it, on e might speculate and perceive the problem differently, being caused by different reasons. The sequencing is integral to the storyline because it shows the reader why a problem is happening the way it is after the problem is identified. Another way that flashbacks assist the reader is the way they tell the prequel to the story during the actual storyline. These flashbacks are broken up and dispersed throughout the play and make their appearances at their respective times. This helps to show major themes of the play by giving better explanation to the messages be given to the reader by way of the problems and situations facing the characters. For example, Willy’s flashback of Ben’s visit and the constant visions of him show that Willy’s own flashbacks serve to reinforce his distorted view of how to be successful and live life. Many times when he was in doubt, he imagined Ben telling him of how he walked into the jungle and walked back out a rich man. Willy convinced himself that this would happen to him if he were patient enough. This caused Willy to ignore reality and try to live out a fantasy in the unforgiving real world. In all, putting the background in with the storyline helped to sh ow more effectively how and why the many problems presented in the book occurred. Research Papers on Chronology in Death of a Salesman - English Essay (100 Level Course)Mind TravelThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenHip-Hop is ArtHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Capital PunishmentThe Masque of the Red Death Room meanings19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

Conrad Black trial Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conrad Black trial - Assignment Example ted that was initiated by his company’s shareholders and was later sentenced for a period of over six years for conducting fraudulent and justice obstruction. Jack Boultbee held the position of CFO (Chief Financial Officer) with the newspaper publish company named Hollinger and was trustworthy companion of Conrad Black and remained with him for over a period of 20 years. He even owned 0.68% of the shares of the Hollinger organization and was one of the convicted members of the Conrad Black trial which was started by the shareholders of the company. He was asked to leave the company but he never accepted to leave his position and later he was fired during the period of 2003. In the Conrad Trial, his lawyers never accepted the charges that were levied against him. Peter Atkinson is recognized for being a general counsel with the newspaper publishing company named Hollinger and had the responsibility of keeping a check on the legal affairs of the organization. He was born and brought up in a small town in the region of North Toronto and started his career as a worker with a factory along with a grocery store and later he financed himself to complete his law education. He became a part of the Hollinger organization during 1996 after providing legal services at a Canada based law organization for over a period of twenty years. In the Conrad trial he was held responsible for assisting his bosses of Hollinger in committing fraud. Mark Kipnis is recognized for being an in-house lawyer of the Hollinger firm and had the responsibility of signing documents that were detailed in nature and he even signed several of the deals that ended up being controversial and litigated. He was not held responsible for sharing the profits that the organization earned through their illegal activity but was held responsible for accepting a bonus of $150,000 to keep his mouth shut for the illegal activities (CBC News 1). He is a married man and has four children to his name. His lawyers

Determinants of an Exchange Rate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Determinants of an Exchange Rate - Essay Example The exchange rates between countries are also essential in determining the balance of payments. According to Levich (2001) there is no general theory of exchange rate determination. Various economists apply different theories to come up with the short-run and long-run determinants of exchange rates. However, most of them agree that exchange rates are determined by parity conditions such as inflation, interest rates, and purchasing power. They are also determined by terms of trade, government expenditure and political risks (Dwivedi, 2010). The aim of this paper is to evaluate the main determinants of exchange rate behaviour in the short-run and long-run and explain why exchange rates tend to be volatile and notoriously hard to predict. To better understand the exchange rates, the paper will first discuss the foreign exchange market and then it will look at the exchange rate regimes. It will then discuss the exchange rate determination in foreign exchange market using combination of b alance of payment and asset approach to determination of exchange rate. The IS-LM model developed by Hicks will be used to analyse the changes in the product and money market which have a bearing on exchange rates through balance of payments. This is a market where currencies are traded or domestic currency is exchanged for foreign currency. The market is assumed to be efficient in that the price of the currency in the market is determined by forces of demand and supply (Carbaugh, 2011). The financial market like goods.

Logistical issues in the Brazilian coffee supply chain Thesis

Logistical issues in the Brazilian coffee supply chain - Thesis Example is has been facilitated through an in-depth analysis of facts and figures related to production, exports, quality, logistics processes and problems associated with the coffee industry in Brazil. 1. Coffee Production in Brazil 1.1 Production Quantity & Trends Coffee is classified into two types of beans: arabica and robusta. Arabica is cultivated in majority of the coffee producing nations with its share accounting for about 80% of the production. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Brazilian coffee production is expected to reach about 3.78 million metric tons in 2012 (sfgate.com). Based on estimates for the year 2012 and actual figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the coffee production quantities (in million Metric Tons) are shown in the form of a graph below: Figure 1: Coffee Production: Brazil – 10 year trend (Source: Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012) As it can be seen, the coffee production in Braz il has not changed significantly over the years. While the growth rate has been in the region of 2 to 4% annually, the only surprising spike observed (estimates for 2012) is for the year 2012, where almost 30% gain is expected to be reported over the previous year. It also helps to have an overview of the state wise coffee production in Brazil. Refer Table 1 for the state-wise production. (The values are in million 60-kg bags). Table 1: Brazil’s state-wise Coffee production trend (in million 60-kg bags) Â   MY 2001/02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Minas Gerais 16.20 26.70 14.40 21.40 16.30 23.70 18.10 25.75 21.00 Espirito Santo 9.70 11.50 7.90 8.10 8.40 10.00 10.40 11.80 10.40 Sao Paulo 3.20 5.90 3.10 4.90 3.30 4.90 3.10 4.85 4.20 Parana 0.50 2.60 2.20 2.60... This research will begin with the presentation of coffee production in Brazil. Coffee is classified into two types of beans: arabica and robusta. Arabica is cultivated in majority of the coffee producing nations with its share accounting for about 80% of the production. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Brazilian coffee production is expected to reach about 3.78 million metric tons in 2012. Based on estimates for the year 2012 and actual figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the coffee production quantities (in million Metric Tons) are shown in the paper. According to the research findings the coffee production in Brazil has not changed significantly over the years. While the growth rate has been in the region of 2 to 4% annually, the only surprising spike observed (estimates for 2012) is for the year 2012, where almost 30% gain is expected to be reported over the previous year. It also helps to have an overview of the state wise coff ee production in Brazil. Refer Table 1 for the state-wise production. (The values are in million 60-kg bags). It can be observed that the ratio of Arabica to Robusta is in the region of 70% to 77%. While Arabica is higher quality coffee beans grown at high altitudes, robusta is lower grade coffee beans which can flourish on medium and lower altitudes also. The state of Minas Gerais has accounted for maximum production of coffee, largely on account of its geography. Moreover, it was one of the earliest states to start production of coffee.

US-China Trade History 1980-Present Essay Example for Free

US-China Trade History 1980-Present Essay US -China relations became a breakthrough in history in 1979 when both countries came together and diplomatically ensued a positive political and economic future. A small but well beginning started in 1980 when U. S. -China trade was $2 billion, which was the summation of both imports and exports. At the time China was the United States’ 48th largest source of imports and 23rd largest export market. U. S. -China trade in the past 30 years has dramatically increased ever since. U. S. -China trade in 1981 rose from $5 billion to $503 billion in 2011. As of now China is the United States’ second biggest trading partner (behind Canada), third biggest export market (Canada being first, Mexico second), and number one source of imports. In 1985 the U. S. trade deficit with China was $0 billion with U. S. imports equaling U. S. exports to China. Being that U. S. imports from China are higher and are now increasing more than U. S. exports to China; the U. S. merchandise trade deficit has risen from $10 billion in 1990 to $296 billion in 2011. Today China currently now owns the title of having the single highest U. S. rade balance deficit (with the combined world economy leading ahead China). With OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) being second the highest, and the European Union with its 27 members being third; their combined U. S. trade balance deficit being $237. 8 billion is still no match for China’s nearly $296 billion in today’s economy. China is trading more than ever and has become a big player in the global export market. At their peak of economic growth, cheap labor is their primitive and the key to what makes their exports so attractive to foreigners. The United States, once the world’s leader of exports is now the third largest global exporter following behind Germany and China. The United States and other advanced countries are now struggling to compete with China and those other developing nations who utilize their low wage comparative advantage in manufacturing. From what looked like an unpredictable beginning for the United States and China now appears to be an economic complexity for both parties and the global economy. Beneficiaries of U. S. -China Current and Potential Trade As China’s rapidly economy grows, the standard of living of its people dealistically will too. With a determined future full of growth China is aiming to modernize and innovate itself as an advanced nation. According to the Boeing Corporation â€Å"Boeing Corporation predicts that over the next 20 years (2011-2030), China will buy 5,000 new commercial airplanes valued at $600 billion and will be Boeing’s largest commercial airplane customer outside the United States†. Besides purchasing American prestige airlines, China will also have to improve its infrastructure. In the process it must buy raw materials from the global market in order to build new roads, buildings, and etc. New homes will be built along with suburban neighborhoods filled with middle income citizens. Their demand for home appliances and personal entities will increase private consumption among the population. According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group, â€Å"in 2009, China had 148 million middle class and affluent consumers, defined as those whose annual household income was 60,000 RMB ($9,160) or higher, and that level is projected to rise to 415 million by 2020†. The rise in China’s middle class will be a targeted market for American companies thus creating future export opportunities for the United States. As stated on the GM website â€Å"For the first time in its history, General Motors (GM) in 2010 sold more cars and trucks in China (at 2. 35 million units) than it did in the United States (2. 21 million units). In 2011, GM sold 2. 55 million vehicles in China (up 8. 3% over 2010 levels) versus 2. 50 million in the United States. GM in China currently has 11 joint ventures and two wholly owned foreign enterprises and employs more than 35,000 workers†. China’s growing economy and large population of over 1. 3 billion people make it a potentially enormous market for the world and most importantly the United States. China is currently a $200 billion market for U. S. firms making it a crucial part of the U. S. economy. The top Chinese exports to the United States in 2011 were communications equipment, computer equipment, clothes, semiconductors, and manufactured goods such as toys and games. American businesses that receive Chinese imports thrive and maximize their profits because of their ability produce their product cheap at the expense of low wage labor in China. This allows them to lower costs of their product giving them a more competitive edge in the global market. Not only has trade with China over recent history benefitted entrepreneurs but American consumers as well. Wal-Mart for example sells mostly Chinese made products at a very low price. American consumers benefit greatly because of this and it allows them to buy more for less. As a result, United States trade with China has benefitted both economies throughout the course of their trading history. According to some economist, if there are economic reforms in China the United States will soon benefit from an upcoming available Chinese middle class market. World Trade Organization After 15 years of diplomatic issues that started in 1986, China in 2001 finally became a member of the international trading system. Once a member, China agreed to: a) Reduce the average tariff for industrial goods from 17% to 8. 9% and average tariffs on U. S. priority agricultural products from 31% to 14%. b) Regularly address the WTO of government subsidies it provides. c) In three years’ time after becoming a member it must give full trade and distribution rights to foreign enterprises. ) Provide equal treatment to all WTO members by treating foreign firms in China the same as to those domestic firms in China. e) End discriminatory trade policies against foreign invested firms in China regarding domestic content rules and technology transfer requirements f) Implement the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement upon entry g) Fully open its banking system to foreign financial institutions by the end of 200 6 and h) Allow joint ventures in insurance and telecommunication. In all, the intention for Chinas’ entry was good, giving hope that it would become a more dependable and secure trading partner for the United States. U. S. trade officials argue that in the first years after its entry to the WTO, China made steady progress in adopting economic reforms that promoted its conversion toward a market economy by increasing openness to trade. Nevertheless in 2006 China’s improvement towards a free market appeared to have digressed. U. S. government and business officials realized that by 2008 China began implementing a more restrictive trade strategy among its regime. Signs of China’s failure to implement WTO agreements were noticed as China began: a) discriminating against foreign firms, while continuing to promote Chinese industrial policies and national standards b) failing to meet restrictions regarding trading and distribution rights and c) discriminating on which imports to enforce health and safety rules. In May of 2012 President Obama proposed to create a new trade enforcement unit that will facilitate unfair trading practices in major exporting countries such as China. This may eventually give rise to the amount of dispute settlement cases in the WTO against China. Conclusion The emergence of developing nations as well as some advanced nations created a window of opportunity for United States’ exports. The world’s global capitalism movement lead by the United States has helped those who wanted an American style of living by obtaining it through China’s contirbution to manufacture American goods at a low cost. The growth and expansion of American multinational corporations is due to outsourcing U.  S. manufacturing jobs to China. This has benefitted the Chinese rural population by the creation of jobs in poverty stricken areas. Even though the jobs created are low waged and offer little to no worker safety, one must realize opportunity for a better life for those who are willing to work in China. Over the course of 30 years of U. S –China trade, Americans have gained more than they have lost as a result of China’s low cost exports (whether some Americans they like to admit it or not). Analysts around the world are now providing evidence that China’s middle class is growing as rapid as its economy. With U. S. -China trade expected to grow in the next 20 years, many economic reforms in China must first be dealt with in order to secure the stability of China’s demanding middle class. China is now being seen as a potentially huge U. S. export destination and because of this Americans will soon benefit from the creation of the millions of capital based jobs in the United States in the upcoming future.

new zealand politics 1984-1993 Essay example -- essays research papers

On July 6 1984, the fourth Labour government were elected into parliament after defeating the National party in a snap election. 1984 can be regarded as a major turning point in New Zealand political history in the sense that significant political changes affected the whole of the New Zealand society, economy and political structure. New Zealand government’s experimented with radical Neoliberal policy programmes to achieve economic and social progress during this period. The essay shall discuss the central features of the process of policy change over the period of 1984 to 1993 in New Zealand. These reforms were among the most sweeping in scope and scale within any industrialised democracy. There are a significant number of historical and institutional similarities between Australia and New Zealand which make them a fertile ground for comparative analysis. This essay shall compare industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s, integrating both institutionalist and interest-based approaches. Within comparative politics there are two main approaches to the impact of economic change on national policy patterns. The first, new institutionalism has been very influential in comparative industrial relations. The second, which focuses on the role of interests, has also been significant in New Zealand and Australian politics. The concept of institutionalism is central to the analysis of the reform episode that took place in New Zealand. Institutions are the rules of the game in a society or, more formally, are the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction (North,1990:3). Zucker defines Institutionalism as a fundamentally cognitive process (1983:25). In comparison, Immergut argues that the theoretical core of the new institutionalism is the view that there is a tendency for certain arrangements in social life to persist over institutions and for these institutional arrangements to affect not just strategic actions but also the preference formation of social actors (1998:7). Immergut stresses the fundamentals of the concept of institutionalism can be problematic as there are many conflicting definitions and analysis. â€Å"Since the common research interest is in the black box between potential political demands and ultimate outcomes, it does not make sense to predefine the contents of this box. A standard definit... ...liams Books. Kasper, W. (1996) ‘Free to Work: The Liberalisation of New Zealand's Labour Market,’ Policy Monograph 32, Centre for Independent Studies, Sydney. Maloney, T. (1997). Benefit Reform and Labour Market Behaviour in New Zealand.’ Institute of Policy Studies, Victoria University: Wellington. McClure, M. (1998). ‘The Reluctant State: 1984-1998’ in ‘A Civilised Community: A History of Social Security in New Zealand 1898-1998’. Auckland University Press: Auckland. North, D. (1990) ‘Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance.’ New York: Cambridge University Press. Rankin, S., St John, S. (1998). ‘Quantifying the Welfare Mess’ (Policy Discussion Paper 22) Department of Economics: University of Auckland. Schwartz, H. (2000). ‘Internationalization and Two Liberal Welfare States Australia and New Zealnd’ in Scharpf, Fritz & Schmidt, Vivien, (eds). ‘Welfare and Work in the Open Economy’ (vol 2), Oxford University Press: New York. Shipley, J. (1991). ‘Welfare That Works,’ Minister of Social Welfare, Wellington Zucker, L. (1983) ‘Organizations as Institutions’, in Bacharach, S (ed). ‘Research in the Sociology of Organizations,’ Greenwich: JAI Press.

Essay --

Mise en scene is a French term, which refers to the visual and design elements of a film. Literally, it is what we actually see on the screen – locations, sets, background details, costumes, even the use of colour and lighting. Mise en scene is used to describe every scene, including framing, composition, costuming, setting, objects, lighting, sound and camera angles. Everything is done purposely and intentionally. Setting of a film can be shot either in a studio or on location, depending on the film’s budget, and how realistic or natural the director wishes the film to look. Setting is about the time, place and social environment in which the main backdrop and mood of the story is. In this film, we have a few settings, such as the idyllic Seahaven and the â€Å"real† world in the film. This show is about a man, Truman Burbank who lived in an idyllic town of Seahaven. However, he was unaware that he was placed on a stage setting complete with a false sky, that everyone else was an actor and that his entire life was being broadcast to the millions of people who tuned in everyday. â€Å"The Truman Show† was directed by the TV director Christof – from his vantage point in the sky (Propagandee, 2012). Thus, when he saw a light fall from the sky and he heard the director’s voice on the radio, Truman began to become suspicious. He remembered Lauren, an actress who had told him that it was just a TV show and so, he went to find her. He travelled across the sea, talked to Christof and then climbed a flight of stairs in the sky, escaping into the outside world. Unbeknownst to him, Truman Burbank's whole life has been the subject of a hugely popular 24-hour-per-day television show entitled â€Å"The Truman Show† (Propagandee, 2012). Camera Shots In the ... ... was talking to. The non diegetic sound of a violin added a creepy effect to what was happening on screen. Meryl said ‘it’s unprofessional’ when she was talking to the studio and the crew members directly. (Seb Patrick, 2011). The creator of the Truman show said ‘easy on the fog’ showing that the father son reunion was being played out perfectly for the viewers of the world. The timing and dramatic piano music being played perfectly coincide to what was on the screen, which on the other hand, it was a non diegetic music being played. Truman said, ‘I never stopped believing’ because he truly believed his ‘father’ had come back from the dead, yet we knew as an audience it had been set up deliberately and perfectly to coincide with the previous events. At the end the diegetic cheers from the crew of the TV show and watchers allowed the audience to see it was a success.

Information Technology Ethics Issues Article Summary Essay

Message With today’s advances in technology, software development and usage is paramount. Software connects computer’s hardware to users. Without software, computers would be useless. Unfortunately due to the complex nature and high demand for many software systems, the prices have sharply risen. A Seattle man, Rex Yang and a few friends decided they could capitalize on this high demand, high price market. To keep their overhead down and maximize on profits, the group chose a less than ethical route. According to an article in Forbes, Yang and the other participants in the software scam worked since 2009, obtaining and selling fraudulent product activation keys for Microsoft and other software programs through e-commerce websites. The participants traded product key codes over email and wired money to each other between different bank accounts. They allegedly operated a series of ecommerce sites, claiming to be selling the product activation keys legally, and received many â€Å"cease and desist† letters from Microsoft. It is thought the group may have made at least $30 million in profits over the years. That surge in profit from pirated software began to fall apart in 2013. In April 2013, Homeland Security Investigation Agents, received a tip that the owner of a company called â€Å"Software Slashers† was selling counterfeit computer software and DVDs, mostly from China. Through the investigation, Yang’s wrongdoing was uncovered. Although no criminal charges have been filed to date, the process of seizing property has begun. At the end of 2014, HSI Special Agents began seizing bank accounts and assets connected to the pirated software. Over $7 million in liquid assets (as shown in the table below) were taken; CASH BITCOIN LITECOIN 7,000,000 105 900 In addition, the following items were also seized; Vehicles, including a Porsche Gold and Silver Four Rolex watches (one studded with diamonds) A Diamond ring The seizure of property is often the first step in these investigations, eventually leading into criminal preceding. Software piracy is taken very seriously in the United States, and companies do not take kindly to others stealing their software and activation codes. This group of unethical individuals will most certainly face a legnthy prison term and possible the liability of restitution.

MADAME BOVARY Essays - Films, Madame Bovary, English-language Films

MADAME BOVARY Essays - Films, Madame Bovary, English-language Films MADAME BOVARY - The story starts as we see Charles Bovary entering a new school in the town of Rouen in France. People laugh at him because he isn't sure what to do and how to act. He is the son of a doting mother and a very strict father. Charles isn't sure what to do with his life and therefore does as his mother advices him; to go to medical school. He fails at first because he didn't work for it in class, but the second time he does and he passes the exam and becomes a doctor in the town of Tostes. He is well liked in town because people see him as a hard working man. Because he is still single and his mother thinks he shouldn't be, she arranges a marriage only for the money with an ungly widow, Heloise Dubuc. One day Charles is called to a farm because someone has broken his leg. On the farm he meets Emma Rouault, the daughter of the farm owner. He likes her very much and keeps coming back to her father to check up on his leg, even after his leg has fully healed. They get on very well and they dicide to get married, even with protest of his former wife which dies soon after because of a stroke. They arrange a huge wedding and loads of people are invited to it. They party on for days and days and there's food enough for a whole army. Because his practice isn't where the farmer lives, they return to Tostes. And this is where are the misery starts for Emma. When Charles is out in the country for house visits, Emma just sits at home doing nothing. All she does is read, watch the rain and she used to play the piano, but quit because she feels that nobody listened to her anyway. She hoped to get the love from her husband in the same way that the main characters in the novels she read get love, but that doesn't happen. She is bored to death. She is starting to get irritated by Charles' way of living and the way he behaves sometimes. One day they go to a party of the maquis and there she meets the life that she wants to live. She doesn't want Charles to dance because she feels that it would embarras her and instead dances the night away with a Viscount and meets all the rich. When they return back home, she becomes even more miserable because she misses all those things now. Charles notices this and talks with another doctor and together they conclude that a change of scenery might be good for her and they decide to move to Yonville. At the time that they move, Emma discovers that she is pregnant. In Yonville, life isn't that much different from the life she'd lived before, but now she meets someone who is interested in the same things as she is; Leon Dupuis, a clerk. Emma is now close to giving birth to a baby and she is hoping that it's going to be a boy so that he can be strong and free, but her hopes are lost when it turns out that it is a boy; Berthe. As time passes, Emma continues her life and finds out that she is in love with Leon, but they don't start any relationship. Eventually, Leon moves to Paris to study there and Emma is again left in misery. Rodolphe meets Emma and she really is attracted to her, but in a sexual way; he thinks that Emma is beautiful. He manages to talk Emma into seducing her and it works. Emma starts to get more and more interested in Rodolphe and they start spending more and more time togeter, for example, they go to the agricultural show together. Emma starts meeting him in secret and he even comes to their house where they make love. Rodolphe decides that to keep the love going, he should leave for a few weeks and that's what he does. And it seems to work, because after six weeks, Emma can't wait to see him again. One day when Emma decides to go back to Rodolphe, she passes passed by Bines, who knew that she had nothing to

A Guide to Internal Punctuation

A Guide to Internal Punctuation A Guide to Internal Punctuation A Guide to Internal Punctuation By Mark Nichol This post outlines the functions of punctuation marks employed within a sentence: the comma, the semicolon, the colon, and ellipses. Comma A comma performs a number of functions, including setting off elements of a list (â€Å"I’m going to order soup, salad, and an entrà ©e†) combining with a conjunction to separate two independent clauses (â€Å"She ordered dinner, but she declined the dessert menu†) separating a preceding dependent clause from the main clause (â€Å"Depending on the size of the entrà ©e, I might not order dessert†) separating a nonrestrictive relative clause from the main clause (â€Å"We were overwhelmed by the menu, which was six pages long†) setting off an adverb from the main clause (â€Å"Ordinarily, I would not order dessert†; â€Å"I would, ordinarily, not order dessert†; â€Å"I would not order dessert, ordinarily†) framing parenthetical phrases (â€Å"I will, just this once, order dessert†) setting off an appositive (â€Å"My favorite dessert, cheesecake, is missing from the menu†) setting off coordinate adjectives (â€Å"I feel like having a big, thick slice of cheesecake for dessert†) setting off an attribution from a quotation (â€Å"My friend said, ‘I’m going to order dessert’†) setting off one or more words identifying the subject of direct address (â€Å"John, are you going to order dessert?†) setting off a date from a year and parenthesizing the year (â€Å"January 1, 2018, dawned just like any other day†) setting off a city name from a state or country name and parenthesizing the state or country name (â€Å"Lebanon, Kansas, is the geographic center of the contiguous United States†) setting off a surname from a given name when the first-name, last-name order is inverted (â€Å"She is listed as ‘Doe, Jane’†) indicating ellipsis of one or more words (â€Å"Everything was as I remembered it- the church was white, the barn, red†). A comma should not separate a subject and a verb (as in the erroneous sentence â€Å"The tiramisu, is sublime†) except when it is closing a parenthetical phrase (â€Å"The tiramisu, as expected, is sublime†) or setting off repetition of a verb (â€Å"What it is, is sublime†). Likewise, a verb and its direct object should not be split asunder (as shown in the incorrectly punctuated sentence â€Å"She intuitively grasped, that she was in trouble.†) Another error that involves a comma is a comma splice, in which a comma, rather than a stronger punctuation mark such as a semicolon or a dash, appears between two independent clauses not separated by a conjunction, as in â€Å"You see a half-empty glass, I see a half-full one.† (An exception can be made for brief declarations, as in Julius Caesar’s famous summary â€Å"I came, I saw, I conquered.†) Semicolon The semicolon has two primary functions. First, it unites two closely related independent clauses, as in â€Å"You see a half-empty glass; I see a half-full one.† (In such cases, it takes the place of a period or a conjunction; including both a semicolon and a conjunction is an error.) Second, it replaces two or more commas in an in-line list (a list with a sentence) when one or more of the list items itself includes commas, as in â€Å"The names, as listed, are Doe, Jane; Jones, William; and Smith, John† or â€Å"I spotted many squirrels; several deer; and a hawk, an osprey, and a heron.† (If the list organization is obvious, as when list items begin with distinct verbs, commas may be employed, as in â€Å"She shopped at the supermarket, visited the bank and the credit union, and ran errands at the hardware store, the drugstore, and the dry cleaner’s.†) Earlier usage included setting off coordinate clauses in complex sentences or to otherwise signal a more pronounced pause than a comma would suggest, but these approaches, especially the former, are outdated. In quoted material, a semicolon always follows a close quotation mark. Also, the mark may seem too formal in the midst of a sentence in quotation marks; a dash more clearly conveys a transition to a separate assertion or idea, as in â€Å"Mary said, ‘Don’t go in the abandoned house- it’s not safe in there’† rather than â€Å"Mary said, ‘Don’t go in the abandoned house; it’s not safe in there.’† Colon A colon precedes quoted material set up by a complete statement rather than an attribution (â€Å"His reply was succinct: ‘Not a chance’†) an explanation (â€Å"We declined the invitation primarily for one reason: He insists on driving, and we don’t feel safe as his passengers†) a list (â€Å"The meal consists of the following courses: appetizer, salad, entrà ©e, and dessert†). It is also employed between pairs of numbers to represent ratios (â€Å"The results indicate a 5:3 ratio†) in references to time (â€Å"The next train is at 1:35†) in numerical representations of elapsed time (â€Å"The record stands at 3:26.00†) when citing biblical verses (â€Å"John 3:16 expresses the same sentiment†). A colon also separates a book’s title and subtitle or, in bibliographies, the city where a publisher is located and the name of the publisher. In formal writing, it follows the salutation. A colon always follows a close quotation mark. Ellipses Ellipsis means omission, but it primarily refers to a succession of three periods, called ellipses, usually interspersed with letter spaces, or a single symbol representing three periods. Style guides differ in which form is preferred, but the ellipsis symbol looks cramped, and use of ellipses (a series of periods) is more visually pleasing. Ellipses represent omission of one or more words in the middle of a sentence (â€Å"A friend . . . knows all about you and still loves you†); generally, they are unnecessary when omitting what precedes a partial quotation. The use of ellipses as terminal punctuation will be discussed in a separate post. Dash Uses of the dash are detailed in this post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before Words"Confused With" and "Confused About"10 Varieties of Syntax to Improve Your Writing