Heroes and Heroism in Renaissance Literature Essay Example

Heroes and Heroism in Renaissance Literature Paper The social climate of a time and the associated values and norms will determine how characters are presented as a hero and how others are not. This paper will analyses how heroes are portrayed and how heroism is defined in Renaissance literature. To do so, we will have to look back at two literary periods which influenced the Renaissance significantly, namely the classical epics and poems, and medieval literature. This is necessary as it is impossible to analyses a literary movement without acknowledging its predecessors because art movements are often a reaction to its forerunners. The classical epics, poems, narratives and plays were essential in Ancient Greece and Rome. They were the main source of entertainment and were used to educate the people in these polytheistic societies. The hero in these texts were typically from noble and wealthy descend and they were sometimes portrayed as god-like characters. During these times, people valued ideals such as courage, honor, the warrior code and the importance of preserving the family good name. For example, epic heroes will not take on a fight with a weaker foe and he will respect the honorable heroic code. The characterization and portrayal of the heroes were done in a stereotypical way. A possible reason for this could be the fact that these stories ere part of the oral tradition of telling stories which means that events, characters and plots needed to be relatively simple and easy to remember. A typical protagonist would try to achieve a goal, but would not succeed and was likely to die in the process of trying to achieve it. He or she had one main, tragic flaw which would be his downfall and therefore would lead the hero to a tragic death. We will write a custom essay sample on Heroes and Heroism in Renaissance Literature specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Heroes and Heroism in Renaissance Literature specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Heroes and Heroism in Renaissance Literature specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As his unlucky fate approaches, the hero will often have a lengthy lamentation where the character reflects on his unfortunate fate, sorrow existence, unjust times and the will of the gods. Examples of these tragic, epic heroes can be found in tragedy plays by classical playwrights such as Sophocles and Euripides and authors such as Virgil and Homer. Characters like Oedipus, Odysseus and Antigen are typical tragic heroes. For example, Antigens tragic flaw is her pride and her unwillingness to accept the rules of the King. She is a good example of a character whose tragic story turned out to be very influential to future authors. As the Classical Era came to an end, new values from the Middle Ages were gradually making their way into literature. The culture was undergoing a change as Christianity came more prominent in society. This religious change had a significant impact on social rules and values and this had a long-lasting influence on literature. Due to the high degree of illiteracy, people relied on monks and other members of the church to write down stories. Coincidently, there were a lot of religious overtones in medieval texts. Early medieval poems such as Beowulf can be seen as transitional texts because both heathen values such as revenge, and some Christian elements such as grieve, are present in the text. Heroes in these early medieval texts could still be noninsured to be epic heroes, they share similar values and norms, but they are no longer noblemen by definition. The epic heroes are simple men, versed in the activities of common life. They are leaders not through class status or wealth or even birth, but through the excellencies of heart and mind and hands. (Norman, 27-28) Marshall Fishwife points out that there is a change in style when it comes to the values that defined the medieval hero (10). In the late medieval romances (such Tristan and Soled) special attention is paid to social, religious and moral codes. The ere wants to be successful on the battlefield but attaches importance to correct behavior at court as well, along with loyalty towards his lord, reverence for women and values such as temperance. Thus, the chivalric hero was born. The transition from the epic hero to the chivalric hero with Christian undertones did not happen overnight, and although they share similarities and values, they are also significantly different. The epic hero will often have to go through a physical combat to win his fight, a chivalric hero undergoes a moral, spiritual combat where he has to accept his ward or fate. The characterization of these heroes is quite similar to the heroes from the classical era. Although the character has flaws and needs to overcome them by going on a quest, the character is still quite medallions. The hero is rather generic in that his values are shared by most other heroes from that time. Main characters in medieval times are often easily put in the category good or bad, and the hero is by definition one of good guys. Examples of medieval heroes are Roland in the Song of Roland, Gain in Sir Gain and the Green Knight and Tristan in Tristan and Soled. In the 14th century the Renaissance started to spread throughout Europe and it changed the way people and artists approached history and art. English literature started to undergo a shift in a new direction in the 1 5th century as writers rediscovered their predecessors from the classical era along with their humanistic views on reality. The Renaissance was a pivotal period in the development towards the more individualistic and humanistic society that we know today. 2 Renaissance literature is at the same time a mixture of different elements from previous literary movements and a reaction against those movements. Much like artists from other art disciplines, authors from that period looked back at great artists from the classical times in Ancient Rome and Greece. They had a great respect for their themes, characters and literary formats such as epic narratives, poems and tragedy plays, and many of these aspects were mimicked or adapted by Renaissance writers. M. A. Did Cesar states in his article Not less but more heroic: The epic task and the Renaissance hero that heirs and rebels both, the Renaissance epic poets created formidable and interesting heroes. ( ) They modified the tradition inconsiderably, liking their poet-figures to their heroes, pulling back from the excesses of heroic energy, internalizing heroism, yet seeking to scale new heights. (69) This shows that Renaissance writers were giving a social commentary about their own society by linking it back to classic literature and by commenting on medieval values. The religious undertones from medieval literature did not disappear completely because religion and Christianity were still an important element of society. But, he Renaissance author did start to incorporate humanistic ideals and values in his texts. These new values were occasionally in contrast with the Christian values and this resulted into interesting, complex characters. Heroes in Renaissance literature can be noblemen, but they do not have to be by definition. A mixture of classical values such as courage and honor with medieval values like chivalry, endurance and patience became the norm and this introduced new views on heroism. The characterization of heroes became much more complex, process driven and realistic. Authors were no longer afraid of having a complex hero with contradictory characteristics and strange motives. The good versus bad profiles became more nuanced and the rise of humanism can be seen as a cause for this. Both epic literature and medieval texts have heroes who are rather straightforward and not that complex in their characterization, but people in the Early Modern times were interested in the minds of individuals, not the generic ideals of a stereotypical hero. To illustrate the influence of classical and medieval heroes on Renaissance heroes, we will look at several examples where these influences and changes in social climate, values and characterization can be perceived. As a first example we will turn to the man who is often considered to be the guarded of English Renaissance literature and theatre, William Shakespeare. Shakespeare has many different kinds of heroes, which forms a challenge for the reader or audience to define which characters are the true heroes and which ones are not. Henry IV part 1 has an interesting historical context as it deals with the rise of the house of Lancaster, which happened 3 approximately two centuries prior to Shakespearean time. The bard sets his play in this setting for it allows him to give a social commentary on the social and political situation of his time without offending any people in particular. When it comes to the hero of the play, it gets a little tricky. There are several possible heroes in the play who are all heroes in their own way. First of all, there is the character of Hotshot. He could be considered a thriving hero by classical, epic standards as he lives an ambitious life and strives towards glory and honor. But it is his obsession with honor and glory that will lead him to his death. This makes him a tragic character instead of a thriving, successful character. Falstaff is a another complex character in the sense that his relationship with Hal changes drastically during the play. At first he is seen as the character who brings comic relief to the play and who is the exact opposite of Hotshot. Where Hotshot is trying to achieve glory and honor, Falstaff doubts the very relevance of honor. Shakespeare is deeply ambivalent about the very possibility of heroism in the political worlds their texts portray. (Lawrence 5). Falstaff challenges the meaning and relevance of honor: Yea, but how if honor prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honor set to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery then? No. What is honor? A word. What is that word honor? Air. (V. I. 130-134) This is contrasting the whole idea of honorable and heroic values in the epic and medieval literary tradition, which can either make Falstaff an anti-hero, or a new kind of hero. Even though he is selfish, lazy, dishonest, corrupt and unclean, he is a self- made man. He creates the myth of Falstaff through his witty usage of language. As language and puns are very important in Shakespearean plays, one could argue that he is a new kind of hero. However, when Hal becomes King, their relationship changes. Falstaff is humiliated by Harry and he even gets disowned, these series of vents turn him into a tragic hero. The real, successful hero in the play is Hal who is intelligent, witty and pragmatic. But even Hal is a complicated hero in Henry IV part 1; during the battle of Shrubbery he is seen as a warrior hero who is confident and a true prince of England. However, as the audience gets to know Hal, the audience realizes that he is not fond of life at court. He likes to mingle with the simple men on the street and to get to know them better. He befriends the lazy and unclean Falstaff and to an extent, adopts the simple way of life. But his motives are shrewd; e does this to lower other peoples expectations of him in order to emerge as a real hero when the situation comes for him to step up and be a 4 leader. In a way, he is a self-made man as well; even though he is born in a noble family, he decides to use his own intelligence and analytical skills instead of his inherited nobility to gain peoples loyalty. Important values attached to heroism are intelligence, self-creation and most importantly, honor. Hotshot idealizes it, Falstaff despises it, but Halls view on honor is less extreme. He recognizes its significance and power, but sees that it is not the only ideal to live his life by. He is willing to set aside his honor by befriending Falstaff and other odd characters to win their trust and to become more successful in the end. Did Cesar confirms the idea of Hal as a hero: Shakespearean plausible transmutation of epic, the Henries, the emerging heroic figure is not the single-minded Hotshot, who would pluck honor from the pale-faced moon, but the more restrained prince Hal. (69) Shakespeare shows that a hero is no longer the straight-forward, good person going on a quest and this is emphasized by other authors of Renaissance literature as well: he character of Doctor Faustus in Marlowe The Tragically History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus is a person from a high social class and he is an egoistic, foolish and selfish person, but he is also a humanist. So the reader gets a more complex character representation of the hero. Similarly, Millions characterization of Satan in Paradise Lost makes Satan a compelling character because of his ability to overcome his weakness and doubts to achieve his goal. Adam and Eve can be seen as potential moral heroes, but they are not as clear-cut as moral heroes from classical or medieval literature. They are not perfect and their curiosity and vanity are their weaknesses. M. A. Did Cesar says: Milton was by no means the first to think that the tradition was really a challenge. (58) He means that Milton was one of the authors who looked back at epic literature and adapted the conventions to a new time, a new social climate. He found a new kind of heroism within the tradition of heroes from the past. His characters are flawed, but in a more realistic way than before. Another interesting hero in the tradition of renaissance literature is Ironwork in Para Bens Ironwork; The Royal Slave, A True History. This early modern hero is important with regard to the social climate of the time where slave trading was still heavily practiced. Been introduces a new kind of hero and discusses social issues such as gender, slavery, feminism, individualism, race and religion. The hero, Ironwork, is a very ambivalent and complex character who is defined by many contradictions. He is a prince and slave trader which makes him a hero of noble descend, but he becomes a slave during the story. This means he is a prince and a slave at the same time. He is a nobleman and a rebel, aggressive and passive, a warrior and a domestic husband. Furthermore, he is a non-Christian character, but is represented in a Christ-like way. 5 Ironwork is powerful and powerless and this makes him interesting and appealing to the audience (and to the narrator). The narrator describes him with romantic language and by strangely enough, European standards. He does not seem to be like the other slaves as he has different physical characteristics, he is educated, knows many languages, etc. His face was not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished Jet. ( ) His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes. The whole proportion and air of his face was so nobly and exactly formed that, bating his color, there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable, and handsome. (1139) Ironwork is described as if he were a white and European character. This description can be linked to the status of heroes in epic literature where they were considered nobles and even semi-gods. This is reinforced when he is slaying the tigers and the romantic image of him being a prince in captivity. He embodies values from epic literature such as courage, physical strength and honor, as well as medieval ideals with respect to chivalry and (pain) endurance. One could argue that Ironwork is two kinds of heroes: the first being Ironwork as a warrior-hero in his African home, the second being Ironwork as a slave in Saurian where he becomes a hero for his endurance and patience. Other elements that make Ironwork a hero are his promise to Indiana that he will never marry another woman because her soul would always be fine, and always young. (1140) and his respects toward her as an equal. Furthermore, he despises the British plantation owners and slave traders because they have no honor. He is, however, not a pacifist. He participates in war and takes 150 slaves in captivity to gift to Indiana as a symbol of his love. He considers war to be an honorable way of conquering and this is similar to epic and early-medieval heroes. This makes him a good blend of an epic and chivalric hero. Mary B. Rose describes this new kind of heroism in the following statement: Ironwork conjuncts the feminine subject position with slavery and compromised agency and presents the combination as the defining condition of heroism, multitudinously idealizing and scrutinizing the heroics of endurance. (100) 6 These examples show that the hero in Renaissance literature is characterized by the mixture of classical, medieval and humanistic ideals. The rise of individualism and humanism made the characters more complex and profiled them as individuals and less as generic, stereotypical heroes. This analysis of heroes in Renaissance literature shows that the political, social and religious contexts can never be underestimated when analyzing literature and that one should always pay attention to preceding tertiary movements when discussing a particular period because it helps us to place a literary work in the right time-frame. Works cited: Been, Para. Ironwork; The Royal Slave.

The Philosophy of Honesty

The Philosophy of Honesty What does it take to be honest? Although often invoked, the concept of honesty is quite tricky to characterize. Taking a closer look, it is a cognate notion of authenticity. Heres why. Truth and Honesty While it may be tempting to define honesty as speaking the truth and abiding by the rules, this is an overly-simplistic view of a complex concept. Telling the truth- the whole truth- is at times practically and theoretically impossible as well as morally not required or even wrong. Suppose your new partner asks you to be honest about what you have done over the past week, when you were apart: does this mean you’ll have to tell everything you have done? Not only you may not have enough time and you won’t recall all details, but is everything really relevant? Should you also talk about the surprise party you are organizing for next week for your partner? The relationship between honesty and truth is much more subtle. What is truth about a person, anyway? When a judge asks a witness to tell the truth about what happened that day, the request cannot be for any particular whatsoever but only for relevant ones. Who is to say which particulars are relevant? Honesty and the Self Those few remarks should be sufficient in clearing up the intricate relationship there is between honesty and the construction of a self. Being honest involves the capacity to select, in a way that is context-sensitive, certain particulars about our lives. At the very least honesty requires an understanding of how our actions do or do not fit within rules and expectations of the Other- where the latter stands for any person we feel obliged to report to, including ourselves. Honesty and Authenticity But theres to the relationship between honesty and the self. Have you been honest with yourself? That is indeed a major question, discussed not only by figures such as Plato and Kierkegaard, but also in David Hume’s Philosophical Honesty. To be honest to ourselves seems to be a key part of what it takes to be authentic: only those who can face themselves, in all their own peculiarity, seem to be capable of developing a persona that is true to herself- hence, authentic. Honesty as a Disposition If honesty is not telling the whole truth, what is it? One way to characterize it, typically adopted in virtue ethics (that school of ethics that developed from Aristotle’s teachings), makes honesty into a disposition. Here goes my rendering of the topic. A person is honest when he or she possesses the disposition to face the Other by making explicit all those details that are relevant to the conversation at issue. The disposition in question is a tendency which has been cultivated over time. That is, an honest person is one that has developed the habit of bringing forward to the Other all those details of his or her life that seem relevant in conversation with the Other. The ability to discern that which is relevant is part of honesty and is, if course, quite a complex skill to possess. Further Readings Despite its centrality in ordinary life as well as ethics and philosophy of psychology, honesty is not a major trend of research in the contemporary philosophical debate. Here are some sources that can be useful in reflecting more on the challenges posed by the issue. The entry on virtue ethics at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, where the example of honesty comes up a few times.David Hume’s Philosophical Honesty, a brilliant short piece, too often forgotten.

Description of Four Religious Websites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Description of Four Religious Websites - Essay Example According to the site, Zenit’s purpose is to take advantage of the internet in order to disseminate the Catholic Church’s message. Its target audience is varied and encompasses all races, age, gender and other orientations. Its contents are reprinted in various media outlets and it also boasts of 520,000 direct subscribers. (Zenit 2010) Judging from its readership, subscription, and syndication by several media outlets, Zenit is indisputably a reputable resource for the Christian Church’s doctrines and related information. In addition to this, the site has been awarded by the Vatican with citations for its work.   Here, it is easy to for one to identify the purpose of the website. It serves as some online library for those interested in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Its slogan, â€Å"The Place Where Early Christianity Continues† also underscores how the site intends to use technology in order to propagate the religion. When one examines the site’s content, it appears that the target audiences are scholars or those people who are really interested in learning from the religion or for those who want to convert. There are important sections and materials that are persuasive in nature, using much of the corpus of its own Scripture to attract adherents and rebut other religious doctrines.Other than the authenticity of the documents found on the website there are no other indications that would uphold the credibility of the site. There are no sections, for instance, that tackled the organization.Buddhanet is a sophisticated website about Buddhism that comprehensively aims to propagate its own Scripture and doctrine through various ways. For example, there’s the news section, the online magazine, the Buddhist eLibrary, Buddhist worldwide directory, information on Buddhist monasteries as well as a Buddhist eStore

US government mngement budget plnning nd control Essay

US government mngement budget plnning nd control - Essay Example Budgeting describes whÐ °t governments do by listing how governments spend money. Ð  budget links tÐ °sks to be performed with the Ð °mount of resources necessÐ °ry to Ð °ccomplish those tÐ °sks, ensuring thÐ °t money will be Ð °vÐ °ilÐ °ble to wÐ °ge wÐ °r, provide housing, or mÐ °intÐ °in streets. Budgets limit expenditures to the revenue Ð °vÐ °ilÐ °ble, to ensure bÐ °lÐ °nce Ð °nd prevent overspending. Most of the work in drÐ °wing up Ð ° budget is technicÐ °l, estimÐ °ting how much it will cost to feed Ð ° thousÐ °nd shut-ins with Ð ° MeÐ °ls-on-Wheels progrÐ °m or how much revenue will be produced from Ð ° 1 percent tÐ °x on retÐ °il sÐ °les. But public budgets Ð °re not merely technicÐ °l mÐ °nÐ °geriÐ °l documents; they Ð °re Ð °lso intrinsicÐ °lly Ð °nd irreducibly politicÐ °l. The efficiency of budgeting is determined by the wÐ °ys it is plÐ °nned Ð °nd control. The following pÐ °per described the wÐ °ys thÐ °t US budget is cÐ °rried out, how scÐ °rce resources Ð °re Ð °llocÐ °ted Ð °nd the choice between potentiÐ °l objects of expenditure is chosen. Ð ll budgeting, whether public or privÐ °te, individuÐ °l or orgÐ °nizÐ °tionÐ °l, involves choices between possible expenditures. Since no one hÐ °s unlimited resources, people budget Ð °ll the time. Ð  child mÐ °kes Ð ° budget (Ð ° plÐ °n for spending, bÐ °lÐ °ncing revenues Ð °nd expenditures) when she decides to spend money on Ð ° mÐ °rshmÐ °llow rÐ °bbit rÐ °ther thÐ °n Ð ° chocolÐ °te one, Ð °ssuming she hÐ °s money enough for only one rÐ °bbit. The Ð °ir force mÐ °y choose between two different Ð °irplÐ °nes to replÐ °ce current bombers. ... For exmple, I my look t the min course nd sk bout the mount of protein for the dollr. I my compre the desserts in terms of the mount of cholesterol or the clories. Budgeting often lloctes money, but it cn llocte ny scrce resource, for exmple, time. student my choose between studying for n exm nd plying softbll nd drinking beer fterwrd. In this exmple, it is time tht is t premium, not money. Or it could be medicl skills tht re in short supply, or expensive equipment, or prtment spce, or wter. Government progrms often involve choice of resources nd sometimes involve combintions of resources, ech of which hs different chrcteristics. For exmple, some federl frm progrms involve direct csh pyments plus lons t below-mrket interest rtes, nd welfre progrms often involve dollr pyments plus food stmps, which llow recipients to py less for food. Federl budgets often ssign gencies money, personnel, nd sometimes borrowing uthority, three different kinds of resources. (Blnd, Rubin, 1997) Budgets hve to blnce. pln for expenditures tht pys no ttention to ensuring tht revenues cover expenditures is not budget. Tht my sound odd in view of historiclly huge federl deficits, but budget my techniclly be blnced by borrowing. Blnce mens only tht outgo is mtched or exceeded by income. The borrowing hs to be pid off. Borrowing mens spending more now nd pying more in the future in order to mintin blnce. It is blnce over time. Budgeting cnnot proceed without some kind of decision process. The process determines who will hve sy nd t wht point in the decision mking, nd frmes the decisions tht hve to be mde. Budget process typiclly involves estimtes of revenues nd limits on expenditures, structures the comprisons mong lterntives, nd regultes the flow of

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2nd Research Paper

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2nd - Research Paper Example The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2nd The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2nd edition is the most widely used personality assessment instrument in the United States. Significant areas of use that have become typical include personnel assessment in military and air controller sectors and in research involving the normal population, among many others. From 1943 through the 1980s, the MMIP was the subject vehicle of over 10,000 books and articles (Butcher, 251). Over the course of its life the MMPI has evolved through several formats, reflecting the changes in social culture and approaches to sciences. The MMPI-2 was developed in the mid-1980s to apply across cultures, and the MMPI-A was developed for youth for youth populations from 14-18 years. The latest format, the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), has not yet replaced the use of the MMPI-2. The MMPI grew from the research work of psychologist Starke Hathaway (1903-1984) during the 1930s at the University of Minnesota Hospitals. Hathaway led his colleagu es, including neuropsychiatrist J. Charnley McKinley (1891-1950) and graduate student Paul Meehl, through the task of compiling data from observations of 221 mental patients in the psychiatric unit. and comparing it to a normal nonpathological population of nearly 1,500 adults. With a goal of putting together a practical and easy-to-use assessment tool, they were able to build a 504 item true-false test from which answers could be used to formulate patterns of pathological behavior.

The International Financial Reporting Standards In Russia

The International Financial Reporting Standards In Russia International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and their predecessor, International Accounting Standards (IAS) is gaining in worldwide recognition. All publicly traded companies in the EU must adopt them by 2005 and many other countries either have adopted them or plan to do so in the near future. After break up of Soviet Union, Russia has experienced a lot of turmoil and changes both political and economical the country has struggled to get rid of its socialist past and it has now evolved to be a more important partner in international affairs and economics. The need to develop the modern accounting system has therefore been obvious and the country had two choices: to develop its own system or to adopt an existing one, like IFRS. In 2002, the Russian Prime Minister announced that all Russian companies and banks must prepare their financial statements in accordance with international standards starting January 1, 2004. Implementing that decision will not be easy, for a variety of reasons. Not all international standards have been translated into Russian. Many Russian accountants are not sufficiently familiar with international standards to implement them. Some Russian universities have only recently started teaching international standards and the continuing education programs of the various Russian accounting associations are not yet prepared to offer comprehensive courses on international standards. Current Russian accounting standards conflict with international standards in several important ways and these conflicts will not be resolved in the near future. This project paper considers the issues that arise when implementing new accounting regulations, some of which are not new and have been covered in the literature, but others of which are particular to the implementation of IFRS reporting. Te method of implementation, the scope of IFRS, particular issues with local accounting practice and IFRS, the issues of enforcement of compliance with IFRS and its relationship with audit, the link between IFRS reporting and taxation and the provision of education and training are all considered. There is also review of the state of preparedness of local group listed entities with respect to the implementation of IFRS reporting. There are many research areas for accounting research where the work could also inform the practice of IFRS accounting. The paper provides a contribution by highlighting how one country has moved to implement the requirement for group listed enterprises to prepare IFRS accounts and the issues that then arise for legislators, preparers and users. Introduction of the study Background of the study Globalization is making a dramatic impact on the world economy, borders are getting less and less relevant and corporation and trade between companies situated on different continents is now very common. More and more companies have become global in their commercial activities and international trade with shares and credits is constantly increasing. As companies and capital needs have left the national level, capital internalization has become a necessity. The demand for an open financial market is now stronger than ever. Globalization makes comparability and harmonization of the accounting and financial reporting top priority. The goal of the EU is to create a free market where capital labor, goods and services are to move freely. With the common currency, the European market has become more transparent for companies and it has made it easier to analyze business opportunities within the EU. The implementation of International Accounting Standards (IAS) and the International financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) will further improve the transparency of companies information and also be an important step in the EUs commitment for a common European capital market. For investors and lenders it is important to have comparable and quality information and this can only be achieved if countries cooperate in creating a common system like IAS/IFRS. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1992, Russia had to change its economic system from a planned economy to a market economy. In a commend economy the means of production are in public ownership, the state dominates the economy, and economy activity is supposed to respond to state direction. By contrast, in a market economy the means of the means of production are mainly in private ownership, the state creates the legal framework in which economic activity takes place, and economic place supposed to respond to market forces. Such a transition obviously has important consequences for accounting, which ceases to be an instrument of the state economic administration and instead becomes an instrument at the disposal of the business community. New types of companies and enterprises desperately needed new accounting standards. In a market economy the objective of companies financial reporting is to give useful information to present and potential investors, creditors and other interested parties to facilitate their decisions. Though until now the role and the financial reporting still remains the State, in the person of the tax authorities. Nevertheless, voices of the other interest parties investors, creditors, managers and also accountants and auditors become more and more important. In that way, the Russian accounting and financial reporting develop, approaching international standards. As transition economies go through the process of shedding their centrally planned accounting model and replacing it with a market oriented model that uses international standards they face a number of problems. Very few people know the new rules, since the international standards must first be translated into their language. Accountants who can read the international standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board and its predecessor, the International Accounting Standards Committee in the original English have a competitive advantage in this regard, but trying to fully exploit this advantage may be frustrating if potential clients or employers do not place much value on international standards. There is also an inertia barrier to overcome. It is difficult to change the status quo (Friedman Friedman 1984). Accountants and managers who have been using the old system for 20 or 30 years do not want to change because they feel comfortable with the system they lear ned in school or on the job when they were young. Those individuals also happen to be the people who are now in charge of enterprises and accounting departments, so their approval must be had before any new system can be adopted and implemented. 2.1.1. International Standards in Russia As we know from our previous readings, accounting is part of the legislative system. That is a problem because Russia will never have true international standards if government has to legislate it. There will always be a lag and style and language problems. The original plan by the Russian Finance Ministry in 1998 was to adopt all IAS by 2000. That did not happen. The new target for full adoption and implementation is 2004, at least in the case of banks and publicly traded companies. However, that target is also unlikely to be met. In fact, not a single accountant interviewed thought that international standards would be fully adopted and implemented by 2004. One accountant estimated that full implementation would take ten years (RobertW. Galina G., 2004) In the case of the standard on impairment, many Russian companies and their accountants do not want to apply the impairment rules because many companies have assets that are overvalued. Applying the impairment standard would cause the asset side of the balance sheet to shrink, considerably in many cases, and they do not want that to happen. In extreme cases, a company that appears healthy could appear to be insolvent if the impairment rules were applied. This hesitancy is not unique to Russia. The same situation exists in Republika Srpska, the Serbian part of Bosnia, and in other formerly centrally planned economies. Perhaps the main reason why the standard on financial instruments has not been adopted is lack of demand. Very few Russian enterprises use complex financial instruments, and the ones that do are already applying the IAS or U.S. GAAP on this topic. Also, this standard is difficult to understand and many Russian accountants are not eager to make the effort to learn a standard that they probably will not use in the foreseeable future. Another point that could be made about Russias adoption of international standards is that even the standards that have been adopted may not always be international standards. For example, the Russian standard on income taxes is based on the old version of the IAS income tax standard, not the new one. This fact is known within much of the Russian accounting community but may not be as well known outside of Russia. Another, less well known fact about Russias accounting standards is that the Russian versions of the standards that have been adopted are not mere translations of the English language originals. In many cases they are abbreviated, simplified versions of the original English language IAS. RAS tend to be much shorter, more detailed and conceptual. They cover a fraction of the content of IAS. In short, it may not be accurate to state that Russia has adopted IAS. It would be more descriptive to say that Russian accounting standards are merely based on IAS. Often the differences between RAS and IAS are not large or important. However, the difference may be substantial, such as in the area of accruals principles. Another reason why RAS will never be identical to the international standards is because there is a timing lag between the time a new international standard is issued in the UK and the time that new standard is translated into Russian and adopted as part of the Russian accounting rules. This lag could be overcome if the Russian Duma made it a rule that all new international accounting standards will automatically and immediately become part of the Russian rules. However, the Duma will never make such a rule, for reasons of national pride and sovereignty. So the lag will be permanent, even though there is a theoretical solution that would correct this lag. The degree to which the Russian accounting community understands the international standards depends on several factors. The Russian translation of the original English version of the standards was not available until late 1998. The translation was mediocre, in some respects. Part of the problem was because there were no Russian terms to convey some of the concepts. In other cases, the Russian translators simply used the wrong word or said things in such a way as to make the sentence or phrase unintelligible. In at least one case, the translator left out the word not, with the result that the Russian version of the standard instructed the reader to do something, when in fact the English version of the rule said not to do something. These kinds of mistakes and imperfections are to be expected the first time a technical document is translated, especially in cases where no terms exist for some of the words and ideas that need to be translated. The Russian accountants who cannot read English are limited to reading the Russian translation of the international standards. That places them at a competitive disadvantage, for the reasons mentioned above. The Russian translation is mediocre in some places and in other places is downright incorrect. The Russian speaking accountant has no way of knowing how accurate the reading of a particular sentence or paragraph might be, but must rely on what is written because there is no other alternative. Russian accountants who were educated in a university that did not teach the international standards have a problem reading the international standards in any language because the standards contain concepts that the Russian accountant was never exposed to during the years at the university. Such accountants must learn the new rules as best they can, either by self-study or by attending some lectures or seminars on the various topics. Another reason why the accountants in the outlying regions are not as knowledgeable about international standards as are the big city accountants is due to differences in demand. Most clients that need statements prepared according to international standards are in Moscow or St. Petersburg. A few big enterprises are scattered around other parts of Russia, mostly in the bigger cities. The accountants who service smaller clients have little or no need to know the international standards, so they do not take the time to learn them. The result is a two-tier system where the accountants and the employees who work for their clients in Moscow or St. Petersburg know at least something about international standards, whereas their counterparts in the outlying regions know less, or perhaps nothing about international standards. 2.1.2. Developing Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) and Establishing IFRS in Russia As Valeria Petrovets (2006) mentioned in his study, during the first period after break up Soviet Union, not much happened with the accounting system as the government was occupied with other, more important, issues. From 1993, the balance sheet, and from 1996, all financial reports were made in net figures according to international practice. In 1994 the Ministry of Finance approved the first accounting standard and marked the beginning of new Russian Accounting Standards (RAS). The Federal Law On Accounting was issued at the end of 1996. A new free market economy demanded further changes in the Russian accounting system and in March 1997 an order for an accounting reform program was signed by Yeltsin. One of the important parts of the program was the development of RAS in compliance with IAS (Yegorov, L., 2002). Until year 2006, it had been of work in transition to IFRS: there were 22 new accounting standards approved (which were written on IFRS basis), the Institute of Professional Accountants and the fund National Organization for Accounting and Financial Reporting were founded, a number of legal codes in this area were approved and the first official IFRS Russian translation was made. Until 2004, using the IFRS was voluntary. Subsequent reformation of the national accounting leads to legislated regulation of the financial reporting according to the IFRS. At the end of 2003 the Central Bank issued a directive which obliges all banks to represent their consolidated financial statements for 2004 according to IFRS. At the first stage the statement according to IFRS should be represent to the Central Bank together with Russian financial reporting. In 2007, a complete bank system transition to IFRS and abandonment of the national standards is planned. In (2004) the Ministry of the Finance of the Russian Federation approved The Conceptual for accounting and finance reporting development in the Russian Federation on medium-term perspective, which defines the main directions of transaction to finance reporting according to the IFRS for Russian companies. The Conception raises the question of the necessity for the legislated approval of the IFRS. It is supposed that consolidated accounts, made according to the IFRS, will get the legislated status. The Conception provides two stages in the transaction: I stage: 2004-2007 Compulsory transition to IFRS of consolidated accounts for companies of major national interest, except for those companies listed on other stock exchanges and which prepare their financial reports according to other international standards (for example, US GAAP). Approval of the Russian financial reporting standards for legal persons, prepared on the basis of the IFRS. II stage: 2008-2010 Compulsory transition to the IFRS of consolidated accounts for the other companies, including companies, listed on other stock exchanges and which prepare their financial reports according to other international standards. 2.1.3. National Accounting Differences Accounting differences In presentation, recognition, and measurement In perception, and interpretation Different accounting principles Different objectives of financial reporting Country-specific social, economic, and cultural environment Figure (1): Reasons for International Accounting Problems Accounting differences between different countries depend on what purpose the country has with the financial reporting if the information is intended mainly for present and potential investors or for tax authorities and creditors. Interested parties of a companys annual report are also employees, suppliers, clients and other organizations. With the help of financial statements, users receive information that they need and companies are ready to present. The different purposes of financial reporting are primarily influenced by economic, social and cultural factors. One of the important cultural variables is the means used for financial reporting regulation: because of this, if change is triggered in two countries at the same time by the same event, the means chosen for regulating may be different. In addition, different countries have different attitudes about how the legislations are followed. It is believed that cultural differences affect accounting. Nevertheless, it can be difficult to apply them to the measurement of accounting differences. More direct links can be established between accounting, legal and accounting systems. Accounting principles are formed in accordance with the purpose a company has with its financial reporting and that can be significant for the way in which balance and income statements are formulated. The differences in accounting principles can also lead to identical or similar operations and transactions being evaluated and accounted differently, thus showing a different annual profit. Motivation of the study The main purpose of my study is to investigate how the process of IFRS adoption for the national accounting system develops in Russia. And also, there is some additional purposes that I am going to study are to show how Russia works with the reformation of its accounting system, how the historic and economic development affected accounting and financial reporting. As well as to define obstacles and problems which the country in general, and separate companies, in particular, have come across in connection with IFRS implementation. The project paper is written with the intention to contribute to the picture of international harmonization of financial reporting and how far Russia has advanced for IFRS implementation. This study might be interesting for those who are interested in international questions and international accounting. Objectives of the study The objective of this study is to find out what problems do Russian non banking companies have in connection with IFRS implementation. And also to determine how the countrys historical and cultural background affects their transaction to IFRS. Literature of the study As it has been known from previous studies, so many researchers have been written about International Accounting Standards (IAS), International Standards on Auditing (ISA), accounting harmonization, accounting education and accounting reform in transition economies in recent years. A few books and articles have focused on accounting reform in Russia. An early study by Mills and Brown (1966) discussed how shifting from a production model to a profitability accounting model would help Soviet enterprise managers make decisions that would increase the efficiency of their firms and help them to better allocate resources. In a similar vein, Thornton (1983) discussed changes in the way the Soviets accounted for factor costs over a twenty-five year period. A study by Scott (1969) stated that Soviet accounting after the 1965 reforms started to place more emphasis on enterprise profitability, which helped move the Soviet economy closer to a Western market model. Other authors have also touched on this theme. Horwitz (1970) discussed the effect that decentralization has on the management accounting control system. Chastain (1982) described how the Soviet accounting system was not able to keep up with the needs of enterprise managers. He also assesses the implications of that inability for the accounting profession. Turk and Garrod (1996) discussed the lessons Slovenia learned when it began the process of changing to International Accounting Standards. The Slovenian experience is not unlike the Russian experience in many ways. Preobragenskaya and McGee did research on the relationship between IAS and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Russia (2003a) and on the state of auditing in Russia (2003b). Their FDI study concluded that the lack of credibility of Russian financial statements was hampering inflows of foreign capital. Their audit study found that the state of auditing in Russia is not yet up to western standards. A few studies have been made on accounting education in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union. According to one scholar, Houghton Mifflins 1300-page Principles of Accounting was the first Western accounting text sold in the Soviet Union (Collingwood 1991). It was translated and distributed by Finansy I Statistika, Moscows government owned publisher. Kobrack and Feldman (1991) speculated whether the reform process in the Soviet economy could create a new market for accounting textbooks. McGee has written about educating accounting professors in Bosnia Herzegovina (2003a) and reforming accounting education in Armenia (2003b). There are several sources of information on recent developments in accounting reform in Russia. The International Center for Accounting Reform in Moscow [www.icar.ru/] publishes the ICAR Newsletter. The World Bank publishes Transition Newsletter, which gives current information about various aspects of market reforms in transition economies, including accounting reform in Russia. The Russian websites of the Big-Four accounting firms also have current information and, in some cases, publications. The Deloitte Touche Russian website has an e-library link that contains a variety of items on various aspects of doing business in Russia. It has a Doing Business in Russia Online Guide, which includes much information on accounting and tax topics. It has several newsletters that address accounting, tax and legislative issues on various countries, including Russia. Russia Legislative News is a monthly newsletter that contains accounting and tax items. Legislative Tracking is a daily publication that keeps readers abreast of Russian pending legislation. Ernst Young publishes An EYe on Russia, a monthly newsletter on current business, accounting and tax issues. It also has a Russian Legislation website that contains downloadable documents on Russian accounting, tax and related legislation that have been translated into English. There are various strands in the literature on international accounting harmonization which cover such areas as: the degrees of harmonization (Tay and Parker, 1990; Emenyonu and Gray, 1996; Murphy, 2000), whether international accounting harmonization is appropriate (Hove, 1986; Cairns, 1997: Flower, 1997) and the degree of compliance with IFRS (Cairns, 2001; Street and Gray, 2001). Most of the relevance of this study on the implementation of IFRS would seem to be the research on the appropriateness of IFRS for developing or transitional economies, the practical implications of implementing IFRS within a country located in the continental European tradition of accounting and research on the changes to national accounting in transitional economies. In his 1998 study, based on a review of the literature on accounting and developing countries, Nobes noted various points about the appropriateness of IFRS for developing countries. Nobes talked about developing countries but Russia is a developed country and at the same time keeps on developing. He suggested that given the likely users of most enterprise financial statements in developing countries were the tax authorities and owners and lenders to private enterprises, adopting IFRS in developing countries, where IFRS are stated to be investor oriented (IASB, 2003; F9), may not be appropriate. In particular many of the later IAS (IAS 22-38) might not be relevant for presenting accounting information for taxation purposes. Nobes also suggested that, given the lack of a developed accountancy profession to interpret and apply the more judgmental aspects of IFRS (either as auditors or accountants), there could also be issues of the reliability of accounting information. Though he provid ed examples, he did not make explicit that this could be a particular issue for any accounting information based to a large extent on market data such as fair value (Nobes, 1998a). Further research on transitional economies has indicated structural issues with a lack of active stock markets, and corruption, which may affect the reliability of IFRS financial statements and estimations of fair values (EBRD, 2000; Sucher and Bychkova, 2001). However, much change has been state sponsored, rather than spontaneous, and the Ministry of Finance has continued to play a key role (Seal et al., 1995). This may therefore indicate that change may be very slow. Garrod and McLeay (1996) also highlighted how governments have adapted the previous state-controlled accounting systems to meet the envisaged demands of new users as well as state demands for tax collection and dealt with the general issues of conflicting objectives for financial reporting. They comment on the problems of establishing the right balance between state and professional involvement in the regulation of accounting and the difficulties that have arisen in valuation of assets, in the absence of fully functioning markets, and the scope of financial statements (Garrod and McLeay, 1996). In much of the previous research there has been an emphasis on the de jure situation with accounting change in Central Europe, and less focus on the de facto situation which might be quite different (as suggested by Bailey, 1995). There is a need for further research on the actual operation of financial reporting within enterprises to ensure that any implementation process pays due regard to the de facto situation rather than merely the de jure situation. There has also been a tendency in the academic research to study individual countries as comprising enterprises all with similar financial reporting objectives. However, within a country there are different groups of enterprises with different reporting objectives depending on their size, funding and ownership structure. Indeed, some authors have suggested that, within the classification literature, there may be different types of accounting systems in operation in any one country (Nobes, 1998b). This could be taken further to suggest that there are different groups of professional auditors and accountants trained under different reporting systems (e.g. some auditors trained under an international system of exams in accounting; some under a local examination system). Any research on the changes to national accounting should reflect this diversity of needs and resources. The Big Four audit firms have played a large role in the move to IFRS around the world, as they are often the auditors of IFRS statements and they have the large resources needed to maintain appropriate knowledge and expertise in IFRS. There has been relatively little research on their role in transitional economies (though Seal et ai, 1995, and Sucher and Alexander, 2002, are exceptions and some concerns about their roles are raised in some of the World Bank reports). Some consideration needs to be given to their role in the move to IFRS within the transitional economies. The literature suggests that there may be contextual factors which affect the appropriateness and effectiveness of the implementation of IFRS in a transitional economy such as the Russian Federation. These factors may be divided into the position of the Ministry of Finance in initiating and implementing reform; the role of the particular users of financial statements, and the relationship between financial reporting and taxation which in turn may relate to the national tradition in accounting (Anglo Saxon versus continental European). Then it is suggested that there are specific factors which may affect the effectiveness of and the ability to implement IFRS: differences between local and IFRS accounting standards, particular issues with individual IFRS and the reliability and availability of market data for fair values, and the approach to enforcing compliance, with particular regard to the role of auditors. There may also he additional factors concerning how the IFRS are translated and the extent of education and training in IFRS. Summarize, critically evaluation of the articles, conclusion and suggestions From the above literature reviews we can summarize the followings. In order to evaluate a study, a thorough analysis of the sources is in place. As earlier described, most of the written sources were used for theoretical background. The authors and their books are well-known and widely used for social studies similar to this study. The newer written sources that have been taken from the Internet have come from magazines, newspapers and portals associated with accounting issues and were chosen out of a greater selection. Accounting is one of the spheres that has been transformed since the beginning of the 1990s. Its reformation and supervision have been executed by various governmental bodies, although considerable resources from international organizations have also been attracted to the process. The adoption of national standards based on IFRS was chosen as the vehicle for change. But change occurs slowly and the country is huge. There is a lag between the time standards are adopted and the time they are implemented. Some of the reasons are the lack of demand for quality information, mostly from inside users of financial information, and the mentality and education level of the majority of accountants and educators in accounting. This situation may be understandable for a country that is in transition and that existed in the absence of freedom and market relationships for many decades. From the authors point of view, from the options under consideration, the preferred option toward the transition to IFRS is to make it compulsory to provide IFRS statements for companies that are in the zone of public interest. It is not necessary to have Russian Financial Statements for such companies. For other companies it can be left up to them which rules, if any, to use for their financial statements. There are several problems with forcing IFRS down the throats of any segment of the accounting and financial community. On e structural problem is the difficulty of harmonizing the legislative branch so that the various players are on the same field. There is a lack of coordination between or among the various parties. There is a serious lack of high quality consultants on IFRS implementation. All these factors do not help in the transition to IFRS. If Russia is to succeed in transforming its economy into something where markets dominate, it will have to overcome these barriers. But force is not required. Markets are the absence of force. Markets are just voluntary exchange. Markets develop naturally when no one prevents anyone else from trading what he has for what he wants. It seems illogical to use force to implement markets. There is some evidence

Comparison Of Marcus Garvey And David Duke Essay example -- essays res

Racial issues have always been debated and followed by many people throughout the history of America and will continue to be for a long time. Along with these debates come movements and with movements come leaders. Two well-known leaders of racially driven movements are Marcus Garvey and David Duke. Garvey was a black man looking to forward his fellow black man’s financial state and living conditions, and he became a leader for his movement. Duke is a white man who feels that with all of the racial diversity in this country the white race is being mistreated and destroyed, and became a leader for a more extreme group of believers. These two extraordinary men can be compared and contrasted with respect to their groups, views, and faults.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, both of these men were known for their participation in racial interest groups. Marcus Garvey founded the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The objectives of the UNIA were to promote racial pride, create colleges and universiteies for blacks, and establish world-wide commercial ventures. (Rogoff 67). Garvey founded the UNIA because during his frequent ravels he observed that black people were being mistreated, especially when it came to work. He observed the inferior status of black workers around the world. In an attempt to help relieve the plight of these workers he founded the UNIA. The UNIA was, in fact, the first, dominant black interest group, even before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In just a few years after it was founded in 1914, the UNIA had four million members in 1920 and six million in 1923. David Duke’s famous interest group was the infamous Ku Klux Klan. Duke became a member of the K KK when he was only a teenager. He quickly became the Imperial Wizard of the Klan, the highest ranking official. What Duke brought to the Klan was a new, charming, intellectual personality. He wanted to change the stereotypical view of a rowdy, unintelligent redneck Klansman. Under his leadership many new people joined the Klan thinking that it was now respectable with Duke at the Helm. While he is not still with the Klan now, he left an impression in that group that will never be forgotten. Both Garvey’s and Duke’s affiliation with interest groups helped draw attention to not only the group but also t... ...itical experts thought he would be. The downfall for Duke’s political success was his notorious past. He had been associated with many ill-famed groups such as the Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan as a young man. In an event that would haunt his political career forever, he marched around in his Nazi uniform at LSU in a student protest. While now he regrets doing that and blaming it on his immaturity and youth, he will never live it down. His opponents use his Klan affiliation and Nazi Party affiliation against him in every election. Like Garvey, he had a fault that kept him from achieving his goal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marcus Garvey and David Duke were both very extraordinary people with unique ideas and contributions. While being totally different people and races they held many of the same viewpoints. Each man had his own way of expressing his ideas and each was well known for his stand. Each man envisioned a better world for both races. They saw peace and tranquillity within mankind, but each man had a different view of how it would get that way. These men’s goals, when looked at objectively are not all bad. They just wanted what they felt was best.

Dehydration Essay

Passing out, lethargy, constipation, dry mouth and even dry eyes are very few symptoms In the long list of signs to tell us that we are dehydrated. Being dehydrated Is potentially very bad and If not taken care of a person can end up In the hospital or even dying. Many things can cause dehydration Including drinking too much alcohol or simply not drinking enough water. Without ample amounts of water our bodies cannot function correctly, and being made up of 70% water it is understandable as to why this is the case.All people suffer from dehydration, it does to affect one age group more than another, and likewise it does not affect one race or gender more than the others do. Plainly, put, If enough water Is not drank everyday than a person Is at risk for becoming dehydrated and developing symptoms that can be quite uncomfortable. First, some of the functions of water in the body are to keep everything moist, from our eyes to our mouths, and even our Joints. Imagine trying to eat food without the assistance of the saliva our bodies produce, it would be very difficult to have to swallow dry, chewed up food.Urine becomes dark yellow, with a strong ammonia meal and constipation Is common; the lack of water causes the stool to become more solid and less liquid-y because the body Is pulling water from every available resource. The recommended amount of water that the average person should drink is eight – z cups of water per day. That is a half-gallon of water every day that people are supposed to be drinking, more often than not soda and coffee is being drank instead, which sure they have water in them†¦ Just not the recommended amount that we need.Next, dehydration affects people of all ages, from little children to grown adults, to even the elderly. In children, dehydration causes tiredness and grumpiness, even the sensation of being hungry, or the craving for something unknown. In adults, dehydration can mean different and more serious side effects suc h as passing out or getting dizzy when standing up. In the elderly, dehydration, in my opinion is the worst time to see it. I think that older people need more water in their bodies because they dispel more In the given day.They may not have bladder control, especially If they are hooked up to a urinary bag, and not necessarily know when they have lost all of their water. Nursing homes help the elderly with this a lot of the time cause the people cannot do it on their own. For everyone else however, it is important to make sure we drink the vital amount of water to remain healthy. On another note, when a person is dehydrated they lose important vitamins and nutrients known as electrolytes.When children have a fever or diarrhea, pediatric is a good drink to give them because It Is packed full of electrolytes, It Is k for adults to are sodium, potassium, and chloride. These electrolytes help maintain blood pressure. Body movements require electrical currents to run through the body an d these charged ions make this possible. Sodium and potassium are positive ions that both function to provide nerve transmission, muscle contractions, and fluid balance. Chloride is a negative ion and its main function is to provide fluid balance.Not having enough sodium in your body can cause muscle cramps, but table salt is a quick fix of this deficiency. Not enough potassium can cause fatigue, and once again can be fixed quickly and simply with eating bananas. Finally, a chloride deficiency can cause a potassium or sodium deficiency. When being active and playing sports or Just being outdoors, drinking sports drinks like Storage can help maintain proper electrolyte balances. Yet again, many things cause people to lose water from their bodies at different speeds.Sweating causes us to lose water at significant speeds because our skin seeps water to cool us down on a hot day. If it is scorching hot outside and a person just stops sweating, this is a sign of dehydration and they shou ld seek out a water source fast. Similarly, alcohol makes us lose water quicker on many levels because it heats people up from the inside causing them to sweat and it depletes electrolytes from our system. Drinking water in between alcoholic beverages can help a person avoid a hangover because they are staying hydrated while drinking.Caffeine on the other hand, speeds up our heart rate, causing us to urinate more that in the end is causing us to lose more water than we would without the caffeine. These things can lead to dehydration of the person ingesting them does not know what the symptoms are and how to counteract them. Finally, making sure that a person does not become dehydrated is important, even more so for people less than healthy. A person with a hole in their heart is more susceptible to symptoms of dehydration than a healthy person, and the same with elderly. Everyone is responsible for the amounts of water they drink each day.We need to instill in children at a young ag e that staying dehydrated is important. It is also important to work it into the daily routine, and make it habit to drink 64 ounces of water per day, and keeping an eye on electrolytes as well. Eating lots of fruits or vegetables or water-based foods can help a person increase their water intake without necessarily drinking as many glasses of water. Overall, there is more than enough water on this planet, and foods that contain water for everyone to be able to survive. If someone becomes dehydrated in my opinion, it is because of his or her own personal neglect.Should this be the case that person needs to understand the importance of staying hydrated and how this simple task can solve many ailments. Staying hydrated can make a person feel Just a little bit better in many aspects, maybe their Joints are moving Just a little bit better, or they do not have to use eye drops 10 times a day. If you do not stay hydrated regularly already, you should try it Just to see what kinds of thing s it could do for you. Perhaps a little more energy for those long days would be nice. References: Retrieved from: (2010) Guidelines for a Healthy Diet: Prentice Hall

Foalktales essays

Foalktales essays A folktale is a general term for any of numerous varieties of traditional narrative. The telling of stories appears to be a cultural and universal tradition, common to primitive and complex societies alike. Folktales are demonstrably similar from culture to culture, and comparative studies of themes and narrative techniques have been successful in showing these relationships. Fairy tales are entirely fictional and often begin with such formulas as Once upon a time . Which is not the case in most folktales which useally express something common to that culture. Folktales are stories that give people a means for sharing their culture, history and values. And so was the case in Mother to Son by Langston Hughes. Hughes discussed problems common to people of color from his culture . One of the most powerful tools used by hughes is imagery . Hughes uses strong imagery to get a clear picture across to the reader. As does he uses Irony and metaphors such ass Life for me aint been no crystal stair Its had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up. HUghes work can be described as a folktale. He writes exactly to fit the definition of the word folktale. And the same formula is used my many writers ...

Prevention And Intervention Of Adolescence Alcohol Abuse Social Work Essay Essays

Prevention And Intervention Of Adolescence Alcohol Abuse Social Work Essay Essays Prevention And Intervention Of Adolescence Alcohol Abuse Social Work Essay Essay Prevention And Intervention Of Adolescence Alcohol Abuse Social Work Essay Essay Alcohol, drug, depression, sexual behaviour, these jobs are interact by each other which impose an highly negative influence on modern-day young person. Apparently, different states have their ain concrete state of affairs and typical phenomena. In the paper, I would wish to discourse some effectual and utile bar and intercession attacks depending on Hong Kong. There are different theoretical accounts of intoxicant intervention such as cognitive behaviour theoretical account, medical theoretical account, biopsychosocial attack and so on. Different intervention and intercession program has different focal point and characteristic. Just like instruction plan, a sort of prevalent attack which applied in bar phases, people hold different version. The instruction plan is uneffective and has non offered utile cognition and accomplishments to chair and cut down the intoxicant ingestion. ( Collins A ; Keene, 2000 ) . Collins and Keene stated that that while degrees of cognition can be increased, supplying information on intoxicant issues and jobs does non take to behavior alteration . ( 2000, p.97 ) On the other manus, some research workers think instruction plan is necessary especial in bar phase. Prevention phase are ever related with instruction , which provide utile information and cognition to alarm people remain off from drugs and assist them do a accurate determination when confronting intoxicant and drugs. ( Akers, 1992 ) Besides the instruction plan, cognitive behaviour viewed as an effectual and utile attack. Cognitive behaviour attack is the most appropriate attack for societal workers. Because in the attack, there are tonss of accomplishments and methods belong to the societal work s repertory and it stress the duty, value, authorization of clients. ( Collins A ; Keene, 2000 ) .Ray and Ksir ( 1999 ) stated that Some behavior-management attacks have accepted controlled imbibing as a desirable result and have attempted to learn methods that will copy intoxicant intake. ( P.257 ) . Ray and Ksir argued that behavioural attack can learn clients get bying accomplishments. Some behaviours are taught in bar plans, moreover, healers besides help clients to concentrate on high hazard state of affairs and learn them how to acquire through the hard times. ( 1999 ) . Gorgulho and Tamendarova figure out a new attack called societal norm selling.they stated that it is a comparatively effectual in diminishing utmost imbibing and it stress on equal norms and force per unit areas. Social norm selling apply assorted formal and informal manner to offer accurate information of imbibing forms to those immature people, which can extinguish misconceptions and cut down utmost drinking. ( 2008 ) . Besides, brief intercession and circle of alteration theoretical account are mentioned often in many governments. Brief intercessions are suited for immature intoxicant maltreaters because these immature extreme drinkers ever think the intoxicant ingestion is elementary and no necessary to seek aid. Brief intercession can be a critical first measure in intervention since it provides advice, appraisal and referral. ( Gorgulho A ; Tamendarova, 2008 ) . Cycle of alteration theoretical account is a practical measure to assist cut down drug maltreatment. It focus on seeking the trigger that lead to drug maltreatment, and understand the hazard state of affairs which can supply effectual backsliding bar schemes and offer self-talk. ( Dominelli,2009 ) . Prevention attack can assist underage adolescence stay manner drugs to some extent. Spruit stressed that traditional bar plan aimed at bettering pupils behaviour accomplishments such as learning them how to get by with peer force per unit area and do accurate determination. Secondary bar besides called injury decrease, which used by healthy attention sector and societal attention sector ; assist forestall wellness deteriorating in the hereafter. ( 1998 ) . Beside these effectual and professional theoretical accounts and attacks, societal workers should see the intervention environment and household environment of clients during the whole bar and intercession procedure. To the minor striplings who are alcohol abuser, most of them are vulnerable and down, so they seek solace from intoxicant. When confronting this sort of clients, a safe and trustworthy environment is critical. Muisener argued that when confronting to the clients who have been alcohol abuser or intoxicant victims, societal worker should supply a safe environment. ( as cited in Collins A ; Keene, 2000, P.103 ) . societal workers can smooth relationship -building, particularly in the formation of societal networkers that can give people a feeling of being valued, appreciated and belonging to a broad circle of people. ( Dominelli, 2009, p.121 ) Actually, non merely the intervention environment is of import to the adolescents, their household milieus besides influence their behaviour and emotions. Due to tonss of immature drinkers are influenced by household and equal group in school, so school-family plans seem utile and effectual. The plan aimed at bettering the household working to forestall imbibing jobs by household member and adolescence. ( Gorgulho A ; Tamendarova, 2008 ) The state of affairs in Hong Kong: Actually, the intoxicant maltreatment job among adolescents in Hong Kong has its ain features such as alone cultural background, public attending, the ground of household and equal influence and so on. All the clip, intoxicant imbibing is viewed as a prevailing amusement and single life style and has non being viewed as a serious societal job. From my point of position, the intoxicant cultural is playing an of import function in the whole societal activities. Peoples will hold a drink after work to alleviate force per unit area. Peoples besides will imbibe alcoholic drink when some happy events or jubilations go oning. Lou and Shek stated that in Chinese civilization, people ever drink when they meet friends or holding household assemblage. Because these societal -oriented grounds, tonss of adolescents begin to imbibing. ( 2006 ) . In Hong Kong, the adolescents intoxicant maltreatment is ever associated with five psychosocial factors. They are academic public presentation, temper, attitude, household attitude and organized condemnable groups engagement. Further, Lou and Shek suggested that intoxicant maltreatment brings about many negative effects to adolescents. The influence include behavioural job such as combat, sexual behaviour after rummy, take parting in offense organisations and so on ; healthy job such as liver or tummy hurting and household struggle. ( 2006 ) . Therefore, the intercession and bar program should be established from the five positions. My bar and intercession program: Harmonizing to the specific state of affairs in Hong Kong, I suggest the prevention/ intercession program pay more attending on adolescents psychological state of affairs, populating and analyzing environment. Because of both of them are the most important elements which influence the hereafter development of adolescence. At the beginning, although there are tonss of arguments about the effectivity of instruction plan, I still see instruction plan is a critical portion, particularly in the phase of bar. Actually, how to use instruction plan to better adolescents consciousness is important. The accomplishments, methods, techniques will find whether the plan is effectual or non. Prevention program: To those adolescence that neer drink intoxicant before, the bar program should concentrate on two parts: instruction and communicating acquisition. Education plan: Education plan can supply them current way and utile information. Adolescence is an of import period which imposes a important influence on a individual s whole life. During the period, kids ever full of wonder, and like seeking something disputing and experient alteration in both mental and physical development. At this clip, as a societal worker, we should give more advices and pay more attending in instance of them go astray. However, in the instruction plan, we should offer appropriate advice, if we emphasize do non imbibe to much, it will convey approximately negative effect. For illustration, most adolescents at this age are rebellious and they view imbibing intoxicant as a cryptic escapade and seek it in secret. Therefore, in the instruction plan, those sorts of deadening talks possibly uneffective, I suggest societal workers should utilize several vivid signifiers such as movies or existent experience to exemplify the negative consequence caused by intoxicant. Communicating A ; larning workshop Social workers can join forces with school instructors and staffs to form some activities to assist pupils understand and acknowledge the disadvantages of utmost imbibing. For illustration, ask foring school pupils visit several establishments which help bring around intoxicant maltreaters. After sing, societal workers can promote them hold a treatment or compose a contemplation to depict their ain feelings. By this method, adolescents can grok hazard of utmost imbibing and organize their ain sentiment instead than accomplish sermon passively. Intervention program: To the adolescence who is of all time alcohol user or current intoxicant user, the focal point of attack is different from bar program. Intervention program emphasize amending the behaviour and assist them retrieve every bit shortly as possible in both mental and physical wellness. Appraisal Those adolescents who are utmost imbibing in Hong Kong are ever associated with similar psychosocial correlativity. Some of them are influenced by equal group, some of them are lack of household support and corsets in an unsupervised state of affairs which lead them seek solace from intoxicant. Merely understanding the grounds and triggers behind, we can happen out sound schemes to assist them. The appraisal should include person s household background and state of affairs, person s drink form and their perceptual experiences about intoxicant. From the appraisal, societal workers can get person s accurate information which facilitates set uping following program. Family-school attack From the five psychosocial elements associated with adolescent intoxicant maltreatment in Hong Kong mentioned above, we can happen that Adolescents are easy influenced by their household members and peer schoolmates. From the position of household, societal worker should pass on with the client s parents on a regular basis and happen out the disadvantage of the household operation and parenting form. Then give them advice and inquire the parents to care about their kids more often. From the position of school, societal workers can corporate with instructors and staffs to place the triggers of intoxicant maltreatment like academic emphasis, hapless relationship with schoolmates and so on. And assist them acknowledge the bad state of affairs and effect. Bettering intervention environment Tonss of adolescents are less likely to seek professional aid to cut down their alcohol addiction. On the one manus, a portion of them view intoxicant is elementary, on the other manus, they ever feel vulnerable and incapacitated, they are fear to confront their psychological job. Therefore, societal worker should supply a trust and safety environment. At the beginning of the guidance plan, we can state clients we will maintain secretiveness of their basic information and give them more support and encouragement. Relaxation accomplishment preparation There must be some ground lead to people particularly adolescents addicted in intoxicant. And depression, anxiousness and emphasis these sorts of emotional reactions are frequently involved with the intoxicant maltreatment. During the intercession program, societal workers can use some relaxation accomplishments to assist adolescent quiet down. Helping them release and cut down emphasis and modify their temper. By the method, we can extinguish their tenseness and assist them remain off alcohol measure by measure.

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Homework - Essay Example In the ensuing years, beginning 2010, the economy started to pick up, as the firms that had closed down during the financial crisis resumed and people were slowly but surely getting back their jobs. As early as 2013, the fight against the fiscal cliff was almost concluded and every other macroeconomic element looked to be back in their right shape. Since the end of the credit crunch, the US has enjoyed years of uninterrupted economic gains. Unemployment has significantly reduced, as well as the inflation rate. However, much as things have been improving, economists argue that the pace is a bit slower than the one that was witnessed in the wake of World War II. Statistically speaking, the US economic growth rate has averaged about 2.25% since it started bouncing back from the effects of the 2008/9 credit crunch. In 2014, the growth rate was thought to have gone below 1%, and unemployment hasn’t reduced to desired levels (Recession and Recovery, 2014). The dragging growth rather is mainly attributed to the budget problems. The fiscal cliff did not do enough to reduce the budget deficit which was almost $0.98 trillion in 2014. In the years preceding the global financial crisis, the United States economy was growing at a rate of about 3.25% and the budget deficit was as low as $0.5 trillion. As it stands currently, the budget deficit needs to be cut by about $0.3 trillion for the economy to be said to be recovering at a good pace. Unemployment: For four years since 2009, the unemployment statistics in the US had been coming down at a slow but a steady pace. For instance, by the start of 2014, about 160 jobs opportunities had been created and the unemployment rate stood at 7.7%. Taxes: The fiscal cliff debates were mostly about raising taxes for the rich, but it emerges that most of the middle-class Americans part with an additional $600-1200 annually. This is mainly attributable to the expiration of the payroll

Financial markets and institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial markets and institutions - Essay Example Any commodity market might be considered to be financial market if trader’s intention is not the immediate consumption of the commodity but as a means of delaying or accelerating consumption over time. Markets work by placing many interested sellers in one place, thus making them easier to find for potential buyers. An economy which relies primarily on connections between buyers and sellers to allot capital is known as a market economy. Financial markets are affected by forces of supply and demand, and allot capital over time through a price device such as the interest rate. Financial market could mean: organizations that facilitate the transaction in financial products, (for example, Stock exchanges facilitate the trade in stocks, bonds and warrants) and the coming together of buyers and sellers to trade financial products such as stocks and shares including: the use of stock exchanges; directly between buyers and sellers. There are different types of financial markets: capital market which provide finance through issuance of shares and bonds, commodity market which facilitate the trading of commodities, money market which arrange short term debt financing and investment, derivatives markets that provide instruments for the management of financial risk, insurance markets, which facilitate to cover of various risks and foreign exchange market which facilitate the trading of foreign exchange (Wikipedia, 2006). When looking at a financial institution it might seem to be a mediator between investors and customers. A financial institution might be considered as an agent that provides financial services for its customers. Financial institutions generally fall under financial rule from a government authority. The types of financial institutions include banks, building societies, credit unions, stock brokerages, and similar businesses. Financial institutions give service