Coming of Age in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn :: Tree Grows in Brooklyn Essays

Coming of Age in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presents the problems of a child growing up, the coming of age when one meets challenges and overcomes obstacles. The protagonist, Francie Nolan, undergoes a self-discovery as she strives to mature living in the Brooklyn slum despite its poverty and privation. Thus, Smith's thematic treatment of the struggle of maturity has become for the reader an exploration of loneliness, family relationships, the loss of innocence, and death and disease. One of the challenges of growing up is loneliness. As a small child living in Brooklyn Francie had no friends her age, the kids in her neighborhood that would have been candidates for friends either found her too quiet or shunned her for being different. Betty Smith describes on page 106 how most of Francie's childhood days were spent: "So in the warm summer days the lonesome child sat on her stoop and pretended disdain for the group of children playing on the sidewalk. Francie played with her imaginary companions and made believe they were better than real children. But all the while her heart beat in rhythm to the poignant sadness of the song the children sang while walking around in a ring with hands joined." As time went by and Francie got older she began to get to know a different kind of loneliness. Betty Smith narrates her feelings on page 403: "Spring came early that year and the sweet warm nights made her restless. She walked up and down the streets and through t he park. And wherever she went, she saw a boy and a girl together; walking arm-in-arm, sitting on a park bench with their arms around each other, standing closely and in silence in a vestibule. Everyone in the world but Francie had a sweetheart or a friend she seemed to be the only lonely one in Brooklyn without a friend." Loneliness is one of the challenges we must all conquer as part of maturing and it helps us learn to be independent and overcome hardship. Family relationships are a second problem faced by all in their coming of age. Francie loves her Johnny Nolan, her father, more than anything, she adores the way he talks and the way that he sings.

Fi 360 Week 2

3-2. Dixon Shuttleworth has a large sum of money that he wants to invest to finance his retirement. He has been presented with three options. The first investment offers a 5% return for the first five years, a 10% return for the next five years, and a 20% return thereafter. The second investment offers 10% for the first ten years and 15% thereafter. The third investment offers a constant 12% rate of return. Determine which of these investments the best for Dixon is if he plans to retire in the following number of years. a. ifteen years b. twenty years c. thirty years 3-4. You have a trust fund that will pay $1 million exactly ten years from today. You want cash now, so you are considering an opportunity to sell the right to the trust fund to an investor. a. What is the least you will sell your claim for if you could earn the following rates of return on similar risk investments during the ten-year period? a. 6% b. 9% c. 12% b. Rework part (A) under the assumption that the $1 million payment will be received in fifteen rather than ten years. c.Based on your findings in parts (a) and (b), discuss the effect of both the size of the rate of return and the time until receipt of payment on the present value of future sum. 3-5. You have saved $10,000 toward a down payment on a home. The money is invested in an account earning 7% interest. You will be ready to purchase the new home once your savings account grows to $25,000. d. Approximately how many years will it take for the account to reach $25,000? e. If the interest rate doubles to 14%, how many years will pass before you reach your $25,000 target? 3-10.Liliana Alvarez’s employer offers its workers a two-month paid sabbatical every seven years. Liliana, who just started working for the firm, plans to spend her sabbatical touring Europe at an estimated cost of $25,000. To finance her trip, Liliana plans to make six annual end-of-year deposits of $2,500 each, starting this year, into an investment account ear ning 8% interest. d. Will Liliana’s account balance at the end of seven years be enough to pay for her trip? e. Suppose Liliana increases her annual contribution to $3,150. How large will her account balance be at the end of seven years?

Bush Sr & Clinton East Asian Security Approaches Essay

President Bush via a main strategic reappraisal as well as continuing below president Clinton together with the U. S Secretaries of Defense Aspin and Perry. The previous administration tried and it is still trying to come into good terms with domestic pressures. It wants a calm dividend as well to adapt what the U. S has been always doing strategically to post cold war circumstances in a safe plus cautious way. All of this assists in helping to keep alive the rationales behind a United States bilateral security relationship with its Northeast Asian allies. Regardless of these echoes of the cold war, there is no one who can escape the truth that the cold war is presently over and that the Soviet Union does no longer exist. Furthermore, in Northeast Asia, also, the need has emerged to restructure U. S post Cold War alliances in order to make them fit the moments. A revision of the bilateral alliance relations goes on; there has been mounting interest in applying multilateral approaches towards the region’s issues. The Clinton administration did not have a well developed vision for what it intended to do in the Asia Pacific region during the time it entered the office. This seems to exactly know how it intended to deal with Asia by putting greater emphasis relatively within diplomacy as well security on a multilateral means over bilateral venues. During the first Clinton administration, inspiration regarding this approach appears to stalk from a bit reluctant admiration for the ways Southeast Asian states have tried to utilize multilateral techniques. The successes enjoyed by hatchling economic organizations in Asia such like the Pacific Basin Economic Council, the APEC forum and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. In any case, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia together with the Pacific Affairs Winston Lord signaled the administration of Clinton. They signaled because Clinton had an intention of relaxing past United States objections towards multilateralism. He intended to do this by stating the goal the administration had towards Asia Pacific region. The goal was just to develop the multilateral forums for safety consultations while maintaining the sold foundation of the alliances. President Clinton has put more emphasis on the multilateral theme when he emphasized the phrase which was â€Å"a new Pacific community†. Winston used this expression earlier on although President Clinton placed it at the center stage internationally. Tokyo gets preoccupied by domestic political turmoil. It got preoccupied because the Japanese seemed to be reluctant to let the well known aspects of their bilateral security go. During the President Clinton administration, was somehow captivated because of the repayments multilateralism tent to give. The major disparagement of the United States governmental enthusiasm came from PRC. Despite the fact that Chinese suspected the idea, there was no any sign that what the Clinton administration was carrying on amounted to a closet form of unilateralism. The prospect for Northeast Asian multilateralism is so challenging. President Clinton, tent to give support concerning multilateral approaches in dealing with the problems of East Asia’s security. In the earlier administration, multilateralism was refused in support of reliance entirely on the existing bilateral alliances. The good security framework for the region consisted of a fan together with its base in Northern America and radiating west across the Pacific. The administration of Clinton reaffirmed the existing security alliances. It called for new equipments multilateral in character which was to supplement the U. S bilateral arrangements in dealing with the present emerging security problems. Washington did not advocate developing new comprehensive agencies, for example the conference on security and cooperation in Asia or the Northeast Asia Treaty Organization within this context. The multilateral agencies are going to be constructed for specific problems and they will differ in membership and the structure as required due to the administration of Clinton. The emphasis on a return towards a more traditional approach to a foreign policy in Asia is actually a prominence on bilateral and unilateral initiatives against multilateral ones. A larger focus on narrow military security issues over economic together with the marginalization of newer issues such as health and environment. However, there was tension and twist in the bush’s administration. The tension was concerning the conflict among the open trade wing of the Republican Party. The tension really emphasizes admission to the markets in promotion of U. S corporate interests. It again emphasized on the more security oriented folks who recognized military threats as the overriding concern of United States policy in the region. As a result, the tension was well-defined in assembly than in the executive branch. Pressure was far above the ground in White House depending on Bush’s arrangements to the key economic posts. The pressure was on the treasury, the United States Trade Representatives together with the description of the National Economic Council. Interweave was not similar with traditional realists. Some members of Bush’s Asia overseas policy squad saw a responsibility for advancing electoral democracy abroad. They saw it as a way of enhancing the economic welfare along with the safety of the United States within the area. During the Clinton’s administration, he tried to position rhetorically more emphasis on the two Asia Pacific forums. He again put more emphasis on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Post Ministerial Conference plus the new ASEAN Regional Forum. As far as multilateralism is concerned, the Clinton administration expressed a readiness to pay attention in letting nations of the region decide on the regional problems instead of dictating them from Washington. Even if the Clinton administration acted in agreement with these promises they are still not clear. The idea of the President Clinton’s administration did not become a reality with reference to multilateral agencies in supplementing United States bilateral associations. It intended to give a framework for security dialogue as well as the cooperation. It wanted to do this by offering the potential to redress the most stressing aspects of the present approaches to achieving security objectives in East Asia. Bush has foreign policy advisers who had a significant experience about Asia. These advisers really shaped the Bush administration policy towards Asia; from the time Bush signified that he had a big personal interest in associations with Latin America and Europe. Relating to the economic issues, there is a slight difference linking the Clinton administration as well as the Bush administration. Bush seems to be more of an unconditional free trader. That means that even the present modest efforts at integrating environmental and labor matters into bilateral trade agreements will not be present from the Bush outline. This fact will be greeted with sighs of relief between the business leaders together with the region’s political leaders. The biggest change under Bush’s administration was a greater emphasis on intensifying the alliances. He wanted to intensify alliances on matters concerning bilateral with Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. That created the establishment of the cold war-era security structural design in Asia. Bush noted that people must show the American powers and purpose in supporting Asian people. That meant that they must keep their promise to discourage violent behavior against the Republic of Korea as well as strengthening security ties with Japan. That was through expanding theater missile defenses between their allies. The main motivation for USG participation in East Asia has always been right of entry to the markets of Asia. In one way or the other the Bush administration determined to strengthen the United States and Japan alliance. He intended to strengthen them by encouraging Japan to play a significant role concerning security matters within the region. That includes the redefining assignment of Japan’s self-protection armed forces as well as paying more of the bills. It is not clear at all that there is support either in the area as a whole or within Japan for Japan to assume a better security task. From China’s opinion, Bush’s success raises the view of stronger White House assistance for theatre in addition to nationwide missile protection systems. His success again raises the advanced levels of United States arms supplies to Taiwan of which Beijing stubbornly opposes. Gore administration gave greater scope to organized labor than Bush White House. The AFL-CIO did not manage to prevent the Clinton administration against pursuing trade at no cost with China. Alternatively Japan has been far less pleased with the next term of the Clinton administration compared to China. Japan resented the downgrading of the United States associations as the keystone in Asia. Clinton’s administration gave acknowledgment on a regular basis to bilateral. He emphasized on U. S and South Korean initiatives within the current cautious steps in the direction of finishing the isolation of North Korea. It is said that President Clinton passed over Japan during his visit to Beijing which was done in the year 1998. There are some issues whereby the Bush administration differs drastically with the Clinton administration. It is said that the Clinton’s administration, there were actually some few foreign policy conquest stories. That was the negotiation of the established structure in the year 1994. North Korea arranged to chill its nuclear plan in trade for the structure of two nuclear reactors as well as fuel oil shipments. During the time when the United States had to follow the guide of South Korean President together with the North, connection eased and pressures on the neck of land were at their depths of despair in memory. During the administration of Bush it really threatened to demoralize the significant development which was made within this area. Congregational republicans over-involved time after time the implementation of the framework. It did this by preserving appropriations, even if South Korea and Japan provided the enormous bulk of the funds beneath the agreement. There are a good number of very essential continuities among the Clinton as well as the Bush administration concerning East Asian security policy. This should not surprise as much as the Clinton administration embraced a lot of bedrocks of post cold war East Asian. They inherited this from the first Bush administration which was actually based on long time United States interests. It might be surprising if at all there were not permanence across administration for the reason that the basics of the US security policy within East Asia really transcend administrations. It is very necessary to recall the aforesaid fundamentals of continuity since the Bush foreign policy team came to office. The Clinton administration had already a bad work with virtually every aspect of the East Asian security policy. It might be astonishing if at all there was no permanence within administrations for the reason that the basics of US security policy in East Asia go beyond administrations (Martin, 112). It is very essential to recall the aforementioned elements of continuity since the Bush foreign policy team appeared to the office. The Clinton administration did not do a good job with virtually every aspect of East Asia security policy. The only way to distinguish the Bush administration with the one for Clinton is that there was a lot of reticent to insist that the core of gravity of United States security policy within East Asia is the coalition with Japan. The Clinton administration was not sure whether China or Japan was significant. it was too preventive in connections with Taiwan even if in fairness, as far as security matters is concerned. The Clinton Defense Department started inquiring very seriously into the state of Taiwan’s defenses and it also started pressing Taiwan to recover the software characteristic of their defense attitude. Bush administration was too captivated with multilateralism that was unsuitable for the region or had the potential to deteriorate bi-lateral alliances. The administration of Bush had a more customary approach meaning that it is not likely to involve Asia effectively on two wide areas of growing concern. That is global environmental matters for example the climate change, ozone, invasive species and global health matters such like communicable diseases. Bush did not propose the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. He did not consider China’s proposal that greenhouse gas discharge be restricted on a per capita basis instead of a per country basis. The very poor records that were kept by Bush concerning the environment in Texas didn’t bode very well in engaging Asia on essential environmental issues. However, the first Bush administration is more likely to be fragmented, incoherent as well as contradictory. It suffered from the vision thing for so many reasons. In the first place, the Bush administration lacked a clear mandate. When he was campaigning, the new president did not offer sound foreign policy plan as a package, Asia countries included. Last but not least, East Asia has really undergone a considerable transformation since the time President Bush started ruling. Nevertheless, the coverage of this revolution in the western press is over and over again restricted to articles on China’s environmental problems or North Korea’ nuclear ambitions. Most of the East Asia’s leaders believe that for United States policy toward East Asia which has always remained essentially bilateral as well as ad hoc for decades to go on to be valuable, it must be updated to reflect more accurately contemporary realities in the region. Finally, Multilateral as well as unilateral sanctions have always been imposed on Iran in order to increase the pressure on its regime. The United States puts more prominence on its wide range of unilateral sanctions. Works Cited Glen, S. Axis of Evil and Rogue States: The Bush Administration. Washington: Glen Segell Publishers, 2006. Martin, G. International Relations Theory for the Twenty-First Century. Routledge, 2007. Seung, H. North Korea’s Second Nuclear Crisis and Northeast Asian Security. New York: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2007.

Why We Crave Horror Paper

Essay 5: Position Paper50 pts Description:4-5 pages, double-spaced, plus a separate MLA-format Works Cited page Skills:Everything! Due:First Draft:Friday, 10 December (in-class discussion) Final Draft:Monday, 13 December (Submit during Final Exam time: 2:45-4:45pm) Sources:Reading Critically, Writing Well (RC) pp. 517-534, 582-595; Stephen King, â€Å"Why We Crave Horror,† â€Å"Crouch End;† Fritz Leiber, â€Å"Smoke Ghost;† Algernon Blackwood, â€Å"The Empty House;† Noel Carroll, â€Å"The Nature of Horror† (optional)For your final paper, you will be required to make use of the above resources to explain, support, and defend your position against critique on the subject of horror in the absence of easily identifiable violence, gore, or monsters. You may argue with or against King and Carroll, or provide your own definition of horror and how it anticipates gore-less horror better than previous definitions. Since there are no right or wrong answers in this discussion, you will be judged on the strength of your argument for your position and how you present your analysis. Assignment: ) Present the issue. †¢ Summarize the King and Carroll definitions of horror and their successes/failings.†¢ Establish your credibility by generously discussing previous arguments on the function of horror. o Make sure to avoid emotional/personal opinions and instead stick to the texts. 2) Assert your position. †¢ Give examples from the readings that fit well/do not fit with the definition of horror as presented by King and Carroll. o Critique your own analysis using any of the Developing Your Argument skills (RC pp. 360-361), as well as Evaluating the Logic of an Argument (p. 24-640. 3) Argue directly for your position. †¢ Continue to establish your credibility with your audience by showing how your position alters/upholds the definition of horror as established. o Be willing to take a side in the argument, but avoid setting up straw-man arguments for the opposition. Carroll and/or King don’t have to be wrong for you to be right.4) Critique any relevant counter-arguments, objections, questions, or alternatives. †¢ Since no position will be perfect, try to accommodate any concerns or issues relating to your discussion of horror. Options (you may choose one or all): ? Accommodation: modify your position to suit relevant objections. ? Refutation: show the reader that any likely alternatives will not be as effective in describing the function of horror as you see it. ? Integration: demonstrate how your position can work together with other options to provide a more comprehensive take on the horror genre.Criteria for Evaluation: †¢ Analysis: 20 points o Has a strong, focused explanation of the sources using RC skills learned so far. o Supports the initial thesis with evidence (i. e. details from the source) and offers in-depth analysis of those details. †¢ Sources: 10 points o Productivel y uses both the RC and the sources. o Features effective paraphrasing and selective quotation. †¢ Organization: 10 points o Offers strong topic sentences that logically develop and extend the analysis (i. e. , no random accumulation of facts or bullet-point narrative). o Proceeds logically from one point to the next in a climactic sequence. o Clearly links claims and evidence. o Uses smooth transitions between points. †¢ Readability: 10 points o Uses correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and MLA citation.

Our Parents Affect Us Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Our Parents Affect Us - Essay Example His aunt who was a devout Christian raised Hughes; she encouraged him to attend church proceedings so that he could be saved. Hughes narrates how his aunt told him that extraordinary things would occur in his life after he gets saved. He attends the revival church service where his aunt Reed worshipped so that he could experience the unusual feeling. Prior to the service, his aunt had advised him that he would experience â€Å"something on the inside and he would see the light† Hughes was anxious about experiencing the everlasting light of Jesus Christ (Yagelski, Amy & Robert 224). He attended the church service with the expectation of seeing the light physically. However, this does not take place because he was waiting for Jesus to appear and encourage him to join the rest of the children on the altar. He is forced to join the rest of the children on the altar out of peer pressure. Deep down he thought salvation was something physical not an inside feeling. He pretends to hav e experienced salvation to please his aunt. The impact of the words of our parents can be massive. Parents are the adults children look up to. Therefore, anything they tell their children is assumed to be true. Even when the words or stories told present some gaps the children perceive the words of the adults as something not to be questioned. Hughes believed the words of his aunt and when the anticipated feeling did not occur he was afraid to question his aunt and opted to lie. Hughes experience in â€Å"salvation† is similar to many other experiences of children. Children tend to comprehend the words told by our parents plainly. They believe that something will happen for real and not through imagination. Parents do not know the children fathom things that way; therefore, they keep on telling them fantasy stories that they understand as being true. Most of the time, the words of our parents influence our decision-making. Even though children do not comprehend all that their parents say when they are young. They pretend to understand so that they may not disappoint their parents. This is why Hughes pretended to be saved - he wanted to make his aunt happy. Maxine Hong Kingston is another victim of the impact of parents in â€Å"No Name Woman†. The stories told by our parents are meant to nurture our growth and ensure we behave properly (Yagelski, Amy & Robert 87). Parents fail to understand the fantasy developed by children because of the story or narration. For instance, Kingston is a young Chinese woman approaching adolescence; the mother is afraid of the impact of adolescence that may befall Kingston. Kingston’s mother tells her a story to frighten her and ensure she respects traditional morals and ethics, but many things go through the daughter’s mind; she tries to imagine the possible ways that her aunt’s misfortune happened. Kingston develops an imagination of what might have happened to her aunt. She kept on wondering what led to the suicidal decision of her aunt. Children have the tendency of developing similar fantasies from the stories told by parents. They tend to fill the gaps not answered by parents. The imaginations are developed because the stories told by parents are not fully imaginative; therefore, the children develop their own fantasy world to fill the gaps. The imaginations can go as far as Kingston’s imaginations. She keeps on wondering if her aunt was miserable because of the

Mgt Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mgt - Assignment Example Shaving heads is also a form of removing any vestiges of individuality from any of the people so that they are all reduced to defining themselves as their captors do (Zimbardo). The push-ups became an aversive form of punishment because the guards could demand that the prisoners perform even more of them when they felt like it. Push-ups are a form of exercise that is associated with students. It emphasizes the superiority of the ‘coach’ or empowered individual who demands that others partake in it. The guards used push-ups to victimize the prisoners and increase their feelings of helplessness. I do not believe that I would have been able to reject any privileges offered to me in order to maintain prisoner solidarity. It is evident that withdrawing into one’s self in order to find ways of surviving the brutal experience is something that prisoners are constantly thinking about. 5. Most prisoners believed that the subjects selected to be guards were chosen because they were bigger than those who were made prisoners, but actually, there was no difference in the average height of the two groups. What do you think caused this misperception? I believe that the hardships they were being forced to suffer at the hands of the said guards were elevating the status of the guards, as well as their physical capacities, in the prisoners’ estimation. The visitors, most of whom, shockingly, were parents of the incarcerated men, believed what the researchers in the role of guards and wardens informed them about their own sons even when they could see that their sons were not well. Even though the visitors were aware that this was a research study and not a real prison, they still placed more trust in the words of the wardens than what their own eyes were showing them (Zimbardo). Civilians are trained to trust the police, as well as prison wardens in real

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Personal Statement Example This stage I suppose marked the instant I gained profound interest with depth of insight and respect toward medical profession in which personalized healthcare is highly regarded. With its highly standardized curricula in sciences and medicine, I believe that Ashford University is not only capable of facilitating students to achieve foundation with academic knowledge and skills in such fields but even of inculcating beliefs and values by which learners may be refined. Upon admission to the university’s Schar College of Nursing, I hope to accomplish pursuit of nursing studies through a competency-based program which enables each aspiring nurse to go after scholastic excellence, to develop scientific attitudes and traits that reflect nursing principles, and to strengthen my religious character in areas of compassion and perseverance. While in the academe, I expect to find improvement toward my capacity for hard work, creativity, motivating behavior, and cooperation. By academically exploring the world of patient care with a sense of commitment in saving human lives while taking part in enhancing individual health and well-being, I would be adequately equipped in reaching my ultimate dream of participating in a medical mission to promote health welfare across the world’s vast