Saturday, August 31, 2019

Poetic Drama /Verse Drama of Modern age Essay

Eliot’s plays attempt to revitalize verse drama and usually treat the same themes as in his poetry. They include Murder in the Cathedral (1935), dealing with the final hours of Thomas ÃÆ' Becket; The Family Reunion (1939); The Cocktail Party (1950); The Confidential Clerk (1954); and The Elder Statesman (1959)..(1) Indeed, Eliot hoped that the study and critical reception of early modern verse drama would shape the production of modernist verse drama. In the 1924 essay â€Å"Four Elizabethan Dramatists,† Eliot calls for the study of Elizabethan drama to have a â€Å"revolutionary influence on the future of drama.†(2) Yet, in his later writings as a verse dramatist, Eliot always keeps an arm’s length between himself and the early modern dramatic poets, especially Shakespeare, whom he saw as his strongest precursors in the development of a modernist English verse drama. In the 1951 piece â€Å"Poetry and Drama,† on the matter of verse style in his ow n first major poetic drama, Murder in the Cathedral, Eliot writes, â€Å"As for the versification, I was only aware at this stage that the essential was to avoid any echo of Shakespeare.†¦ Therefore what I kept in mind was the versification of Everyman.†(3) Elsewhere, he is keenly aware of the challenges of writing verse drama for a modernist theatre: â€Å"The difficulty of the author is also the difficulty of the audience. Both have to be trained; both need to be conscious of many things which neither an Elizabethan dramatist, nor an Elizabethan audience, had any need to know.†(4) Eliot finds his whip for training his [p. 105] audience and himself, as dramatist, less in the examples Shakespeare and his contemporaries provide than in the works their medieval predecessors left behind. This essay examines Eliot’s status as a medieval modernist. The periodicity of Eliot’s Middle Ages, problematic as it is, represents the convergence of his animus against modernity and liberalism with his desire for a religiosity that is not marginal, fragmented, and â€Å"compartmentalized† but rather central to the activity of everyday life in a culture and society best characterized by the words unity, integration, and order—the ideological language of conservatism. In part, the concept of Eliot as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"medieval modernist† is indebted to Michael T. Saler’s work on visua l modernism, the English avant-garde, and the London Underground transport system. What Saler describes in terms of medieval modernism is very much a stance or attitude towards the relationship between aesthetic production (imagination) and the utility of consumption (reception) grounded in a social functionalism thought to have its origins in the medieval. I should be quick to point out that Saler is rather ambivalent on the point with regard to Eliot himself: â€Å"While T. S. Eliot might be called a medieval modernist because of his admiration for the organic and spiritual community of the Middle Ages together with his â€Å"impersonal† conception of art, his elitist and formalist views isolate him from several of the central terms of the tradition as I have defined it.Eliot’s ambivalence towards the early modern and repeated turns to the medieval evidence a contradiction between Eliot’s life-long desire for a clearly articulated unity, integration, and order in all aspects of everyday life, including writing and religion, and his fetishization of an early modern period he imagines in terms of anarchy, disorder, and decay. Eliot repeatedly mystifies the early modern period. In his introduction to G. Wilson Knight’s The Wheel of Fire, Eliot gives voice to a vision of the early modern past as a period of phantasmagoric peril, uncertainty, even unknowability: â€Å"But with Shakespeare, we seem to be moving in an air of Cimmerian darkness. The conditions of his life, the conditions under which dramatic art was then possible, seem even more remote from us than those of Dante Verse drama is any drama written as verse to be spoken; another possible general term is poetic drama. For a very long period verse drama was the dominant form of drama in Europe (and was also important in non-European cultures). Greek tragedy and Racine’s plays are written in verse, as is almost all of Shakespeare’s drama, and Goethe’s Faust. Verse drama is particularly associated with the seriousness of tragedy, providing an artistic reason to write in this form, as well as the practical one that verse lines are easier for the actors to memorize exactly. In the second half of the twentieth century verse drama fell almost completely out of fashion with dramatists writing in English (the plays of Christopher Fry and  T. S. Eliot being possibly the end of a long tradition). As Eliot sank ever more deeply into his Anglo-Catholic schtick and he no longer had Pound around to cut the fat and grain filler out of his work, he turned to writing verse drama. He wanted to  reach  people.  He  probably  wanted  to  be  Shakespeare.  Murder in the Cathedral was the first of these verse dramas, and the only one I can even begin to tolerate. The title is intended to evoke a whodunnit; it may be a ponderous Eliotian attempt at a â€Å"witticism†. The joke, such as it is, is that the murderee is Archbishop St. Thomas à   Becket, the killers are some of Henry II’s knights, and the scene of the crime is Canterbury Cathedral, anno domini 1170. If you happened to be hanging around Canterbury in 1935, this was a big win because Canterbury Cathedral is where the thing was first performed. (If you were hanging around  Canterbury  in  1170,  call  me;  we  should  talk).  The background: King Henry II’s wanted to gain influence over the Church in England. He appointed Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury to that end because Becket was his boy. Once in office, Becket’s loyalty shifted to the Church. The two came into conflict over the practice of trying clergy in ecclesiastical courts for civil offenses, and Becket fled to France. While  in France he continued to defy Henry, going so far as to excommunicate some of Henry’s more loyal bishops. At the beginning of the play, Becket returns from his seven-year exile in France. He goes straight to Canterbury, arriving in time for Act I. Four Tempters tempt him. Meanwhile, Henry has put on his John Stanfa hat and made an offhand remark to some of his knights about how convenient it would be if Becket weren’t around any more. The knights draw the obvious conclusion about what he means, and they depart for Canterbury. When they arrive, Becket explains that he is loyal to a higher power than the king. They reply that they aren’t, and they kill him at the altar. The bloodshed is followed by a flourish of self-exculpatory forensic rhetoric from the knights: They argue persuasively that they’ve done the right thing, but not too persuasively because the author doesn’t agree. Exeunt knights; some priests pray at each other and asperse the audience; good  night,  good  night.  Historically, Henry disavowed the whole thing, the knights fell into disgra ce, and Becket was canonized. The whole thing suffers from Late Eliot Syndrome: No tack is left unsledgehammered. He lectures us about his points rather than demonstrating or illustrating them, and the writing is   often less than inspired. Still, it’s better than his other verse dramas: The form and the language are at least appropriate to the material, and the material holds up under the weight of the Message. Eliot later attempted to pile similar Messages onto midcentury English bourgeois melodrama  -in  verse!  It  didn’t  work.  At the height of his powers, Eliot might have done something really interesting with Murder in the Cathedral. Christopher Fry, who has died, aged 97, was, with TS Eliot, the leading figure in the revival of poetic drama that took place in Britain in the late 1940s. His most popular play, The Lady’s Not For Burning, ran for nine months in the West End in 1949. But although Fry was a sacrificial victim of the theatrical revolution of 1956, he bore his fall from fashion with the stoic grace of a Christian humanist and increasingly turned his attention to writing epic films, most notably Ben Hur (1959). The Lady remains Fry’s most popular play: the leading role of Thomas Mendip has attracted actors as various as Richard Chamberlain, Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Branagh. Today, one is struck by the way in which Fry’s euphuistic language – at one point, the hero describes himself as a â€Å"perambulating vegetable patched with inconsequential hair† – overtakes the dramatic action. But in a postwar theatre that had little room for realism, Fry’s medieval setting, rich verbal conceits and self-puncturing irony delighted audiences, and the play became the flagship for the revival of poetic drama. At the same time, Eliot’s The Cocktail Party enjoyed a West End vogue, and a new movement was born. Though less of a public theorist than Eliot, Fry still believed passionately in the validity of poetic drama. As he wrote in the magazine, Adam: â€Å"In prose, we convey the eccentricity of things, in poetry their concentricity, the sense of relationship between them: a belief that all things express the same identity and are all contained in one discipline of revelation.† For a period in the late 1940s and early 50s, Fry helped to revive English verse drama, to which he brought colour, movement and a stoic gaiety. How many of his plays will survive, only time can tell. But, at his best, he brought an undeniable, spiritual elan to the drab world of postwar British theatre. He certainly deserves to be remembered as something more than the inspiration for Margaret Thatcher’s famous remark, â€Å"The lady’s not for turning†. For many centuries from the Greeks onwards verse was, throughout Europe, the natural and almost exclusive medium for the composition and presentation of dramatic works with any pretensions to  «seriousness » or the status of  «art ». Western drama’s twin origins, in the  Greek Festivals and in the rituals of the medieval church, naturally predisposed it to the use of verse. For tragedy verse long remained the only  «proper » vehicle. In comedy the use of prose became increasingly common – giving rise, for example, to such interesting cases as Ariosto’s I suppositi, written in prose in 1509 and reworked twenty years later in verse. (La cassaria also exists in both prose and verse). Shakespeare’s use of prose in comic scenes, especially those of  «low life », and for effective contrast in certain scenes of the tragedies and history plays, shows an increasing awareness of the possibilities of the medium and perhaps already contains an implicit association between prose and  «realism ». Verse continued to be the dominant medium of tragedy throughout the seventeenth century – even domestic tragedies such as A Yorkshire Tragedy (Anon., 1608) or Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed With Kindness (1603) were composed in blank verse. For all the continuing use of verse it is hard to escape the feeling that by the end of the seventeenth century it had largely ceased to be a genuinely living medium for dramatists. Increasingly the prevailing idioms of dramatic verse became decidedly literary, owing more to the work of earlier dramatists than to any real relationship with the language of its own time. By 1731 George Lillo’s The London Merchant, or The History of George Barnwell, for all its clumsiness and limitations, in its presentation of a middle-class tragedy in generally effective prose archieved a theatrical liveliness and plausibility largely absent from contemporary verse tragedies – from Addison’s Ca to (1713), Thomson’s Sophonisba (1730) and Agamemnon (1738), or Johnson’s Irene (1749). The example of Racine was vital to such plays, but it was not one that proved very fertile. Lillo was praised in France by Diderot and Marmontel, in Germany by Lessing and Goethe. It is not unreasonable to see Lillo’s work as an early and clumsy anticipation of Ibsen’s. The London Merchant constitutes one indication of the effective  «death » of verse drama. Others are not far to seek. In France, Houdar de La Motte was also writing prose tragedies in the 1720’s, and Stendhal, in the 1820’s was insistent that prose was now the only possible medium for a viable tragedy. Ibsen largely abandoned verse after Peer Gynt (1867), in favour of prose plays more directly and realistically concerned with contemporary issues. A well-known letter to Lucie Wolf (25 May 1883) proclaims that  «Verse has been most injurious to the art of drama†¦ It is improbable that verse will be employed to any extent worth mentioning in the drama of the immediate future since the aims of the dramatists of the future are almost certain to be incompatible with it ». Against the background of such a pattern of development, later dramatic works in verse have often seemed eccentric or academic; this should not blind us, however, to the considerable achievements of modern verse drama and to the importance of the testimony they bear to an idea of drama often radically different from the prevailing modern conceptions. A genre which has given rise to some of the most interesting work of D’Annunzio and Hofmannsthal, Yeats and Eliot, is surely not a negligible one. In the English context, the verse dramas of the Romantics and the Victorians already constituted a kind of  «revival » part of a conscious effort to bring poetry back to the theatre. For the Romantics there was still a potential audience with some sense that verse was the proper   medium for tragedy. The theatrical inexperience of the poets, however, made them ill-equipped for real dramatic achievement. The efforts of Wordsworth (The Borderers), 1795-6), Coleridge (eg. Remorse, 1813), and Keats (Otho the Great, 1819) remain of only antiquarian interest, judged as works for the theatre, though all have much to tell about their makers, and the Borderers, at least, is a work of considerable poetic substance. Perhaps slightly more praise might be extended to some of Byron’s verse dramas (eg. Manfred, 1817; Marino Faliero, 1820; Sardanapalus, 1821) and Shelley’s Cenci (1818) contains some scenes of considerable power. For most of the English romantics, however, the sha dow of Shakespeare proved oppressive; admiration, or rather reverence, for his example produced in their own work a poetic and theatrical idiom lacking all freshness and contemporaneity. It was in the work of other lands and languages that the example of Shakespeare could work more positively. In Germany, for example, there emerged a rich new tradition of verse drama in the works of Lessing (eg. Nathan Der Weise, 1779), Goethe, Schiller, Werner, Kleist (notably in Penthesilea, 1808, and Der Prinz von  Homburg, 1821) and others. In Italy the early plays of Manzoni (Il Conte di Carmagnola, 1820; Adelchi, 1822) provided en example which only a few poet-dramatists endeavoured to follow, while others -such as Niccolini – were more concerned with an attempt to revive Greek models of tragedy. (In Italy verse drama could often not escape from the shadow of the operatic tradition). In America too, verse drama was being attempted by dramatists such as John Howard Payne (eg. Brutus, 1818), Robert Mongomery Bird (The Gladiator, 1831) and, a work of some quality, George Henry Boker’s Francesca da Rimini (1855). In 1827-8 the English troupe made its famous visit to Paris, performing, amongst other works, all four of Shakespeare’s major tragedies. The impact was enormous. One of those most affected and impressed was the young Victor Hugo. In Hugo’s plays, much influenced by Shakespeare, romanticism found far more effective expression in verse drama than it had ever found in England. In plays such as Hernani (1830), Le roi s’amuse (1832), Ruy Blas (1838) and Les Burgraves (1843), Hugo creates a verse idiom of immense vigour which articulates visions of concentrated and extreme human emotion. At his best Hugo’s discrimination of character, if crude, is also striking. Other succesful versedramas later in the century included Francois Coppà ©e’s Severo Torelli (1883) Les Jacobites (1885) and Pour la couronne (1895), as well as Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1897). Certainly it is in the work of French and German poets (in plays by Hebbel, Grillparzer and Grabbe as well as those of the poets mentioned earlier) and in the early verse plays of Ibsen notably Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867) – that something li ke the full potential of verse drama is expressed. In England nothing of similar power exists in the nineteenth century. The   plays of James Sheridan Knowles (1784-1862) – such as William Tell (1825) and The Love Chase (1837) – provided effective roles for the great actor-manager Macready, but have little now to offer. Macready also acted in Lytton’s The Lady of Lyons (1838) and Richelieu (1839), both of which had considerable theatrical success, and are not entirely without enduring merits. Poets such as Tennyson (eg. Queen Mary, 1876; Harold, 1876; Becket, 1879) and Browning (eg. Strafford, 1837; A Blot in the Scutcheon, 1843) also wrote for the theatre but displayed very little sense of the genuinely theatrical (Tennyson assumed that he could leave it to Irving to  «fit »Ã‚  Becket for the stage). Other poets wrote closet dramas never intended for performance – Sir Henry Taylor’s enormous Philip Van Artevelde (1834) is an archetypal example of the genre, a work which, its author readily confessed  «was not intended for the stage » and was  «properly an Historical Romance, cast in dramatic and rythmical form ». Much the same might be said of two later and finer works: Swinburne’s Bothwell (1874) of which Edmund Gosse rightly observes that  «in bulk [it] o ne of the five-act Jidai-Mono or classic plays of eighteenth-century Japan, and it could only be performed, like an oriental drama, on successive nights », and The Dynasts (19038) of Thomas Hardy, the text of which occupies some 600 pages and which is described in its subtitle as  «An Epic-Drama of the War of Napoleon in Three Parts, Nineteen Acts, and One Hundred and Thirty Scenes ». The requirements and possibilities of practical theatre have clearly been left far behind; the divorce of the poet from the performers seems complete. Yet there were others who sought to maintain the relationship between poetry and theatre. The plays of Stephen Phillips, for example (eg. Herod, 1901; Ulysses, 1902; Paolo and Francesca, 1902; The King, 1912) have neither the psychological perception of Swinburne nor the historical insight of Hardy, but they did hold the stage with considerable success. Phillips had plenty of theatrical experience, having been an actor in the theatrical company of his cousin, Frank Benson. Phillips’ verse plays were produced by Beerbohm Tree, and they display a sophisticated command of theatrical effect and a wide-ranging, if almost wholly derivative, verse rhetoric which has, very occasionally, genuinely poetic moments. Elsewhere in the early years of the century there is to be found worthwhile work by a multitude of minor figures. Lawrence Binyon’s Attila (1907) and Ayuli (1923); Gordon Bottomley’s King Lear’s Wife (1915) and Gruach (1923); John Masefield’s Good Friday (1917), Esther (1922) and Tristan and Isolt (1927); John Drinkwater’s Cophetua (1911) and Rebellion (1914); Arthur Symons’ The Death of Agrippina and Cleopatra in Judea (1916); T.Sturge Moore’s Daimonissa (1930) – are all of interest and substance, but none can be said to make an overwhelming case for the genre, and all are, in varying degrees unable to escape from the long shadow of Shakespeare, especially as reinterpreted by the nineteenth-   century. Under fresh influences – French Symbolism and Japanese Noh theatre in particular – verse drama began to explore new possibilities. Gordon Bottomley’s later works – such as Fire at Callart (1939) showed an awareness of the possibilities offered by the model of the Noh. Yeats, of course, had more fully explored such possibilities in works such as At the Hawks’ Well, The Only Jealousy of Emer, The Dreaming of the Bones and Calvary (composed c.1915-20), insofar as they were the means of liberation from the obligations of a naturalistic theatre. Verse, music, ritual and dance were woven into a complementary whole. (Irish successors to yeats include Austin Clarke, whose verse plays have been performed by the Abbey Theatre, the Cambridge festival Theatre and others). In later plays such as The Herne’s Egg (1935) and Purgatory (1938) evolves a personal and convincing idiom (both verbally and theatrically) for verse drama. These are superficially simp le, but metaphysically profound works, both verbally exciting and theatrically striking. Elsewhere in Europe, the work of Gabriele D’Annunzio (eg. La città   morta, 1898; Francesca da Rimini, 1901; La figlia di Iorio, 1904) and Hugo von Hofmannsthal (eg. Jedermann, 1912; Das grosse Salzburger Welttheater, 1922) was bearing eloquent testimony to the continuing potential of the genre. In France Claudel was creating a series of verse plays upon religious and philosophical themes, whose intense lyricism and startling imagery for long went without full appreciation (eg. Partage de midi, 1906; Le pain dur, 1918; Le Soulier de satin, 1928-9). Other French twentieth-century verse-dramas include works by Char, Cà ©saire and Cocteau, but the poetic qualities which characterise much that has been most striking in modern French drama have more generally found expression in prose plays rather than verse plays – as, for example, in the work of Giradoux, Anouilh, Beckett, Ionesco and Vian. In Spain, Lorca mixes verse and prose in his plays. In Britain the 1930’s saw a new generation of poets whose experiments did much to broaden the range – in terms both of form and content – of verse drama. The Dog Beneath the Skin (1936) and The Ascent of F.6 (1937) were collaborations by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood which brought a fresh wit and intellectuality, a new radicalism of social comment and contemporary relevance, to the genre. T.S.Eliot’s plays – notably Murder in the Cathedral  (1935) and The Family Reunion (1939) offered persuasive instances of how verse might, for the dramatist, be the means by which one could  «get at the permanent and universal » rather than the merely ephemeral and naturalistic. Murder in the Cathedral was written for performance in Canterbury Cathedral, while The Family Reunion was composed for the commercial theatre. The   idioms of the two plays are, therefore, necessarily very different; taken together the two offer a promise not wholly fulfilled by Eliot’s later plays, such as The Cocktail Party (1950), The Confidential Clerk (1953) and The Elder Statesman (1958). In these later plays the verse lacks the confidence to be genuinely poetic – the linguistic intensity of the pre-war plays gives way to something far more prosaic. Murder in the Cathedral is, in part, striking for its mixture of verse forms and idioms; the Auden and Isherwood collaborations drew on the techniques of the music hall, the pantomime and the revue. From the 1930’s onwards verse dramas have continued to be composed in Britain (and America), many of them works of considerable distinction. Most have been composed for performance outside the commercial theatre – for churches and cathedrals, for universities or drama schools, or for some theatrical groups devoted to verse drama. In London, for example, the Mercury Theatre in Notting Hill Gate, holding no more than 150, was opened by Ashley Dukes in 1933 and was home to E.Martin Browne’s Pilgrim Players. Browne was central to the revival of verse drama in the middle years of the century. He directed all of Eliot’s plays, including the first performance of Murder in the Cathedral. In the 1940’s he directed, at the Mercury, several important verse plays – both religious (eg. Ronald Duncan’s This Way to the Tomb, 1945; Anne Ridler’s The Shadow Factory, 1945) and comic (eg. Christopher Fry’s A Phoenix too Frequent, 1946; Dona gh MacDonagh’s Happy as Larry, 1947). Browne was also associated with the remarkable religious plays by Charles Williams (eg.Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury, 1936; Seed of Adam, 1937; The House of the Octopus, 1945). Indeed, the variety of the verse drama produced in these years was very considerable. It includes the grave beauty of Williams’ plays and the fantastic gaiety of Happy as Larry, its language informed at every turn by the ballads of Dublin and the idiosyncrasies of  colloquial  «Irish ». In the plays of Christopher Fry there is a substantial body of work characterised, at its best, by both a vivacity (even exuberance) of language and a well-developed theatricality. Plays such as The Lady’s Not for Burning (1948)), Venus Observed (1950), A Sleep of Prisoners (1951) and Curtmantle (1961) display a considerable range. Fry can be funny and moving, dazzling and beautiful. He can also be verbose and sentimental. Immensely successful – critically and commercially – at the beginning of his career, Fry’s reputation has suffered since. His best plays are both intelligent and entertaining, and will surely continue to find admirers. There is much that is rewarding, too, in the work of Ronald Duncan – in Our Lady’s Tumbler (195 0), which has some fine choric writing, or in Don Juan (1953); Stephen Spender’s Trial of a Judge (1938) is an intriguing experiment, with some highly effective moments. Louis MacNeice’s The Dark Tower (1946) is a rich and   mysterious  «radio parable play » in verse. The tradition of verse drama has continued to attract writers, and they have continued to produce interesting plays; such plays have, however, largely been seen (or read) only by specialised audiences. Few have found their way on to the commercial stage. Robert Gittings’ Out of this Wood (1955); Jonathan Griffin’s The Hidden King (1955); John Heath-Stubbs’ Helen in Egypt, (1958); Patric Dickinson’s A Durable Fire (1962) the list might be extended considerably. More recent years have seen the production (or publication) of significant verse plays by, amongst others, Peter Dale (The Cell, 1975; Sephe, 1981), Tony Harrison (eg. The Misanthrope, 1973; Phaedra Britannica, 1975; The Oresteia, 1981; The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus, 1990), Seamus Heaney (The Cure at Troy, 1990) and Francis Warner (eg. Moving Reflections, 1982; Living Creation, 1985; Byzantium, 1990). In America the tradition begun in the nineteenth century and continued by dramatists such as Josephine Preston Peabody (eg. Marlowe, 1901) and William Vaughn Moody (eg. The FireBringer, 1904), has had such later practitioners as Percy Mackaye (The Mystery of Hamlet, 1949), Maxwell Anderson (eg. Elizabeth the Queen, 1930; Winterset, 1935), Richard Eberhart (eg. The Visionary Farms, 1952; The Mad Musician, 1962) and Archibald MacLeish (eg. J.B., 1958; Herakles, 1967). Modern verse-drama has extended the formal possibilities of the genre far beyond the traditions of  blank-verse tragedy. A wide range of verse forms, of free-verse, and of experiments derived from the techniques of revue and music-hall have played their part in the evolution of new and striking theatrical forms. Why have so many writers continued to be attracted to verse drama when, as Peter Dale observes, his chances of seeing his work performed are generally very slight? If, like Ibsen after Peter Gynt, the dramatist’s aim is to write  «the genuine, plain language spoken in real life » (letter of 25 May 1883 quoted above) he will not, presumably, be attracted to verse as a likely medium. If, on the other hand, he feels with Yeats that the post-Ibsen prose of Shaw’s plays was devoid of  «all emotional implication », or if he shares the sentiments expressed by T.S.Eliot in his 1950 lecture on  «Poetry and Drama », it is more than probable that he will feel it necessary to turn to verse: It seems to me that beyond the nameable, classifiable emotions and motives of our conscious life when directed towards action – the part of like which prose drama is wholly adequate to express – there is a fringe of indefinite extent, of feeling which we can only detect, so to speak, out of the corner of the eye and can never completely focus †¦ This peculiar range of sensibility can be expressed by dramatic poetry, at its moments of greatest intensity. At such moments we   touch the border of those feelings which only music can express. We can never emulate music, because to arrive at the condition of music would be the annihilation of poetry, and especially of dramatic poetry. Never the less, I have before my eyes a kind of mirage of the perfection of verse drama, which would be a design of human action and words, such as to present at once the two aspects of dramatic and musical order †¦ To go as far in this direction as possible to go, without losing tha t contact with the ordinary everyday world with which drama must come to terms, seems to me the proper aim of dramatic poetry. Such thoughts enable us to see modern verse drama as much more than that reaction against naturalism as which it has often been depicted. At its best  verse drama is too positive an aspiration for it to be adequately understood merely as a reaction to the dominant idiom of the time. Much of what is best and most attractive in European theatre of the last 40 years might be described as post-naturalist, rather than merely anti-naturalist; verse-drama has made, and should continue to make, important and distinctive contributions to post-naturalism. According to Francis Fergussan, a poetic drama is a drama in which you â€Å"feel† the characters are poetry and were poetry before they began to speak. Thus poetry and drama are inseparable. The playwright has to create a pattern to justify the poetic quality of the play and his poetry performs a double function. First, it is an action itself, so it must do what it says. Secondly, it makes explicit what is really happening. Eliot in his plays has solved the problem regarding language, content  and  versification. In the twentieth century, the inter-war period was an age suited to the poetic drama. There was a revival and some of the poets like W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot tried their hands in writing of poetic plays. This was a reaction against prose plays of G. B. Shaw, Galsworthy and others because these plays showed a certain lack of emotional touch with the moral issue of the age. W. B. Yeats did not like this harsh criticism of the liberal idea of the nineteenth century at the hands of dramatists like G. B. Shaw. So he thought the drama of ideas was a failure to grasp the reality of the age. On the other hand, the drama of entertainment (artificial comedy) was becoming dry and uninteresting. It was under these circumstances that the modern playwrights like T. S. Eliot, J.M. Synge, W. B. Yeats, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spendor and so on have made the revival the poetic drama possible. The Choruses. A striking feature of â€Å"Murder in the Cathedral† is Eliot’s use of poetic choruses like the choruses in ancient Greek drama. The producer must decide the method which will project most effectively in the theatre these recurring choral passages, spoken by the Women of Canterbury. There are eight poetic rhapsodies or choruses, comprising approximately one fifth of  the text. The poetry in the choruses invites all the imaginative enrichment which light, music and dance can give it.  The chorus commenced in Greek drama, originally as a group of singers or chanters. Later, a Greek playwright called Thespis introduced an actor on the stage who held a dialogue with the leader of the chorus. Playwrights like Aeschylus and Sophocles added a second and a third actor to interact with the chorus. Finally, the chorus took on the role of participants in the action and interpreters of what is happening on stage. Eliot has based â€Å"Murder in the Cathedral† on the form of classic Greek tragedy. He uses the chorus to enhance the dramatic effect, to take part in the action of the play, and to perform the roles of observer and commentator. His chorus women represent the common people, who lead a life of hard work and struggles,  no matter who rules. It is only their faith in God that gives them the strength to endure. These women are uneducated, country folk, who live close to the earth. As a result, they are in tune with the changing seasons and the moods of nature. At present, they have an intuition of death and evil. They fear that the new year, instead of bringing new hope, will bring greater suffering. The three priests have three different reactions to Becket’s arrival. The first reacts with the fear of a calamity.The second is a little bold and says that there can hardly be any peace between a king who is busy in intrigue and an archbishop who is an equally proud, self-righteous man. The third priest feels that the wheel of time always move ahead, for good or evil. He believes that a wise man, who cannot change the course of the wheel, lets it move at its own pace.

Friday, August 30, 2019

College Hazing That Changed My Life

R&R â€Å"The College Hazing That Changed My Life† Right from the beginning line, Thomas Rogers, sucks me Into this story. It takes guts to start something off like that and pull It off, but he did. I found It very amusing, hilarious, and dangerous. College hazing are no Joke If they are anywhere near the level he describes this one as. When he states, † College Is a strange time†¦ We're free to make an extraordinary amount of mistakes and end up In situations that may not teach us much†¦ † I began to think about next year when I start my college life and what exactly Is In store for me.I hope Its not a struggle balancing everything and ring to pass my classes. When the author begins to describe his childhood I feel Like I can relate to him. My brother got most of my parents athletic ablest so I have to make due with the amount that I have. We both are tall, also clumsy even though we don't want to be. You don't get to pick how tall you are, what traits y ou have, or If your athletic or not. You have to make due with what you have and find something that suits you. That's one thing that I believe the author was trying to get across. He showcases that by doing something out of the ordinary and joining the rowing team.Also another thing that I believe he tried to get across is to strive for what you want. He went through two weeks of tryouts to Join his universities varsity crew rowing team. Then he finally made it and had to then go through hazing. L believe that if you have to become a sock in order to boost your self esteem that you have issues you need to sort out. No one should have to do that to feel good about themselves. Finally, he tried to get across that you don't have to be normal its okay if you're not. Embrace and find excitement in whatever it is. Be your own person.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Aquaculture And Fisheries Industry In Malaysia

Aquaculture And Fisheries Industry In Malaysia INTRODUCTION Aquaculture industry in Malaysia nowadays has become one of engine of growth that contributes to the improvement in the economy of our country. Fisheries industry is one of the main sectors of food supply in Malaysia. At 2008, aquaculture has achieved about 20.8% contribution in fisheries industry   [ 1 ]   . Among various types of aquaculture activities, brackish water aquaculture is the predominant practise in the industry. Aquaculture is becoming one of ways to enhance food security and increase export revenues of Malaysia. Thus, commercialisation of aquaculture industry is the great concern give by government and private sectors to promote a better life and standard of living of people despite of increasing the economy development. I want to investigate how far the commercialisation of shrimp does contribute in the aspect of economy development and Human Developing Index. I have the idea to do this research initially because I’ve seen that farmed shrimp h ave been demanded by people for many reasons. This research was done to investigate the effect of commercialisation of shrimp farming in aquaculture industry towards the area in Merbok, Kedah. Most of the shrimp farmers choose various type of shrimp in their farm according to demand by people. I chose to do this research in Merbok initially because it is one of important aquaculture area of in Kuala Muda, Kedah. Moreover, Kedah is poised to become a major shrimp aquaculture zone   [ 2 ]   . The research is significant to investigate the effect of commercialisation towards the surrounding area including farmers, households and private sectors in Merbok. The Malaysian government assists the shrimp culture industry through the Department of Fisheries, which provides advice and technical assistance. In addition, aquaculture industry is become to produce high value species for domestic market as well as for the export market. About 80 percent of the Malaysian shrimp culture productio n is exported, mostly to Singapore, Japan, the United States, and Europe. Export market contributes mainly towards increasing revenues in economy of Malaysia. But, in this research, there is no numerical data about export of shrimp because most of farmers in Merbok do not export their products directly. Besides, this research is significant to make the community realise the steps taken by government to improve income and standard of living of poor people in Malaysia in order to reduce poverty. Most of Malaysian does not aware of it. Commercialization is the main purpose did by government to attract more people involve in this profitable sector. Furthermore, I also include the challenges faced by farmers in shrimp farming. 1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This study is attempted to make a further study of the effects of commercialism of tiger shrimp farming towards economy of Merbok. The objectives of study are: To investigate on how and how far has the aquaculture industry brought to improve ment in the economy development of Merbok, Kedah. To study the demand and supply of tiger shrimp before and after commercialization. To investigate the government intervention to improve this industry as one of important industry in Merbok, Kedah. To investigate the role aquaculture industry in increasing the standard of living of farmers, graduates and etc.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Site analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Site analysis - Essay Example Wetlands are distributed in the United States due to the differences in geology, water source, and climate. They consume a wider area as far as the coastal margins. In this article, I will consider the wetlands in West Virginia and the effects they have to the locals concerning the agricultural sector. West Virginia has a vast number of wetlands associated with streams. They occur in floodplains and are mainly associated with lakes or can occur as an isolated land feature. Wetlands results in large open water bodies and vegetation such as the Okefenokee Swamp. Hydrologic processes that occur in wetlands are the processes that exist in the healthy water body and are collectively referred as the hydrological cycle. The cycle consists of components such as the precipitation, groundwater flow, surface water flow, and evaporation Cohen (1984). Wetlands continually receive water and lose it through the exchange in the atmospheres, ground water, and streams. Both of the systems provide a conducive geological setting and appropriate and constant supply of water that are necessary for the existence of the wetlands. The wetland water sum is the sum of the inflows and outflows from the wetland. The total water amount for the wetland is represented in the equation below The importance of every component in a wetland varies in the composition of the hydrological cycle from wetland to wetland. The Okefenokee in Georgia is a typical prairie pothole. As a result, it receives direct precipitation and a considerable amount of runoff from the surrounding uplands as well as ground water inflow. It loses water to evaporation, keeping to groundwater or overflow in conditions of excess precipitation and runoff. Wetlands are considered as a complex ecosystem in which underground water and surface water interact with each other, but since the underground water can’t be observed

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Islamic Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Islamic Finance - Essay Example The value and growth demonstrated by Islamic finance, in recent years, typifies the industry’s overall potential comparative to conventional finance. The growth of Islamic finance has been observed outside conventional Islamic markets in members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This signifies the increased attention being paid to Islamic finance by policy markers, as well as other universal market participants. The point of this paper is to refute the argument that Islamic finance cannot serve as a viable alternative to conventional finance. To date, a number of non-traditional Islamic markets such as London and New York have shown increased appreciation for the value of Islamic finance. In fact, London and New York launched indices in their FTSE and Dow Jones indices with a view to offer a benchmark for equity prices attributable to investments in Islamic financial companies (Warde 141). Governments such as the UK government continue to play a major role in extending th e scope of Islamic finance by extending support, for instance, by prohibiting the imposition of double stamp duty on Islamic mortgages (Warde 54). This is indicative of the fact that modern governments and private institutions are becoming increasingly aware of the viability of Islamic finance as an alternative to conventional finance. ... Typically, Islamic finance offers financial products rooted in the doctrines of Shariah or Islamic Law (El-Gamal 94). Most of these products are offered to Muslim investors while some Islamic products also attract conventional borrowers and investors. Islamic finance centers primarily on the principles of Islamic, and as a consequence, it encompasses a two-tier system. Firstly, the banking system accepts bankers’ deposits primarily for safe-keeping purposes without the accrual of any return while demanding 100% reserves. This means that, under Islamic finance, the payment system of the economy is protected from risks. Additionally, the system also limits the capacity of the banking system to create credit, thus hindering the necessity for deposit guarantee attributed to the conventional reserve system (Iqbal, Mirakhor, Askari and Krichene 196). The second primary component of Islamic finance is the fact that investment factors that act as classical financial intermediaries tha t channel savings to appropriate investment projects, as well as events where investment deposits are deemed as equity investments, without guarantees at maturity are subject to profit and loss sharing (Warde 128). Depositors are essentially considered as investors and the collection of assets managed by the financial institution appear on the assets segment of the balance sheets. The primary difference of between the conventional financial system and financial intermediation inherent in Islamic finance is that while depositors accrue fixed and pre-determined liabilities in conventional finance, those in Islamic system are party to both profits and losses accrued by the financial institution’s assets (El-Gamal 133). This signifies that Islamic finance does away with the old

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Pros and Cons of the Implementation of Fat Tax in the UK Essay

The Pros and Cons of the Implementation of Fat Tax in the UK - Essay Example This essay discusses that the United Kingdom is becoming ‘fat’. According to the National Health Services (NHS), obesity is one of the biggest problems confronting UK in the 21st century; obesity causes several diseases or health problems. As this problem is growing, there are many attempts to control it. There is a suggestion in the UK that a tax on junk food is the only solution to mitigate this problem. This essay critically evaluates the arguments for and against such proposal. People who support ‘fat tax’ argue that this proposal is likely to be effective because this strategy has been used to alcohol and cigarettes quite successfully. According to Jofre, the UK is considered to be the ‘fattest’ nation in Europe. In line with this, the rate of obesity in the UK is growing steadily, and time is short, which implies that ‘fat tax’ could be the perfect solution for obesity. For instance, Denmark is one of the slimmest countries in Europe because it implemented ‘fat tax’. It is also argued that ‘fat tax’ has an impact on health for it is widely known that sugar and fat are the main reason for obesity. Thus, the basis for the proposal becomes obvious. As stated by Jofre, if the public cannot take care of their health, then the government is obliged to take action. In contrast, people who are against this proposal believe that it is their choice, and not the responsibility of the government. But what are the real advantages and disadvantages of implementing ‘fat tax’ in the UK? An obvious advantage of ‘fat tax’ is the revenue it could generate. ‘Fat tax’ would probably have to be quite large so as to make a difference on food preference, producing additional revenues (Leicester & Windmeijer 2004). Such revenues could be used for obesity prevention and treatment agendas, or to fund the promotion of nutritious foods. There is logical argument for th e possible success of implementing ‘fat tax’ in order to lessen consumption of unhealthy foods. One of the main factors affecting food preference is price, together with ease, quality, and taste, and, to a lesser degree, health (Jofre 2010). ‘Fat tax’ has been proven to be successful in Denmark. However, implementing ‘fat tax’ is difficult. It is hard to determine what foods should be taxed. However, even though difficult to implement, Denmark, and other countries, have shown success in adopting ‘fat tax’. This proposal is disapproved of by other people for wrongly troubling the poor, for poor people consume higher quantities of junk foods and would hence be held back by ‘fat tax’ (Leicester & Windmeijer 2004). Yet, poor people may profit as well since price is more precious to poor people in choosing foods to eat, and thus ‘fat tax’ may result in major change in consumption behaviour for poor people in co mparison with rich ones who can buy nutritious foods. Especially, nutritious food decisions would have to be cheap and easy to get to. If not, poor people, who remain incapable of buying nutritious foods, will either be pushed to starve or shell out more to sustain a harmful diet. If obesity is a real major problem in the UK, it is more helpful to think of other ways, since the ‘fat tax’ proposal looks weak. In particular, ‘fat taxes’ that financially support obesity prevention and treatment agendas, and complaints against food businesses, appear quite financially advantageous for the individuals supporting them, such as attorneys and public health advocates, without essentially solving the obesity crisis (Press Association 2011). What’s more, a lot of people eat wisely, so why should they be burdened of the taxes intended to discipline irresponsible consumers? And there are no sure proof that obesity is caused by the failure of food businesses to in form consumers that hamburgers and ice creams are fatty foods. It appears that the most

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Continental Airlines Flight 1404 Research Paper

Continental Airlines Flight 1404 - Research Paper Example Earlier, nearly 90 percent of the aircraft accidents were grouped as survivable or technically survivable. As part of this initiative, a range of new features are integrated into aircraft at the design stage. The aircraft manufacturing industry collected details of several fatal air accident incidents and identified the key issues led to catastrophes. As a result of those extensive research practices, the air accident survival rate has significantly improved in the United States for the last two decades. This paper will discuss the case ‘Runway side excursion during attempted takeoff in strong and gusty crosswind conditions: Continental airlines flight 1404’. The paper will specifically point out why this air accident was survivable. The Mishap 250 The Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was a passenger carrier flight from Denver International Airport at Denver in Colorado to George Bush Intercontinental Airport at Huston in Texas. On 20th December 2008, at 1818 Mountain Standard Time, the Continental Airlines flight 1404 (a Boeing 737-500, N18611) skidded off the left side of the runway while taking off from the Denver International Airport. As an impact of the skidding, the flight crashed into 40 feet deep ravine which was several hundred yards away from the runway. During the course of the crash, the flight caught fire. As described in Aviation Safety Network (2008), although whereabouts of Flight 1404 were unknown at the initial stages, firefighters could immediately respond to the disaster because the plane came to rest beside one of the four fire houses of the airport. When firefighters reached the accident site, right side of the plane had been almost damaged by the fire. Passengers were being assisted by flight attendants to escape through the left side. There were 110 passengers in the flight. The captain and 5 of the passengers were severely injured whereas the first officer, 2 cabin crewmembers, and 38 passengers sustained minor injuries. Luckily, one cabin crewmember and rest of the passengers escaped unscathed. However, the flight was damaged substantially (Aviation Safety Network, 2008). Evidently, there were visual meteorological conditions at the time of the aircraft disaster. The plane followed an instrument flight rules flight plan. Investigation reports indicated that a faulty air tr affic control system and improper crosswind training in the airline industry were the major causes of the disaster. Why the Accident was Survivable While analyzing this disaster case, it seems that flight attendants’ timely responsive actions significantly contributed to the survivability of this aircraft crash. Although the flight attendants could not communicate with the pilots immediately after the aircraft came to a halt, they timely ordered an evacuation at the moment they identified the danger or fire. Since the right side of the airplane was almost caught by fire, three exits on the plane’s left side including forward, aft, and overwing were used for the evacuation process. When the forward and aft exits were operated by flight attendants, a passenger operated the left overwing exit. During the evacuation, three flight attendants and two other flight crewmembers assisted passengers to escape through less congested exits and blocked access to right side exits. In the opinion of Leib (2009), the accident was survivable because only left side of the aircraft caught fire and therefore passengers could escape through right side exits. Post-accident interviews revealed that even though passengers seemed frightened, they were greatly responsive to instructions and hence the evacuation pr

The Mesopotamians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Mesopotamians - Essay Example The Mesopotamians had a pessimistic view of life because of the uncertainty in their lives. They were uncertain because of how land their land was open and the rivers were difficult to control. This pessimistic view of life was reflected even in some of their art. They revealed their pessimism through hiding statues and other arts about the things they were pessimistic about in their culture.They had a pessimistic view even of their gods. They viewed them as caprious and had to constantly struggle with their whims. This affected their art and especially when designing their temples. The designing and art work of the temples were in such a way that the statues of their gods were hidden or interrupted. This way, they became distant and difficult to be seen. Other than the pessimism revealed in the art of the Mesopotamians, other features that the culture’s art reveal depend on the type of art being made. The art indicating nudity revealed that frailty and destitution of those in dividuals killed or enslaved in war. Vases on the other hand revealed that the Mesopotamians were people who presented offerings to their goddess during important ceremonies like marriages. The art also revealed that they valued and respected their rulers and leaders and this was depicted in arts of their leaders once they died.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Donella Meadows et al. The Limits to Growth Assignment

Donella Meadows et al. The Limits to Growth - Assignment Example Meadows et al. (1972) appear to be in logical congruence with the authors of the text as they agree that these problems are difficult to control and to deal with them exhaustively might take the next one hundred years. The authors also make an interesting proposition as they seek to depict the space-time continuum and its relationship with perspectives created in dealing with the aforementioned global issues. In what the text refers to as the â€Å"human perspectives†, the authors are focused on defining a relationship between personal and family level problems that people seek to address and global problems. As the text puts it, every person needs to focus on finding solutions to his short-term problems, such as looking for food for his family (Meadows et al. 18). At the same time, it is important to focus on the long-term problems that affect us all as humans, such as the possibility of wars and global demand for agricultural products, not to mention how they may affect the short-term efforts, something only a few people do. An important assertion that is presented in the text relating to these issues is that every man has different standpoints regarding time and space, which is the result of differences in culture and past experiences as well as the urgency with which a problem needs to be addressed. However, it appears unfortunate that not many people realize the urgency with which global issues, such as overexploitation of nonrenewable resources, a highly industrialized world, and its impacts on the natural environment, should be addressed (Meadows et al 21). For many people, the higher the urgency of the problem, the more the people that seek to deal with, leaving some of these global problems to just a few individuals who focus on finding a solution to them. The text then suggests a model that is aimed at dealing

Friday, August 23, 2019

How Supply and Demand Affects the British Economy Essay

How Supply and Demand Affects the British Economy - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to do this, as well as look into all related elements and issues enveloped in this subject matter. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The British economy is considered as being "a parasite on the rest of productive capitalism" (Roberts, n.d.). However, in the European Commission's latest assessment of EU finances, it was predicted that the UK economy would grow by 2.2% this year and by at least 2.6% in the year of 2004. "The labor market has remained strong despite the global slowdown with the unemployment rate being at around 27-year lows," said the European Commission. (Osborn, 2003). As well, inflation in Britain is much lower than that of most other EU countries. Economic shocks can cause unpredictable damage and changes in aggregate demand and short run aggregate supply which lie outside our normal macroeconomic models. As a result, a new equilibrium level of national output is achieved. However, "The unpredictable nature of these shocks creates a fluctuating rate of economic growth and may require some sort of macroeconomic policy response." (Tutor, 2005). To the UK economy, which is an open economy, an example of a demand shock would be that of a recession in a major trading partner such as the United States. Meaning that, if the United States were experiencing a recession, real disposable incomes of US consumers would fall and hence demand for imports would fall as well. Although some people argue that because the UK has not entered recession international events have therefore not had a great effect on economic growth; however, this is not true the UK has suffered due to the global downturn but this has, to some extent at least, been offset by continued levels of consumer confidence the reflationary effects of the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee to reduce nominal interest rates still further to their current level of just 4.0%. "Cheaper money has been a key factor sustaining both confidence and consumer spending. The continued strength of house prices and low unemployment also helped to limit the impact of the demand shock that hit the British economy." (Tutor, 2005). Inflation is the process in which prices rise in the domestic economy, of which are reflected in the reduced purchasing power of a national sum of money over time. General price inflation is a fall in the purchasing power of money within an economy, as compared to currency devaluation which is the fall of the market value of a currency between economies. The particular extent to which these two phenomena are related is open to economic debate, though the comparison of a currency to foreign currencies is based on investor demand for currencies, and therefore must at least partially be a matter of perception. The issue of inflation is incredibly important in British politics on account of its effect on the purchasing power of both the consumer and business, and the corresponding linkage that the declining value of wealth and income has to the general economic health of the country. The law in Britain of supply and demand results in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Once a region or country is ahead of the economic pack, it then

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Forensic Science in the 21st Century Essay Example for Free

Forensic Science in the 21st Century Essay Science in the 21st Century Gertrude West Forensic Science and Psychological Profiling /CJA590 May 30, 2011 Edward Baker Forensic Science in the 21st Century Forensic science has various influences on crime, investigation and the people that are involved. Forensic science has a connection with the courts to ensure crimes are getting solved and justice is being served to those that commit crimes. With the help of forensic science, crimes are being solved from a human and technological aspect. This paper highlights numerous discussions on how forensic science plays a role in criminal justices system, security, media and the law. Forensic science is a separate entity from the police; although a large portion of the work is obtains through law enforcement. Forensic science is a recognizable component of policing during criminal investigation. The successful resolution from a crime scene involves preventing the site from being contaminated. This helps assures a great deal of gathering and interpreting evidence that could lead to an accurate interpretation of the event. The advances in technology are being applied to forensic science; a field in which technical is achieved by many factors such as including training, experience, continued education, and scientific methodology (NYSP, 2007). Forensic Science continues to develop in the 21st Century. It blends science and technology that has been useful for law enforcement to solve crimes and prosecute criminals. Forensic sciences in criminal investigations include but are not limited to: bioscience, trace evidence, toxicology, photography, documentation, forensic imagery, forensic ID and SAFIS, evidence receiving, drug chemistry and ballistics. In addition, private forensic laboratories, such as Applied Forensics, are contracted and employed to assist in the judicial process in the analysis of documents in question and handwriting analysis (Davis, 2006). One of the biggest things that criminal investigators and officers will look for at a crime scene is DNA. DNA can be gathered not just only through blood but through any type of fluids as well. According to Blackman (2011), â€Å"DNA analysis is one of the main tools used in forensic science to identify individuals. Crime laboratories undertaking DNA typing are typically concerned with comparing DNA evidence with known standards. The evidence is DNA samples collected from a crime scene and these are cross-matched against DNA swabs taken from anyone connected to that scene, be that victims, defendants or elimination ‘known’s’. The elimination known’s can come from the victims’ relatives, for example, or, if it’s a shared house, from tenants. The comparisons are made, not only to generate and compile evidence against suspects, but also to exclude people from the investigation. The development and applications of forensic scince suppors operation aimed at prevention, disruption, and prosecution of terrorism. The discipline helps support intelligence and investigation. Thiss component is now incorporated into homeland Security, A pattern of legal instances benefiting from this type of scientific study would be medical malpractice litigation, probate proceedings, complex and commercial legal action and contract lawsuits. According to Shelton (2010), â€Å"Forensic Science in Court explores the legal implications of forensic sciencean increasingly important and complex part of the justice system. Judge Donald Shelton provides an accessible overview of the legal issues, from the history of evidence in court, to gatekeeper judges determining what evidence can be allowed, to the CSI effect in juries. † The media has the potential of affecting the way people think. People disregard their perception based on scenarios presented. Popular media representation of forensic science and influential presence on the public’s opinion on justice-related issues, the effect that impeccable synchronicity of the investigator and successful outcomes portrayed in fictional arenas are contemporaneous with the public’s feelings. Dissatisfied with the criminal justice system not solving cases fast enough, the public then places astronomical expectations on medical examiners. Real life investigators believing that a lack of competency may be at play when in reality, society has been provided a distorted view of the lengthy, painstaking process involved. According to Nurse Advocacy (2007), â€Å"People disregard all messages in advertising, since ads commonly present actors and models, but that is simply not how the human mind works. Despite being fiction, media products like this can still influence: our views of the vehicle in question (as the advertiser fervently hopes); the ability of women today to become authoritative, powerful professionals, yet to still have a family (presumably this ad was directed mainly at women who would identify with the surgeon); the basic set-up of ORs, the kinds of professionals who participate, how they dress, and what tools they use; and of course, the relative power, knowledge and professional roles of physicians and nurses. Some of this may be unintended, but all of it sells the minivan to the target demographic. All of the elements above contribute to the high credibility of the surgeon, who is, after all, doing the selling. † In this manner media also increase the knowledge of those that are committing crimes, what they may not have been doing before they are doing it now. For example if they were not wearing gloves and using cell phones that cannot be trace, paying for things in cash instead of electronically, they are sure doing this now. Television crime shows gives potential jurors the expectation of more cateforical proof than that which forensic scine is capable of produciing. â€Å"The most obvious symptom of the CSI effect is that jurors think they have a thorough understanding of science they have seen presented on television, when they do not† (Economist, 2010 ). Scientist deals more with probability than certainty. The process of calculating the probability is complex. During a court preceding a finger print expert may acknowledge a 90% chance of obtaining a match if a defendant left a print. On the other hand it could be one in several billion chance of a match if someone other than the defendant left the mark. DNA in general provides evidence of a higher quality than other forms of proof; therefore, experts may be more confident to link results to a specific individual. The probabilities and not certainties still lie within the DNA findings. As a result, trials are longer and cases that previously might have offer quick convictions are now ending in acquittals. The CSI effect can also be positive. In one case in Virginia jurors asked the judge if a cigarette butt had been tested for possible DNA matches to the defendant in a murder trial. It had, but the defense lawyers had failed to introduce the DNA test results as evidence. When they did, those results exonerated the defendant, who was acquitted† (Economist, 2010 ). In the study of forensic science, there are so many things that people do not know. The intelligence of this subject is becoming more and more prominent. In this manner people are becoming more educated in a good way (knowledge) and also in a bad way (committing crimes with the less possibility of getting caught). This subject matter is very prominent because it also increasing the knowledge of different crimes that may have not been prominent before the use of technology to now. The creation computers were for those to store office files and important information, but now computers are being used in so many different aspect as far as pornography, the promotion of sex, and so many other things. Technology has not become a door way to so many things. This makes forensic science become more and more prominent in this day in age, because there are computers hackers trying to access files to find out what is Americas next move and sometimes just the simple things of stealing others identification. In this manner that forensic has a connection with the courts, it is very important that this type of connection stays going due to the drive that it connects to ensure crimes are getting solved and justice is being served to those that are committing these crimes.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Compensation Strategy In Translation

Compensation Strategy In Translation Seems its a big deal to make up the loss of idiomatic expressions in translating idioms from one language to another one. How can translators come up with this problem? Considering an English novel as the source document and its Persian translations as the target text, we mean to answer this question. Extracting idioms and non-idioms from the first chapter of J. D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye, is the first step to start. Then we made a comparison of gathered information with their Persian translations by Najafi and Karimi for the next stage. Following compensation strategy by adding target language idioms somewhere in the translated texts by the Persian translators, is an open door to manage the idiomatic loss in their translations. This indicates that, if in any case its not possible to translate a source language idiom as an idiom in target language, the translator can compensate the loss of the idiom by adding a target language idiom to places where there initially was a non-idiom. Key words: English Idiom, Persian Translation, Translation Strategies, Compensation Strategy, Source Text (ST), Target Text (TT), Source Language (SL), Target Language (TL). Introduction: Translation is generally explained as a process in which the translator transfers the meaning of a SL text into TL under the circumstances of preserving the content and accuracy of original text, as far as it is possible. Where there is no equivalent for a SL idiom in the TL, the translator gets throughout compensation strategy to fill this incurred gap. The more skilled the translator is, the better will be the translation. If you are enthusiastic to this issue as we are, this is the paper you can refer to and take your answer. Theoretical Background: Translation Bell (ibid.: 6) argues that a total equivalence between a source language text and its translation is something that can never be fully achieved. According to Bassnett-McGuire (1980: 2), the aim of translation is that the meaning of the target language text is similar to that of the source language text, and that the structures of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible, but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted. In other words, the source language structure must not be imitated to such an extent that the target language text becomes ungrammatical or sounds otherwise unnatural or clumsy. Idiom: Idioms are the major and natural part of all languages as well as a prominent part of our everyday discourse. Idioms are such a normal part of our language use that we hardly even notice how vastly we use them in our everyday speech and writing. English is a language full of idioms, so, learners of English should be aware of their nature, types, and use. Using many idioms in English language is one of the aspects that makes it somehow difficult to learn for a Persian learner. They can be used in formal style and in slang. Idiom is defined as a group of words which have different meaning when used together from the one they would have if you took the meaning of each word individually (Collins Cobuild dictionary, 1990 edition). Indeed, the meaning of idiom can only be inferred through its meaning and function in context, as shown in the examples below (from Fernando, 1996). bread and butter, as in `It was a simple bread and butter issue (see further below); bless you, which is usually used in the context of cordial expressions; go to hell, which indicates that there is a conflict among interlocutors in an interpersonal contact; In sum, which indicates relations among portions and components of a text. Idioms are a set of phrases have different meaning from its individual parts of the phrases. Sometimes it is hard to recognize the meaning of a phrase just by knowing the meaning of the words including in it e.g. paint the town red is a phrase which has a meaning other than the meaning of its words separately, it means having a good time! Moon (1998, p.4) claims that idiom denotes a general term for many kinds of multià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ word expressions whether semantically opaque or not. Some traditional theories of idiomaticity assumed that idioms are frozen, semantic units that are essentially non-compositional (Hambin Gibbs, 1999, p.26). However, there have been a number of semantic classification systems proposed since 1980 for rating the composition of idioms which basically give differing names to the same concepts (Grant Bauer, 2004). Fernando (as cited in Liu, 2003) developed a scale by which to categorize idiomatic expressions and habitual collocation into 3 categories: pure (nonliteral), semi literal, and literal (p.673). 1. Pure Idioms. Fernando defines pure idiom as a type of conventionalized, nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ literal multiword expression (Fernando, 1996, p.36). Pure idioms are always non literal, however they may be either invariable or may have little variation. In addition, idioms are said to be opaque (Fernando, 1996, p.32). For example, Let the cat out of the bag (to reveal a secret or a surprise by accident). 2. Semià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ idioms. Semià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ idioms may have one or more literal constituents and one with nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ literal sub sense. Therefore, this type of idioms is considered partially opaque (Fernando, 1996, p.60). For example, middle of nowhere (a very isolated place). 3. Literal idioms. This subà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ group of idioms has limited variance. They are less complicated than two other groups. Moreover, literal idioms are considered to be clear as they can be interpreted on the basis of their components. For example Coming out (to exit; to leave the inside of a place). Translating Idioms: working with English, the translator may easily recognize if an idiom violates `truth conditions, as in `it is raining cats and dogs, `storm in a teacup, jump down someones throat, etc. It may be hard to recognize, if the idiom is not of this nature, and translators may just think of it as an ordinary expression, with the consequence of either losing its tone or losing its meaning. There are two sources which may cause misinterpretation: The first possible source is that there are idioms which can mislead readers/users; they do not sound idiomatic at all, but at a closer look, careful readers would find the hidden idioms. An example given by Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye is `got the axe in the following text: The manager warned me, but I didnt notice, so I got the axe. On the first look, readers may interpret it in terms of a person who took an axe and wanted to do something with it like cut a tree but at a closer look, a careful reader may find out that means to lose the job. The second source of misinterpretation occurs when the words in an idiom have equivalents in the target language (i.e. in Persian) but with totally different meaning. Another good example given by Salinger is the idiom: for the birds. Winter weather is for the birds. At first it may be understood that this sentence means winter weather is good for the birds but it makes no sense because the meaning is really different and it means worthless; undesirable. Strategies used translating idioms Idioms are culture bound and this is another challenge for the translator to transfer the exact meaning and content of SL idiom into TL idiom perfectly. For the sake of solving these difficulties the translator may apply a strategy. Using the appropriate method in this process, the translators can get over the difficulties easily and it is valuable and useful for their works. Mona Baker, in her book In Other Words (1992), defines the following strategies for translating idiomatic expressions: 1) using an idiom with the same meaning and form, 2) using an idiom with the similar meaning but different form, 3) by paraphrase, 4) by omission. (1) Translating an idiom with the same meaning and form: The first translation strategy by Mona Baker is translating TL idiom similar in its form and meaning to the SL idiom. For example: Tooth and nail ((Ø ¨ÃƒËœ Ú† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒÅ¡Ã‚ ¯ Ùˆ Ø ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   (2) Translating an idiom with the similar meaning but different form: Another strategy suggested by Mona Baker is translating a SL idiom into TL idiom the same meaning but different form. In this case, the translator does not preserve the lexical items and translate as a semantic equivalent. For example: Acid tongue in her head. (Ø ²ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ù† Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’Ø ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’ Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ) (3) Translation by paraphrase: The most common strategy in translation of idioms is paraphrase. Translators often cannot translate a SL idioms as a TL idiom, therefore they use the paraphrase strategy by using a word or a group of words in TL exactly related to the meaning of that idiom in SL which may be a non-idiom. Newmark (1988, p.109) says that while using this strategy not only components of sense will be missing or added, but the emotive or pragmatic impact will be reduced or lost. Still, paraphrase is usually descriptive and explanatory; sometimes it preserves the style of the original idiom as well. For example: On tenterhooks. ((Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ ØÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒÅ¡Ã‚ ©Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Ø ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’ Ø ªÃƒËœÃƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Ø ¢ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (4) Translation by omission: According to Baker (1992, p.77) omission is allowed only in some cases: first, when there is no close equivalent in the target language; secondly, when it is difficult to paraphrase; finally, an idiom may be omitted for stylistic reasons. This strategy is not used very frequently. In fact, it is not approved by many scholars and some of them do not include it among other translation strategies (Veisbergs, 1989). However, sometimes its impossible to translate a SL idiom into TL, so the translator may use another strategy called compensation. In this strategy the translator omit an idiom and may put another idiom elsewhere in the TL text by preserving the effect of SL idiom. Compensation Strategy: Compensation is a strategy most definitely worth considering, while it can be used as one possible strategy for dealing with idioms and quite an effective one for compensating the loss caused by translating. Therefore, in order to preserve the idiomaticity of the original text and to avoid the mentioned loss, many translators resort to compensation in translating idioms as their final but workable strategy. That is when an idiom is not possible to be translated into TT, a translators last effort is to compensate an idiom by omitting that and putting an idiom in another place, by preserving the usage effect of idiom in the ST. Nida and Taber (1969) mention that, whereas one inevitably loses many idioms in the process of translation one also stands to gain a number of idioms (p. 106). Baker (1992) indicates that in compensation, a translator may leave out a feature such as idiomaticity where it arise in the ST and introduce it somewhere else in the TT (p. 78). In support of this idea, Newmark (1991) suggests that all puns, alliterations, rhyme, slang, metaphor and pregnant words can be compensated in translation. Though he further adds that, compensation is the procedure which in the last resort ensures that translation is possible (pp.143à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 144). Theoretical framework We agree with Lorenzo, M. et al., in that the first step a translator must take is to clearly define his objective before producing a translation which is as true as possible to the original text. One of the aspects of Hans Vermeers concept of skopos (1989:227) is the establishment of a clearly defined objective or purpose for translation; Any form of translation, including translation itself, may be understood as an action, as the name implies. Any action has an aim, a purpose. The word skopos is a technical word for the aim or purpose of translation. Nidas Dynamic Equivalence In the process of translating idioms, the translator may face many difficulties which is not a simple task to overcome. The major problem is the lack of equivalence in the process of translation. It would be desirable if a translator could find a TL idiom which is the same as that in structure and content of SL idiom. Anyway every language, both source and target, has its own idioms and it may be hard to find the precise source equivalent in the target language. The definition of dynamic equivalence is initially given by Eugene A. Nida in his book Toward a Science of the Translation (Nida, E.A., 1964:161). Nida is an American translator, scholar, teacher, leader, influencer, conceptualizer, innovator, and influential theoretician. Nida argued that there are two different types of equivalence, formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. Formal equivalence deals with the message, in both form and content whereas dynamic equivalence translation is based on the principle of equivalent effect. The translator is not concerned with the source language message, but rather with the dynamic relationship. Dynamic equivalence connects the target language and culture in order to make messages comprehensible to target language receptors. For instance, if we translate a phrase like two hemorrhages apiece literally into Persian, it will produce a nonsensical meaning for the Persian receptor. Idiomatic expressions may not seem understandable when translated from one language to another. In such cases the equivalence counterpart Ø ®Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ Ø ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  قؠ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ can be used to make it understandable to the receptor. In this view the translator has brought an equivalent which the original author most likely meant. Method: Corpus: The study is based on a contrastive comparison between the two Persian translations of The Catcher in the Rye by Muhammad Najafi and Ahmad Karimi. In this study we tried to achieve which of these translators has followed the compensation strategy in his own translation, and whether they have been successful in this process or not. Gathering the data: Collecting the data, of course, is as important as other stages (like conclusion) and even more important. Because the more accurate the gathered data is so, the more favorable the result will be. Focusing on the process in this study, we long to explain the steps in data collecting, respectively. At the earliest step, we extracted English idioms and non-idioms from the first chapter of the novel, then found their Persian equivalents from two Persian translations by Najafi and Karimi of the same novel. We aimed to know whether English idioms are translated into Persian idioms or not and whether English non-idioms are translated into Persian idioms or not. Then we read the aforementioned translated chapter by two translators several times to clarify if they may be idioms. We looked up English idioms in Idioms Oxford Dictionary, although we had difficulty in recognizing the exact idiom at first. On the other hand, as we are Persian students, it was not hard to find Persian idioms as difficult as English idioms, anyway. But on non-idioms, we considered the most English phrases or sentences which translated as idioms in TL. Maybe you ask why we chose this novel. As you know, of course, this novel is rich in idioms and it makes the work for researcher to access the idealistic results easier. Then we counted the idioms and non-idioms in both original text and its Persian translations by two translators. Table 1. Total Number of Idiomatic and Non-Idiomatic Translations of the Salingers Idioms J.D. Salingers Idioms Total Translation Najafi Karimi 44 Idiomatic 22 18 Non- Idiomatic 22 26 In this table, we calculated the total numbers of English idioms (N=44) which is translated by translators, either idiomatic or non-idiomatic. As you can see, here, Najafi translated more English idioms (N=44) into Persian idioms (N=22) than Karimi. We guess, this table will confirm our claim that Najafi has translated much more skilful than Karimi, because he got use of compensation strategy by adding more Persian idioms than Karimi. Anyway, our purpose is not to compare persons and is just to determine if there is any use of compensation strategy in each of these translations. Table 2. Total Number of Idiomatic and Non-Idiomatic Translations of the Salingers Non-idioms J.D. Salingers Non-Idioms Total Translation Najafi Karimi 42 Idiomatic 42 26 Non-Idiomatic 0 16 This table also illustrated that Najafi translated 42 English non-idioms out of 42 as idiomatic. On the other hand, Karimi translated 26 English non-idioms out of 42 as idiomatic. This table shows how Najafi and Karimi have functioned in translating non-idioms into idioms. By total non-idioms, we mean those which translated as idioms by Najafi and it will be our criteria for counting Karimis idioms and non-idioms. Table 3. Total Number of Different Data Extracted from Both Translations and the Original Text Data J.D. Salinger Najafi Karimi Idiom 44 64 44 Non-idiom 42 22 42 Total 86 86 86 This table confirms that Najafi has translated the novel more idiomatic (N=64) than Karimi (N=44). Classifying the Data: After extracting and counting the total idioms in both original text and its translations, it revealed that translators had applied 3 different translation strategies for idioms. These strategies were: Translating English Idioms into Persian Idioms Translating English Idioms into Persian Non-idioms Translating English Non-idioms into Persian Idioms Analyzing the Data: In this stage, we analyzed the whole collected data and calculated frequency and the percentage proportion of each strategy in the same translations. The results are shown in the tables below; Table 4. Frequency and Percentage of Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Najafi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of idiom with idiom 22 50 Translation of idiom with non-idiom 22 50 Total 44 100 Table 5. Frequency and Percentage of Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Karimi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of idiom with idiom 18 40.90 Translation of idiom with non-idiom 26 59.10 Total 44 100 Table 6. Frequency and Percentage of Non-Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Najafi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of non-idiom with idiom 42 100 Translation of non-idiom with non-idiom 0 0 Total 42 100 Table 7. Frequency and Percentage of Non-Idioms Translation Strategies Applied by Karimi Strategy Frequency Percentage Translation of non-idiom with idiom 26 61.90 Translation of non-idiom with non-idiom 16 38.10 Total 42 100 Table 8. Percentage of each Applied Strategies in both Translations Strategy Najafi Karimi Translation of non-idiom with idiom 100 61.90 Translation of non-idiom with non-idiom 0 38.10 Total 100 100 Results: The results show that both translators, Najafi and Karimi, have applied three strategies in translating idioms: translating English idioms with Persian idioms, translating English idioms with Persian non-idioms, translating English non-idioms with Persian idioms, and translating English non-idioms with Persian non-idioms. One of the translators, Najafi, used more frequently the first and the third (translating English idioms and non-idioms as Persian idioms) strategy in his translation, on the other hand, the latter translator, Karimi, used the second and the last (translating English idioms and non-idioms as Persian non-idioms) strategy more often. Discussion and Conclusion: As mentioned before, its hard to translate a SL idiom into TL idiom regarding the accurateness and the faithfulness of SL into TL. In this stud, out of 44 extracted idioms from J.D. Salingers novel, 22 (50%) of the expressions have not been translated as idioms by Najafi. In the same case, Karimi has translated 18 (40.90%) of the idioms with Persian idioms and the remaining 26(59.10%) idioms have been translated non-idiomatically. This imbalance between the total number of idioms and their non-idiomatic translations causes a loss of idiomaticity in the Persian translated texts. Some of these idiomatic losses have been compensated for elsewhere in the text, since the translators have replaced some English language non-idioms with Persian idioms. By this strategy, Najafi has added 42 idioms and Karimi has added 26 idioms to their translations. We recognized that theres not the exact contrast in numbers of idioms in two languages(SL,TL), but its very common in translation. The translators were somehow successful here in compensating idiom gaps in the TL. Furthermore, they compensated those non-idiom expressions in the original context to function better on their translations. Compensation strategy is considered here as the best to translate idioms, non-idioms and figure of speech as well.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Impact of Macroeconomic Policies

Impact of Macroeconomic Policies Table of Contents (Jump to) The expansionary monetary policy decisions of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) during the six months after the global financial crisis (GFC) escalated in September 2008. 1. Executive Summary 2. Monetary Policy of Australia after GFC 2.1 Arguments in Support of policy Decision 2.2 Arguments against the policy decision 3. Conclusion References The expansionary monetary policy decisions of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) during the six months after the global financial crisis (GFC) escalated in September 2008. 1. Executive Summary The assignment is based on the Global Financial Crisis 2008 and its impact on the Australian economy. The assignment covers the main reason behind the GFC and the response of Australia’s reserve bank regarding the expansionary monetary policy to fight the Global financial Crisis. Later assignment also has the arguments in support and against the policy decision. Later it is concluded by following the evaluation outcomes. 2. Monetary Policy of Australia after GFC The global Financial Crisis of 2008 was considered as the worst financial crisis since year 1930 by several economists. It leads to the total collapse of many large financial institutions, the rescue of many banks by the government and major downfall of the world’s stock market (Williams, 2012). Due to the crash of the global share market, the Australian Dollar also collapsed. The net wealth of Australia was declined and the unemployment was increased considerably. There was a wave of uncertainty that swept the entire economy of Australia. . As per the data, the average of the household debt was increased from increased from $A190 billion in 1990 to $A1.1 trillion in year 2008 (ABS, 2009). The direct impact of the Global crisis 2008, in Australia was: The decline of Australian Dollar from 0.98 to 0.60 The decline in the summative value of the households between 13 to 14 % The significant decline in the household consumption The increase in saving of household from 1.2 % to 8.5 % Increase in rate of unemployment from 4.1% to 5.8 % The Australian government was very prompt to take the action against the situation in order to reduce the impact of the Global Financial crisis 2008. The reserve bank of Australia decided to loosen the monetary policy for one year with the aim of rectifying the loss of big business and consumers that occurred due to Global Financial Crisis. Under this policy the RBI made the considerable reduction in the interest rates and increased the money supply in market. This led to overall consumption in the market of Australia (Green et al., 2009). The cash rate as also reduced by the reserve Bank and it lead to overall 4 % drop within the months of policy formulation. The monetary policy had the following effects on the Australian economy: It showed the positive result in dealing with Global Financial Crisis and prevented the Australian economy from recession lead to an apparent recovery The investment and consumption levels were increased and the unemployment rate was decreased that showed the favorable national output and aggregate demand (Gregory, 2008) The impact of the expansionary monetary policy and the fiscal led to a positive impact in relation to the level of Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 0.9% in December 2009 quarter from -0.8% in December 2008 (Rotheli, 2010) As per the treasury reports of Australia, without implementation of the expansion monetary policy the gross domestic product of the economy would have been accounted to 0.7 percent (ABS, 2013). 2.1 Arguments in Support of policy Decision The monetary policy regulated by reserve bank of Australia played a significant role in fighting with global financial crisis. The monetary policy helped the Australian economy to fight the severe inflation conditions. In the beginning of the global financial crisis, the conservative monetary policy was formulated and implemented in response to the substantial decrease in the aggregate demand and the declining of the global financial market circumstances. The Australian government took the conventional monetary action with determination and speed. The target national funds rate was slash rapidly from five hundred and twenty-five points in September 2007 to zero till twenty five points in December 2008 (ATO, 2009). The other countries also followed this path by decreasing the interest rates on an average by 330 points in the developed countries and 300 points in developing economies. In the current situation Australia is one of the major four developed economies with official interest rates above 1 % (ABS, 2010). According to the world standards, Australia responded reasonably to the Global Financial Crises through a good combination of government stimulus, responsive policies of reserve bank, resources boom and prudential standards that were pre-existing. 2.2 Arguments against the policy decision There are many weak points in the monetary policy by the Reserve bank of Australia. There were many discrepancies that were exposed later. The arguments against the policy decision include the following points: There was no uniformity in the prices of Australian stock market and this anchored the inflation expectations. The implementation timing of the monetary strategies will be dependent on recovery pace and the return of normal conditions of the financial markets (Lunn, 2008). The policy raised the concerns about the fiscal stability in international market The policy was not able to deal with the major problem of unemployment in Australia. The unemployment figures of Australia during the Global Financial crisis were at 6.5 percent as compared with the United Sates was over 10 percent. In the current situation, the current unemployment rate in Australia is 5.3%. Consequently they have improved and recovered from the crisis but did not move in the required rate (Eslake, 2009). 3. Conclusion For determining the Australia’s economic condition there are many factors that must be considered. This report focused on the major factors of the policies implemented by the Australian government to reduce the impact of Global Financial Crisis. The Australian government was very prompt in taking the action against the losses of Global financial crisis. It is noted that the policies and procedures of the Australian government helped them to recover fast and they are much ahead of other developed nations. Australia responded reasonably to the Global Financial Crises through a good combination of government stimulus, responsive reserve bank, resources boom and prudential standards that were pre-existing. Even though the current situation of Australia has not reached the level of pre GFC situation, but still it regained mush better than the other developed nations like United States of America. References ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2009)Australian Social Trends4102.0. Available at: www.abs.gov.auaccessed 18/4/10. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2010)Labour Force, Australia6202.0 Available at: www.abs.gov.auaccessed 18/4/10. ATO (Australian Tax Office) (2009)Commissioner of Taxation Annual Report 2008-09 Available atwww.ato.gov.auaccessed on 11/02/09 ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2013)Labour Force, Australia6202.0 Bloxham, P. and Kent, C. (2009) ‘Household Indebtedness’The Australian Economic Review, Vol 42(3): 327-39. Debelle, G (2008) ‘A comparison of the US and Australian housing markets’BulletinJune 2008 RBA Available at:www.rba.gov.au/publicationsAccessed 18/4/10 Eslake, S. (2009) ‘The global financial crisis of 2007-2009: An Australian perspective’ Economic PapersVol. 28(3): 226-238 Green, H. Harper, I and Smirl, L. (2009) ‘Financial Deregulation and household debt: the Australian experience’The Australian Economic ReviewVol. 42(3) Gregory, R. G. and P. Sheehan (2008), ‘Poverty and the collapse of full employment’, in R. Fincher and J. Niewenhuysen, (eds.), Australian Poverty: Then and Now, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 103-26 Lunn, Stephen (2008).Life gap figures not black and white.The Australian(News Limited). Retrieved 7 December 2010. Paletta, Damian; Lucchetti, Aaron (2010). Senate Passes Sweeping Finance Overhaul. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2010. Rotheli, T. (2010) ‘Causes of the financial crisis: Risk misperception, policy mistakes, and banks’ bounded rationality’The Journal of Socio-Economic39(2010): 119-126 Valentine, T. (2009) ‘Alternative Policy responses to the global financial crisis’EconomicPapersVol. 28(3): 264-269. Williams, Carol J. (2012).Euro crisis imperils recovering global economy, OECD warns. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 23, 2012. Williams, R. (2009) ‘Household debt: Is it a liability?’The Australian Economic ReviewVol.42(3): 321-32

Monday, August 19, 2019

Be The Best You Can Be :: Philosophy of Education Statement Teaching Essays

Be The Best You Can Be A person begins to learn from the moment they enter the earth and do not stop learning until they die. As an educator I feel it will be my job to teach my students to be self-motivated learners. Eventually my students will have to learn new skills in jobs and in life without a teacher there to guide them. In my elementary classroom creating self-motivated learners will be my ultimate goal. In order to do this I will have to use a variety of teaching philosophies and approaches, effective classroom management, and I will have to build relationships with my students. I would describe my teaching philosophy as eclectic. I find that components of the five major philosophies, essentialism, progressivism, perennialism, existentialism, and behaviorism, fit into how I feel about teaching. The essentials such as respect for each other and the basic subjects, such as reading and math, are very important to me as a teacher. Individuality, active participation, cooperative learning and developing social skill are some of the progressive ideas I will use in my classroom. For my students to become self-motivated learners they will need to be able to reason, as suggested in perennialism. Reasoning will help them to work through problems and make decisions. Existentialism states that students should accept responsibility for their actions and should be self-paced. These ideas are important to my philosophy of self-motivated learners because my goal will be to create students who can do what this philosophy states. Behaviorism supports the use of positive and negative reinforcement, both of which I believe will be essential to my classroom. These five theories put together describe my eclectic teaching philosophy. I believe that using a variety of teaching approaches and methods will be crucial in classroom. America is a very diverse country that is home to many different types of people, therefore, I except for my classroom to be fully diverse also. With many different types of people there will be come many different types of learning styles. And of course my class will include children with learning disabilities and with the movement of full inclusion, my class will contain students with other types of disabilities.