Comparison of Protagonists in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Greenleaf” Essay

A comparison of protagonists in Flannery O’Conner’s â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† and â€Å"Greenleaf† In both his works of fiction, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† and â€Å"Greenleaf†, Flannery O’Conner paints a rather grim picture. The protagonists in both the short stories share several common traits. In the story, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find†, the Grandmother, who remains unnamed throughout, is a vile woman, who is also selfish and a complete hypocrite. Yet, she continues to judge other people for what she perceives to be their shortcomings. She is a woman who has seen hardships, and just the fact that she got through them, makes her feel morally superior to others. She feels she is a ‘lady’ which makes her better than the rest. She lacks the will and the ability to introspect and spends her time passing judgement on others. Her hypocrisy is highlighted in the fact that she spends most of her time passing judgement on others even though she claims her conscious to be her guiding force. A glaring example of her selfishness is when she is afraid for her own life, but claims that her conscience would not allow her to take her family in the same direction as that taken by the criminal referred to as ‘the Misfit’. She passes judgement on her daughter-in-law for not taking her children to a place that she personally thinks would be beneficial for them. To further add insult to injury, she compares her daughter-in-law’s face to a cabbage. The Grandmother has an opinion on everything and feels that her way of doing things is the only way to do them. She chastises another character from the story, John Wesley, for what she thinks is inappropriate amount of respect for his home state. At any opportunity, she makes it her business to judge other people and remark at the lack of their goodness, without evidently having any of her own. She gives little attention to her own behavior, convinced that being a lady is the only virtue, and she, by dressing as one is the only lady and therefore is the only one who harbors any virtues at all. This lack of self awareness, and a tendency to dissociate herself from everything happening around her, to take a morally condescending stance, is a recurrent theme of her character. Though she is critical of everyone and  everything that other people do, she continues to turn a blind eye to her own failings and shortcomings, believing herself to be above any character or personality flaws. She continuously talks about her conscience, citing it when it can get her her own way, while completely ignoring it when it comes in the way of what she wants. She sneaks Pitty Sing into the car and continues to lie to the children. If she made a mistake, she chooses not to reveal her and blame others for it. Even at the end of the story, when the family encounters the Misfit, and he systematically murders everyone – including the children that the Grandmother harps on initially, she never for once begs him to spare their lives. Instead, when the criminal finally turns his weapon towards her, she begs him and entreats him to spare her, citing the fact that she was a lady and therefore above the rest of the family that had been so mercilessly murdered in front of her. Despite her overactive conscience, which had just witnessed the murder of her family, she entreats the Misfit to join her world telling him that she believed him to be a good man. Despite the heartlessness that the Misfit had just displayed, the Grandmother is sure of her moral code and that it would mean something to him. In fact, she even extends it to him, trying to make him see that he was a good man, albeit a misunderstood one. Unfortunately for her, though he does agree with her, he does not see this as a reason to let her go. Throughout this traumatic event, the Grandmother continues to be the conceited person that she started out to be in the story. It is only in her final moments, when she is just a blink away from death, does she realize her folly and admits that she is flawed like everyone else that she had criticized all her life. She finally sees the error of her ways and learns the truth about herself, only it is too late for her realization to be any good to her. As he r last dying words, she admits to the Misfit that he was like one of her own children, finally showing the ability to feel compassion. Her last moment alive is also her moment of truth, one where she realizes who she is and understands others. This crucial moment of her life is immediately followed by her tragic death. In Greenleaf, the author directs a similar protagonist. The protagonist, an elderly lady in this one too, is Mrs. May – the proprietor of a farm. She is a conceited woman who believes that her farm is profitable and sustaining  only because of her efforts, discarding the efforts put in by the rest of the family and the farm help. Her rise from penury to the success of her farm makes her oblivious to the fact that she had help. Instead, she sees this as an opportunity to put on airs and tell the world of her prowess in business. She brags about herself being penniless and inexperienced when she first came about the rundown farm, and takes great pride in the fact that the farm is now successful. She not only forgets the contribution of the farm help, but blames them of being against her. She even goes on to the extent of blaming the elements of being against her. So engrossed is she in her own success that she forgets that it is only the elements of nature that allow the farm to be successful. She also forget the help of Mr. Greenleaf, who stood by her and toiled with her to make her farm successful and profitable. It was only after Mr. Greenleaf had answered her ad for help that she had been able to set up a dairy for herself. Though the story does not rally on the particular contributions of Mr. Greenleaf, it does suggest that the farm was only established upon his arrival and therefore it can be inferred that he was instrumental in its success. She, with her half baked knowledge in farming, and her lack of experience, is certainly not a good farm keeper or a farm manager. It is only the experience and the wisdom of Mr. Greenleaf that continues to make her farm successful and profitable. Her good fortune has been because of the arrival of a farmhand who is not only knowledgable, but also hard working. This is something that she ignores through the course of the story. She places a lot of value on her own perceived virtues, in this case her efforts to pull the farm togeth er. On the other hand, she complains about Mr. Greenleaf to everyone who would turn an ear to her. Most of her blessings are undeserved, but she fails to recognize it and is certainly not graceful in her rejection of Mr. Greenleaf’s contributions. As the story continues to build, Mrs. May’s resentment towards Mr. Greenleaf increases. She is ultimately brought down and killed by a bull, who she wants to control. While Mr. Greenleaf views the bull as an unstoppable force of nature, Mrs. May sees it as an intruder on her property and something that she should be able to control, because of her position and her perceived abilities. In refusing to succumb to the forces beyond her  control, she invites her own end. The bull finally attacks her and she is impaled by its horn. A similar character theme to that of the Grandmother, Mrs. May cannot see the grace present in those that she believes to be socially her inferiors. Like the Grandmother, it is Mrs. May’s blind pride, and her inability to turn her eye inwards, that leads to the conflict between herself and those around her – in this case Mr. Greenleaf. She thought too highly of herself, and was pretentiously self righteous. As in most of her works, O’Conner gives her protagonists the characteristics of self righteousness, blind pride, tactlessness and conceit. Both the Grandmother and Mrs. May believe themselves to be ladies, and therefore above reproach. They both feel that if they feel, dress and behave the part, they can be ladies, who are in fact revered people of the society. They attach too much importance to their own selves and to their perceived social standing. Though they do not choose to act like ladies, they still believe themselves to be it. They both feel that if t hey continue to behave like respectable people of the society, they would be appropriate rewarded with good graces. Both of them have little patience or compassion. Another similarity between the two characters is that though both of them continue to be conceited and hypocrites, they do understand their own follies during their dying moments. In the story ‘Greenleaf’ Mrs. May is impaled by a bull’s horn and as she is lying there, dying of her grievous injuries, she chooses to confess something to the bull. Her dying words are spoken in the bull’s ears. What these words were, we will never know because the narrator does not choose to do so. One can only imagine that when she does face the moment of truth, Mrs. May, like the Grandmother, chooses to finally acknowledge the error of her ways. Another unfortunate similarity between the two protagonists is that none of them were able to admit their folly to the people they had wronged. While in â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find†, the Grandmother realizes her mistake only after the remainder of her family has been murdered, Mrs. May dies alone without having the chance to apologize for her behavior and her errors to  their primary recepient, Mr. Greenleaf. In both the cases, self realization came too late, only when the women were moment’s away from death. The realization of their errors is quickly followed by their deaths in both the stories, giving them no opportunity to correct themselves or make amends to the people they had wronged by their actions. Though it is not apparent in O’Conner’s style of narration, it seems that the protagonists of both the stories were undeserving of the attention, affection and blessings that they received in their life. Why the two choose to be the way they are or act the way they do, remains a mystery. Both of them are elderly women, but their youth is not discussed in the story, so one can only assume that the two had seen tough times which hardened them emotionally. Their insistence on being morally superior by virtue of being ‘ladies’ may have something to do with some experiences in their youth or their earlier life, of which there is no mention in either of the stories. At the end of each of the story, the principal characters, who remain smug and conceited throughout the narration, are shocked out of their self righteousness into humaneness. Unfortunately, the realization of their total inadequacy in the eyes of the supreme being, or God, comes too late – in their dying moments.

Does Person-Centred Therapy Differ from Other Helping Relationships?

â€Å"How do person-centred counsellors use the therapeutic relationship to facilitate change- and in what way (s) does person-centred therapy differ from other helping relationships? † word count: 2,495 Person centred counselling originated and was evolved on the ideas of American psychologist Carl Rogers. The influences on Carl Rogers and he’s conceptualisation of Person centred counselling are numerous, from his early family life living on a farm, his interest and involvement in theology and his formative professional career. One incident which appears to have had a particular impact on Carl Rogers was when working in his first job as a psychologist, at Rochester New York, for an organisation for the prevention of cruelty to children, whilst working with a parent (Kirshenbaum H, et al. 1989). At this stage in his career Carl Rogers, being trained in or influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis, was essentially working in a diagnostic and interpretative way, helping a child or parent gain insight or an intellectual understanding of their own behaviour and what was unconsciously driving or motivating it (Thorne B 2002) . He formalised that the problem with the child stemmed from the Mother’s rejection of the child in his early years. But despite a number of sessions was unable to help the Mother gain this insight. He concluded that it wasn’t working and finally gave up. The Mother was leaving when she asked Carl Rogers if he takes adults for counselling. He began working with the mother, where she subsequently expressed her despair of unhappiness and feelings of failure, which was more emotive and authentic in expression, than the previously intellectual and matter of fact account given previously of her history and current life. Carl Rogers said that ‘real therapy’ began at this moment and concluded in a successful outcome (Kirshenbaum H, et al. 1990). This is Carl Roger’s view and what he learned from this experience: â€Å"This incident was one of a number which helped me to experience the fact- only fully realized later- that is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried. It began to occur to me that unless I had a need to demonstrate my own cleverness and learning, I would do better to rely upon the client for the direction of movement in the process†. Kirshenbaum H, et al. 1990 p13). This statement is arguably the beginnings of what, in many ways would later define and becomes a way of working within person centred therapy – that is a therapy that allows the client to be whom the client is, without any active direction from the therapist. Carl Rogers through clinical experience, research an d development later defined his model of therapy. He based it upon the principles of a person as having at it’s a core an instinctive tendency towards growth, to fulfilling their potential as a person in what he termed ‘self actualisation’ (Mearns D, et al. 988). Carl Rogers believed that every living organism has a desire to increase, widen and broaden. Essentially, a fundamental urge to improve upon itself and that although, in the case of human beings, this urge may be buried or hidden by multiple psychological structures and conflicts, he strongly believed in the existence of this actualisation tendency in all of us and that given the correct conditions, it could be freed and realised in all of us (Rogers C 1961- becoming a person). Personally, I have recognised a need to develop and grow within myself for sometime and this has again been highlighted to me during this term. The more I become aware of my insecurities and pre judgements, the greater the desire to become bigger than them only becomes more apparent to me. Through my clinical experience working with adults with mental health problems, I have certainly recognised a desire in many, to become bigger or more than their issues, although, I am not certain if that was a desire to escape from their often intolerable suffering, or a fundamental need to self actualise†¦ at the very least, I would suggest self actualisation is an entirely relative supposition and will differ from person to person, dependent upon their own experiences, circumstances and perhaps even expectations. These correct conditions which are required within person centred therapy in order that the client can achieve self actualisation and personality change were outlined by Carl Rogers and he believed that if this 6 conditions were met, it would facilitate change within the client: Two persons are in psychological contact- both client and counsellor are present physically and psychologically. The client is in a state of incongruence, (which will be discussed in more detail) the communication of the counsellor’s empathetic understanding and unconditional positive regard is met at a minimal level. The last condition mentioned involves 3 other conditions, which are essential attitudes and qualities necessary for the counsellor to posses for successful therapy; empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard and congruence. (Rogers C, 1957). Before looking at the latter 3 in more detail, it is important to understand Carl Rogers’s view of the person and perhaps what is ultimately bringing the client to therapy. Carl Rogers believed that there is incongruence between the self that is the actualisation part, that has a desire to grow, is open to experiencing in the moment and ultimately psychological well being and the actual experience of the self. He believed this effect was caused by ‘conditions of worth’, by external expectations, such as by parents and teachers, i. e. f you behave in a certain way that pleases me, that perhaps doesn’t evoke anxieties in me, you are a good boy- there are certain ‘conditions’ attached to being in this relationship- the child tries to internalise these conditions in order to maintain the relationship (Mearns D 1994- developing PC). Consequently, people deny or distort the experiences to their selves, which differ to how we are supposed or are condi tioned to be. Therefore, Carl Rogers believed that we begin to believe in what we are not and refute who we really are (Mearns D 1994). The person has a fixed and inflexible view, or self concept (Rogers C 1980). It’s almost as if the person is driven in implementing or adopting certain behaviours in order to be accepted or loved and denying, or at the cost of their true self and feelings. This is the state of incongruence Rogers was referring as apart of the necessary conditions. Carl Rogers recognised, through his development of this approach, that distinctive and essential qualities are necessary within the therapist, for successful therapy and to facilitate character change. The emphasis being on the therapist’s attitude towards the client, as opposed to any technical skills or interventions, in comparison to many other modalities. As already mentioned, the key attitudes or qualities being empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard (Rogers C 1980). Empathy can be considered as having an ability to perceive and understand in the other person their feelings, experiences and their meaning to that person. To understand the internal world of that person, to be fully aware of the feelings they are experiencing, their anger or sadness for example, as if they are your own, but being aware that they are the clients, in order that your own feelings do not become the focus or blur the clients own experiencing (Rogers C, 1957). To absolutely see from the clients view, the feelings they may have from their position or personal experiencing, but recognising them as separate from your own. I recall a moment during this term, when in skills practise, being in the ‘client role’, when I received empathy. I was speaking about a personal situation, which I was aware on some level had meaning to me, but wasn’t fully aware of, or experiencing the feelings relating to this meaning. My perception later was that the person listened so intently, was so with me in trying to make sense of my situation, that they really did know and fully understand how it must feel for me. It was almost if I had no choice in allowing my feelings to be present, to come to my awareness and I was left with a sense of loss, feelings of loss, that I wasn’t aware of and made tremendous sense to my circumstances and why I had some anxiety and confusion in relation to this particular issue. This highlights for me how powerful empathy can be, as well as actively listening to and showing an interest sufficient in trying to understand the client, but also how it has the potential to provoke in the client in becoming aware of hidden feelings or realisations. Unconditional positive regard (UPR) is another important aspect and described as having total acceptance of the client, without conditions, whoever and whatever the client is, or how they may behave. An acceptance of not what they may or could be, but as they are now, regardless of what desired qualities the counsellor may wish for. It means total respect and valuing the person, without judgement. It also involves a sense of genuine care and wanting the best for them, including warmth for the person (Rogers C 1961). David Mearns talks about the often confusion in trainees, when understanding UPR, with a statement such as, ‘how is it possible to like all my clients’? He makes a distinction that liking is generally selective, as we perceive a similarity in values and complementary needs and UPR and liking are two very different concepts (Mearns D 1994). Unconditional positive regard is completely about valuing the person, without conditions, with all the facets of the person, their struggles, protective layers, confusion and perhaps inconsistencies. This unconditional stance is a contradiction to the conditions of worth spoken of earlier and is a vital component of person centred counselling (Kulewicz S, 1989). If a client is holding a believe that they will only be accepted, depending on the condition of others, essentially they do not see themselves as being wholly acceptable. The stance and communication of UPR can break this believe and the client is able to be in a relationship, with the counsellor accepting them without conditions (Rogers C 1961). If the counsellor is consistently valuing the client, the client perhaps has no reason for the protective layers and can be more open to their own inner experiences. Also, I wonder if the counsellor is almost giving permission and communicating a message to the client that it is ok to accept who they truly are. Another essential attitude for the counsellor, recognised by Rogers is congruence. This is the counsellor being who they are, no facade or ‘professional’ barrier. The counsellor is open and genuine in the relationship, allowing all feelings and thoughts to be in his awareness and available to him (Rogers C 1961). It’s being present with yourself and owning your feelings, not necessarily expressing what you are experiencing at the time to the client, but also not denying it. How congruence is conveyed is ultimately depended upon the counsellor themselves and when appropriate. It is about allowing a trust to be formed with the client, without pretences, where the counsellor is being human and willing to be seen (Thorne B 2002). If the counsellor is willing to acknowledge his feelings, strengths, perhaps their mistakes or weakness, it can not only allow for a more open and flowing relationship, but again I see this as perhaps giving permission to the client to embrace themselves, their strengths and weaknesses. How this differs from a helping relationship, are mainly the quality of contact and the nature of the differences in relationship. What if our client seeks help from a non person centred counsellor, perhaps a professionally respected person, a Doctor, teacher, perhaps even a work place manager, or colleague. They will listen, perhaps are sympathetic, are likely to offer advice and some direction the person may take in order to resolve their problem. But there is no ongoing process, no consistency of a relationship, with all the qualities discussed, empathy, UPR and congruence. The person centred therapist offers a safe and non judgemental relationship, with the client being valued for who they are, where they can grow in understanding of themselves, gain insight and become psychological stronger and independent. A helping relationship, although perhaps useful and supportive, will not facilitate change and allow a person to grow. In conclusion, person centred therapy is about an effective relationship, or aspires to be one, in which a person through experiencing a positive connection with another person, namely the therapist, receives deep empathy, understanding and genuine care. This enables a person to question or challenge their self concepts, to begin to experience buried or hidden feelings and gain a deeper understanding of themselves, with more acceptances and the autonomy to live without fear of their own feelings and perhaps their truer selves. It is without any difficulty from me to admire the sheer humanity of what Carl Rogers achieved with person centred therapy, the whole ethos of accepting and allowing the person to grow through such a positive and caring relationship. It appears to me that this is an incredibly challenging model of therapy, for both client and therapist. For the client the person centred therapist may appear safe and accepting, even inoffensive or unchallenging to his protective mechanisms or fixed self concepts, but that is perhaps the greatest challenge to the client, who may want answers or ways of dealing with their issues, perhaps unbearable anxiety and will perhaps look to the therapist for solutions and will find the person centred therapist completely and deeply sharing their distress, but essentially leaving it with client to be able to tolerate and accept for themselves, with of course as discussed, with the intention for the client to grow, understand the meaning behind their distress and ultimately in becoming psychologically independent. I would imagine, at least initially or in the short term, it must be difficult for the client, who is still searching and looking outside of himself, for the apparent safety and false ‘conditions’ that will make it all well again. For the therapist, the challenge is potentially numerous, but what I recognise is the trust he must have in the process of person centred therapy, in maintaining all the attitudes as discussed and consistently so. I can see that taking great strength and discipline, when he could perhaps temptingly turn to direction and advice giving. I am also left wondering if the strengths within PC therapy are also its weaknesses. The quality of therapy can only be as effective as the quality of therapist, or the limitations of the therapist. This could be said of other therapies, but for example, the CBT therapist has a direction and structure to fall back on. The challenge to the PC therapist is to be constantly growing and developing, as there is such a dependence upon who they are in the relationship. References: Kirshenbaum, H. and Henderson, V. L. (1989) The Carl Rogers reader Bury St. Edmunds: St Edmundsbury Press Limited. Kulewicz, S. F. (1989) The twelve core functions of a Counselor (5th Edn). Marlborough, CT: Counselor Publications. Mearns, D. and Thorne, B. (1988) Person-centred counselling in Action (3rd Edn). London: Sage Publications Ltd. Mearns, D. 1994) Developing Person Centred counselling (2nd Edn). London: Sage Publications Ltd. Rogers, C. R. (1957) The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Vol. 60, No. 6, 827-832 . Rogers, C. R. (1961) On Becoming a Person London: Constable & Robinson Ltd. Rogers, C. R. (1980) A way of Being Boston: Houghton and Mifflin Company. Rogers, C. R. (1980) Client Centred psychotherapy In: Kaplan, H. I. et al, ceds, Comprehensive text book of Psychiatry (3rd Edn). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Co. Thorne, B. Dryden, W. (2002) Person Centred Counselling in W. Dryden Handbook of Individual Therapy (4th Edn). London: Sage. pp. 131-157.

Government Higher Education Policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Government Higher Education Policies - Essay Example It may entail acquisition of new skills and information or merely boost an understanding of already existing elements. Through education, a generation that breeds an alteration of society virtues is created and these develop the environment positively as they strive to achieve constant progress. These institutions further provide a platform involving social interaction measures as different cultural affiliations and individual behaviors cross (Hasley et. al., 1997, 14). The system limits discrimination as it involves assembling different ethnic affiliations with constantly environmental entities and technology. An educational government entity entails numerous models that constitute its functionality. It promotes individual intellectual development as they mature into adulthood faced with tough societal advancements. The system also works towards producing skilled individuals that are capable of propagating advancement in the technology to boost an impending economy. However, the edu cational policy entails a careful use of resources that need adequate provision especially by the government to instigate its advancement. There need to be sufficient resources availability to accommodate the entire population using the facility. It is the government duty to check on syllabus revision and provision of qualified professionals to help advance the learning process. A deficiency in any entity that supports the education policy negatively influences general institutional and individual improvement. There have been numerous policy changes in the UK educational system to advance the performance in the Higher Education institution. Government Higher Education Policies There have existed numerous reforms in the British education system over the years to accommodate better learning environments. These reforms have been targeted to solve impending constraints on the educational system. There have emerged problems in the standards of school performance with low school attendanc e leading to poor skills in the overall working population. These problems have developed to present discrepancy in higher education system where most individuals are lowly motivated to boost their overall performance. In 1980s, an experienced slow growth in educational progress among individuals especially below 16years led to the ranking of the country among poor performers. This system saw a conservative policy implementation where the government, involved parents in policymaking and articulated their financial status from number enrolled (Hill, 2001, 3). This system further promoted a public revealing of student’s result that enabled parents compare results and performance of different schools. The government sought to these systems to improve the results and general individual performance. The government of the 1980s had been conservative and exposed the inequalities in the system that existed among several schools. Secondly, there existed a problem in poor depiction of working skills especially among the younger working individuals in the UK market. The government sought to solve this problem through introducing a curriculum that applied uniformly across individuals especially in their early learning ages. This policy to maintain equal curriculum implementation was further improved in the 1990s. This saw an introduction of a system that encourages teachers especially in

The Effect Of RMB Revalue To The Economy Of China Dissertation

The Effect Of RMB Revalue To The Economy Of China - Dissertation Example The expectation on appreciation of RMB was postponed during the global financial crisis. The appreciation of RMB will affect the aggregate demand through two canals. The appreciation will cause pressure on the supply of money. This will lead monetary expansion in cases where sterilized intervention is not sufficient. The aggregate demand and prices of the assets will get stimulated. The imbalances between demand and supply will increase because of the expectations associated with trade surplus and speculative inflows of capital. The monetary authorities will buy the excess supply of foreign exchange in the market in order to maintain stability in exchange rates. The growth in assets of foreign currency was much more than the growth of base money. The growth of foreign assets even crossed the rate of growth of broad money. This puts pressure on the monetary authorities to fasten down the monetary growth. The growth of money will be out of control if measures of sterilized intervention cannot keep up to the task. The growth of assets of foreign currency has dropped below the growth rate of broad money after the financial crisis. In the long run, the growth rate of broad money will settle in the usual level and short term capital will start to enter into the economy of China and this will again put the supply of money under pressure. But even if the monetary authorities are able to control the stable growth rate of money supply, then also the expectation for appreciation of RMB will stimulate the aggregate demand and prices of the assets will rise. Once the appreciation of RMB is expected, the expected returns on the assets that are risky will increase and price of these assets will take the steep rising path. The value of the collateral will...The politicians of U.S. are of the opinion that revaluation of the RMB will act as the solution in problems of trade deficit. But the reality is that the current trade deficit that U.S. has with China is mainly because of t he prevailing economic conditions in U.S. So the trade deficit that is affected by RMB is negligible (Hong Kong Industrialist, 2005/6, p. 15). Introduction The director of Peterson Institute for International Economics blamed the undervaluation of the currency of China for job losses in the country of United States. The director also drew a plan of action if China did not withdraw the control of currency and permit the renminbi (RMB) to gain strength. The central bank of China known as the People’s Bank of China allowed for some relaxation. The bank announced that will abandon the two year old peg. The peg has kept the RMB with the dollar (Yu, 2010, p. 2). It allowed RMB to respond according to the forces of the market. China will now begin to move into the regime of floating exchange rate. The regime will be a tight one which was in practice in the period between 2005 and 2008. The value of RMB will be the base on a basket of currencies within a narrow range (Wharton Univers ity of Pennsylvania, 2010). Method of Analysis In the method of analysis the previous researches will be taken into account and stress will be given on assessing the impact of the revaluation on the economy. The different effects namely the balance sheet effect and the economic effect will be taken into consideration.

Three major causes of soil erosion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three major causes of soil erosion - Essay Example Sheet erosion is caused by the effect of rainfall on the surface soil. The force of water running downhill caused by adequate rainfall could remove the soil particles on the surface and carry it towards the lower areas. The heavier the rainfall is or the longer the rain occurs, the more soil particles are taken from its original position. Sheet erosion is definitely a natural phenomenon. However, the degree of erosion can be determined also by natural and artificial factors. The most effective natural means of preventing sheet erosion is vegetation. This is because â€Å"sheet erosion mainly occurs under conditions where the soil surface is insufficiently protected by vegetation cover† (Govers, 2004, p.947). The roots of plants and trees on slopes contribute in reducing the effects of erosion by holding on to the surface soil. Aside from this, the roots also tend to siphon certain amount of the rainwater that seeps into the soil. The foliage also prevents portions of the total rainfall from hitting ground. Human intervention may be necessary in order to prevent soil erosion. Such interventions would include actual planting of trees on slopes that are most vulnerable to erosion due to rainfall.

Research Proposal Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Proposal - Research Paper Example Despite this people are still motivated to go for the procedure, doing something that will drastically change their lives for the better or for worse (Camille 93). Plastic surgery has been in existence for quite some time now in the history of the US and the world over. It is a big business in the US and statistics showed that despite the recession, the business was still booming. Statistics from The American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that Americans underwent 14 million cosmetic procedures in 2010, spending approximately 10.1 billion in the process (Roger and Vanco). The procedure range from Botox, breast enhancements, to transplants and chin augmentation. Two kinds of plastic surgery are common, the reconstructive surgery after accidents and aesthetic surgery for purposes of beauty (Engler 9). Much as plastic surgery has been used to solve clinical problems it has continuously created ethical problems and debates whether some of the procedures should go on or not. Reconstructive surgery has been carried out mostly for clinical purposes to correct problems that come as a result of injury, accidents and tissue damage. It is mostly acceptable because of its ability to give victims a normal life they had before (Johnson and Whitworth 319). Cosmetic surgery on the other hand has been widely criticized by people because of ethical questions that arise as a result of the procedure (Engler 30). Adjusting body parts or changing appearance for beauty purposes involves changing nature and creation which amount to questioning the creator as some argue. Despite this debate cosmetic surgery is still a big business and many people are still going for it despite warnings and consequences that come with some of the procedures (Roger and Vanco). There exists a lot of literature on the topic of plastic surgery that can inform this study. This study is built on a mixed approach kind of

Data to Information Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data to Information Critique - Essay Example The author has however stated that the policies were meant to promote homeownership but failed to benefit the majority medium and low income earners. Finally, the article has stated factors the author has addressed in the entire article. In Davis (2012, p.2), the author has stated the price index of houses since 1975 through the year 2011. However, values indicate that since the year 2000 to 2008, the prices of the house have been escalating tremendously. This contradicts the data in page on homeownership rate. This date indicates that between the year 2000 and the 2010, the rate of homeownership remained higher than the previous years in which the price indices were a bit lower. One of the policies introduced was deductibility of mortgage interest from income for tax purposes. The author has argued that this policy did not benefit the low income earners but instead it benefited the higher income earners (Davis, 2012). This could be the reason why the homeownership has remained still remained high even when the price indices of houses were still high. This is in line with the author’s view that the policies did not favor the low income earners. The author has also elaborated the other policy as that which aimed at reducing the cost of mortgages agencies. The author has stated that the policies on homeownership have resulted to a high cost on the US economy to the tune of $2.5 trillion net present value (Davis, 2012). This figure has not been supported by the author working ad there is information about the discounting factor or any other method the author used to arrive at such a figure. Going by t he authors view about the extra burden caused by the policies, then it is crystal clear that the policies introduced by the federal government were more of a burden to the citizens that a relief. The author has argued that the rate of homeownership has remained unchanged for the last forty years despite the