Tips for budgeting the first year in college

Tips for budgeting the first year in college â€Å"There’s no money in my pocket – I’m a student†¦.oh, just deal with it. Here should be something that rhymes and explains why student are short on money but there isn’t – students are unpredictable. College life is so exciting, especially during the freshmen year. Planning the budget for the first year in college is the hardest because of the variety of amazing events and cool things to spend money on. If you have never seriously planned your budget before this article is exactly for you. Follow some of our tips and don’t get broke! Planning the budget ahead School and college budget differs a lot. It’s no wonder: there’s less of parents support in money when you enter the adulthood. Though, there are a couple of things that make the usual life style, such as: preferences in drinks and food, certain brands of clothes and favorite places to hang out with friends. Now, when the budget is rougher, there’s a chance that this usual patterns may change. Think of the most important aspects of your life that you have to spend money on and try to plan the estimated costs for them before you come to college. Keep Track of Your Investments Does this logic circuit look familiar: a decent amount of money in the wallet, a cup of coffee with a friend, some purchases in the grocery store, oh wait the lipstick is on discount, some other stuff that you’ve always wanted but never actually needed, and finally perplexity – where did all my money go? Yeah, that sometimes happens to everyone. However, sticking to this circuit all the time will lead to getting broke. Keeping track of the expenses is the best way to avoid it. Write out your spendings on a paper or in your phone. Visualizing the expenses at least for a month will help you understand what is not so necessary to buy and plan the budget wisely. Another way to organize the purchases is to write them out by categories, such as: food, clothes, nights, etc. Maybe, there are things that you just cannot live without, so you can cut on some other category and safe the money for the favorite comic books or a new pair of shoes. The First and the Hardest The first year in college turns out to be the most expensive for a couple of reasons. You are a newcomer and don’t know what places are chipper to have a coffee or a drink with a friend. It needs time to realize what places and stores are more cost-effective for your budget. Plus, tickets for student events, wristbands, college T-shirts, sportswear and various membership fees suck out of the pocket a great deal of income. So do not worry if the first semester will be the most expensive one (it will get easier after winter holidays). Be ready for some extra expenses in the first couple of months. It Is Possible to Save If you mainly depended on your parents in terms of money, you probably will feel the changes in your life style. Try to stay flexible. To save some money it’s better to cook on campus and take some sandwiches with you to college instead of buying in the cafeteria. Think of rearranging your eating patterns: make sure it is nutritious and healthy but plane and inexpensive at the same time. Though, in college my meal of the year was spaghetti†¦

Van Goghs Use of Color

Van Goghs Use of Color The works of Van Gogh and his use of color have often been studied chronologically demonstrating the shift in his usage of colors from his early paintings, which were dark and pessimistic, to the paintings of his mature career, where he has used lighter tones and brighter colors.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Van Gogh’s Use of Color specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the later stage, Van Gogh made a distinct use of complementary color scheme, which was a definite shift from the classical treatment of colors. This paper will compare and contrast two paintings, The Sower and The Night Cafà ©, and demonstrate the distinct style Van Gogh followed to use color for his paintings. Expressive use of colors in distinctive complementary schemes has dominated many of the masterpieces created by Van Gogh. His correspondences to his brother during the 1882-85 demonstrate his obsession with the use of color in his work. They demonstrate that Van Gogh’s concern and distinction between shades, tones, hue, and brightness of color, which formed the psychological basis of colors and themes of his paintings. The use of complementary colors, which became the signature of Van Gogh’s style, helped to intensify the mutual effect of the color scheme in the paintings. Van Gogh used basic colors and contrasting hues to increase firmness and depth of his paintings: These things that are relevant to complementary colors, to the simultaneous contrasting and the mutual devaluation of complementary colors, are the first and most important issue: the second is the mutual influence of two similar colors, such as carmine and vermilion, or a pink-lilac and a blue-lilac. (Van Gogh Letter # 428, dated Oct. 1885. (Bekker and Bekker) The use of primary colors and the use of their complementary colors, also known as secondary colors, is a basic technique used for impressionistic painting. When a primary color is put against a complementary color, it creates a contrasting color scheme, creating a powerful effect. Van Gogh exploited this technique of creating a strong effect in his painting through juxtaposition of primary and complementary colors. Van Gogh’s fascination for complementary colors intensified as he shifted his focus from Dutch style to paintings that are more impressionistic.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Gayford (179) demonstrates Van Gogh’s heightened interest in colors, which created a symbolic language for the maestro. In another correspondence to his brother Theo, Van Gogh expressed his increasing obsession with colors: â€Å"Yesterday evening an extraordinary beautiful sunset of a mysterious, sickly citron color – Prussian blue cypresses against trees with dead leaves in all sorts of broken tones without any speckling with bright gr eens.† (Gayford 179) Thus, colors create a symbolic language for Van Gogh, which helped his to determine the effect that wanted to create in his paintings. Given this understanding of Van Gogh’s philosophy of color, the essay then moves on to analyze two of his paintings and the treatment of colors in them. The Sower demonstrates a man striding across a wheat field, with outstretched arms, appear in many of Van Gogh’s paintings and sketches. Philosophically, it has often been interpreted as the renewal of life; however, in this essay we will discuss the use of complementary color scheme of the paintings. The particular picture that is discussed in this essay was painted in 1888, which stands out from all other paintings of sowers and creates a unique impressionistic creation of the cycle life in full summer (The Sower is shown in figure 1 below). Figure 1: The Sower, 1888 The Sower, painted predominately in yellow and violet demonstrates the use of complementary colors by Van Gogh. Yellow is a primary color that is positioned against violet, one of its complements, and a mix of the other two primary colors, red and blue. Even though artists had knowledge of the effect two complementary colors could create, no one before Van Gogh experimented with it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Van Gogh’s Use of Color specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Primary colors, when juxtaposed with complementary colors, create a vibration and magnificence that is otherwise unattainable. Hence, when yellow is used against violet, it creates greater brightness and pureness of color than when painted with any other colors. Similarly, violet seems more lively and vigorous when put against yellow. The Sower was painted when Van Gogh was living in Arles, in June 1888. The original Sower by Millet from which Van Gogh drew inspiration or his Sower believed that Millet created a painting in â€Å"c olorless gray† and wanted to create a painting of the sower with colors (Bekker and Bekker). In order to understand color contrast, consider putting orange against blue and orange against green. Orange is blue’s complement where blue is a primary color and orange is a secondary color created through mixing of the other two primary, red and yellow. Hence, the effect of brightness when orange and blue are used together is greater than when orange and green are used, wherein both are secondary colors. Moreover, the orange when put with green seem darker, almost a different color. Hence, it can be observed that colors can change their hue and brightness depending on the colors with which they are used. Moreover, colors cannot be used singularly, without considering the other colors that are used. Colors cannot be judged in isolation. Hence, it is important to understand what colors are used along with the others and what affect it creates in the paintings. Knowledge of colo rs becomes the most important factor while studying Van Gogh’s form so impressionistic painting. The painting of the yellow and violet together as an expression of light and darkness in the field is an extreme example of use of complementary colors in paintings. This helped in intensifying the brightness, saturation, and depth of the painting. Van Gogh described his 1888 creation inspired from Millet’s painting, in one of his letters, as â€Å"painting from Millet’s drawings is more like translating them into another language than copying them† (Metzger and Walther 272). The colors used in the painting became reminiscent of his emotions and feelings. The colors demonstrated the dominant mood of the painter. The Night Cafà © is a poetic expression through colors, which demonstrates the harsher realities of modern life. Van Gogh’s obsession with colors intensified from 1885 until his death in 1890, resonant in his letters to his brother Theo. Each o f the letters is evocative of the saturation, hue, and intensity of the colors from his palette. In describing the Night Cafà © (figure 2) in his letter to Theo, Van Gogh associates passion with the use of two complementary colors – red and green:Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More I’ve tried to express the terrible passions of humanity with red and green. The room is blood red and dull yellow, with a green billiard table in the middle; there are four lemon yellow lamps casting an orange and green glow†¦ In my picture of the night cafà ©, I’ve tried to convey the sense that the cafà © is a place where one goes to ruin goes mad, commits crimes. I’ve tried to express the powers of darkness, in a way, in this dive of a bar, through contrasts of delicate pink, blood red, wine red, and soft Louis XV green and Veronese green, in contrast with hard green-yellows and blue-greens – all this amid an infernal furnace of pale sulphur. (Letter#533, Bekker and Bekker) The above description of the painting as expressed through Van Gogh’s words demonstrate the use of complementary colors in the painting, and the reason for the sue of the colors in their complementary best. Life’s juxtaposition is expressed through the oppositio ns of color that makes life as well as his paintings so pulsating. In the Night Cafà © Van Gogh has expressed the struggle of life through the juxtaposition of the two complementary colors – red and green. The violet and blue used in the painting depicts sadness and dreariness of modern nightlife, and Figure 2: The Night Cafà © The painting shows maximum saturation of colors, where colors like red and green has been used without any hint of tint or shade. In the Night Cafà ©, Van Gogh used color in its purest form against its equally pure complementary. This is not seen in The Sower, where the colors were used symbolically, but not its purest hue. The use of original hue in the Night Cafà © sets is apart from other paintings, even though the technique used in both the pictures are similar. Nevertheless, both the picture reverberates with the infernal furnace of life though the use of yellow, which has been used to depict the sun in The Sower and the lamps in The Night Ca fà ©. The difference between the two paintings is that the first is a depiction of continuity of life while that of the cafà © describes a hellish existence. Bekker, K.G. and A.Y. Bekker. 2009. Color and Emotion - a Psychophysical Analysis of Van Gogh’s Work. 15 December 2009. PsyArt. Web. psyartjournal.com/article/show/bekker-color_and_emotion_a_psychophysical_analy. Gayford, Martin. The Yellow House.:Van Gogh, Gauguin and Nine Turbulent Weeks Provence. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. Print. Metzger, Rainer and Ingo F. Walther. Van Gogh. Berlin: Taschen, 2008. Print.

Battle of Talas River - Background

Battle of Talas River - Background Few people today have even heard of the Battle of Talas River.  Yet this little-known skirmish between the army of Imperial Tang China and the Abbasid Arabs had important consequences, not just for China and Central Asia, but for the entire world. Eighth century Asia was an ever-shifting mosaic of different tribal and regional powers, fighting for trade rights, political power and/or religious hegemony. The era was characterized by a dizzying array of battles, alliances, double-crosses and betrayals. At the time, nobody could have known that one particular battle, which took place on the banks of the Talas River in present-day Kyrgyzstan, would halt the Arab and Chinese advances in Central Asia and fix the boundary between Buddhist/Confucianist Asia and Muslim Asia. None of the combatants could have predicted that this battle would be instrumental in transmitting a key invention from China to the western world: the art of paper-making, a technology that would alter world history forever. Background to the Battle For some time, the powerful Tang Empire (618-906) and its predecessors had been expanding Chinese influence in Central Asia. China used soft power for the most part, relying upon a series of trade agreements and nominal protectorates rather than military conquest to control Central Asia. The most troublesome foe faced by the Tang from 640 forward was the powerful Tibetan Empire, established by Songtsan Gampo. Control of what is now Xinjiang, Western China, and neighboring provinces went back and forth between China and Tibet throughout the seventh and eighth centuries. China also faced challenges from the Turkic Uighurs in the northwest, the Indo-European Turfans, and the Lao/Thai tribes on Chinas southern borders. The Rise of the Arabs While the Tang were occupied with all these adversaries, a new superpower rose in the Middle East. The Prophet Muhammad died in 632, and the Muslim faithful under the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750) soon brought vast areas under their sway. From Spain and Portugal in the west, across North Africa and the Middle East, and on to the oasis cities of Merv, Tashkent, and Samarkand in the east, the Arab conquest spread with astonishing speed. Chinas interests in Central Asia went back at least to 97 B.C., when the Han Dynasty general Ban Chao led an army of 70,000 as far as Merv (in what is now Turkmenistan), in pursuit of bandit tribes that preyed on early Silk Road caravans. China also had long courted trade relations with the Sassanid Empire in Persia, as well as their predecessors the Parthians. The Persians and Chinese had collaborated to quell rising Turkic powers, playing different tribal leaders off of one another. In addition, the Chinese had a long history of contacts with the Sogdian Empire, centered in modern-day Uzbekistan. Early Chinese/Arab Conflicts Inevitably, the lightning-quick expansion by the Arabs would clash with Chinas established interests in Central Asia. In 651, the Umayyads captured the Sassanian capital at Merv and executed the king, Yazdegerd III. From this base, they would go on to conquer Bukhara, the Ferghana Valley, and as far east as Kashgar (on the Chinese/Kyrgyz border today). News of Yazdegards fate was carried to the Chinese capital of Changan (Xian) by his son Firuz, who fled to China after the fall of Merv. Firuz later became a general of one of Chinas armies, and then governor of a region centered at modern-day Zaranj, Afghanistan. In 715, the first armed clash between the two powers occurred in the Ferghana Valley of Afghanistan. The Arabs and Tibetans deposed King Ikhshid and installed a man named Alutar in his place. Ikhshid asked China to intervene on his behalf, and the Tang sent an army of 10,000 to overthrow Alutar and reinstate Ikhshid. Two years later, an Arab/Tibetan army besieged two cities in the Aksu region of what is now Xinjiang, western China. The Chinese sent an army of Qarluq mercenaries, who defeated the Arabs and Tibetans and lifted the siege. In 750 the Umayyad Caliphate fell, overthrown by the more aggressive Abbasid Dynasty. The Abbasids From their first capital at Harran, Turkey, the Abbasid Caliphate set out to consolidate power over the sprawling Arab Empire built by the Umayyads. One area of concern was the eastern borderlands - the Ferghana Valley and beyond. The Arab forces in eastern Central Asia with their Tibetan and Uighur allies were led by the brilliant tactician, General Ziyad ibn Salih. Chinas western army was headed by Governor-General Kao Hsien-chih (Go Seong-ji), an ethnic-Korean commander. It was not unusual at that time for foreign or minority officers to command Chinese armies because the military was considered an undesirable career path for ethnic Chinese noblemen. Appropriately enough, the decisive clash at Talas River was precipitated by another dispute in Ferghana. In 750, the king of Ferghana had a border dispute with the ruler of neighboring Chach. He appealed to the Chinese, who sent General Kao to assist Ferghanas troops. Kao besieged Chach, offered the Chachan king safe passage out of his capital, then reneged and beheaded him. In a mirror-image parallel to what had happened during the Arab conquest of Merv in 651, the Chachan kings son escaped and reported the incident to Abbasid Arab governor Abu Muslim at Khorasan. Abu Muslim rallied his troops at Merv and marched to join Ziyad ibn Salihs army further east.  The Arabs were determined to teach General Kao a lesson... and incidentally, to assert Abbasid power in the region. The Battle of Talas River In July of 751, the armies of these two great empires met at Talas, near the modern-day Kyrgyz/Kazakh border. Chinese records state that the Tang army was 30,000 strong, while Arab accounts put the number of Chinese at 100,000. The total number of Arab, Tibetan and Uighur warriors is not recorded, but theirs was the larger of the two forces. For five days, the mighty armies clashed. When the Qarluq Turks came in on the Arab side several days into the fighting, the Tang armys doom was sealed. Chinese sources imply that the Qarluqs had been fighting for them, but treacherously switched sides midway through the battle. Arab records, on the other hand, indicate that the Qarluqs were already allied with the Abbasids prior to the conflict. The Arab account seems more likely since the Qarluqs suddenly mounted a surprise attack on the Tang formation from the rear. (If the Chinese accounts are correct, wouldnt the Qarluqs have been in the middle of the action, rather than riding up from behind? And would the surprise have been as complete, if the Qarluqs had been fighting there all along?) Some modern Chinese writings about the battle still exhibit a sense of outrage at this perceived betrayal by one of the Tang Empires minority peoples. Whatever the case, the Qarluq attack signaled the beginning of the end for Kao Hsien-chihs army. Of the tens of thousands the Tang sent into battle, only a small percentage survived. Kao Hsien-chih himself was one of the few who escaped the slaughter; he would live just five years more, before being put on trial and executed for corruption. In addition to the tens of thousands of Chinese killed, a number were captured and taken back to Samarkand (in modern-day Uzbekistan) as prisoners of war. The Abbassids could have pressed their advantage, marching into China proper. However, their supply lines were already stretched to the breaking point, and sending such a huge force over the eastern Hindu Kush mountains and into the deserts of western China was beyond their capacity. Despite the crushing defeat of Kaos Tang forces, the Battle of Talas was a tactical draw. The Arabs eastward advance was halted, and the troubled Tang Empire turned its attention from Central Asia to rebellions on its northern and southern borders. Consequences of the Battle of Talas At the time of the Battle of Talas, its significance was not clear. Chinese accounts mention the battle as part of the beginning of the end for the Tang Dynasty. That same year, the Khitan tribe in Manchuria (northern China) defeated the imperial forces in that region, and Thai/Lao peoples in what is now Yunnan province in the south revolted as well. The An Shi Revolt of 755-763, which was more of a civil war than a simple revolt, further weakened the empire. By 763, the Tibetans were able to seize the Chinese capital at Changan (now Xian). With so much turmoil at home, the Chinese had neither the will nor the power to exert much influence past the Tarim Basin after 751. For the Arabs, too, this battle marked an unnoticed turning point. The victors are supposed to write history, but in this case, (despite the totality of their victory), they did not have much to say for some time after the event. Barry Hoberman points out that the ninth-century Muslim historian al-Tabari (839-923) never even mentions the Battle of Talas River. Its not until half a millennium after the skirmish that Arab historians take note of Talas, in the writings of Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233) and al-Dhahabi (1274-1348). Nevertheless, the Battle of Talas had important consequences. The weakened Chinese Empire was no longer in any position to interfere in Central Asia, so the influence of the Abbassid Arabs grew. Some scholars quibble that too much emphasis is placed on the role of Talas in the Islamification of Central Asia. It is certainly true that the Turkic and Persian tribes of Central Asia did not all immediately convert to Islam in August of 751. Such a feat of mass communication across the deserts, mountains, and steppes would have been utterly impossible before modern mass communications, even if the Central Asian peoples were uniformly receptive to Islam. Nonetheless, the absence of any counterweight to the Arab presence allowed Abbassid influence to spread gradually throughout the region. Within the next 250 years, most of the formerly Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Nestorian Christian tribes of Central Asia had become Muslim. Most significant of all, among the prisoners of war captured by the Abbassids after the Battle of Talas River, were a number of skilled Chinese artisans, including Tou Houan. Through them, first the Arab world and then the rest of Europe learned the art of paper-making. (At that time, the Arabs controlled Spain and Portugal, as well as North Africa, the Middle East, and large swaths of Central Asia.) Soon, paper-making factories sprang up in Samarkand, Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Delhi... and in 1120 the first European paper mill was established in Xativa, Spain (now called Valencia). From these Arab-dominated cities, the technology spread to Italy, Germany, and across Europe. The advent of paper technology, along with woodcut printing and later movable-type printing, fueled the advances in science, theology, and history of Europes High Middle Ages, which ended only with the coming of the Black Death in the 1340s. Sources: The Battle of Talas, Barry Hoberman. Saudi Aramco World, pp. 26-31 (Sept/Oct 1982). A Chinese Expedition across the Pamirs and Hindukush, A.D. 747, Aurel Stein. The Geographic Journal, 59:2, pp. 112-131 (Feb. 1922). Gernet, Jacque, J. R. Foster (trans.), Charles Hartman (trans.). A History of Chinese Civilization, (1996). Oresman, Matthew. Beyond the Battle of Talas: Chinas Re-emergence in Central Asia. Ch. 19 of In the tracks of Tamerlane: Central Asias path to the 21st Century, Daniel L. Burghart and Theresa Sabonis-Helf, eds. (2004). Titchett, Dennis C. (ed.). The Cambridge History of China: Volume 3, Sui and Tang China, 589-906 AD, Part One, (1979).

Critical Case Study Exploration by Using Gibbs Model Essay

Critical Case Study Exploration by Using Gibbs Model - Essay Example 3). On top of the sustained practice, it is also necessary to avoid relying on a single learning strategy. For instance, a student can incorporate both visual and verbal methods in learning. Student can hold discussions with fellow students thus brainstorming what they have learned in class (Davis 2009, p. 21). Studies have exposed the significance of discussing with fellow students what one has learned in class. The last but not least strategy that can improve the failing student’s performance is the incorporation of practical sessions in the syllabus. It is impractical for a student to attain success by holding to the effective learning strategies only. Therefore, alongside such strategies, it is requisite for teachers to devise effective teaching strategies for purposes of augmenting the student’s performance. The Constructivist teaching is one of the current teaching strategies allowing students to examine what they are familiar with, thus making knowledgeable decis ions on the learning content. Moreover, the inclusion of some practical lessons in teaching is crucial, in enhancing a student’s understanding of the course content. This section will utilize Gibbs (1998) reflective model to answer some questions related to the case study. For instance, the first question demands that I identify my thoughts and feelings from the given case study. It is apparent that the student’s performance in the placement has tremendously declined. Prior to commencement of the program, I had a strong feeling that she would depict a high level of understanding for the subject. The result of my thought would be because she seemed kind and caring for patients. However, after the program commences, it is clear that I am totally mistaken because of incompetency demonstrated by her (Bulman 2004, P. 2). Therefore, her inefficiency in whatever she engages herself in makes me think of the possibility of poor learning and teaching practices. Her inability to prioritize the patients’ needs has shown her high level of incompetency. For instance, the student’s inability to relate the class theory to the practical is a clear indication of ineffective teaching, as well as learning methods. In my scrutiny, the student nurse ought to take their class work serious thus depicting a high level of competency in class work. Therefore, the case study indicated that nursing students did not dedicate their efforts to learning. I thus propose that, for an effective performance, the instructors ought to integrate teaching strategies that allow for the student’s active participation. The main reason behind the declined level of incompetence is due to the standardized examinations, which students must sit for in determining the level of qualification. Sources have shown that, it is only after a nursing student excels in such exams that they attain the acquiescence to deal with patients. Those who fail to excel in such exams ought to r etake them until their verification by the authorities. The literature also illustrates the issue of nursing incompetence in the stagnated, as well as the developing countries. Poor teaching strategies are the main causes of the decline in performance. Furthermore, the policy that aids in the examination of nursing qualification is erroneous thus a high level of ineptitude (Iyer 2001, p. 4). Therefore, the concerned authorities have implemented strategies

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Human Resource Management - Essay Example The company has a total of 37 aircraft, and more than 9000 employees. Annually, Virgin Atlantic serves 4.5M passengers to major cities globally. The company has grown rapidly. Now serves 31 destinations worldwide, and has a made its mark in pioneering many innovative services packages and has gone ahead to set new guidelines in its industry. The company has continued expanding with the same vigour it began. Although the company has a massive growth streak, Virgin Atlantic is considered customer oriented, with more emphasis on their money value and has offered uniqueness in service delivery and high quality service. The enterprise faces an aggressive competitor in the airline business, British Airways. Virgin Atlantic is one of the most successful business venture taken up by the vast Virgin Group of companies. This report seeks to address in detail, the aspects of some of the concepts and human resources strategies which Virgin Atlantic airways has implemented to achieve such success in employee satisfaction and subsequently in their business field. They seem to have perfected all the five models of Human Resource. These include teamwork, organization culture, performance management, learning, development, and leadership. This report however focuses on how two practises have help improve their employee and system as well as critically analyzing Virgin Atlantic on the these bases of the theories. Virgin Atlantic is passionate about exploration, taking risks, challenging conventions and looking for solutions and that made it the company it is presently. That is how it has developed its perfect brand. An innovator established the brand and made it such a perfect setting to developed ones career. Virgin Atlantic has taken the creativity and innovation seriously and it is considered a place where great service is of concern. The company establishes a comprehensive framework for the career of the employees from the very beginning.

My Antonia Essay: Psychoanalytic Criticism -- My Antonia Essays

Psychoanalytic Criticism of My Antonia  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Abstract: This essay uses psychoanalysis as the strategy of interpretation to read Willa Cather's My Antonia.   Freud's well-known theory--the Oedipus complex--and Lacan's theory of the Mirror Stage are used as the modes of approaching the novel.    I use psychoanalytic criticism as a means of interpreting Willa Cather's My Antonia because I find some similarities between My Antonia and Peter Pan, between that and The Awakening when reading Keith Green's Critical Theory and Practice: A Coursebook.    In the light of Freud's Oedipus complex, like Peter Pan who sees Windy as a lover and mother, and who develops his sexual identity through this complex, Jim Burden also has a mother-like lover, Antonia, and finally comes to take his sexualized and gendered identity in this world. In the view of Lacan's Mirror Stage, like Edna Pontellier who wishes to return to her childhood memory, to return to the world of the Imaginary, in which "sometimes I feel this summer as if I were walking through the green meadow again; idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided" (Chopin 520), Jim Burden recollects his boyhood living in the great midland plain of North America where he feels he and Nature are one, but, unlike Edna who goes back and does not come back, Jim goes into the realm of the Imaginary and comes back to the Symbolic, experiencing the process of the Mirror Stage. These are the reasons why I try to apply psychoanalysis in the interpretation of the novel. General ideas will be given after t he summery of the novel.    Willa Cather's My Antonia begins with Jim Burden's "an interminable journey across the great prairie of North America" (Cather 5), a journey back ... ...one sometimes finds one's self behaving in bad dream" (Cather 158). After then, he feels he never want to see Antonia again; and he hates her as much as he hates Cutter. This accident pushes Jim to leave Antonia and to go to Lincoln for study.    The relationship between psychoanalysis and Willa Cather's My Antonia has not been defined. I hope that this essay is the first step towards seeing this wonderful novel from a new perspective.    Works Cited Cather, Willa. My Antonia. Boston: Hougton Mifflin, 1988. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 1989. 508-598. Green, Keith, and Jill Lebihan. Critical Theory & Practice: A Coursebook. New York: Routledge, 1996. Wright, Elizabeth. Psychoanalytic Criticism: Theory in Practice. New York: Methuen,1984.      

Case Study: Ocean Carriers Essay

Executive summary Ocean Carriers is contemplating the opportunity of stipulating a 3-year leasing contract that would require commissioning the construction of a new vessel. In the short term applied hire rates are decreasing, just as they should be on the recovery side starting 2003. While signing a new client and therefore expanding the business, the aforementioned investment should be undertaken in Hong Kong. Furthermore, a 15year project is preferable, thus scrapping the vessel at an estimated price of $5M in order to reinvest that amount and avoid facing heavier upcoming costs. Although the longer lasting project (25 years) guarantees a higher net present value and forecasted rates seem to be increasing, less agility on future market occasions, increasing hire rates volatility and risks to bear for the corporation must be considered. Moreover, the alleged strong correlation between number of shipments and hire rates is being questioned. Summary of facts Provided that Ocean carrier’s fleet doesn’t present a ship which meets the new customer’s requirements and that a fairly long time is needed to build a new one, the management has to decide in 2001 whether to commission a vessel for a 3-year time charter beginning in 2003 at an initial daily hire rate of $20,000 growing at a pace of $200  per year of contract. Statement of the problem Many factors are to be considered such as the daily hire rate and operating cost trends, the supply and demand of iron ore and steel which form the 85% of capesize dry bulk carriers’ shipments. The headquarter location, on which the tax regime depends, is too a  critical decision: while in Hong Kong the operations would be exempt from tax, they would account for 35% on profit in New York. Analysis For a better comprehension of the problem, we first focused on some possible outcomes depending on supply and demand tendency. In the short term, an excess of supply (63 new vessels) and no major forces influencing the demand will cause the hire rates to drop. Also, if the consulting group is to be fully trusted, a sharp decrease in iron ore vessel shipments will drive down prices as well. Looking at a longer horizon, supply and demand drivers are mainly, for the latter, the world economy as a whole and trade patterns i.e. the longer distance the more demand, and for the former the efficiency and size of vessels (negative correlation), the demand for shipping capacity and the age of the ships. These factors reveal positive long-term effects. Due to Australian ad Indian demand rocketing, exports will expand along with higher trading volume. Moreover, Ocean carriers presents an advantage with regards to their ships: they are bigger and newer thus deserving a plus 15% factor over standard prices. Nevertheless, adverse aspects should be taken into account as well, such as the inefficiency in building a new vessel (2 years) which could lead to a growing demand for net working capital in order to strengthen the company’s financial position and make it able to face sudden cash outflows. In addition, given their better growth pattern, Ocean Carriers should favour the spot and not the time daily hire rates instead of locking themselves up in long term, less flexible contracts. Our view for the long run is definitely positive though not outstanding, with future growth resembling the inflation level. Considering the mentioned facts as well as all the assumptions, the choice that has to be made will be primarily influenced by the daily hire rates. These factors are the most  volatile and difficult to predict and influence income, profit and finally cash-flows. Ms  Linn’s decision should evaluate different and unpleasant outcomes before taking a decision based only on cash-flows’ NPV.   Firstly, when comparing Hong Kong’s and new York’s NPV, the no tax zone is clearly the better choice (see table 3 and 4 for calculations), with the 35% straight-line american taxation killing most of the profits from the investment’s first years. Even if we consider an accelerated depreciation system (MACRS) and compare equivalent profits, annuity figures are still worse for taxed areas (graph 3). From this calculation we begin to see how actual cash-flow equivalent annuities are not markedly different between the 15 and 25-year no-tax projects. If accurately analysed, inter-period NPVs show an unexpected picture (table and graph 1). If the reinvestment of the scrap value could guarantee a real rate of return similar to the discount used (discount rate=9%,inflation rate=3%,real discount=5,83%), the two NPVs move closer. This partially explains why, of the two, the shorter investment is the best : a substantial chunk of the 25-year project’s NPV (74%) is created in the latter period of the investment (2017-2027) when prices are hardly predictable, more volatile and easily influenced by present expectations. $610.159,93 supplementary cash income are not worth 10 more years of holding period: operating and survey costs become too heavy to sustain the additional period of investment. We carried on our analysis by looking at the hire rates and their expected value. The strong correlation between charter rates and shipments reported by the consulting firm is now being took into consideration (table and graph 2). The outsourced analysis states that when shipment numbers rise so should the same charter rates. Unfortunately this is wrong under a statistical point of view: whilst shipments and 3-year hire rates seem actually slightly related, the number of shipments and the spot rates go surprisingly in  the opposite direction (Pearson correlation index=(0.3783)). Hence, long term NPV needs to be managed carefully being based on assumptions not  entirely true. Recommendations The 15-year, no-tax investment is the right choice.  The NPV of this project turns out to be positive, leading us to recommend the signature of the contract. Turning down this operation would mean wasting future earnings. Furthermore, the 25-year project is unsafe : it could dry out the company’s cash and equivalents and prevent the reinvestment of the scrap value ($5M) in more profitable projects. The extra return doesn’t justify a 10 year longer investment based on many unreliable assumptions, not supported by statistical data and which does not grant the flexibility that a shorter one would.