Analysis Of The Book Much Ado About Nothing - 2573 Words

In the book Much Ado About Nothing, the author Shakespear, introduces to the audience a woman named Beatrice who is not afraid to speak her mind. Through her lengthy lines and her witty tongue, the audience can see that, Beatrice is nothing like any other female characters. Beatrice is extremely free-spoken and is not afraid to use her sharp tongue. It is evident that, Beatrice is holding back her feelings from Benedick to protect her heart; her verbal abuse is a humor mask that hides how she longs to be loved, cherished and ultimately married. This paper is limited to discussing how Beatrice uses her wits as a defense and a humor mask as a shield to protect her heart from being hurt again. In act 1 Scene 1, the audience is introduced to Beatrice. It is apparent that, she is not one of those individuals who would bite her tongue. Also, her witty comments illustrate her great sense of humor. From an insider’s point of view, it appears that, Beatrice has had a prior attachment to Benedick. Beatrice’s first line in this play projects an insult to Benedick. This scene begins with a messenger arriving to inform Beatrice and her family that, the prince of Aragon is on his way to Messina and that he is being accompanied by a few men. Beatrice responds to the Messenger by asking, â€Å"I pray you, is Signior Mountanto returned from the war or no?†(Shakespear 27) Beatrice refers to Benedick as â€Å"Signior Mountanto† (I.i.28)-literally, â€Å"Lord Upward Thrust†-also implies, through aShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Much Ado About Nothing And King Lear3685 Words   |  15 PagesName: Instructors’ Name: Course: Date: Analysis of Shakespeare’s powerful female characters in the play â€Å"Much Ado about Nothing† and â€Å"King Lear Introduction Shakespeare is seen to value the role of women as his plays often portray women as heroines. These women have strong characters that endear them to readers. Readers in our current world, and especially women, are encouraged to be self-assertive in demand for equal treatment in our society. This has been the tradition for women in the WesternRead More How the Characters in Much Ado About Nothing Learn to Love Essay2994 Words   |  12 PagesHow the Characters in Much Ado About Nothing Learn to Love  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The title of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has sparked scholarly debates about its meaning for centuries.   Some say it is a play on the term â€Å"noting†, revolving around the theme of all sorts of deceptions by all sorts of appearances (Rossiter 163).   Others claim it has more to do with everyone making a fuss about things that turn out to be false, therefore, nothing (Vaughn 102).   Regardless of these speculations,Read MoreNazi Empire : German Colonialism And Imperialism1309 Words   |  6 Pageslended no relief for Weimar citizens, and it was Hitler who restored economic stability with a stimulus economic policy of rearmament. Dimsdale, Nicholas H., Nicholas Horsewood, and Arthur Van Riel. 2006. Unemployment in Interwar Germany. An Analysis of the Labor Market, 192 7-1936. Journal Of Economic History 66, no. 3: 778-808. In an useful economic history, Nicholas Dimsdale analyzes the various causes of unemployment in interwar Germany. Specifically, Dimsdale demonstrates how variousRead More Analysis of Much Ado About Nothing Essay3681 Words   |  15 PagesAnalysis of Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing illustrates a kind of deliberately puzzling title that seems to have been popular in the late 1590s (ex quot;As You Like Itquot;). Indeed, the play is about nothing; it follows the relationships of Claudio and Hero (which is constantly hampered by plots to disrupt it), and in the end, the play culminates in the two other main characters falling in love (Beatrice and Bena*censored*), which, because it was an event that was quite predictableRead MoreReflection Paper On My Writing5143 Words   |  21 Pagesimprovement was making me think critically on my essays in both this class and another class where we had to write essays. On all of my later self-reviews, I constantly gave way below what I was eventually given, and that helped me so much, by changing my essays so much more than what I would have done originally. That is evident by how my grade has steadily gone up on each of my papers. The memoir that I first wrote was my first ever graded that was really ben eficial to my grade, and I got a 44 outRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Our Culture Today2555 Words   |  11 Pageslead a 2010 meta-analysis entitled, â€Å"Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-analytic Review.† This analysis of 130 international studies included a total of 130,000+ participants, and claimed to be a definitive link between VVG and both short and long term aggression in players. The methodology for the meta-analysis focused on six outcome variables, although 5 of them were already used in prior-meta analysis: â€Å"physically aggressiveRead MoreEssay on Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude 2873 Words   |  12 Pagesthe history of Colombia and of Latin America in general, passing from the mythical pre-conquest time to that of history marked by interminable civil wars, dictators, coups detat. brief resurgences of democratic rule, social revolutions promising much and betrayed by the makers of revolution or aborted by the prompt arrival of the U.S. Marines or of CIA funds to finance the counterrevolution. lt;5gt; The Spanish Conquest is represented by the fifteenth century Spanish copper locket and the shipwreckedRead MoreEssay about Americas Involvement in the Soviet Afghan War3133 Words   |  13 PagesSaudi Oil fields. The best that could be done to counter a possible Soviet invasion would have been the deployment of parts of t he 82nd Airborne Division to the Zagros Mountains of Iran, which would take at least a week with reinforcements arriving much later. This was not acceptable to the Carter Administration, which decided on another course of action - to actively support the anti-Soviet Mujahideen â€Å"freedom - fighters† in Afghanistan and help protect the Middle Eastern oil fields. This AmericanRead MoreObstetric Cholestasis3040 Words   |  13 PagesWilliams and Girling, (2006) suggest that fetal surveillance can often be reassuring to women and the multidisciplinary team caring for them. Midwives need to be sensitive in what they may perceive to be routine testing as some women may be anxious about fetal monitoring as they may have discovered the demise of a baby during a previous pregnancy. The inability of antenatal fetal surveillance to predict or prevent intrauterine deaths in OC is well documented (Miliewicz et al ,2002,Lammert et alRead MoreThe Process, The Rewards And The Risks5686 Words   |  23 Pagesthe main factors holding many would-be real estate business owners back is money; coming up with, for example, a 30-percent deposit on a business facility can be a crippling factor, making the dream of business ownership just that – a dream, and nothing else. Fortunately, the dream may not be as far off as you’re lead to believe. Recently, the Self-Managed Super Funds drew media attention as a means of buying property. How might we apply superannuation to building your own business? Scroll on, dear

Is catcher in the rye and the stranger still relevant

Albert Camus’ ‘The Outsider’ and J.D Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ both have central characters who find themselves on the boundaries of the society they live in. Holden Caulfield finds himself ‘lonesome’ in 1950’s New York, in the lead up to Christmas, while Meursault, the protagonist of Camus’ novel faces trial before a jury after committing the murder of an unnamed Arab man, in 1930’s Algeria. The question we must ask ourselves as readers is: are the stories of these two men still relevant to life in the twenty-first century, and if so, why? Meursault, the readers’ eyes and ears in ‘The Outsider’ appears unbelievably detached from anything or anyone around him. The opening line of ‘Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I†¦show more content†¦Many believe that Camus’ novel is a work of existentialism, that an individual is responsible for giving meaning to his life, as opposed to the institutions around him. Meursault deals with death in a way that is unnatural to humans, but a way that after reading his internal monologue we can understand. He offers a different view of death. The chaplain that visits Meursault says he is suffering from ‘extreme despair’ but Meursault disagrees, he is only afraid because to be afraid ‘is only natural.’ After the conversation with the chaplain, Meursault accepts death, now he feels ‘forever indifferent’ to the world around him. He realises that death is a natural occurrence; he has no control over when or how he will die. In this moment Meursault relinquishes the ideals of hope. It would only torture him on his deathbed. Now Meursault is at peace with the world, he states ‘What did it matter that Marie now had a new Meursault to kiss?’ This acceptance of death is still relevant today as death is a universal occurrence, it happened in the 1930’s when the novels set, the 1940’s when the novel was written, and today in the 21st century. This is one of the main reasons why I believe it is still relevant to today’s reader. Holden in J.D Salingers The Catcher in the Rye is very famous for the use of the word phony. It appears in almost every chapter because Holden is very much a fan of the concept of it. Holden uses it to describe a range of different thingsShow MoreRelatedLord Of The Flies, By William Golding And The Perks Of Being A Wallflower1087 Words   |  5 Pagessome of my most beloved. In my junior year, I read A Separate Peace by John Knowles for my AP U.S. History class while I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger over the summer. A Separate Peace explores the rivalry that can lie at the heart of many friendships and conveys the concept of individuality rather than conformity. Similarly, The Catcher in the Rye is the story of a teenage boy who despises the phoniness of society and fears becoming just another phony adult. Both novels share similarRead MoreAnalysis of A Catcher In the Ryes Holden Caulfield: Enemy of Himself1686 Words   |  7 PagesJerome David Salinger’s onl y novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is based on the life events shaping main character, Holden Caulfield, into the troubled teen that is telling the story in 1950. The theme of the story is one of emotional disconnection felt by the alienated teenagers of this time period. The quote, â€Å" I didn’t know anyone there that was splendid and clear thinking and all† (Salinger 4) sets the tone that Holden cannot find a connection with anyone around him and that he is on a lonely endeavorRead MoreThe Mind Changing Disease : From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder1302 Words   |  6 PagesThe Mind Changing Disease. Throughout the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger the main character Holden Caulfield Shows Valid signs of suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Holden exhibits PTSD Through his thought process and actions during his journey through New York City until the end of the novel. Holden without a doubt experiences a psychological journey and shows PTSD like symptoms from his departure at Pencey Prep till he ends up at a mental institution. Holden isRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 Pagesdiscover the underlying assumptions contained in texts deconstruct the representation of belonging - people, relationships, ideas as well as the places, events and societies, by different composers through their use of language modes, forms, and their relevant structural forms and language features engage personally with their texts and draw on their own experience make connections to their perceptions of the world and the worlds represented in the texts. Waverley Libr ary database Log on to the database

Antigone Aristotle Free Essays

Samaritan Albert Mr.. Jordan Antigen Fear/ Pity Fear and Pity Shown In Antigen The Greek Philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy as a form of drama that evokes fear and pity in the audience. We will write a custom essay sample on Antigone Aristotle or any similar topic only for you Order Now The tragic play Antigen conflicts that definition because although pity Is evoked throughout the play, modern audiences have difficulty experiencing fear because they fail to acknowledge the role fate plays In their everyday lives. At the end of the play pity can be felt towards Croon because his wife and son died and It was his fault. When Croon finds out they died he exclaims, â€Å"Oh pity! All true, and more than I can bear. Oh my wife, my son† (109-111). Both Creek and modern audiences can relate to the pain, sense of loss, even guilt felt when a loved one dies. Pity could be evoked in either audience through this relation. Although pity can be felt for Croon by either audience, modern audiences have a hard time experiencing fear while reading Antigen. When Croon realizes his downfall had come, he says, â€Å"Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust† (137-138) The mention of fate causing the ruin of a rueful man would have caused fear in Greek audiences because they realized the role fate played in their lives and that everyone is destined to a certain fate that is uncontrollable. Modern audiences often feel as though they can control their own fate, which is why they often have trouble realizing the fear any tragedy is supposed to evoke in them. Pity can be felt for Antigen when Screen’s men found Policies body and took Antigen to Croon. When the sentry takes Antigen back to Croon he says, â€Å"Just so, when this girl found the bare corpse, and all her love’s work wasted. She wept, and cried on heaven to damn the hands that had done this thing. And then she brought more dust and sprinkled wine three times for her brother’s ghost† (38-42). This can absolutely cause any audience to feel pity for Antigen because she put her family over the state, knowing she could get in trouble, and because she does get In trouble, pity Is elicited in either audience. Pity could also be felt for her because she burled her brother and it was ruined. Despite the fact that pity can certainly be felt for Antigen by both modern and Greek audiences alike, fear for her cannot necessarily be felt by modern audiences. Near the end of the play Antigen says, â€Å"You would think that we had already suffered enough for the curse on Oedipus: I cannot Imagine any grief that you and I have not gone through†(2-5) This would evoke fear In a Greek audience because they believed more In curses and fate than a modern audience would. Greek audiences would feel fear for Antigen because they believe that the curse of Oedipus would lead to her demise. Modern audiences believe less n curses and fate than a Greek audience would so they would not feel the same fear a Greek audience would feel while reading Antigen. Hansom’s situation could evoke pity throughout modern and Greek audiences because he fought to save his arms about her waist, lamenting her, his love lost underground, crying out that his father had stolen her away from him† (6(:)-63) Either audience could relate to the feelings Hammond is experiencing. Even if they can’t relate exactly, they still feel sorrow for him because he is obviously very upset. While Hammond evokes plenty of pity throughout the play, he does not evoke fear into the audience. Fear might be evoked into a Greek audience when Croon says to Hammond, â€Å"Let her find her husband in hell. Of all the people in this city, only she has contempt for my law and broken into it. Do you want me to show myself weak before the people? Or break my sworn word? No, and I will not. The women dies† (23-28) This may have evoked fear in Greek audiences because Croon is getting angry and refuses to let Antigen live. This would concern a Greek audience more than modern audiences because the curse of Oedipus would cause Antigen to die anyway, and Greek audiences would acknowledge that her death would be the fate predestined because of the curse. Modern audiences would not acknowledge that her fate would be the cause of her death due to the curse and that Screen’s decision sealed her fate, so they wouldn’t feel fear. In summary, Aristotle definition would be correct for the Greek audiences of his time, but not for modern audiences. While Antigen evokes pity in either audience, it does not elicit fear into modern audiences because of their lack of acknowledging the role fate plays in their lives. How to cite Antigone Aristotle, Papers

Self-Deception in Macbeth free essay sample

In the words of Bemos Thenes, â€Å"Nothing is easier then self-deceit for what man wishes that he also believes to be true. † Self deception is a human weakness. It means that even though something maybe wrong and untrue if an individual believes it enough it will come to pass. No matter what someone may say, it is hard to change ones opinion because that is what the person truly believes. This is portrayed in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, through the actions of various characters. Shakespeare clearly shows the idea of self-deception through their actions and how this self-deception leads to moral disorder. Macbeth is a play that is all about deception. Right from the beginning when the three witches meet to talk, the mood being nothing is quite as it seems is set when they say â€Å"Fair is fowl and foul is fair, Hover through fog and filthy air† (I: I: 11-12). This quote makes it seem that something bad is going to happen soon, and it also makes the mood seem dark and sinister. The three witches have a large role in causing characters such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to become self-deceit. The three witches know exactly what is going to happen if they tell Macbeth their prophecy, but they decide to tell him in a way that he interprets all wrong, and doesn’t give him much thought for Macbeth. Hecate, the main witch, says to the three witches â€Å"And all you know security is mortals chiefest enemy. † (III: V: 32-33). This means that comfort and over confidence in yourself is the worst thing for you; it will ultimately bring you to your downfall, which is exactly what they are trying to do to Macbeth. Although the witches forced Macbeth to be self-deceit, Lady Macbeth did to. Lady Macbeth is a character that is very good at persuading to get what she wants. She was the one who pushed Macbeth to murder Duncan even when he had his doubts, she made him believe everything would work out and that it was the right thing to do, she made his self-deceit. By saying â€Å"Look like the innocent flower but the serpent under it† (I: V: 73-74), she is making him go through with the murder and to believe and play it off like it will turn out fine in the end. Even though Lady Macbeth helps to make her husband self-deceit, she too proves to be self-deceit. She acts like she is not affected by the recent events caused by her and her husband but then breaks down. The overwhelming feeling of regret that she keeps trying to play off keeps her from sleeping well and eating normally. During her sleep Lady Macbeth began to talk in her sleep, one of the things she said was that â€Å"all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. † (V: I: 47). This was showing her guilt towards the murder of Duncan and that she cannot forget about it. Not long after this is said she commits suicide. Macbeth is the character Shakespeare used most to portray his idea of self-deception through. Macbeth was made to be self-deceit because of the witches’ prophecy that brought him his overconfidence and too much reassurance. But his wife also made him this way. Lady Macbeth questioned his manhood when he wanted to stop and not go through with the plan and made him believe what they were doing should happen and will work out perfectly for them. During the play Macbeth believes what the witches told him. He believes so much that even when everything starts falling apart, he goes back to the witches to see what else they say. He keep thinking that this is what’s supposed to happen and it’s going to start being better soon. Although Macbeth believes that everything is okay, just like Lady Macbeth he is losing sleep over the guilt. Macbeth began to get sacred of getting caught, so to cover it up he kept murdering people. He started with Duncan’s guards so they couldn’t be able to tell people their story, next was his best friend Banquo because he was afraid Banquo would tell people his suspicions, and then was Macduffs family, trying to get to Macduff but he wasn’t there. After trying so hard to cover everything up, and being so self-deceit Macbeth finally start so see the end and what’s really coming to them. â€Å"The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full sound and fury, signifying nothing. † (V: V: 25-30). This is the quote Macbeth says when he knows what’s coming for him, but he still proves to be self-deceit by listening to what the witches told him that he cannot be killed by someone born of a women. Macbeth once again thinking he’s invincible doesn’t realize that someone who was born of a caesarean section could kill him, because they are not technically born of a woman. Macbeth did not know Macduff was born like that, and it is why Macduff is the one to kill Macbeth. In summary, self-deception is the human weakness that in the end will bring you to a downfall. Shown through the misleading, greed, and overconfidence of characters, William Shakespeare has shown self-deception the audience and readers of his tragic play Macbeth. This play shows how deception is started and what it does to you, for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth it started out being a good thing, Macbeth was King as we wanted, but everything came back to them and caused them into insanity, leading them both to death.

Radio Formats free essay sample

The subject matter covered by documentaries often includes historical events, people of Influence. and current Issues. Doing research for the radio documentary may also nvolved finding people who have something to contribute to the documentary, either by providing an interview, a story, or any other bits of material that can give the show some added substance. When developing a social awareness project. especially one that is devoted to promoting HIWAIDS awareness, doing the proper research is mandatory! The information dispersed by such a show must be accurate, reliable, and current. Radio drama Is a story told through sound alone The sound in the form of: Radio drama has a beginning . iddle and end. The beginning is everything. If this part of it does not work Listener will switch off the radio Movement and progress or climax must be suggested in radio through sounds The Plot : This is the story with lots of twists and turns. We will write a custom essay sample on Radio Formats or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Without a good plot youre eating a souff © that has gone flat. Two sub plots would be interesting. Keep tne plots llnKea logically wltnln tne same play. The best system is a major and a minor storyline linked to one another. Get them to come together at the end. Characters: Every character is equally important. But our main character must have the sympathy of the audience. Your audience has to identify with your main character. If this does not happen you have created a failure. Dialogue : Characters inform, argue, amuse, outrage, argue through the ebb and flow of dialogue. When we do we talk and that is how great radio plays are made.. by talking in dramatic dialogue Drama = conflict = audience. There has to be an emotional, financial, human, moral, physical struggle so your listeners can laugh or cry.

Economic Differences essays

Economic Differences essays We Americans have come to understand our kind of economy called capitalism which means that its a free market system in which peoples businesses own most of the resources. They seek a profit out of their investments and there hard work. But one thing we must understand is that no country is made the same, this means that different countries have different types of economies in which they operate. In this paper you will read about the different types of economies and how they affect and manifest around the world. This will talk about capitalism, socialism and communism. As you read you will understand the differences between them and how they affect the people following these types of economics. Capitalism is an economic system in which private individuals and businesses sell there productions and also exchange their good and their services through a complex system of prices and markets. Capitalism started along time ago from its European origin. From Europe to England capitalism spread through the world. After World War I capitalism evolved into a modern competing system of economy. A simpler way to describe this type of economy is that the government has only so much say on how business should be run by the people that own it and the people that work their. The government is like a referee in a football game he makes sure that the food and the merchandise they sell is safe for the people. It also makes sure that the environment is keep as safe as possible from pollution and that the people that work in America are pay and that they are treated good. Some people say that the government does a lot more interfering that they should do. This is probably one of the best types of economies out there cause anyone can get rich and make a lot of profits no matter if you are rich or poor theres always a way to make it to the top but there are always risk involved so all you have to do is take a risk but the bad thing about it i...

USC Law School Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

USC Law School Personal Statement - Essay Example The reporter highlights "as a relatively naive and callow freshman, I envisioned myself eventually pursuing a career in business, simply to appease those who incessantly questioned me regarding my major and future profession. Nonetheless, I, fortunately, maintained an open mind and after my first few weeks of Law 200, taught by the legendary late USC law professor Charles Whitebread, I realized that I had discovered my passion. From reading cases on my own during the classroom discussions, I found myself frequently checking the clock, wishing that our current discussion regarding child law or the 4th amendment would continue indefinitely. However, much to my chagrin, although I had finally found a subject that truly captivated and excited me, USC did not offer an undergraduate law program. Being disappointed and still having an undeclared major, I once again maintained an open mind. Transferring into USC’s prestigious business school could wait; I wanted to continue exploring my options of study. After over a year of exploring, and now because of mounting pressure from even USC to finally choose a major, I made the best educational decision of my young life. I chose to pursue not one but two majors, a double major in political science and economics. After my declaration of double major, I am astounded by my intellectual and analytical development. Before choosing my double major, I accepted the lessons of my classes and professors merely at face value. For example, if I was taught to approach an issue or problem in a certain way, I would learn the method for that approach and then merely regurgitate that method . This form of learning actually proved successful for me throughout my high school and early college years. However, my economics and political science double major forcefully developed me into an analytical, questioning, and most importantly, active learner."

Are we obligated to provide Government aid in order to help people in Essay

Are we obligated to provide Government aid in order to help people in other countries - Essay Example The aid provided by OECD is known as official developmental aid (ODA). This aid is provided to different countries on the basis of certain terms and conditions. (OECD) Though, this aid provides great assistance to underdeveloped countries but it also has certain ethical drawbacks. Foreign assistance may result in exploitation by benefactor countries. The countries giving foreign aid may also interfere in the cultural and domestic affairs of the Recipient country. Moreover, this assistance may reach the wrong hands which may affect the correct and appropriate use of this aid. All these drawbacks are generally accepted by the public and government of donor and Recipient countries but these are the arguments which are held against the foreign aids by different scholarly and philosophical point of views. The world is composed of different nations that are trying to maintain their economic and social stability. If we divide the world into poor and rich nations, we will realize that two third of the nations of the world are extremely poor and the remaining one third are extremely rich. It is obvious that the poor nations desperately need the assistance and help of the rich nations for their development but this help can be hazardous if each of the rich nations follows its own unrealistic philosophy of equity and justice. In order to make this aid and assistance fruitful we need a governing force that can ensure the appropriate and justifiable use of the foreign aid. But if we look into the practical world we will realize that there is a lack of proper governing body as U.N is not strong enough to implement any policy against the will of its strong and influential members. We should also keep in mind that rich countries do not provide aid for free they gain something from it as well, such as the right to manipulate the decisions of the recipient countries according to their will and to have the right to have a say in their domestic matters. They also provide aid to some under developed countries so that they can forcefully get the military assistance of these countr ies for their selfish interests. An example of this can be seen in Pakistan, while United States of America donates huge amounts of money to Pakistan it asks for the military assistance of Pakistan in return. Pakistan provides military assistance to America in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. (The Times of India) Though this norm is acceptable to the people and the government of these countries most of the NGOs and scholars are against it as it is not ethical to exploit the human resources of the recipient country because you are providing aid to them. But this assistance has some advantages as well because by providing military assistance Pakistan along with the United States of America can play a part in getting rid of terrorism. Another major drawback is the interference in the cultural and domestic matters of the recipient country. The financial aid provided by the donor country does not give it the right to interfere in the interstate matters of the recipient country. A recent example of this issue is the protest against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, when this protest grew wilder; the United States

International Financial Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Financial Markets - Essay Example The development and the growing trend of the market are subdivided and depicted with the aid of graphs and charts for analytical review. Obstacles hindering the smooth growth are also dealt with in the paper. International Financial Markets collectively represents the total international trade and transaction in the foreign exchange market, international capital or foreign exchange basically refers to an over-the-counter (OTC) market, focusing on international currency trade. (Nature of foreign exchange, 2007) The whole scenario of international trade comprising of imports and exports and the flow of international capital is carried out through the Foreign exchange market. (Foreign Exchange in Economics, 2007) International exchange market is the largest global market place in regard to the monetary value traded, also includes international interbank trading, the exchange between central banks, multinational corporations and other international level speculators. The estimated average current global trade rate exceeds US$1.9 trillion/day. (Foreign Exchange Market, 2007) The foreign exchange market is the place where trading of currencies takes place. The foreign exchange market proclaims to be the largest and most volatile market all over the globe. Under the foreign exchange, foreign currency is used for trading and the trade takes place between nations. Price list for the goods or services imported or exported items between countries etc. gets its cash value established from the foreign exchange trade. 'Bank drafts, bills of exchange, bankers' acceptances, and letters of credit' etc., could be exchanged at previously agreed rates for settlement of debts. This results in the accumulation of currency surplus, received by way of loan repayments, import-export trade guaranteeing etc., done by the foreign exchange market for its customers. (Foreign exchange in economics, 2007)

Pollution Market Failure

Pollution Market Failure A tax on pollution is designed to confront a person or company causing pollution with the sum equivalent to the social costs they are imposing on others. Firms pay taxes on the income both in the legal sense that the company is an individual and in the economic sense that company is a tax on them. Taxation can be used to correct market failures. Pollution are things that cause discomfort or harm to our environment, it can be in different form such as air, water, noise, heat. Things that causes pollution are called pollutant because they harm living organism, causing global warming which is when the temperature on the earth is getter hotter and climate change. A pollution tax can promote productive efficiency when a firm produces where price is equal to marginal cost, Also when the firm produce at any given output at the lowest possible cost, given in this case that this is a perfect competitive market. Externalities are spill over cost or benefit we can refer to external economies and diseconomies. Externalities can either be good or bad, when good is called benefit and bad cost. The benefit is when the society are affected beneficially they are said to be external benefits, while cost is when the society are affected adversely .It creates a divergence between private and social costs and benefit. All cost are incurred by the producers and all benefits are reaped by their customers. The costs are often clearer when specific government activities are considered rather than taking everything in one lump. Externalities in production are very important in the real world. Pollution can be seen as an externalities. Taking a industry for example they throw their waste into the river and its smoke into the air. Apart from pollution been an externality, creation of a shopping mall increases traffic in the area causing discomfort to the people living in that area can also be seen as an externality. External cost of production is when the marginal social cost is greater than the marginal cost(MSC>MC).The problem of external cost arises in a free- market economy because no one has legal ownership of the air or river. Marginal cost (MC) is where the firm gets to produce its goods and services. It is the cost of the firm or private cost, this does not include the cost of pollution on the environment that the firm creates, these are external cost to the firm. We tax a firm that has external to make up to the society. marginal social cost(MSC) lies above the marginal cost(MC). Given MSC>MC, MSC is where the society wants the firm to produce ,the vertical difference between the MSC and MC is the external cost which is referred to pollution that the firm emits in the environment causing discomfort to the society. The individual who live and work around where the waste has been deposited bears the cost arising from the industry. At point Q1 the firm is profit-maximizing output, the society sees the external cost as an overproduction from the firms part .if the government required the firm to pay the external cost the firm would reduce its outputs to Q2 which is the level at which the society is comfortable with the level of production which is known as social optimum. At this point we can say the firm is attaining productive efficiency. Price MSC MC=S P D External cost 0 Q2 Q1 Quantity External benefits in production, the marginal social benefit is greater than the marginal cost, the benefits outweigh the cost. Given MC

Brother Grim Taking The Merry Out Of Fairy Tales Essay -- essays resea

After reading the Brothers Grim version of â€Å"Cinderella† and viewing the film version of â€Å"Cinderella†, Everafter, one can distinguish precise differences between the these two similar stories. Both versions tell of a young maiden whose mother died when she was young and is then tormented by her stepmother and her two stepsisters who enslave her in her own home and force her to sleep among the ashes of the fireplace. Yet, both stories vary greatly when it comes to the content of the tales. The Brothers Grim version portrays Cinderella as a young, defenseless woman who submits to her stepmothers every wish and endears harsh punishment for any insolence she may show towards her. Another difference in the Brothers story is that Cinderella’s father is still living and does nothing to protect his daughter from the brutal treatment inflicted upon her by her stepfamily. Cinderella’s only comfort is the friendship she has developed between the wild animals that live outside her home.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unlike, the Brothers Grim version Everafter portrays Cinderella as a headstrong orphan who becomes a heroine by standing up for herself even though it may result in punishment. Like the Cinderella in the Brothers story she is tormented by ...

The required number of hours

Sleep is a basic human need. It functions to restore normal activity levels and normal balance among the parts of the nervous system and it allows for repair processes to occur as in protein synthesis (Kozier, 2004). Lack of sleep is said to cause an emotionally irritable, poorly concentrated individual that experiences decision making difficulty. The required number of hours of sleep per day varies with age. A newborn is expected to sleep for 16 to 18 hours a day, an infant 22 hours a day, a toddler 10 to 12 hours per day and preschool children need 11 to 12 hours of sleep per day (Kozier, 2004).As the individual grows older, he is required to sleep less. School aged children is required 8 to 12 hours of sleep, adolescents 8 to 10 hours, young adults 7 to 8 hours, middle aged adults 6 to 8 hours and elders only 6 hours (Kozier, 2004). The circadian rhythm, the most familiar rhythmic biologic clock that is responsible for our sleep-wake patterns, follows a dark-light pattern with the suprachiasmatic nucleus as its pacemaker (Bullock, 2000).The suprachiasmatic nucleus is found in the anterior hypothalamus and is stimulated by the receptors in the retina of our eyes. Melatonin, which has regulatory effects on the SCN, is secreted by the pineal gland and its secretion is stimulated by the dark and is suppressed by light (Bullock, 2000). Melatonin promotes sleep in this way, and fewer hormones secreted, as in the elderly, will be one of the many causes for insomnia (Bullock, 2000). There are several factors that can cause sleep pattern disturbance aside from a decrease in melatonin.Sleep pattern disturbances can be caused by external or internal factors and these disturbances can only be classified as a medical condition when they chronically interrupt sleep (Bullock, 2000) or when the inability to sleep well at night causes impaired daytime functioning (Atkinson, 2000). Sleep pattern disturbances have been grouped into four categories by the Association of Sleep D isorders Center, namely, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, disorders of excessive somnolence, disorders of sleeping-waking schedule and dysfunctions associated with sleep, sleep stages or partial arousal (Atkinson, 2000).Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep include insomnias, which is the inability to sleep and maybe exhibited by difficulty falling asleep, there are recurrent awakenings, and early morning awakening without being able to go back to sleep (Atkinson, 2000). Reasons for the cause of insomnia is still not known, as some claim that this is a symptom of a disease or just a perception of individuals who feel that they have not gotten enough sleep because of some factors they claim to have experienced. Insomnia can be attributed to various factors that could either be pathologic or psychological.Pathologic causes include disease process, pain, obstructive uropathy, hyperthyroidism, congenital heart failure, respiratory disease, arthritis, and hormonal i mbalance (Atkinson, 2000). Psychologically, anxiety, obsessive worrying, chronic stress and depression can bring about insomnia (Atkinson, 2000). As much as possible, interventions for insomnia remain to be nonpharmacologic, but if the individual is experiencing sleeplessness that is ruining his daytime activities, a doctor will prescribe selected sedative-hypnotic medications.Although effective, these medications should not be used as often and several considerations should be noted. These medications produce a central nervous system depression and produces an unnatural sleep, it may resolve insomnia for tonight, but may disturb sleep the following night and cause daytime drowsiness (Kozier, 2004). Some medications are antianxiety medications which decrease the arousal ability of the individual taking it; these are also contraindicated to be taken by pregnant women because of the congenital anomalies that they may cause (Kozier, 2004).These medications also vary in their onset and duration of action and continuous use can lead to tolerance or to drug dependency (Kozier, 2004). Sudden cessation of these medications can result in withdrawal symptoms and even death, thus before withdrawal of medications, the dose should be gradually tapered to about 25% to 30% weekly. Examples of these medications are Chloral hydrate (Noctec), Ethchlorvynol (Placidyl), Flurazepam (Dalmane), Glutethimide (Doriden), Lorazepam (Ativan), Melatonin, Temazepam (Restoril), Triazolam (Halcion), Zaleplon (Sonata), and Zolpidem (Ambien) (Kozier, 2004).Alternative treatment for insomnia have been preferred over the pharmacologic therapy because alternative treatment is natural, hence less side effects are experienced and the individual will be able to have control over his sleep-wake cycle. Nonorthodox, unconventional, alternative, complementary, are a number of terms used to denote non-medical treatment that has been used since early times for a variety of diseases. Complementary and alte rnative medicine is defined as being identified through a social process as those practices that do not form part of the dominant system for managing health and disease (Kozier, 2004, p.224). Before considering any therapy, be it alternative or pharmacologic, the individual is advised to consider techniques on promoting rest and sleep. A person who is suffering from insomnia should establish a regular sleep-wake pattern, this means that he should try to go to sleep at the same time everyday and wake up at the same time also. This is to prevent disruptions in the biologic clock (Kozier, 2004). He should also try to eliminate lengthy naps in between sleeps, and if ever necessary should limit this to only thirty minutes per day at the same time everyday (Kozier, 2004).He should get ample exercise or physical activities during the day to lower stress but this should not be done two hours before bedtime. The individual should also avoid dealing with personal problems or office work befor e going to sleep and instead should establish a routine before sleep such as reading a book, listening to music or drinking a glass of warm milk (Kozier, 2004). Finally, to establish a sleep pattern the person is asked to only use the bed for sleeping, so that he would associate it with sleep, and that if still not drowsy, pursue some relaxing activity (Kozier, 2004).The environment also plays a role in helping the individual fall asleep. There should be appropriate lighting, temperature and ventilation as per the person’s desire, noise should be kept to a minimum and if extraneous noise is present, it should be blocked with soft music (Kozier, 2004). With regards to food consumption and diet, the individual should not take a heavy meal 3 hours before bedtime and to decrease fluid intake 2 to 4 hours prior to going to sleep but if it cannot be helped, void before sleeping (Kozier, 2004).Several drugs can disrupt sleep by delaying its onset, decreasing sleep time, and cause ni ghtmares and should be avoided before sleeping, examples are alcohol, amphetamines, antidepressants, beta-blockers, bronchodilators, caffeine, decongestants, and steroid (Kozier, 2004). Caffeine – containing foods and beverages include coffee, soda, tea and chocolate and should not be taken 4 hours before bedtime. Promoting comfort and relaxation may be helpful.The individual should wear loose-fitting nightwear, have taken a bath and does not feel sweaty and hot, make sure the bed linen is soft, smooth, clean and dry, and a back massage may be done, which is a type of touch therapy (Kozier, 2004). There are several healing modalities that are being implemented to help alleviate insomnia, and this includes touch therapy, mind-body therapy, and aroma therapy. Touch therapies, which include massage, foot reflexology, acupressure, and reiki, may stimulate the production of healing-promoting chemicals by the immune or limbic system (Kozier, 2004).Massage assists in relaxation and blood circulation improvement (Kozier, 2004). Physically, it promotes muscle relaxation by helping in release of lactic acid that is formed during strenuous activities and exercise, it improves blood and lymph flow, stretches joints, and helps in body toxin release and immune system stimulation (Kozier, 2004). It also has mental and emotional benefits like anxiety relief and it provides a sense of relaxation and well-being (Kozier, 2004).There are three kinds of massage strokes, namely effleurage (stroking), friction pressure and petrissage which is kneading or large quick pinches of the skin, subcutaneous tissues and muscles (Kozier, 2004). Mind-body therapies utilize the individual’s focus on realigning or creating balance in mental processed to bring about healing (Kozier, 2004). Progressive relaxation is most helpful in insomnia because it reduces increased level of stress and chronic pain by enabling the individual to wield control over the body’s responses to anx iety and tension (Kozier, 2004).There are three requisites though, to be able to make use of this technique. There should be correct posture, the person’s mind should be at rest and the environment should be noise free as possible and the technique is to make the individual tense and relax his muscles alternately and then focus attention on the differentiating feelings of each action (Kozier, 2004). This can result to decreased oxygen consumption by decreased metabolism, heart and respiratory rate, and decreased blood pressure (Kozier, 2004).Aromatherapy, which is defined clinically as the controlled use of essential oils for specific measurable outcomes by Kozier, can be used by massaging into the body, added to water that is used when bathing, inhaled or applied as hot or cold compresses. The oils used in this therapy are distilled from a variety of substances such as flowers, roots, wood resins, leaves, lemon or orange rinds, barks, etc. When inhaled, the oil’s arom a is detected by olfactory receptor cells in our nares.The stimuli received will travel along the olfactory nerve or the cranial nerve I, the stimuli will then be received by the olfactory bulb and will be sent to the brain. The essential oil aroma is thought to play a role in emotions, memory and a variety of body functions including the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and immune response (Kozier, 2004). There are 300 essential oils being used and some of these are lavender for headache relief, stress and insomnia, peppermint for nausea relief, aid in respiration an antipyretic, and sandalwood for chapped skin, depression, and stress (Kozier, 2004).There are also some herbal preparations that can be used for insomnia. Hops and valerian are used to induce sleep by nervous system relaxation, as recommended by the website Holistic online. There are ways by which we can combine both the conventional treatment and the alternative therapies to reduce insomnia. One way is to do the techniques on promoting rest and sleep, while on low-dosed medication. In a way, this might still be useful in eventually lowering and then eliminating drug use while still maintaining a normal sleep-wake pattern.Although plausible, it is still best advised to not take pharmacologic therapy when necessary. There is to some extent a risk on using sedative-hypnotic drugs, as mentioned earlier. This can cause drug dependency, withdrawal symptoms if stopped abruptly without tapering the dose gradually, and can disrupt the sleep-wake pattern by causing excessive sleep and daytime drowsiness. It should also be noted that these drugs can be expensive and if needed on a daily basis may become a burden to healthcare cost budgets.The benefit of course is that you will be able to sleep, after a few minutes once the drug is taken. As to the nonpharmacologic treatment suggestions, there are no risks, as long as the person who would want to try out these therapies has an open mind and is willing to subject himself to these procedures. Health wise, the therapies do not present any danger to the individual being subjected to the procedures unless pregnant, has allergies to the essential oils or herbs, has fractures, skin conditions or disease processes.If the person has insomnia as a symptom to an underlying disease, he should immediately heed the physician’s advice. I do not see alternative treatment as a threat to the medical community, nor a competition. These two have very different procedures and are based on different dogmas that they should not be compared to each other. Although it cannot be helped, people should always be open-minded about these things, because they are at times useful, and have been subjected to numerous tests to be proven safe and effective.Of course, if one is in doubt of the nature or cause of their insomnia, one should head to the nearest clinic or to the family physician before taking these alternative treatments into consideration. Once there is no underlying pathology, then before taking sleeping pills to make the dilemma go away, nonpharmacologic therapy should and is highly recommended to be done. There is no harm to it, and it might just help. It costs less and can be done right at home without spending gas to go some place else. But if all else fails, then it is suggested to take the sleeping pills as prescribed by the physician.References Atkinson, R. L. , Atkinson R. C. , Smith E. E. , Bem, D. J. , & Nolen-Koeksema, S. (2000). Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology. USA: Thomson. Bullock, B. and Henze, R. (2000). Focus on Pathophysiology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Holistic Online. (1998-2007). Herb and Herbal Therapies. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://holisticonline. com/Remedies/Sleep/sleep_insomnia_herbs. htm Kozier, B. Erb, G. , Berman, A. , & Snyder, S. (2004). Fundamentals of Nursing. USA: Pearson Education. .

Citizenship: How Big a Problem Is the Use of Child Labour Today Essay

Child labour is often seen only to occur in third world countries but this is not the case. Child labour occurs all over the world and the brutality and cruelty of this work varies. Although child labour is seen as a bad thing, for the children and families living in their poor conditions, child labour is seen as necessary for the family to live as it is an essential income. UNICEF estimates that around 150 million children aged 5-14 in developing countries, about 16 per cent of all children in this age group, are involved in child labour. Therefore child labour is still a big problem in our world today especially as some children are forced to work in dangerous, unhygienic, life threatening conditions. Not only does is it harmful to their physical body it also effects their education as some children drop out of education to work. Even though many organisations and charities attempt to stop child labour or at least make the conditions suitable for children, child labour is still seen as a big problem in the 20th century. The more children are forced to work, the fewer opportunities there are for adults to earn a living. By driving down adult wages and depriving children of education, child labour ensures that poverty will be passed down from generation to generation. If children are used as the only income for a family an employer can take advantage of this vulnerability and use it to make work as cheap as possible because the child will work for anything as long as he is providing some sort of income. Child labour is a problem because children work long hours, often exposed to hazardous chemicals and made to use dangerous tools and machinery that are inappropriate to their mental and physical development. In agriculture they use acid, dangerous pesticides without skin protection, so this chemical are able to touch the skin causing damage and severe health problems. An example of when employers use child labour because it is cheap is with Vinod’s story. Vinod is an Indian 10 year old boy who lived in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. Manufactures employed him because he was cheap and had small hands and nimble fingers which were perfect for the job of weaving carpets, which was where he worked for 2 years without receiving a single rupee for a year’s work. Vinod worked long hours and was exploited to working conditions which were unacceptable. By working these long hours he was made ill and being squashed and sat in uncomfortable positions he could have suffered from malformed bone structure. He did not attend school, so the chances of him gaining a better job in later life were highly unlikely. If Vinod made mistakes he was punished starkly. He had to use dangerous tools such as a sharp knife to turn the carpet knots but when cuts or wounds were made he was not medically treated from them. Instead the employer filled the wound with matchstick powder and burnt it. This cauterised the wound and stopped infections. Vinod’s right were violated and almost mocked by the employer. Children should be allowed to work in conditions which damage the mental and physical state, children should be allowed to live their childhood to the maximum not worrying about whether they will get beat or whether their families will suffer from their mistakes.

How to Use Powerful and Creative Verbs

How to Use Powerful and Creative Verbs Verbs are action words, right? We all remember that from elementary school. Verbs describe the action that is taking place. But verbs dont have to surrender all the fun and emotional power to adjectives- the words that traditionally paint the pictures in our heads. As a matter of fact, the most powerful writers use verbs quite effectively to illustrate their writing. Review Your Verbs After you complete a draft of your paper, it might be a good idea to conduct a verb inventory. Just read over your draft and underline all your verbs. Do you see repetition? Are you bored? Verbs like said, walked, looked, and thought can be replaced with more descriptive words like mumbled, sauntered, eyeballed, and pondered. Here are a few more suggestions: Looked: gazedstaredsevered (with his eyes) Walked: strolledspideredsashayedskulked Said: suggestedutteredbellowedargued Get Creative With Verbs One way to make verbs more interesting is to invent them from other word forms. Sounds illegal, doesnt it? But its not like youre printing dollar bills in your basement. One type of noun that works well is animal types, since some animals have very strong characteristics. Skunks, for instance, have a reputation for being stinky or spoiling the air. Do the following statements evoke powerful images? He skunked the party up with his cologne...She snaked the hallways...She wormed her way out of the class... Jobs as Verbs Another noun type that works well is names of occupations. We often use doctor as a verb, as in the following sentence: She doctored the paper until it was perfect. Doesnt that evoke the image of a woman hovering over a piece of writing, tools in hand, crafting and nurturing the paper to perfection? What other occupations could paint such a clear scene? How about police? Mrs. Parsons policed her garden until it was completely pest free. You can get very creative with unusual verbs: bubble-wrapped the insult (to suggest that the insult was surrounded by softer words)tabled your idea But you do have to use colorful verbs tactfully. Use good judgment and dont overdo the creativity. Language is like clothingtoo much color can be just plain odd. List of Power Verbs abscond accelerate adapt advocate afflict agonize analyze anticipate ascertain aspire assess assimilate barter better bypass calculate challenge champion clarify coordinate define delegate describe detail devalue dispense divert duplicate examine execute exhibit expedite facilitate forge formulate generalize generate halt halve hypothesize illustrate implement inquire labor launch lull manipulate model monitor observe observe orchestrate position procure qualify reconcile refrain regulate restructure revisit secure simplify solve surpass table tabulate taint thwart trigger undervalue undulate utilize value verify verify vex

Has the growth of the internet created more risk in terms of criminal Essay

Has the growth of the internet created more risk in terms of criminal activities - Essay Example Having these much people in the internet is a major factor that offers a platform for criminal activities taking place in the internet. It is important to analyze whether the growth of the internet has brought in more risks with regard to activities deemed criminal over the internet. Cybercrime is a concept that has grown vastly over time. A major way to determine this is the number of pending court cases with issues revolving around cybercrime. Many young children have an internet connection in their homes. This is what has led to increased cybercrime. Over time, people have always shown interest in young innocent kids. This had led them to preying on them where they attempt to extort the children the least said. Many sexual predators pose as innocent and probably age appropriate people on the internet nowadays. However, these people are very old and are out there to commit several crimes on these children. Some of these people operate to an extent of setting up meetings with these children pretending to be age-mates. When they meet with these children, they have the audacity to kidnap them. Many are the times that they get to inflict physical harm on these innocent kids. There are many variables that are applied in this case. One of the variables that are employed in this case involves the approach that involves uses and gratifications. The uses and gratifications approach defines the topic of study and relates personality to internet choice and usage very elaborately. It clearly states that the day to day requirements of an average human being are usually able to relate with the individual or communal characteristics. Another factor that can be found to explain the question is by the use of the five-factor personality model. It is known that character is a factor that can be used to portray certain hidden or undiscovered needs in a person. The model is used as a means of breaking down and understanding human characteristics in relation to

Journalism and Communication - Plagiarism Essay

Journalism and Communication - Plagiarism - Essay Example More often than not students merely paraphrase the existing works of other authors in a bid to evade plagiarism without proper citation of the original sources of information. It is imperative to acknowledge and cite the original sources that were used to access the initial information if students need to avoid plagiarizing. In general terms, plagiarism entails the replication of someone’s ideas without giving credit, stealing of ideas, failure to put quotation marks and proper reference to a quoted phrase, provision of inappropriate information regarding the sources of the quoted information as well as alteration of the wordings in a sentence structure without giving credit to the original author (Alfrey, 2012). Why Students Plagiarize Students plagiarize their work due to various conflicting reasons. Some students plagiarize their work intentionally while others plagiarize unintentionally. Some of the common reasons for plagiarism are: unexpected deadline in class work, over whelming assignments, the confusion in research and plagiarism boundaries, and lack of explicit ideas and training on how to avoid plagiarism (Purdue University, 2007) Intentional v. Unintentional Plagiarism From the accessible facts, it is clear that, some students and scholars plagiarize their work deliberately. ... Moreover, some students have difficulty in the interpretation and analysis of the available online data. This category of students copy paste complex information from the internet without proper synthesis of ideas or paying attention to the authors. Some students also believe that, the quality of their original work is low compared what is available in the internet. This leads to direct copying and hence plagiarism. Most contemporary scholars lack the most effective way of developing their own ideas and style, limiting them to direct utilization of the existing written information. The pressure from the lecturers, peers, families’ course, job requirements and scholarship admission are and failure to meet strict deadlines are acknowledged as the main factors that motivate students to engage in intentional plagiarism. Internal and external pressures portray education as the only ladder to success rather than for a self valuation process. Due to this, students tend to embark on t he end result of education rather than on valuing the skills and competencies in training and education. Many students fail to understand the significance of the acquired research and writing skills in their future career development. Intentional plagiarism is necessitated by peer influence. Poor assignment planning coupled with poor time management skills are also common prerequisites for intentional plagiarism amongst college students, especially since many students are always less aware of the time required in completing a research paper. Naive students are sometimes compelled to use the other scholars’ work without due authority. In most cases, these mistakes occur as a result

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 39

Discussion - Essay Example Currently, Europe hosts a number of workforce who are from various countries and various continents, and they make up 6% of the workforce population in Europe. However, with migration especially excessive migration comes several challenges, for example, one of the greatest challenge is marginalization of immigrants in cities, schools and at the workplace (Sutherland & Malmstrom para1). Unlike the United States, Europe has not come to the acknowledgement that there is land for immigrants in Europe so as to cater for the high number of people born in European land. Another challenge is finding jobs, which is highly difficult for blacks and other immigrants as priority is only granted to whites. In addition, acquiring loans for housing is difficult for an immigrant, thus, most end up not owning homes. In order to survive, most migrants enter into marriage with the citizens in order to have access to the country’s resources and attain good welfare. Finally, there is a lack of clea r guidelines and policies on migration and related issues. Russia interferes in the politics of its neighbors, which has resulted in widespread protests in countries like Ukraine. It even led to skirmishes with countries like Georgia. Is Russia correct to keep its neighborhood under its influence? Is the United States still in a position of moral superiority to condemn Russian tactics? What are your views? Russia has been on the world headlines for all the wrong reasons during the past years. Its emergence as mighty country has seen it interfere with the politics and issues of her neighbors at will. A recent one is the Ukraine crisis, in which to make matters worse, she warns the western countries against involvement in the Ukrainian crisis; thus, frustrate all chances of bring the crisis to an end. I think that the actions of Russia are uncalled for, especially interfering with its neighbors political affairs. Every country is sovereign, and Russia

Positive And Negative Effects Of Video Games Essay Example for Free

Positive And Negative Effects Of Video Games Essay The video game technology, like most technologies, has changed drastically in the last few years. Arcades may look much the same on the surface as they did a decade or two ago, but the games have become far more violent, sophisticated and addictive. When one visits the video arcade it is not surprising to see children pointing and shooting something that looks suspiciously like a real weapon. If Pong or, for that matter, Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers is ones point of reference, one needs to think again. What one assumes about the benign, outdated games of the 1970s and the 1980s, even of the early 1990s, the research regarding them cannot be considered valid as video games put in the market in the last five years. It is a whole new world, and it is evolving at a rate that is hard for parents to keep pace with (Funk. Jeanne 1993). How fast a rate? Consider this: During the last two decades interactive video games have emerged as one of the most popular forms of entertainment, particularly among teens. According to the non-profit organization, Mediascope, Globally, annual video games revenues now exceed $18 billion. In the United States alone, video game revenues now exceed $10 billion annually, nearly double the amount Americans spend going to the movies. On average, American children who have home video game systems play with them about ninety minutes a day. The kids are changing with the technology how could they not be? They are riding technology curve in a way we are not and never can. On many levels, its wonderful to have them exposed to this brave new cyberworld: the opportunities for them to learn, the resources at their fingertips, are tremendous and hard to fathom. Some claim that video games are a mind controlling device (The World Wide Web is like a vast, almost limitless encyclopedia, and unlike Encyclopedia Britannica, kids can talk to it and it talks back. So its especially disconcerting to see armies of these very kids wandering through cyberspace mutilating and killing everything in their path and having a great time doing it. Its the dark side of heightened technology, but one to which we ought to be paying much closer attention (The First Fighting Game That Let You Just Be Friends). Some say there are positive effects of video games and that there are hollow claims about fantasy violence. However, there are others who maintain that the general effect is negative and hazardous to children and adolescents in general. This paper looks at the positive and negative sides and attempts to put look the issue in the proper perspective. The debate over the effects of digital games is getter hotter. Many claim that people may not pay too much attention regarding the issue of digital games but they are now becoming a powerful cultural force (Secko, David). This has become a powerful force since computer and video games sales topped $10 billion in the U. S. in 2004. Children spend more and more time working and playing with them. And some social theorists say society is gripped by a moral panic over the effects of computer games (Secko, David). As some maintain, exposure to television violence results in violent actions in real life. Several researchers have agreed that children extensively exposed to violence as projected on television tend to think that it is appropriate to act in violent ways (Hurst). Today, this has evolved into video games. Like most technologies, video game technology has changed drastically in the last few years. Some of the issues tied to this are those on values. Values motivate behavior. Judgments about right and wrong or good and bad are moral judgments based on values. In the course of human interactions, there are many situations in which it is difficult to make a decision because values come into conflict. Conflict between moral values results is an ethical problem. Major influences on moral decision-making in cyber environment are personal, professional and organizational values. Values must be clarified if moral decisions are to be reached. We are just beginning to understand that digital mediums are bringing us expressive forms comparable to the movies and the novel, says Janet Murray, a Professor of Digital Media at Georgia Tech and author of Hamlet on the Holodeck (Lee, J. 2004. p. 1375). Video gaming exists today as a symbiotic relationship among many self-preserving organisms. All must strike a gentle balance between exerting their will and killing their host. Even if others find it obsolete, the young must engage in values clarification to develop a decision-making process that fosters ethical behavior (Funk. Jeanne 1993). More than any other aspect of these new video games, its the accuracy of the simulations the carnage, the blood, and the guts that is so advanced. Realism is the Holy Grail of the video game industry. And the latest technology leaves little to the imagination the simulations seem less fake, and therefore more effective. Add to this the fact that in the last few years, video game manufacturers have chosen to amplify gruesome violence (note that 49 percent of young teens indicate a preference for violent games, while only 2 percent prefer educational ones). (Funk, Jeanne 1993) to make it a mainstay in their products seems a direct result of where the television and movie industry have taken their content. What worries most parents and educators here is the desensitizing effect on-screen violence has on kids, and how it fosters a need for more graphic real-life displays of carnage and mayhem to keep kids interested. Graphically violent video games like Doom, Postal, Duke Nukem, and Mortal Kombat are games way past the curve. Some claim that these are mind control devices (Videogame- mind control? ). Author Schmitt (2004) states the many disadvantages of video games. He goes on to list several of the drawbacks of video game playing. He states in no unequivocal terms, If pursued as a solitary activity, playing video games can decrease important social interactions with family and friends. A childs interactions with friends may become limited to pumping them for information about hidden passageways and secret doors. Schmitt lists several good reasons to advice people not play video games. He also not only listed that but he also listed ways to keep us from playing them altogether or how to encourage children to play more healthy activities (Schmitt 2004 p. 33-56). In terms of the educational principles related to this issue, any teacher or coach of young people will tell you that hands-on experience is what teaches best. Repetition of movements and the hand-eye connection are invaluable for learning most skills. And especially with children, hands-on learning is usually a lot more fun and interesting than the alternatives. It is precisely this that makes interactive video games so potent a learning tool. As researcher Patricia Greenfield points out, Video games are the first medium to combine visual dynamism with an active participatory role for the child. (Provenzo, Eugene. 1991). Video games have the distinct advantage between itself, the television and the movies it lets you put your hands on it, aim and fire. Thus, it is really no surprise that violent games are very habit-forming. Parents interviewed are alarmed at not just the violent images in the games, but the amount of time their children spend playing them. It proves how effective these things are. More than 60 percent of children report that they play video games longer than they intend to play. The interactive quality, the intensity of the violence, the physiological reactions, all serve to connect the players feelings of exhilaration and accomplishment directly to the violent images. And good feelings keep the player wanting to play. Countless parents try desperate to keep video game play within certain time limits, but its a huge challenge a parental battle they so often lose. Once kids get hooked, its difficult to unhook them. Both home and arcade games make extensive use of reinforcement schedules for both the acquisition and maintenance of the habit (Provenzo, Eugene. 1991).

Literature Review on Pakistans Food Security

Literature Review on Pakistans Food Security ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK Food security is elucidated by the IFAD/FAO as the year-round access to the amount and variety of safe foods required by all household members in order to lead active and healthy lives, without undue risk of losing such access. No country anywhere in the world is food secure on this definition. It represents therefore an ideal. To make the definition operational, four dimensions are considered namely Food Availability, Food Access, Food Utilisation and Stability of Access. These are briefly explained as follows: 1. Food Availability: The availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate qualities, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid). This is often confused with food security but should properly be seen as only a part, albeit an important part of food security. The question is not only whether food is available in a country but whether it is available in the right place at the right time and there must be a mechanism for ensuring that food of the right quality is made available. 2. Food Access: Access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) to acquire appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. These resources need not be exclusively monetary but may also include traditional rights e.g. to a share of common resources. Entitlements are defined as the set of all those commodity bundles over which a person can establish command given the legal, political, economic and social arrangements of the community in which he or she lives. 3. Food Utilization: Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation, and health care. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security. It is not enough that someone is getting what appears to be an adequate quantity of food if that person is unable to make use of the food because he or she is always falling sick. 4. Stability of Access: Are individuals at high risk of losing their access to food? An example of this situation would be a landless agricultural laborer who was almost wholly dependent on agricultural wages in a region of erratic rainfall. Such a person is at high risk of not being able to find work in a situation of general crop failure and thus going hungry, i.e. is vulnerable. The objective of the thesis would be to analyze the institutional, production, market and policy aspects of the aforementioned four specific factors underlying food insecurity in Pakistan. This shall be gauged by analyzing secure access, production and utilization of three key staples; wheat, rice and sugar. There is considerable evidence that indicates the need to route policy focus to take the shape of revisionary responses to institutional framework, production, market dynamics and existing policy framework; all geared towards actualizing yield potentials and enhancing food security in the context of factors outlined above. What makes it even more pertinent is the impending food crisis keeping in view the increasing population and various institutional constraints underlying the retarded growth in production e.g water shortages, soil degradation, absence of proper agriculture research, improper agricultural practices etc. The four key aspects defined above i.e. Food availability, Food Access, Food Utilisation and Stability of Access shall be analyzed in terms of their current standing as well as the potential areas of improvement to realize the stipulated objectives. The stated framework is illustrated in the table as under: FOOD AVAILABILITY Review of Land holdings Cropping Patterns and relative prices for each crop. Profits and Losses per acre for each crop for each size class of farm Total area of cultivable land including land currently being utilized and cultivable waste. Water Utilisation Seeds, Fertilisers and GM food technology as a yield enhancement technique Productivity Enhancement of major crops Availability of credit for farmers for investments geared towards productivity enhancement FOOD ACCESS Identification and Targeting of the Food Insecure People Enhancing Productivity of small farmers for poverty alleviation and foster agricultural growth Diversification of On-farm and Off-farm income generation activities Stabilization of input and output process Encouragement of small scale enterprises STABILITY Inter-regional Inequality Urban Rural Disparity Distribution of land and Access to inputs and resources Skill Development for broad based development UTILISATION Improving nutritional aspects of food Balanced dietary consumption Promotion of household food production e.g. vegetables and pulses production, poultry and rearing of small ruminants POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVES Removing Policy Distortions Provision and enhancement of rural infrastructure Institutional Structure for accelerated agricultural growth with equity. Credit and Rural Finance Human Resource Development Research and Extension Support Services In addition, the modus operandi for addressing the questions specified above would be through: †¢ A review and research the production, availability and consumption of essential food commodities †¢ A review of existing food procurement and storage facilities and identify areas of potential improvement †¢ Identification of the constraints in production, yield as well as the prices of essential food commodities e.g. wheat, sugar and rice. †¢ Identifying areas and scope of improved physical inputs geared towards improving the state of agriculture. †¢ Appraising the effectiveness of the Social Safety nets like BISP, Punjab Food Support Scheme in improving food security and how modifications in these programs towards targeting can be brought about to reduce fiscal and economic costs and losses for non target beneficiaries. †¢ Institutional and policy imperatives for enhanced and sustainable agricultural growth through a normative analysis of the following: o Agriculture and Crop Research Facilities o Social Mobilization o Vertical Integrations and Marketing systems o Enforcement Mechanisms in place to keep track of the regulatory endeavors. LITERATURE REVIEW Agriculture is considered the mainstay of Pakistans economy. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2008-09, there are major hindrances in the GDP growth rate in case of Pakistan, which the report asserts could not hold at 2007-2008 level. Agriculture, the major source of employment and income in the rural areas is expected to grow at 4.7 percent as against Services sector growing at the rate of 3.6 percent during 2008-2009. About 70% per cent of the countrys rural population is directly or indirectly linked with agriculture for their livelihood. Whatever happens to agriculture is bound to affect the livelihood and consequently food security of the poor rural people. Decline of agriculture and shrinking livelihood opportunities have resulted in rising poverty in rural areas while also compounding the food insecurity in both rural and urban areas. Agriculture, thus assumes a critical role in the national economy, providing food to the fast growing population of the country. Pakistan is a country where food security situation in recent years has not been very encouraging. The demand for food in recent years, especially key staples like wheat and sugar have started to exceed the supply. This gap can be attributed to many possible causes. According to Ahmed and Siddiqui (1994), even when the supply situation is better, there are problems with the distribution amongst different segments of the society thus adversely affecting the nutrition. On the demand side, the food security problem has been complicated by an unprecedented increase in population. Since the existing rate of population growth of over 3 percent per annum is expected to continue for a reasonable period of time, the total fertility rate also remaining well above the so-called â€Å"replacement level†, improvement in health-care facilities, which have already resulted in a remarkable decline in infant and child mortality rates has also contributed towards the high population rate in Pak istan. Transitory and chronic food insecurity is caused mainly by poverty. (Tweeten, 1999) People with adequate buying power overcome the frictions of time (e.g., unpredictable, unstable harvests from year to year) and space (e.g., local food short- ages) to be food-secure. The conclusions of the aforementioned study further suggested a food security policy synthesis for poor, developing countries like Pakistan which are outlined as follows; Poverty is best alleviated through broad-based, sustainable economic development. The most effective and efficient means to economic development is to follow the standard model, illustrated by the figure as under, which assures an economic pie to divide among people and among functions, such as human resource development, infrastructure, family planning, a food safety net, and environmental protection. The standard model is not merely an ideal; it is applicable to any culture and provides a workable prescription for economic progress, ensuring buying power for self-reliance and food security. Eventually, in conjunction with family planning, it brings decreased population growth. Although no country has adopted every component, many countries have adopted enough components of the standard model to demonstrate its capacity for economic success. The central puzzle of why food-insecure countries like Pakistan, eschew the standard model when it can bring food security is explained by political failure. Terminating even the worst policies creates losers. If the losers are in positions of power and authority, they resist reform. Economic distortions provide economic rents for those in authority who bestow licenses and enforce regulations. Parastatals provide employment for friends and relatives of power brokers; hence, unfortunate public policy carries powerful momentum. Political failur e is inseparable from broader institutional failure. Food insecurity and economic stagnation are not the result of limited natural resources, environmental degradation, or ignorant people. Rather, they are the result of misguided public policies, which in turn are the product of weak institutions and corrupt governments serving special interests. Institutional change is required to adopt the standard model. Poorly structured, inadequate institutions often trace to cultural factors such as tolerance of the public for unrepresentative, corrupt, incompetent government. Government leaders often view their position as an opportunity for personal aggrandizement rather than to be a servant of the public interest. Socio-institutional changes, and hence standard model adoption, are blocked by cultural characteristics such as caste and ethnic animosities, which provide a fertile climate for governments not representing the public interest to play one group against another. Thus, the challenge of food security for our time, as argued by Tweeten (1999), is socio-institutional change. A study was conducted by the IFPRI in 1977 that emphasized on the intensity of the problem facing the Developing Market Economies (DMEs) in countering food deficits in the wake of increasing populations. The options to grapple this challenge were outlined as increasing domestic production, commercial imports, reducing the food consumption levels through pricing adjustments or rationing, and food aid. For a country like Pakistan, easily branded as a low income country, policy choices are limited. Much of the population is already below the minimum dietary and nutritional requirements. Commercial imports to cover up the food deficit may not be a plausible option because it deems imperative a huge foreign exchange outlay coupled with various alternative development expenditures seeking priority. The study concluded that in order to narrow the food gap, development efforts in such low income countries must emphasize on policies to increase and enhance production performance. Large increa ses in agricultural investments coupled with appropriate policies and effective programs will be central. The third critical dimension of food security, utilization, refers to actual metabolization of food by the body. Food that is available and accessible does not alleviate food insecurity if people do not utilize food properly because of inadequate nutrition education and food preparation, bad habits, eating disorders, or poor health, such as intestinal parasites from unsanitary water. Thus, food security is appropriately defined not just as access but as utilization by all people at all times of sufficient nutrients for a productive and healthy life. It follows that sanitation, education, and health care are important instruments for food security. Despite per capita world food supplies being more than adequate to provide food security to all, food or income transfers among nations cannot be the principal instrument to end food insecurity. One reason is because altruism is too limited and fickle to provide sufficient, reliable transfers. Heavy dependence on transfers could discourage local production and create an unhealthy dependency of poor nations and individuals on rich nations, agencies, and individuals. Massive food transfers would destroy incentives for local food producers. A nation must have a pie of purchasing power to divide and share among its food-insecure people. Because it is the poor who lack access to food, alleviating food insecurity means alleviating poverty. Most of the worlds poor, the 1.3 billion people with incomes of less than $1 per day (updated from World Bank 1990, p. 29), will have to escape poverty and food insecurity through economic growth. Economic growth largely was responsible for the 158 million reduction in numbers of undernourished people in East, South, and Southeast Asia from 1979-1981 to 1990-1992. In the mixed and underdeveloped economies of the Third World, the maintenance of minimum consumption levels for large segments of the population is a critical problem. Even in developing countries with a reasonably well-developed industrial base, such as India, glaring nutrition gaps exist (Knudsen and Scandizzo 1979) and critical shortages can and do arise in basic consumption areas such as food, fuel, and clothing (Sharma and Roy 1979). Such shortfalls have serious economic, social, and political consequences (Burki and Haq 1981). Therefore, governments in developing countries usually attempt a macro management of selected consumption items. A fairly complex set of direct and indirect policies are used to influence the production, distribution, and prices of such items (Ahmed 1979, Dholakia and Khorana 1979, Kaynak 1980, Sorensen 1978). The formulation and implementation of such policies can be viewed as a macro-marketing management process [Zif 1980]. For essential consumption ite ms, this process entails: i. Identification of key consumption items (products) and target groups (markets), ii. Development and evaluation of intervention methods (macro marketing strategies), iii. Creation of delivery or communication systems (channels) to reach the target groups or other intervention points, and iv. Monitoring and control of the consumption- oriented programs (macromarketing control system). In discussing the rationale for Macromanagement System for Essential Consumption Items (referred herein as MSECI), two interrelated questions arise i.e. why do these systems come into existence and what are the goals of these systems. In analyzing why the government intervenes in the distributive trade for essential consumption items, Sorenson (1978) cites four reasons, which are presented below in an elaborated version: i. Under conditions of scarcity (a typical feature in underdeveloped countries), the unfettered operation of the market mechanism is politically unacceptable. Price increases and shortages resulting from unfettered private trade would be politically too risky for the government in power. ii. Distributive trade typically has a poor reach in the rural areas. In periods of shortages, rural distribution deteriorates even further, making government intervention a necessity. iii. The market mechanism is imperfect in terms of prices, information, and market clearing. During periods of shortages, these imperfections become magnified, inviting government regulation. iv. Profits and surpluses from private trade in developing countries usually do not flow into productive investments. Instead, they flow into private consumption and investment such as clothing, jewelry, gold, houses, dowries, and so on. Hence, profits from shortages do not help alleviate the major cause of shortages, i.e. low le vels of production. In fact, some of the surpluses may even accentuate shortages by becoming working capital for increased hoarding of goods. Government often intervenes to reduce the profits going into such unproductive uses. The experience of India as put forth by Dholakia and Khurana (1979) and other Third World countries points out a few other reasons for the emergence and growth of macro management systems in the distributive trade sector. Some of these are: i. Distributive trades absorb a lot of people and provide a low-cost employment outlet in developing countries. Governments often intervene to further some employment goals in addition to the distributional goals. In India, for example, the government often preferentially awards licenses to operate Fair Price Shops to those groups considered to be politically important unemployed college graduates, retired army personnel, widows of servicemen, etc. ii. Government intervention in distributive trades is often a consequence of agricultural price support programs. Once the government becomes a procurer and storer of large quantities of farm products, it needs a distribution method for these products. An MSECI is created as a result. Once an MSECI is created, the reverse logic often takes over. For example, to support an extensive public distribution system in a southern state of India, the state government resorts to mandatory procurement of some percentage of farms output [George 1979]. iii. In a manner similar to agricultural policy, the industrial policy of developing countries also leads to governmental intervention in distributive trade. To support small-scale, infant, or weak industries, the government sometimes assists in the marketing of the products of such industries by procuring their products and distributing them through state-controlled or subsidized channels [Bhandari 1979]. In Morocco, for example, the government subsidized the introductory advertising efforts of a baby food considered to be important in meeting that countrys nutritional goals [Vitale and Cavusgil 1981]. These last three points illustrate how consumption- and distribution- oriented policies get intertwined with policies related to employment, agriculture, industry, and other sectors. The rationale and rationality of MSECIs must therefore be studied in the context of other related sectoral policies [Gustafsson and Richardson 1979]. While the above discussion throws some light on why MSECIs come into existence, it does not fully illustrate the range of goals that MSECIs may serve. According to Gustafsson and Richardson (1979), where there is a complex polity, not only are there multiple actors in the policymaking process but each actor sometimes has multiple goals. Politicians, for example, are interested in: a) Solving problems, where it is feasible to do so and ideologically acceptable to the politician b) Agenda management, that is, getting problematic and intractable items off the political agenda, often by formulating do-nothing placebo policies, and c) Creating consensus, especially when the issue is frankly fractious. In the context of an MSECI, purely placebo or consensus-making policies are unlikely to exist. This is because breadbasket issues are involved and simply managing the agenda or creating a consensus (without solving the problem) is politically too risky. As a part of the problem-solving strategy, however, policymakers may make some efforts to manage agendas or create consensus. Policies geared towards essential consumption items are therefore likely to have some symbolic, rhetorical, or bargaining content (Lapps, Collins, and Kinley 1980). With reference to the rationale and goals of MSECIs, the following conclusions can be made: a) MSECIs usually emerge in developing countries to serve short-term, volatile political problems caused by scarcity. Later, these systems may be further developed to embrace other economic goals. In fact, appropriately used, MSECIs could play an important role in balanced development (United Nations 1977). b) As the complexity of an MSECI increases, consumption and distribution-related policies become entwined with several other sectoral policies in developing countries. c) Analysis of MSECIs should be conducted with sensitivity to the goals stated and implicit of the different actors in the consumptive and distributive policy process. According to Hussain et al, the production instability and food insecurity in are interrelated. Most of the rain-fed agriculture of the country is experiencing erratic production. The production instability index (coefficient of variation) is 29% in the Pakistan (Anonymous). Most variation is attributed to crop yields. The productivity per unit of resource especially water, is low. The declining resource productivity is due to increased water logging and salinity, nutrient depletion, deforestation and devegetation and increased pest complex. Looming water scarcity and competition for the same water from non agricultural sectors necessitates improving crop productivity to ensure adequate food for the nation with the equivalent or less water than is presently available for agriculture. This can be obtained because available information shows that there is a wide gap between actual and attainable crop water productivity, especially in the arid and semi-arid environments. Quantifying cro p water output reveals gaps in information regarding pre-eminent ways to increase crop water productivity. Cropping systems need to be inherently flexible to take advantage of economic opportunities and/or adapt to environmental realities. A dynamic cropping systems concept characterized by a management approach whereby crop sequencing decisions are made on an annual basis has been proposed to improve the adaptability of cropping practices to externalities. STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN PAKISTAN Despite a structural shift towards industrialization, agriculture continues to be the biggest sector of the economy. It contributes 21.8% of the GDP, employs 44.7 % of the workforce and is a major source of foreign exchange earnings . About 68% of the population lives in rural Pakistan and depends upon agriculture for their sustenance. Given its wide-spanning forward and backward linkages, in particular with the Industrial sector, agriculture has assumed an added significance especially in the context of the prevalent global food crunch and food security. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2008-09, no economic reforms will be successful in the absence of a sustained and broad based agricultural development which is critical for raising living standards, alleviating poverty assuring food security, generating a buoyant market for industrial expansion an making a substantial contribution to the national economic growth. The utilization of agricultural land in Pakistan is illustrated by the table as under. The total area reported in the table includes the total physical area of the villages. Forest area refers to the area of any land administered as forest under any legal enactment dealing with forests. Any cultivated area which may exist within such a forest is shown under the heading of cultivated area. Culturable waste is that uncultivated farm area which, although fit for cultivation, has been left uncropped during the year under consideration as well as the one preceding. Cultivated area is the area which was sown at least during the year under reference or during the preceding year. This includes the net sown area as well as the current fallow. The current fallow is the area that is ploughed but not cropped. With these definitions in context, a review of the agricultural land holdings of Pakistan is presented as under: (Million hectares) Table: (Source: MINFAL) An analysis of the land utilization statistics indicate that the total area under cultivation has registered a gradual increase during the period specified i.e. 1990-2008. The uncultivable land is being brought under cultivation and the total cropped area has also been increasing, though not very significantly. Given the importance of agriculture in the national economy, the policy focus has essentially been on agriculture even though the need for a structural shift towards industries and manufacturing gained importance post 1990s. If we look at the historical statistics of the Pakistan economy, we can see how the performance of agriculture coincided with the GDP growth. Table below illustrates the performance and average annual growth rates of the Agriculture and the GDP for the period 1960-2009. AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATES 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000-2009 GDP 6.8 4.8 6.5 4.6 5 Agriculture 5.1 2.4 5.4 4.4 3.0 Table Broadly speaking the growth rate of agriculture across the periods specified in Table 1 was fairly good but the yearly growth rates during the same periods were erratic. The growth of agriculture was particularly low in the periods of 1998-99 at 1.9%, 2000-01 at -2.2%, 2001-02 at 0.1% and 2007-08 at 1.1%. Considering the current decade, agriculture has grown at an average rate of 3.32% per annum. Of this, the growth performance over the last seven years has been of a volatile nature ranging from 1.1% to 6.5% at the highest. See table below, AGRICULTURE GROWTH (%) Year Agriculture Major Crops Minor Crops 2002-3 4.1 6.8 1.9 2003-4 2.4 1.7 3.9 2004-5 6.5 17.7 1.5 2005-6 6.3 -3.9 0.4 2006-7 4.1 7.7 -1.3 2007-8 1.1 -6.4 10.9 2008-9 4.7 7.7 3.6 Table 2 Federal Board of Statistics, Government of Pakistan(2009) This volatility can be primarily attributed to the crop sector which has been a subject of various pest attacks, irregular raining patterns, adulterated pesticides etc. There are two principal crop seasons in Pakistan, Kharif and Rabi. The sowing season of the former begins in April-June and the harvesting occurs in October/ December while the latters begins in October/December and ends in April/ May. Major crops of the Kharif season include Sugarcane, rice, cotton and maize and those of the Rabi season include wheat, gram and lentils. As per the statistics of the MINFAL , the major crops such as wheat, rice, cotton and sugarcane amount to about 89.1% of the value added in the major crops, and this amounts to about 33.4% of value added in the overall agriculture. The production statistics of the major crops of both the seasons are given in the table as under: PRODUCTION OF MAJOR CROPS (000 TONS) YEAR COTTON (000 BALES) SUGARCANE RICE MAIZE WHEAT 2003-4 10048 53419 4848 1897 19500 2004-5 14265 47244 5025 2797 21612 2005-6 13019 44666 5547 3110 21277 2006-7 12856 54742 5438 3088 23295 2007-8 11655 63920 5563 3605 20959 2008-9 11819 50045 6852 4036 23421 MINFAL Pakistans agricultural production is closely linked with the supply of irrigation water. The supply of irrigation water has been strained as indicated by Table 3 as under: Actual Surface Water Availability (Million Acre Feet) Period Kharif Rabi Total % Change over Average Average System Usage 67.1 36.4 103.5 2002-3 62.8 25 87.8 -15.2 2003-4 65.9 31.5 97.4 -5.9 2004-5 59.1 23.1 82.2 -20.6 2005-6 70.8 30.1 100.9 -2.5 2006-7 63.1 31.2 94.3 -8.9 2007-8 70.8 27.9 98.7 -46 2008-9 66.9 24.9 91.8 -11.3 Table 3: (IRSA) As shown in the table, against the normal surface water availability at canal heads of 103.5 MAF, the overall water availability for both the crop seasons has been less in the range of -2.5% to 20.6%. If the water availability for the respective seasons is analyzed one can conclude that the Rabi season faced a greater dearth of the water supply as compared to the Kharif season.