Friday, October 25, 2019
Emma is a novel about youth through self-knowledge. Discuss. Essay
Emma is a novel about youth through self-knowledge. Discuss. The learning processes that are experienced through youth often lead to greater self-knowledge. This idea is readily demonstrated in Jane Austen’s â€Å"Emma†where the protagonist is established as an esteemed individual, living in the comfort and indulgence consequent of the limitations of her rural society. It is only when Emma opens herself to new experiences that she matures from one who lacks self-knowledge to a fulfilment of self-knowledge. The various events that occur ultimately challenge her viewpoint of the world she lives in. Emma’s dealings with befriending and matchmaking Harriet and her misinterpretation of clues given by Mr Elton and Frank Churchill are events which lead her to first lose confidence in her judgement and which later propels her to greater self-knowledge. Mr Knightley is a key figure in her process of change, leading her to a greater acceptance of others’ viewpoints. At the beginning of Austen’s novel, Emma Woodhouse is established as the central character of the novel who suffers from a lack of good judgement and awareness of the world she lives in. Austen establishes this idea through her opening sentence, conveying the idea that Emma is â€Å"handsome, clever, and rich†. The responder is given the impression that she thinks rather too well of herself as she has â€Å"been mistress of his house from a very early period†. We are told that she has been spoiled and indulged by â€Å"a most affectionate, indulgent father†and governess whose â€Å"shadow of authority being now long passed away†. The praise that Emma receives from Mr Woodhouse, Mrs Weston and Mr Knightley is warm acknowledgement of her education and accomplishments but is... ...tain self-knowledge. The various events that occur during the course of the novel develop Emma into a rounded individual who possesses a wealth of self-knowledge. This was not achieved without the aid of new experiences that penetrated the stability in her life, largely through the limitations presented by Highbury society. Emma’s overconfidence in her own judgement and her misinterpretation of clues given by Mr Elton and Frank Churchill, are important learning processes in Emma’s education. With the good judgement of Mr Knightley and her own self scrutiny, Emma is provided with the impetus to improve on her faults. Her growth to maturity and correct judgement ultimately leads to an attainment of greater self-knowledge. In balance, it can be seen through the character of Emma Woodhouse that â€Å"Emma†is blatantly a novel about youth through self-knowledge.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Effects of lobbying and its effectiveness in America Essay
Effects of lobbying and its effectiveness in America Introduction            A lobbyist is anyone with a clear understanding of working of the federal government and the legislative actions taken each day as well as their impacts. He might represent an individual, a party, company or a group of people (Hrebanar, 2009). Yearly, many dollars are spent on lobbyists in Washington DC. We shall discuss about the effects and effectiveness in this city.            For a start, not every American citizen can approach members of the Congress or to government officials to have their interests addressed. Anyone who has an issue seeks the help of lobbyists who represents their interests to the congress. The fee charged is high but one is fully represented and listened to. They represent anyone who seeks their help not the interest of all citizens. This is a direct form of corruption.            The lobbying companies make a lot of profits based on the purpose of forming the company. The benefits may be in terms of direct cash, reduction of taxes or being awarded any contract of government. This is a form of corruption and unfairness because the citizens who cannot afford to approach them can’t win such tenders or have any interest in the congress.            Many companies opt to pay lobbyists who in turn help them evade paying the corporate tax of 35%. The whole process is facilitated by politicians receiving money from the lobbyists (Waterhouse, 2013). This leads to reduction in the income of the country in terms of taxes collected thus the economy is also affected. Living standards of citizens also become poorer because they are forced to pay more taxes for the government to operate efficiently.            Since lobbyists have a great impact on the laws passed in the Congress, some important regulations may be passed in favor of corporations which carry out illegal activities such as emission of poisonous gases to the atmosphere or trafficking of drugs. Congress members and other officers in governmentare paid to help in passing these regulations. This is harmful to the general public since the products affect them negatively. In this case, environmentalpollution through poisonous gases increases cases of cancer and. Practical examples of such companies are tobacco and extraction companies.            Lobbyists are not always effective even though they have much influence in the government and its officials. The court is always a fair representer of the normal citizens and it may rule that a regulation should not be passed because of its impact on the American society. A good example is when the court stopped the FDA tried to introduce the generic version of Lovenox but the court stopped the procedure despite the huge sums of money the company spend on lobbying. In addition, there are leaders in power who don’t accept any type of bribes so the influence of lobbyists does not affect their decisions pertaining some regulations or policies. These leaders condemn fully the activities of lobbyists hence the regulations passed and enforced in the country are in favor of the citizen’s not individual groups or companies.            In conclusion, lobbyism is rampant in America especially in Washington and the results of such groups may affect the normal citizens positively or negatively. A significant amount of capital is spent on lobbying which reduces the net income on taxes hence affecting the economy. The health and normal lives of citizens are largely affected by lobbyism. Luckily, they are not effective always thus some of their policies are neglected especially by the court and no-corrupt officers. The best way possible out of this is through campaigns to alert government officials of the effects of lobbying. References Hrebenar, R. J., & Morgan, B. B. (2009).Lobbying in America: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Waterhouse, B. C. (2013). Lobbying America: The politics of business from Nixon to NAFTA. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Source document
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Comparison and Contrast of Hispanic Culture and Anglo-American Culture Essay
There is no universal culture amongst the world society as each community embraces a unique culture that guides and defines their behavior. The differences that are exhibited within any particular group of people in a country or a cultural group are usually greater than those differences that may be in a homogeneous group. The differences are usually noted in level of education, social standing, religious beliefs, personality definition, previous experiences, and affection that prevails in the home among other many factors that have an influence on human behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural differences are persistent even in the globalized world. It is therefore important to take note of the differences in order to have good knowledge of the customs, beliefs, values and norms of the divergent cultural groups. Cross cultural studies therefore are essential as they assist in coming up with a comparison of the various cultural differences that is observed in the various ethnic groups. When conducting cross-cultural studies, comparison becomes the main essence of the study thereby ensuring that generalized assumptions are inevitable as the researchers seek to categorize the cultural groups. We need however to be cautious that generalizations may lead to serious negative impacts especially when they are made from faulty observations. This paper shall aspire to give a comparison and contrast of the Hispanics and the Anglo-American cultures Hispanics: An analysis of the Hispanic community in the United States is not an easy task as there are several Hispanic groups in the country having different backgrounds especially in relation to their point of origin. The Hispanics are therefore not a single group with similar cultural characteristics as they exhibit differences in regard to political views, customs, religious beliefs, familial and other conventions that distinguish each group from the others. The focus on the Hispanics in this paper shall focus on four categories which include the Mexicans Americans, the Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and those from the Central American region. The Mexican Americans trace their place of origin from Mexico while the Puerto Ricans are considered the citizens of the United States given that Puerto Rico is a United States’ territory. The Cuban Americans on the other hand are those who fled Cuba due to the political and economical turmoil that has been experienced in their country for quite some time. Lastly, the Hispanics from the central part of the Americas are said to have originated from various countries in the region (Kanellos, 1994). The Anglo-Americans: The Anglo-American refers to the ethnic group of individuals of European origin. The term ‘Anglo’ has come to be used to refer to the English speaking Americans with little reference to their particular origin more like the term Hispanic has been used to refer to the various groups that make the Native American population. The Anglo-Americans comprise of English speaking Americans who are in most instances Protestants with minority of them adhering to the Roman Catholicism. The term Anglo-American has been used to refer to all those individuals who originated from countries that traditionally spoke English as their main language and also those whose families have adopted the English speaking culture in the United States and Canada to perfection (Diaz-Guerrero & Szalay, 1991). Comparison and Contrast of the Hispanic and the Anglo-American Cultures: As stated earlier, there are various groups in the United States which form the larger Hispanic category. Nevertheless, the different groupings within the Hispanic block have distinct features which come out especially when compared to the Anglo-American way of doing things. The Mexican Americans for instance, are known to speak Spanish and they are taught in bi-lingual classes which involves English as their second language. The Mexican Americans have various values which are unique of the Anglo-Americans. The familial values of the Mexican Americans for instance are uniquely different from that exhibited by the Anglo-Americans. The Mexico Americans for instance emphasizes on the social structure that is rooted in the family unit (Kanellos, 1994). Though the women are greatly respected in their culture, the Mexican Americans holds that the women are inferior to their husbands in the homes. The husband is seen as the figure of authority and the chief decision maker for the family. They usually cherish large families and extended family ties are maintained. This is in contrast to the typical Anglo-American culture where both the man and woman in the house enjoy equal or almost equal right in the decision making process for the family. The family is based on democratic principles and small nuclear families are cherished. The bond for extended family ties is usually loose in the setting of the Anglo-American culture. Most Mexican Americans are also observed as Catholics and they put emphasis on the holding of religious moral values than their Anglo-American counterparts. Politically, the Mexican Americans have not been quick to stamp their authority in the political landscape within the United States save for the appointment of Alberto Gonzales as America’s Attorney General (Kanellos, 1994). This is in contrast to their Anglo-Americans who have dominated the political scene with most being identified with the Republican Party. Economically, the Mexico-Americans have remained generally sidelined as their Anglo-Americans counterparts continue to dominate the economic landscape. From the study done in 1989 it was revealed that Mexicans Americans earned 21% wages lower than the Anglo-Americans. Though these statistics can no longer be relied upon die to the passage of time, there still remains a significant gap between economic gains by these two groups (Franklin, 2010). The Puerto Ricans are well known for their general proficiency in Spanish and English languages. This concept has made life for this group of Hispanics more bearable than any of the other Hispanic groups. Contrary to the Mexican Americans, most of the households amongst the Puerto Ricans are headed by females. The Puerto Ricans submit to various religious groups which include Baptism, Catholics, Methodist and any other of the world religion more like their Anglo-Americans counterparts. Politically, the Puerto Rican have limited access to the same rights and political privileges enjoyed by any other American citizen though Puerto Rico is considered a United States’ territory from the year 1917. They are for instance not allowed to take part in presidential election. They are however exempted from paying the federal income tax. Though they have limitation on the rights associated with citizenship, the Puerto Ricans continue to enjoy exceptional unrestricted US migration (Diaz -Guerrero & Szalay, 1991). The Cuban Americans have come from a difficult background that was characterized by unstable political environment in their backyard and difficult economic conditions. They however carried with them much of the Spanish culture given that the Spanish had great influence on the Caribbean Island. Most of the Cuban Americans are Catholics though some traces of Protestantism, Jewish, Santeria, and nonreligious beliefs can be traced. It has however been noted that most Cuban Americans have been assimilated in the mainstream culture meaning that they have taken most of the Anglo-American culture leaving their own though they have kept a small portion of their original culture (Diaz -Guerrero & Szalay, 1991). The other Spanish group from the Central American region comprise of the Venezuelan Americans most of whom are Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Though most of them came to stay in America after the completion of their college studies in the US, they still maintain their familial ties which are very strong. They imbue in their children the value of family as an important aspect of the society at an early age. The familial ties are so strong that they at tomes make it hard for them to get assimilated in the American mainstream culture. Most of the Venezuelan Americans are Catholics though most do not hold religion in high esteem as the other Hispanic groups (Franklin, 2010). Other general aspects of the Hispanic groups’ culture include privacy which is only handled by the family members. They value modestly as part of their culture and that the area between the waist and the knees is considered as private. This is not common with the Anglo-Americans who are often exposes their body parts that would otherwise be considered private in Hispanic culture. The old members of the family are greatly respected given their experience with life. In regard to health practice, the Hispanics are known to be emotionally expressive and individuals are expected to be pampered when they fall ill. To most Hispanics, birth control measures are not entertained a part from the natural ones given that most are Catholics. They also view thinness as a problem and plumpness is considered ideal. This is in contrast to the Anglo-Americans who are pragmatic on heath issues and readily accept the birth control methods and also despise plumpness of the body (Culturediversity. rg, 2008). In a study conducted by Pablo G. Cardona, Bonnie C. Nicholson, and Robert A. Fox, in the year 2000 entitled ‘Parenting Among Hispanic and Anglo-American Mothers With Young Children’ it was found that Hispanic mothers had higher frequency of discipline and a lower frequency of nurturing with their young children compared to their Anglo-American counterparts though no differences were recorded in the expectations of both the Hispanic and Anglo-America n mothers (Cardona, Nicholson, and Fox, 2000). Conclusion: The cultural comparisons between the two cultural categories can go on and on without any sign of stopping any soon. The cultural differences observed between the Hispanics and the Anglo-Americans are reflected most in the familial affiliation, language, and religion. Most of the Hispanic groups in the United States have very strong family bonds, they subscribe to the Catholic faith and that they speak Spanish. This contrasts with the Anglo-Americans who speak English as their first language, have loose familial bonds and Protestantism is their main religion. Nevertheless, among the Hispanic groups are some differences especially in regard to how they have been able to get assimilated to the American lifestyle. The Puerto Ricans and the Cuban Americans are the most assimilated followed by the Venezuela Americans who are in the middle of being assimilated whereas the Mexican Americans are the least assimilated.
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