A Cultural Perspective

The Philippines is part of South East Asia but it many ways it is different from the rest of the region.   For one, almost every Filipino (that is how they are called) can speak English aside from their indigenous dialects (Erickson, 1982, p. 19).While Filipinos possess distinct Malay features such as black hair, eyes and brown skin, there are also a multitude of which has brown hair and eyes, alabaster skin and carry Spanish names. This is due to the long Spanish colonization the country underwent, starting in the 16th century and lasting for more than 300 years (Borlaza and Wurfel, 2002, p. 545).   The Spanish influence is also responsible for the dominance of the Roman Catholic religion in the country.However, it is the countryside of the Philippines, with its rice fields, tropical setting and beautiful beaches that seems to connect the country with the rest of its neighbors.   The country is a magnet for tourist during summer vacation with its endless beaches and temperate weather.   Furthermore, the Spanish heritage, along with the brief American and Japanese colonization has contributed to the shaping of the Filipino culture- different languages and dialects, food, dance and music, and societal order.The country’s contact with China cannot also be discounted.   Starting in the 10th century, the Philippines had engaged contact with the Chinese, resulting in people with Filipino-Chinese descent (p.540). Filipinos are said to have an â€Å"uncommon warmth and courtesy† (p.19).The country has also weathered some of the most colorful incidents in politics- from the Martial Law era during the 70s to the EDSA revolution and People Power in the 80s , impeachment trial of former president Joseph Estrada and the   impeachment attempts against its current president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo( Steinberg, 2009). Truly, the island world of the Philippines offers a unique cultural perspective.The Republic of the Philippines, as it is properly know , is an archipelago made up of 7,100 islands lying some 500 miles off Asia’ south-eastern coast ( Borlaza and Wurfel, 2002, p. 537). The country has three main islands- Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao (p. 537).According to archaeologists, there have been prehistoric tribes existing in the Philippines when the country was still attached to the Asian mainland (Erickson, 1982, p.20).   Furthermore, the first people were said to be primitive Negritos or small Negroes who resided in the forest of the islands (p. 200. These people, described as pygmy like were themselves descendants from the great migration in Asia during the Stone Age (p. 20).Indonesians, Malaysians and Chinese also settled in the Philippines. In 1521, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan landed in Leyte Gulf and claimed the island for Spain (p. 20) .Thus began the 333 years of Spanish colonization of the country (p.20).   In 1896, the Philippines started its efforts to relinquish Spanish control on them, organ izing movements and revolts (p. 20). During this time, Spain was also in the midst of battle with America.The Spanish-American War broke out and continued in the Philippines, another Spanish territory (Davidson, Lytle, Heyrman, Gienapp and Stoff, 1998, pp.750). The Treat of Paris granted America control of the Philippines (p.20).   This was greeted with mixed reactions from Filipinos. Some Filipinos viewed the United States as liberators while others labelled them as â€Å"new colonizers† (p. 751).   Under the leadership of William Howard Taft, the Philippines was transformed- building American schools, roads, factories and even introducing new farming methods to guide the country as it becomes independence (p. 753).During the American regime, the Philippines benefited socially, politically and economically. In 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was formed with Manuel L. Quezon as its first president (p. 20). The celebration was cut short due to the explosion of th e Second World War. When war broke out, the Philippine was occupied by the Japanese.

Venuti’s Theory of Foregnisation Applied to the Phenomenon

Fan-Translation and heterogeneity: Venuti’s theory of foregnisation applied to the phenomenon of fan-translation In this essay I set out to explore the extent to which Lawrence Venuti’s theory of foreignising translation can be usefully applied to explain the practices of fan-translation communities. Fan-translation (hereafter, FT) is a relatively recent phenomenon. O’Hagan , following Flew’s definition of User Generated Content (Flew 2008 in O'Hagan 2009, p. 7) derives the term ‘User Generated Translation’ (hereafter, UGT) in order to describe a â€Å"wide range of translation, carried out based on free use participation in digital media spaces where translation is undertaken by unspecified self-selected individuals† (O'Hagan 2009, p. 97). The user in question is therefore somebody who â€Å"voluntarily act as a ‘remediator’ of linguistically inaccessible products and ‘direct producer’ of translation on the b asis of [his] knowledge of the given language as well as that of a particular media content or genre, spurred by [his] substantial interest in the topic (O'Hagan 2009, p. 7). UGT then could be applied to all those translations carried out by non-professional translators, often for non-financial motives. The term FT in this essay will be used more specifically to describe the practice of those users whose interest is directed towards a particular genre: that of Japanese cultural commodities or, more specifically, Japanese graphic novels (Manga), and animated movies (anime). The question that I would like to address in this essay is whether Lawrence Venuti’s influential theory of translation (Venuti 1995,1998)can help further understanding the phenomenon of FT.The intention of this essay is to claim that some aspects of Venuti’s ‘foregnisation’ theory do indeed serve to characterise fan-translators activities, despite the obvious contextual differences. Thes e differences are easily summarised: FT is not carried out by a single individual or even by a single group of individuals (unlike the cases cited by Venuti, where he either refers to a group of romantic intellectuals in 19th century Germany, or later isolated cases (Venuti 1995, pp. 9-147, 187-272), but a practice carried out on a wider scale, embraced by a greater number of individuals working together as a community of practice, mostly composed of non-professional translators, often very young, not always sharing the same national identity, and mostly lacking the clearly defined cultural agenda that Venuti exposed as a justification for advocating the adoption of foreignising translation practices (Venuti 1995, pp. 6-17). Fandom Fan activities have gathered scholarly attention in recent years due to the opportunities for community building and the ease of sharing content that the recent incarnation of the World Wide Web, or Web 2. 0, offers (see for example (Diaz Cintas and Munoz Sanchez 2006; Lee 2009; Sanchez 2009; Koulikov 2010; Watson 2010; Denison 2011; Lee 2011; Castells and Cardoso 2012).The reason for such scholarly attention is that fan activities, in the form of sharing digital content online, can be said to occupy a ‘liminal space’ (Denison 2011) that is dangerously close to what is often called (but not often clearly defined) ‘piracy’: fan texts that are at the â€Å"liminal edge between fan creativity and piracy. Essentially†¦text augmented by, rather than created by, fans† (Denison 2011, p. 450).For this reason, fan activities built on the relationship that is constituted in the reception of a particular form of literature have been the subject of academic interest: â€Å"Anime texts have become nexus points for discourse around ownership and rights†(Napier 2007 and Thornton 1995 in Denison 2011, p. 450). Within the wider spectrum of fan-related practices, some individuals play the role of ‘pr osumers’: producers and consumers of products, rather than passive spectators (Tapscott and Williams, 2006 in O'Hagan 2009, p. 9). Prosumers not only consume cultural products, but also manifest agency by responding creatively to their favourite text or medium. Some examples of fans creative response analysed by legal scholars could be the theatrical audience participation to showings of The Rocky Horror Show, Town bands performing free concerts, the American musical tradition â€Å"the blues† (Madison 2007, pp. 87-703), amateur fan actors producing new episodes of Star Trek, fan produced Harry Potter Lexicon, fan-made flash based animation derived from music, fan-created version of commercially created virtual mascot Miku Hatsune (Noda 2010, pp. 149-158), which are all forms of participation that sit uneasily with the notion of intellectual property rights. The practices of fans of Japanese comics and animation have been of particular interest to legal theorists (Mehr a 2002; Hatcher 2005; Lessig 2005; Muscar 2006; Noda 2008, 2010).Here it is useful to distinguish between the practices of the dojinshi (hereafter non italicised) community and the practices of the FT community or, to be more specific, communities, since fan translators operating on different media are described with different names: translation of Japanese graphic novels is carried out by a process of Scanlation; subtitling of Japanese animation is carried out by a process called Fansubbing; and finally, the process of modification and translation of video games is called RomHacking. DojinshiWhat are dojinshi, and why are they of interest to legal scholar? Lawrence Lessing, professor of law at Harvard Law School and founding board member of Creative Commons, in his 2004 work Free Culture: how big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity, uses dojinshi as an example of derivative works that could not exist in America, since dojinshi are â€Å"A kind of copycat comic†¦ It is not dojinshi if it is just a copy; the artist must make a contribution to the art he copies, by transforming it either subtly or significantly.A dojinshi comic can thus take a mainstream comic and develop it differently—with a different story line. Or the comic can keep the character in character but change its look slightly. There is no formula for what makes the dojinshi sufficiently â€Å"different. † But they must be different if they are to be considered true dojinshi† (Lessig 2005, pp. 25-26) Dojinshi are the Japanese version of what is otherwise called fan-fiction; in other words, unauthorised fan-created version or original works.The term Dojinshi (. Literally ‘dojin’ stands for ‘same person’ and ‘shi’ stands for ‘periodical publication’, which in English could be rendered as Fanzine or Fan-magazine). Dojinshi denoted a type of fan works that are â€Å"self-published, small scale publications written by fans for fans of a particular work (be it a movie, a book, a television series, or a video game) or of a particular romantic pairing possible within that work†(Hemmann 2010).Dojinshi are an important side of the culture that surrounds Japanese graphic novels (manga: literally ‘man’ stands for ‘whimsical’ and ‘ga’ stands for ‘drawings’) in Japan. Manga represent both an industry and a form of expression, so much so that in recent years the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) began to see manga as the new source of Japan’s â€Å"Gross National Cool’ (McGray 2002 in Koulikov 2010, p. 18) and began promoting the country’s content industry abroad (Yoshimoto 2003 in Koulikov 2010, p. 10).The Japanese manga industry and the dojinshi fan-communities reinforce each other in a way that is perhaps surprising to western legal theorists because it raises import ant questions in regards to the efficacy and meaningfulness of copyright practices and of the ideas about originality and authorship that underpins copyright law and associated commercial practices in the west: â€Å"This market exists in parallel to the mainstream commercial manga market. In some ways, it obviously competes with that market, but there is no sustained effort by those who control the commercial manga market to shut the doujinshi market down.It flourishes, despite the competition and despite the law [†¦] in the view of many, it is precisely because it exists that Japanese manga flourish† Lessing 2004, p. 26 The practice of scanlation and fansubbing differ from those of dojinshi artists in some important ways. First of all, they are mostly carried out by fans outside of Japan, and more specifically, while they are carried out in a variety of languages, the majority of the work is carried out by English language fans (Denison 2011, p. 54). Additionally, I wo uld argue that scanlation and fansubbing do not inhabit the same conceptual space of fan-fiction and dojinshi, even if copyright law regards adaptation and translation equally as derivative works (WIPO article 2 (3)). Dojinshi artists working within the idea of ‘complementing the original work’, while unauthorised, are conceptually closer to the wider spectrum of fan activities that are often tolerated in the west (like audience participation to theatrical performances).FT seems to inhabit a narrower conceptual space, closer, and more readily compromised by proximity, to the practices of unauthorised copying that is denounced as piracy, despite the ambiguity of the term piracy itself: â€Å"piracy has never had a stable legal definition and is almost certainly better understood as a product of enforcement debates than as a description of a specific behaviour. The terms blurs, and is often used intentionally to blur, important distinction between types of uncompensated use† (Karaganis et al. 2011, p. ) In order to attempt a conceptualisation of the practices of fan translators, here I would like to adopt Venuti’s framework of domesticating and foreignising translation. My intention in the next part of the essay is to illustrate how FT of Japanese manga and anime could find precedents in the history of translation. In short, I draw from Venuti’s critical genealogy of fluent discourse in the English language translation in order to show that FT should not merely be thought of as free-riding, but that it contains elements of previous use of translation as tool for building a national culture (Venuti 1995, 100).Similarly, FT can be said to represent a vehicle for the construction of sub-cultural capital , the â€Å"knowledge about an area of fandom that allows one to feel comfortable with other like-minded fans, but also to gain status among fellow enthusiasts â€Å" (Napier 2007, p. 150 in Denison 2011, p. 450) Translation Trans lation studies as an academic discipline has a relatively short history, emerging about twenty years ago from the back of comparative literature departments. The independence of translation studies as an academic discipline revolves around its methodology and the questions it aims to answer.Hence, an important question faces every Translation Studies student: should one restrict his enquiry to the analysis of linguistic features of a text, or should attention be paid to the context where the practice of translation takes place: the figure of the translator; his/her motivation; what void in the receiving culture is the translator trying to fill; the interests played behind the importation and exportation of culture; how law, market, social norms and publishing practices all influence the creation of culture of which translation is part of; whether all these form a kind of censorship, and should the translator resist of conform to such censorship, even when is self-censorship? In this essay I would like to explore the possibilities offered by the latter approach, by comparing and contrasting two common elements of contemporary translation: on the one hand, the critical work of Venuti in regards to ‘domestication and foregnisation’ and on the other, the â€Å"phenomenon of user participation in otherwise highly specialised areas of professional translation practice† (O'Hagan 2009, p. 96). To begin with, I would like to introduce the work of Lawrence Venuti (1995, 1998).Venuti describes the state of contemporary translation around the world as characterised by imbalance: the imbalance between the large number of books that are translated from English and the small number of books that are translated into English. This trade imbalance is an effect of the global domination of English which, according to Venuti, leads to a â€Å"complacency in Anglo-American relations with cultural others† apparent in publishing practices in Britain and Ame rica that â€Å"decreases the cultural capital of foreign values in English by limiting the number of foreign text translated and submitting them to domesticating revision† (Venuti 1995, p. 7) According to Venuti, publishing practices in Britain and America reinforce the global domination of English by imposing â€Å"Anglo-American cultural values on a vast foreign readership†, while adopting practices of translation that produce domestic cultures that are â€Å"aggressively monolingual, unreceptive to the foreign, accustomed to fluent translations that†¦provide the readers with the narcissistic experience of recognising their own culture in a cultural other†(Venuti 1995, p. 15) Emphasis added). Venuti is critical of the canon of fluency that dominated the practice of translation into English. By fluency, Venuti wants to describe a particular way of translating which emphasise the production of texts that conceal their foreignness and instead makes them app ear as the original expression of the foreign author, essentially unmediated by the process of translation. Venuti defines such process of assimilation, in a manner that conceals the text foreign origin, as ‘domestication’.While admittedly all translation is appropriation and assimilation, domestication has the troubling effect, according to Venuti, of reinforcing an ethnocentric attitude towards foreign cultures: the belief that other cultures are in fact no different from one’s own and therefore, that one’s own culture is universal: â€Å"the prevalence of fluent domestication has supported these developments [the monolingual, unreceptive and narcissistic culture above] because of its economic value: enforced by editors, publishers, and reviewers, fluency results in translation that are eminently readable and therefore consumable in the book market, assisting in their commoditisation and insuring the neglect of foreign texts and English-language transla tions discourses that are more resistant to easy readability (Venuti 1995, pp. 15-16).In order to â€Å"resist and change the conditions under which translation is theorised and practiced today, especially in the English-speaking countries† Venuti wants to put forward a â€Å"strategic cultural intervention in the current state of world affairs, pitched against the hegemonic English language nations and their unequal cultural exchanges in which they engage theory global others† (Venuti 1995, p. 20). Venuti’s argument then is that literary translators, in an effort to challenge current translation practices, should attempt a ‘foreignising’ approach to translation. What this mean in practice is the production of texts that read as translations and the suggested method to achieve this effect is a theory of translation that emphasise heterogeneity of language.Languages are never monolithically homogeneous entities: different agents will employ language in a different way, according to whom, and in what manner, is an utterance is addressed. Standard literary English is language that exists only in translated foreign literature. Foreignising translation then should attempt to disrupt the homogeneity imposed by textual ‘transparency’ and ‘fluidity’ of the reading experience by inserting traces of heterogeneous language (slang, dialect, archaism, cliques, etc†¦ ) into an otherwise canonical translation. Foregnisation, according to Venuti, â€Å"can alter the way translations are read as well as produced† (Venuti 1995, p. 24).Whether foregnisation can achieve the results that Venuti’s cultural political agenda aim towards is still unclear; Venuti himself reports that critical reviews of his translated works did indeed cause some reactions; some reviewers found this choice of words unconvincing, suspecting that Italian romantics would not have expressed themselves with the obvious colloquiali sm that Venuti strategically employed (Venuti 1998, 19). Such criticism only goes to confirm Venuti’s belief: â€Å"the fact is that Italian romantics would not have used most of the words in my translation because they wrote in Italian, not English† (Venuti 1998, 19-20). The reader had to suspend her cultural and linguistic expectations towards to the foreign text and was forced to take notice of the mediated nature of the translated text, exposing in the criticism the â€Å"dominant narrative form† and â€Å"a prevalent ethnic stereotype† (Venuti 1998, 20). Pym (Venuti’s Visibility Anthony Pym Target 8/2 (1996), pp. 65-177) is unconvinced about the passage from foregnisation to the professed democratic agenda: â€Å"if translators refuse to produce fluent texts, if they make themselves visible through the use of â€Å"resistant† strategies†¦all the rest will surely change too. Such would appear to be the gung-ho reasoning that makes Venuti so visible (Pym 2010, p. 2). The passage from a disrupted reading experience to the wider democratic agenda that Venuti takes for granted is rather unclear. Supposing a reader ‘gets’ what Venuti is trying to do and is taken out of the illusion of being actually reading the words of the original author: the reader becomes aware of the translation being a translation. How can this, beyond achieving a degree of visibility for the translators, achieve further goals?Venuti himself is aware of these difficulties and asks â€Å"what would happen if a translator tried to redirect the process of domestication by choosing foreign texts that deviated from transparent discourse and by translating hem so as to signal their linguistic and cultural differences? Would this effort establish more democratic cultural exchanges? Would it change domestic values? Or would it mean banishment to the fringes of Anglo-American culture? † (Venuti 1995, pp. 40-41). Central to Venutià ¢â‚¬â„¢s concerns, however, there is an aspect of translation that Pym recognizes as key to contemporary translation practices: the question of copyrights. Copyrights Venuti dedicated a chapter of his 1995’s work to the Italian writer Iginio Ugo Tarchetti (1839-1869) (Venuti 1995, 148-186). In 1865, Tarchetti plagiarised Shelley’s tale â€Å"the mortal immortal† by translating it into Italian without acknowledging the English author.While Venuti recognises that â€Å"the shrewdness and sheer audacity of Tarchetti’s plagiarism may make it attractive to dissidents in Anglo-American literary culture†, he also recognises the practical limits of such practice: â€Å"Tarchetti’s translation practices cannot be imitated today without significant revision. Plagiarism, for example, is largely excluded by copyright laws that bind translators as well as authors†¦ to publish an unauthorized translation of a copyrighted foreign text is to invite le gal proceedings whose cost will far exceed the translator’s income from even a bestselling translation† (Venuti 1995, 185). Venuti advice to contemporary English-language translator is not break the law, but rather, to choose carefully what to translate: The choice of a foreign text for translation can be just as foreignising in its impact on the target-language culture as the invention of a discursive strategy.At a time when deviations from fluency may limit the circulation of a translation or even prevent it from getting published in the first place, Tarchetti points to the strategic value of discriminating carefully among foreign texts and literatures when a translation project is developed† (Venuti 1995, 185-186). Venuti calls attention to the manner in which contracts and copyright laws regulate the production of translated literature. Translation, according to the Berne international copyright convention is defined as ‘derivative’ work (WIPO art icle 2 (3)). Therefore, translation is morally and legally bound to the will of the original author (WIPO article 8).Copyright law varies according to nations, the US and UK lacking the concept of ‘Author’s rights’ that is present in most continental Europe’s laws, while the US and UK have clearly defined ‘fair use’ clause that are not present in continental Europe. Pym agrees that copyright law on translation need revision: â€Å"The idea of limiting the author’s translation rights to a short period of perhaps five years sounds like an excellent practical way of stimulating translationsâ€Å" but at the same time, he is sceptical of drastic measures: â€Å"But is our complaint really that â€Å"the translator’s authorship is never given full legal recognition†? (Venuti 1995, p. 9) Do we have to do away with the distinction between author and translator, or even with copyright altogether? † (Pym 2010, p. 4).Intern ational Copyright law reinforces the idea that translation is not ‘transformative’ work, which is defined more narrowly in terms of criticism or parody. Translation as derivative work falls within the category of ‘copy’ that is regulated by ‘copy-rights’. While much translation theory in the past 20 years since the emergence of translation studies as an academic discipline has struggled to establish translation as a serious intellectual endeavour worthy of scholarly attention, the commercial reality that regulates the production of translation tells a strikingly different tale: literary translation, as a form of cultural production, is regulated by the practices of the publishing industry.The translation of foreign literature is subject to norms, laws and market restrictions, as well as architectural conditions. Lessing model of restriction that applies to all cultural commodities (i. e. : culture that is bought and sold, of which translated li terature is part of (Lessing 2005, 133). Lessing sees cultural commodities as subjected to restrictions that until the 20th century were fairly balanced: publishers’ rights were regulated by copyrights law, so as to limit their monopoly over the production and distribution of culture. This guaranteed the exclusive ability to reproduce and translate literary works on behalf of the author for a limited time.The concept of a ‘limited monopoly’ was balanced by the fact that once such monopoly expired, artistic works would fall into the public domain and so become available for the general public to read, print, distribute and translate without the need to acquire the copyright holder permission. Unlike the law in continental Europe, according to common law practices in the US and UK, the copyright holder could control the distribution and translation of a work regardless of the author’s wishes. In continental Europe, by contrast, the concept of ‘authorâ €™s rights’ recognise the moral right to claim authorship of a work and to retain the ability of stop distribution of his work.One might wonder if, before the introduction of copyright laws, translators indulged indiscriminately in the plagiarism of foreign works as in the example of Tarchetti. The truth is that until 1790, in the United States the right granted by a copyright only gave the author the exclusive right to ‘publish’ a particular book and did not extend to derivative works: â€Å"it would not interfere with the right of someone other than the author to translate a copyrighted book, or to adapt the story to a different form (such as a drama based on a published book)† (Lessing 2005, 136) It seems almost impossible in the contemporary world to imagine a time where the right of translators matched those of the foreign author.It seems natural to imagine the chaos that lack of copyrights would cause: an infinite number of translators plagiarisi ng the work of foreign authors and passing them as their own creations. It is this anxiety in regards to plagiarism, of a lack of clearly established standards of authorship that drives suspicion about translation. Authorship as creative genius is a value that is attached to a person or a work of art. This value can be seen reflected in the idea of ‘intellectual property’ which depicts copyrights rights as a natural state of affairs, that is, a natural property right. However, according to William Patry, copyrights are created solely the government and therefore should not be understood as an end in itself, but instead an end to a social objective: furthering learning (Patry moral panic, 103).Patry argues that the essence of property is not absolute dominion over things, but rather, it is determined by a system of social relationships: â€Å"property is quintessentially and absolutely a social institution. Every concept of property reflects†¦those choices that we – as a society- have made† LAURA UNDERKUFFERLER, 203, 54 IN PATRY 103 (Patry 103). That means that copyrights, and the idea of authorship that underpins copyrights, are determined by social practices and therefore reflected in social norms, and finally and more concretely, in the legislation that regulate copyrights. Before copyright renewal in the United States became automatic in 1992, only a small percentage of authors claimed them, and even smaller percentage applied for renewal (Patry, 67-68).Paradoxically, copyright became valuable to corporations only when they were given automatically without authors having to do anything to claim it: â€Å"Survey of renewal rates in the United Stes from 1910 to 2001 found a range between 3 percent in 1910 to 22 percent in 1991†¦of all the books published the united states in 1930, and therefore under copyright until 2025, only 174, or 1. 7 percent, are still in print† (Patry 68). The boundary that separates a legiti mate creative response to a work of art and an illegitimate one is made tangible in law by the prohibition to copy, adapt or translate without the consent of the foreign author. Such law, which seems almost common sense in contemporary society, has a relatively short history. Changing attitudes towards intellectual property rights reflect contemporary anxiety in regards to originality and authorship, which contributes to the marginality of translation.According to Venuti â€Å"whereas authorship is generally defined as originality, self-expression in a unique text, translation is derivative, neither self-expression nor unique: it imitates another text given the reigning concept of authorship, translation provokes the fear of inauthenticity, distortion, contamination† (Venuti 1998, 31). This anxiety affects the most those concerned about plagiarism, especially academic institutions and academic publishing: â€Å"translation is rarely considered a form of literary scholarship, it does not currently constitute a qualification for an academic appointment in a particular field or area of literary study, and, compared to original compositions translated texts are infrequently made the object of literary research† (Venuti 1998, 32). Here Venuti is critical of the academic deference towards the ‘original’ at the expenses of translation.The concept of authorship here joins that of fluent translation in an attempt to present the foreign author as the one who is ‘speaking’ through the medium of the text, in order to â€Å"ascertain the authorial intention that constitutes originality† (Venuti 1998, 31). The Translator hence become an uncomfortable middle man that must hide, as much as possible, both the facts that the text in question is a not the original, and that the foreign author did not employ the language of the translation. The middle man goes unnoticed, not by mere oversight, but quite deliberately. Copyright law, a lso reflected in translation contracts, perpetuate this neglect. Copyright, as we have seen, by defining translation as derivative work, justify contracts that employ translators as work-for-hire, so that the product of their work belongs to the publishing company who do not have to acknowledge the translator.Practical example of this is the lack of the translator’s name on the cover of a volume or in library catalogue indexes, or the disparity between the royalties that the translator receives in comparison to those of the foreign author. The disparity between authorship and translation affects the whole production of commercially translated literature. What i would like to explore next is the side of contemporary translation that is not affected by commercial consideration or in need of academic recognition. Here the terminology varies from non-commercial translation to amateur translation or fan-translation, but from the point of view of copyright holders it represents a m ore straightforward phenomenon: theft of intellectual property, or in other words, piracy. PiracyAs Castells and Cardoso points out, we usually look at media consumption, of which translated literature is an example of, starting from a media industry definition (Castells and Cardoso 2012). In other words, the content that is normally available to us to read, watch or listen to is usually made available through the payment of a fee or because it is supported by advertising. The commercial relationship that binds together media companies and individual is regulated by a set of rules that are legally formalised into rights and obligations (Castells and Cardoso 2012). Piracy, by infringing these rights and obligations, can be a usefully employed to illustrate some of the issues that characterise the status of translation in the current world, how translation is produced and distributed.In short, the argument I would like to put forward is such: piracy is used to describe everything that is not in the public domain but that can be obtained from non-authorised sources, shared with others, whether for free or not. This means that piracy could be whatever is made available to share that contain even parts, or traces, or adaptations, of existing copyrighted works. A pirate here is defined as anybody who makes use of existing copyrighted material in order to express something of his own (with the exception of criticism or parody, which are allowed by law) (WIPO? ). On one side of the debate there are internet users and in particular peer-to-peer (P2P) networks function as efficient tools of distribution of digital content. On the other, litigious media corporations fighting a moral crusade against intellectual theft.The sides of this war, however, assume different connotations depending on who is doing the description: for the copyright holding corporations, authors are being robbed of the fruits of their work; here the fight is described as one between intellectual cop yright owners and thieves. On the other side, is it estimated that more than 40 million American citizens have used the internet to download content; hence a substantial part of US citizens is being criminalised. Lessing asks: â€Å"Is there another way to assure that artists get paid without transforming forty-three million Americans into felons? Does it make sense if there are other ways to assure that artists get paid without transforming America into a nation of felons? † (Lessing 2005, 202).The model of distribution of culture that once revolved around a few selected corporations is now being challenged by technological innovations that were unimaginable a generation ago. Digital content can be shared across the world free of physical constrains (such as books, shops, printing press, etc. ) but also free from the editors, publishers, and reviewers which Venuti sees as the source of neglect of foreign texts and translation practices that emphasise heterogeneity of discour se. The sharing possibilities offered by the net act as a source of heterogeneity: they provide easily accessible, free to share, translated foreign literature that constitutes an alternative to what is available commercially.Venuti limited his theory of translation within the boundaries of commercial translation, albeit as a form of dissidence in respect to the practices enforced by institutional channels. What is of interested here from the point of view of translation are the possibilities offered by working outside the commercial paradigm, the translation practices of those communities that focus on literature, like dojinshi, that are not accessible to the translators working within the legitimate sphere, whether due to social norms, ideology, poetics, of purely economic reasons. The net provides a venue (cultural space? Deleuze and Guattari) for that sub-cultures that are neglected by commercial organizations (and that could not be catered for legally by other institutions). Re ferencesCastells, M. and Cardoso, G. 2012. Piracy Cultures Editorial Introduction. International Journal of Communication [Online] 6. Available at: http://ijoc. org/ojs/index. php/ijoc/article/view/1610/732 [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Denison, R. 2011. Anime fandom and the liminal spaces between fan creativity and piracy. International Journal of Cultural Studies [Online] 14(5). Available at: http://ics. sagepub. com/content/14/5/449. full. pdf+html [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Diaz Cintas, J. and Munoz Sanchez, P. 2006. Fansubs: audiovisual translation in an amateur environment. The Journal of Specialised Translation [Online] 6. Available at: http://www. jostrans. rg/issue06/art_diaz_munoz. pdf [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Hatcher, J. 2005. Of otaku and fansubs: a critical look at anime online in light of current issues in copyright law. [Online]. Available at: http://www. law. ed. ac. uk/ahrc/SCRIPT-ed/vol2-4/hatcher. pdf [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Hemmann, K. 2010. Dojinshi [Online]. Avai lable at: http://japaneseliterature. wordpress. com/2010/02/20/dojinshi-part-one/ [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Karaganis, J. et al. 2011. Media piracy in emerging economies. [Online]. Available at: http://bibliotecadigital. fgv. br/dspace/bitstream/handle/10438/8526/MPEE-PDF-Full%20Book. pdf. txt? sequ.. [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Koulikov, M. 2010.Fighting the fan sub war: Conflicts between media rights holders and unauthorized creator/distributor networks. Transformative Works and Cultures [Online] 5(0). Available at: http://journal. transformativeworks. org/index. php/twc/article/view/115/171. Lee, H. K. 2009. Between fan culture and copyright infringement: manga scanlation. Media, culture, and society [Online] 31(6). Available at: http://www. yorku. ca/rcoombe/courses/Owning%20Culture/class03_Lee. pdf [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Lee, H. K. 2011. Participatory media fandom: A case study of anime fansubbing. Media, Culture ; Society [Online] 33(8). Available at: http://www. kcl. ac. uk/ artshums/depts/cmci/people/papers/lee/participatory. df [Accessed: 13 June 2013]. Lessig, L. 2005. Free culture: The nature and future of creativity. Penguin Group USA. Madison, M. J. 2007. Intellectual property and Americana, or why IP gets the blues. Fordham Intell. Prop. Media ; Ent. LJ [Online] 18. Available at: http://ir. lawnet. fordham. edu/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1407;context=iplj [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Mehra, S. 2002. Copyright and comics in Japan: Does law explain why all the cartoons my kid watches are Japanese imports. Rutgers L. Rev. [Online] 55. Available at: http://corneredangel. com/amwess/papers/copyright_comics_japan. pdf [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Muscar, J. E. 2006.Winner Is Who-Fair Use and the Online Distribution of Manga and Video Game Fan Translations. Vand. J. Ent. ; Tech. L. [Online] 9. Available at: http://www-prod. law. vanderbilt. edu/publications/journal-entertainment-technology-law/archive/download. aspx? id=1694 [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Noda, N. T. 2008. When Holding On Means Letting Go: Why Fair Use Should Extend to Fan-Based Activities. University of Denver Sports and Entertainment Law Journal [Online] 5. Available at: http://law. du. edu/documents/sports-and-entertainment-law-journal/issues/05/05-noda. pdf [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Noda, N. T. 2010. Copyrights retold: How interpretive rights foster creativity and justify fan-based activities.Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law [Online] 20(1). Available at: http://law. shu. edu/Students/academics/journals/sports-entertainment/Issues/upload/Vol20_Noda_Formatted. pdf [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. O'Hagan, M. 2009. Evolution of user-generated translation: fansubs, translation hacking and crowdsourcing. Journal of Internationalisation and Localisation [Online] 1(1). Available at: http://pablomunoz. com/wp-content/JIAL_2009_1_2009_APA. pdf#page=102 [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Sanchez, P. M. 2009. Video Game Localisation for Fans by Fans: The Case of Romhacking. Th e Journal of Internationalisation and Localisation Volume I [Online].Available at: http://pablomunoz. com/wp-content/JIAL_2009_1_2009_APA. pdf#page=176 [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. Venuti, L. 1995. The translator's invisibility: A history of translation. London ; New York: Routledge. Watson, J. 2010. Fandom squared: Web 2. 0 and fannish production. Transformative Works and Cultures [Online] 5. Available at: http://journal. transformativeworks. org/index. php/twc/article/viewArticle/218/183 [Accessed: 13 June 2012]. WIPO. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works [Online]. World Intellectual Property Organisation. Available at: http://www. wipo. int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001. html [Accessed: 13 June 2012].

Salient features of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous speech, “I have a dream”

This essay describes the salient features of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous speech, â€Å" I have a dream†. It concentrates on reasons which contributed to making it so famous. This speech had many salient features which have made it so famous and acceptable to the audience. These are : Structure : The speech is very well structured. King first builds a base for his arguments, by saying that the demands that follow in his speech were guaranteed to the black Negroes long back.He then alleges that the American government nd the white people have not complied with these rights given to blacks. He then injects courage into the minds of the black audience, by using a special force known as ‘ repetition’. He repeats, â€Å" It is my dream that †, many times, and actually succeeds in forcing the minds of black audience to ‘ see’ that dream with him. Force : One more effective element in this speech is the invisible force behind it. The words ar e very strong, and the style is direct. A very direct attack is launched on the American government.The miserable torture that the blacks were undergoing is reported in a very direct, face to fact style. Nothing is indirect or implied. This force is more evident when he paints the picture of his vision of life of the Negroes in future. There is no rhetoric, no sarcasm. This adds the necessary force in the speech, which captivates the audience. Continuity : This is the third impressive feature. The three main parts of the speech, namely, the violation of promise, present condition of Negroes and his uture dream for the Negroes, are interwoven without any pause in between. The switch-over from one part to another part is very natural and automatic. This helps in binding the audience to the speech, till the end.Good use of linguistic tools : This speech uses tools offered by English language in a wonderful way. Many aspects are presented in a metaphoric way, to make the meaning very cl ear and leave no doubt in the minds of audience. The most distinct metaphor is comparing the failure of American government to keep ts promise towards the black Negroes, to a check returned by a bank, citing insufficient funds as a reason. Another impressive metaphor is his comparing the present status of Mississippi as ‘ sweltering with the heat of injustice’, while his dream compares the same Mississippi to an ‘ Oasis of freedom and justice †. His linguistic style is very picturesque, and that is what impresses the audience.For example, â€Å" On the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together on the table of rotherhood †. He communicates too many things in sentences which draw a picture in the minds of the audience. The sentences of this speech are seldom long, and never, very long. It is full of short, meaningful sentences. This is another example of excellent use of languag e. Non violence : Martin Luther King has strongly advocated non violence means as a tool for the fight towards freedom. Memories of the brutalities of world war II ( world war II ) and the success of non violence ( Mahatma Gandhi ) as a tool to ring political changes in India, were still afresh in the minds of people.This concept was immediately embraced in America also. Inclusion of specific instruction to fight in a non violent way, made his speech more effective and more acceptable. National flavor : Martin Luther King talks of each and every corner of the nation, by naming it. This adds a national dimension to his speech. There is hardly any region which he has not included in his speech. This helps in making a very wide, national impact.The TV audience : The TV audience must have also been mesmerized by the huge number of people which had gathered at Lincoln Memorial grounds on that day. It compromised of whites also. Inclusion of white people must have made a positive impact i n favor of King’s demands, in the minds of TV audience. The erect posture of King, coupled with oozing self confidence must have boosted the spirits of all listeners and spectators. â€Å" I have a dream â€Å", is a great speech even for all times in future !!

The Report for the Task Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Report for the Task - Assignment Example Metal direct places prices on the basis of the daily stock price for silver while Rooksons considers a fixed price for silver that is reviewed quarterly. By offering to work on the basis of a fixed price for silver, which is reviewed on a quarterly basis, Rooksons presents a better deal. According to the survey the company carried out of 200 adult travelers while on the system at peak times, the major factors that may influence how safe customers feel when travelling on the service include: Of the three factors; travel time, number of people travelling together (trips) and reliability, only the number of people travelling together (trips) has an association with ratings of safety on the system. The estimated safety/ the rating likely to be given by a customer, who has travelled for 23 minutes, made 36 trips in the last month and gave a score of 6 for reliability is computed to be 5.252. The forecasts on safety ratings from the model are likely to be more reliable if the numbers of trips the respondents make using the system increases every month. â€Æ' The sales figures for the past thirty days reveal that Men’s Outlet Clothing is experiencing contractions in the business. There is no consistency in the increase of the company’s sales in the five weeks. From the model, the sales figures are dependent on time. There is a significant negative relationship between the sales figures of the company and time. The sales figures of Men’s Outlet clothing reduce as days increase. The recent reduction in sales in the last thirty days can be attributed to time. A closer examination of the daily sales shows that the sales will be lower on Tuesday and Wednesday. The pattern is anticipated to remain the same in the coming weeks with the sales still being lower on Tuesday and Wednesday. From the examination of the recent sales, there is no proof that there is any correlation between the low sales and the number of full-time sales staff. Men’s

Environmental Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Environmental Strategies - Essay Example The results are analyzed in relation with the discussions that were explained in literature review section. Based on the discussions made on global warming and its effects, both the organizations agreed to the fact that global warming is a significant problem and believe that it is important for them to act on it with immediate effect. As a service provider for Network Rail, Atkins limited believes that public is the major contributor for global warming. They suggest that with proper usage of rail networks, the usage of cars and trucks to travel can be avoided to a great extent and thereby, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. The organizational heads believe that, because of recession in current economy, the issues related to environmental changes have lost their limelight and have taken a back step. With the climatic change meet scheduled to happen at Copenhagen in November, clients and service providers believe that the global warming issues will again be under the scanner. They expect the meeting to design long term plans to achieve the goal of reducing global emissions by 80% from the current level in 2050. On organizational perspective, as an example of companies practicing new strategies with the primary focus both on environment and customer, the rail network organization has come up with an A2B strategy for their business. By this strategy, they have kept the mitigation of climate change effects as one of the top requirements, on par with cost and maintenance activities. Based on the argument produced by Arvin Lazar regarding climate change becoming one of the top most agenda for organizations, the two organizations have different opinions on this issue. Being a part of the government of UK, Network rail has taken into consideration the environmental impact by green house gases, in their funding strategy. They have organized an environmental committee to promote them to a state where they have a clearer idea about the environmental impact caused by them. Whereas on the other hand, the contractors are concerned more about the quality of the product they deliver rather than climate change. They prioritize issues based on the client needs and believe that climate change would be considered as a top priority in the near future. On an introductory note, we can summarize the issues that the contractors and the client are challenged by implementing the environmental change strategies in their respective system. For the client, implementing the environmental strategies is in the pipeline but the only drawback they are facing is a failure of an estimation of the cost required to do the same. The contractors, due to recession are in a state of implementing environmental strategy only on compulsion from the client and hence it is yet to become their prime motive. Since there are no set of standards on implementing the strategies, both the clients and contractors believe that the implementation is not a onetime process. Government The government has introduced a program called Climate Change Program (CCP) to reduce Carbon content emission levels. But then, as (David 2008) suggests, the above program will not affect greatly on reducing the percentage of emissions. The contractors agree with this thought as their main goal is quality of work rather than leverage of taxes. The client side analysis shows that they believe the rules are only just to comply and suggest that legislations in Scotland have to certain extent,

Comparative Analysis of Empolyee's Job Satisfaction in Pakistani Banks Essay

Comparative Analysis of Empolyee's Job Satisfaction in Pakistani Banks - Essay Example This paper endeavors to find out the level of employees job satisfaction among three of the Pakistans top commercial banks by conducting the research survey and performing statistical techniques to judge the correlation and level of significance for the factor. Work has also been done to find out those factors which are resulting in satisfaction or dissatisfaction among the employees. Employees satisfaction has become one of the important fundamental rules to become successful in this highly competitive business environment for any organization. In a country like Pakistan, there is special need to identify the level of employees job satisfaction especially in growing sector of banking. Three leading commercial banks with different branches have been chosen for the research survey of employees satisfaction. For the purpose of this research, 100 respondents were randomly selected from different branches of banks in Lahore. Overall, the results have been found positive as far as job satisfaction among the employees is concerned. Most of the employees are satisfied working for these banks, satisfied with attitude of management, satisfied with their supervisors etc. Salary packages and other benefits are the factors in which employees are dissatisfied. This dissertation also contains the comparative analysis of employees job satisfaction among those banks. The different aspect of this dissertation is that this kind of research has never been conducted before related with these domestic banks in Pakistan. The following dissertation outlines the literature review, aims, methodology, empirical research analysis and finally containing the conclusion and some useful recommendation. In this chapter, a general description of the background of our field of study and the developments taking place in the field, followed by the problems will be discussed. Then, we will explain the aims and objectives of the dissertation. The business world has changed and

How the Mongol Empire Conquered Topography Essay

How the Mongol Empire Conquered Topography - Essay Example That is to say, the people living within this landlocked area have historically been bestowed with a choice of inhabiting three biomes: Desert, Mountains, or cold Taga. As these are similarly difficult to settle in and survive, the Mongols led nomadic patterns along the steppe - those mid-areas at the cusp of Mountain plateaus, off the lines of parched expanses. This steppe of the Gobi desert can be characterized as rocky lands covered in layers of sand. The Mongol civilization developed as one of the world's first nomadic groups, cradled between mountain and desert. But here is where also developed one of Asia's most powerful empires. The contradiction is intriguing. What would nomadic tribes endlessly wandering undulating terrain have to do with the powerful Mongol Empire, which under the rule of Genghis Khan, moved armies across huge expanses of terrain, despite difficult topography, to conquer adjacent civilizations to the east and west Many maintain that was precisely the work of Genghis Khan and his closest successors, including Kublai Khan. Indeed, the height of the Mongols really only lasted from the 13th to the 14th century. Other factors pertaining to how the Mongols dealt with their geography come into play, for example, the methods they used for centuries to move across terrain, climate patterns, and population density. For centuries Mongols were known as pastoralists and nomads. Mongol tribes appeared around 500 BC, already carrying their proportion of horses.1 They wandered, while in nearby lands of China, people were beginning their Imperial Era as early as 220 BC.2 On the steppe, the Mongols herded cattle along Gobi oases, seldom traveling in clans larger than one or two families.3 In comparison to the frozen Mongol development, civilization boomed quite effortlessly south of the steppe. Within the fertile river basins of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, China's multiple units successfully accommodated a mixed economy of commerce, farming, handicrafts and pastoralism. Internal competition also allowed science and technology as well as literature and art to thrive on the East Asian Mainland. This was known as "a hundred flowers blossoming" (baijia zhengming, literally "a grand song contest with one hundred contenders").4 But meanwhile in nomadic ambling across a rocky desert, trudging through shifting sands, the Mongols carried out their civilization, seemingly without a trace. For hundreds of years, up to 600-800 A.D., the Mongols had still left little evidence of their cultural existence, in terms of pottery or cultivation, and settled in not a single village.5 It has been said that Genghis Khan made the Moguls a strong empire by first unifying the Mongolian tribes. Previously known as Tem Jin, then "Granted the title Genghis Khan, he reorganized the Mongolian military and established the civil laws of his empire. His reforms included breaking tribal armies, implementing a meritocracy, developing a cavalry and a code of written laws".6 The interesting aspect of this quotation is in the explication of tribal activities. By converting many tribes into a single unified people, and then extinguishing individual clan ties, Genghis Khan ensured that the Mongols would become an empire by removing all

Sales Force Compensation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sales Force Compensation - Coursework Example The features of the Compensation Plan of Hindustan Unilever are cited below: - 1) The first feature is Salesman of the Month which aims to reward the best salesman in the organization. It is completely a performance based reward awarded to the best salesman. This award is given when the employee meets its target or exceeds it. 2) The second feature is Customer delight. This is also a reward that is based on the performance of the employee. The reward is presented to the employee keeping in view his dealings with the customers, both internal and external (Hindustan Unilever Limited, 2013a). 3) The third feature is an A-T book which records all the achievements of the employees and at the end of a quarter rewards the employees who succeeds by maximum achievements. This is a good way public recognition (Hindustan Unilever Limited, 2013a). 4) The fourth feature is TOTB, which means ‘think outside the box’ (Manwani, 2014). This reward is given to that employee who comes up with new ideas and suggestions to enhance the business of the organization. 5) The fifth feature is On the Spot award. This is a very special award in HUL. The award is given to those employees for their on the spot attitude towards a particular situation, which gives a lot of honor to the employees. 6) The sixth feature is Target Commission, which gives monetary benefit to the employees. Here, the employees get a percentage (for example, 2% or 4%) of the target amount, if fulfilled (Hindustan Unilever Limited, 2013a). The higher the volume of sales, the higher the commission received. For any kind of reward, the employees must possess a positive attitude towards fulfilling its target. They must be self-motivated, enthusiastic, energetic, and focus-oriented in order to qualify for the rewards. The behaviors those are required for the above mentioned rewards are mentioned accordingly as follows; 1) Salesman of the Month- This is

Management measures Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management measures - Research Paper Example However, the education system cannot be blamed entirely for this improper mismanagement of personal money, since improper money management is a personal decision. Besides, there are many institutions that should guide an individual on proper time management. This paper analyses how improper money management has affected youths adversely, and what has caused this. The educational system and the interplay of many factors have contributed to these rising cases. These factors include; lack of parental guidance, dysfunctional family units and the economy of the nation. The way society treats suicide varies widely depending on the culture and religion of the affected. All in all, many cultures view taking one’s own life as improper and unjustified. Suicide is a culmination of life frustrations and suffering, whereby, an individual opts to take his/ her life so as to avoid these frustrations. Can this be attributed to improper money management solely? The answer is no. It is true tha t improper mismanagement of money in the society has led to these individuals opting to commit suicide but still life is a struggle, and by missing money does not mean that one should opt for suicide. The educational system mould individuals to be noteworthy managers of time and resources. However, much of this emphasis on money management comes later in life. It is rare for schools to teach pupils in elementary and high school on money management since these students are far from earning. Much of the emphasis is during college and university life. Depending on the individual, this may be sufficient or insufficient in molding life decisions. The educational system has changed very much, in that students are completing school young and most of these students are thrown into the world as young and inexperienced people. They end up earning good salaries, but, due to their inexperience, they spend it unwisely and do not make wise life decisions. This can be blamed on the educational sys tem. Back then, students would complete school fairly older, and this ensured that they had a sense of maturity going into the outside world. These students would be able to handle the rigors and demands of the post-school life, and this ensured that they would be able to spend their money wisel

Cover Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Cover Letter - Essay Example Apart from my degree certificate from one of the most respected colleges in the country, I also have various talents that can be of use to your organization. To mention a few, I am quite conversant with the yoga techniques, which were some of the requirements in your advertisement. I can comfortably offer yoga training to the rest of the employees. I am also good in volleyball and good in netball. Moreover, I am a fast as well as accurate writer and learner. I have good leadership qualities and I attended a leadership-training program while I was in college. My interpersonal skills are enviable. However, all these certificates are attached to my CV. What attracted me most to you organization is the great match that does exist between my talents and your requirements. Have full assurance that I will transform your company to being a top performer, with the theme of teamwork being the operational theme. Additionally, your compensation is competitive. I will be more than happy to work with

The Securities and Exchange Commission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Securities and Exchange Commission - Essay Example The International Monetary Fund approximated â€Å"more than $1 trillion on toxic assets and from bad loans† were lost by big western banks â€Å"from January 2007 to September 2009† (Reuters 1). The individual losses and exposures were undisclosed by these institutions in order â€Å"to prevent ‘runs’ on their banks or trading against their positions by their competitors in the markets† which can further escalate their losses (Dobbs & Minyard 1). Hence, what the banks and other companies/institutions did was to refrain from lending money â€Å"among themselves or to other businesses† since they were uncertain as to their trading partners’ financial health and considered that â€Å"the risk of loss was too high,† opting to preserve their cash to compensate for any probable future losses (Dobbs & Minyard 1). The â€Å"sources of liquidity† was said to have desiccated for a number of companies with capital markets failing to perform properly (Dobbs & Minyard 1). This resulted to breakdown and bankruptcies of influential companies or â€Å"land-rich/cash-poor situation† for energy companies (Dobbs & Minyard 1). The global economy then was said to be in recession as â€Å"the financial markets seized† (Dobbs & Minyard 1). ... SEC 1). The federal statutes and rules require companies to have â€Å"full disclosure and transparency† whenever it â€Å"sells stocks or bonds to the public† (Johnson 993), or to supply â€Å"a detailed public disclosure document† to both â€Å"investors and regulators† (Securities Act of 1933  §Ã‚ § 5, 10, 15 U.S.C.  §Ã‚ § 77e, 77j (2006); 17 C.F.R. pt. 230 (2011), whenever private businesses make public offerings (Johnson 993). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviews â€Å"these disclosure documents,† which in the case of Groupon, the SEC they required the latter to revise its disclosures in order to improve their accuracy (U.S. SEC, Letter from Larry Spirgel 1-14). This requirement however is not applicable to private placements wherein â€Å"a company sells an investment outside of the normal public securities markets† (Securities Act of 1933  § 4(2), 15 U.S.C.  § 77d(2); 17 C.F.R.  § 230.506 (2011)), which often times evade examination by federal and state regulatory bodies (Johnson 151). Because these placements are private, they are concealed (Johnson 993) and the issuers tend to divulge â€Å"far less information to investors† than that required for public offerings (SEC v. Ralston Purina Co., 346 U.S. 119, 125-26 (1953) and SEC rule 506 under 17 C.F.R.  § 230.506). Issuers also divulge this information â€Å"only to qualified investors† (17 C.F.R.  § 230.506 and 17 C.F.R.  § 230.501(a) (2011)). â€Å"Regulators and even academics have little or no access to the private placement disclosures† (Johnson 993). Private placements are also said not to be liquid, â€Å"difficult to price,† and bear significant risks (Johnson

What I Have Learned Essay Example for Free

What I Have Learned Essay The past three weeks I can say that I have learned quite a lot, I never really thought I could understand what entailed through organized crime. There are many different attributes that were involved to form organized crime. Without knowing exactly what those attributes are you would never be able to figure out what it takes to organize crime or even get why they call it organized crime. I would say to myself why do these mafia and big groups put so much time and effort into making sure that there plans to through and who heads up their plans because of the path that has been set from organized crime. I will be explaining the major areas concerning the foundations of organized crime. What two definitions best fits organized crime, how organized crime gained a foothold in the United States, How organized crime groups sought to influence government and the organization of organized crime groups in the post-Prohibition era. Conventional criminals are different from the persons that are involved with organized crime through variety and a larger scale. Organized crime has no political agenda. In every group or family there is a main boss, underboss and follows down the ladder. There are qualifications to be accepted into any crime family or group. In these groups they feel as if they are untouchable that they do not need to follow any laws, people must follow their laws. In any group they must keep their group strong so they have to constantly find new members, they only look for individuals who they think will be beneficial to their group. When a member is finally accepted into a family there are still rules and regulations that must be followed, if these rules are not followed your consequences could be death. Every person and/ or organization will have their own definition when it comes to organized crime it is like terrorism; every organization has its own definition to what consists of a terrorist. According to Donald Creesy organized crime is any crime that is committed by a person occupying in an establishment of labor, a position that is designed for a person from the commission to be that of a corrupter, a position for the corruptee, and one position for the enforcer. Donald Creepy’s definition I think is actually a good definition that truly can identify was the commission’s main task was for. I mean if you think about it the commission will find someone that is behind the lines of a company that they need ties with to get them the information and goods they need for the mob. Michael Maltz has a different perspective on the definition for organized crime. He says that organized crime is a crime that is made from more than one person, and the persons that are involved stay to be associated with each other for the purpose to succeed in committing the crimes. Michael Maltz also has a great definition because he wants every person that is involved with organized crime to be found at fault. For myself I would have to agree with Maltz because I do believe that every person that is involved with organized crime should be found guilty. How do you think you are going to stop a problem from happening if you do not try to find every person who is involved guilty; everything would stay the same and the matter would not be fixed. The attributes of organized crime are as follows has no political goals, is hierarchical, has limited or exclusive membership, constitutes a unique subculture, perpetuates itself, exhibits a willingness to use illegal violence, is monopolistic, and is governed by explicit rules and regulations. These eight attributes pretty much can show you how if they are not implemented then a group’s plan will not go as planned. As a part of the set of attributes it is only natural for a group to make sure that when they set up a plan every step that was made should be followed.

Relationship Between Inflation and Wage Rates

Relationship Between Inflation and Wage Rates The R square is also known as the goodness of fit. The R- square is found between zero and one. If the R-square is close to one, it is a good fit and if it is near to zero, it is not a good fit. Now, if the R-square is equal to one, it is a perfect fit (R-square=1). The formula for R-square is explained sum of square divided by the total sum square. R -Square = ESS/TSS In this model, there are 59 observations where the R-square is 0.512 and in terms of percentage it is 51.2 which is a bit low. The value 53 is obtained by (58-5) and 58 is obtained by (59-1). When R square comes out to be a positive figure, it is recognised as the â€Å"coefficient of multiple correlation†. The R square is 51.2 which is low and is not a good fit because data was not available in the wage rate index in Mauritius before 1992. Therefore, the inflation rate can be resolved with government intervention. The adjusted R square is 0.466 and the root MSE is 0.42203. Blue means Best linear Unbiased Estimator. BLUE comes from the model of Gauss Markov Theorem. Firstly, Best is about the variance which comes out to be the smallest in value. Secondly, Linear means that the function should be a linear one. Thirdly, Unbiased means that the expected beta hat should be equal to the value of the real beta. Finally, it is an efficient one as it has the least variance in the model. Multicollinearity came out from the research work of Ranger Frisch. The VIF is a good way to detect multicollinearity. If the VIF is more than 10, then there is the problem of multicollinearity. In our model the VIF is less than 10. If in multicollinearity, the R-square is greater the model will be good. Table 4.5 is on Multicollinearity Test used VIF Factor Variable VIF 1/VIF In IMP 9.5 0.18603 In PPI 8.69 0.17937 In EXP 8.54 0.11704 In GDP 4.36 0.229406 In INF 1.1 0.908899 Autocorrelation is â€Å"correlation between members of observations ordered in time [as in time-series data] or space [as in cross sectional data]†. Autocorrelation is concerned with time series analysis. Autocorrelation can be positive as well as negative in figures. In a simpler way, it can be understood that the disturbance term is not affected by other mode of observation. Ho: no serial correlation H1: serial correlation Table 4.6 on Heteroskedasticity and serial correlation TEST CHI2 PROB >CHI2 DF Heteroskedasticity 0.19 0.6614 Serial correlation 1.043 0.3071 1.00 When the P-value is greater than 0.1, we should accept the null hypothesis (Ho) .In other words, there will be no serial correlation. Ho : Homoscedasticity H1: Heteroscedasticity A second test is for the problem of heteroscedasticity. The above table is showing a probability value which is lower than 0.1, meaning that heteroscedasticity is present in the model; the estimators are not BLUE and thus need to be corrected by taking robust standard errors. 4.4  Regress and Analysis Table 4.7  Regression and Analysis Table 4.7 Dependent wage Dependent: Wage Variables Coefficients P-value Std Err t-ratio In INF 1.152907 0.096 0.709871 1.62 In EXPORT 2.4042 0.017 0.971344 2.48 In IMPORT -3.44879 0.000 0.541179 -6.37 In GDP 0.500892 0.115 0.312145 1.6 In PPI 3.3688 0.000 0.667596 5.05 CONSTANT 2.904849 0.492 4.200478 0.69 Number of observations 59 F( 5,53) 11.12 Prob> F 0 R-Squared 0.512 It has been stated that when there is an increase in inflation rate, the wage rate should be increased by 1.152907. It is a positive sign. This is so because both in sugar sector and manufacturing sector where most of the people are employed, the wage rate is rising. Nowadays even the tourism and financial sector are moving in a positive trend and are employing more workers. The wage rate is increasing because they are making profits and the trade union is bargaining for higher wages. The inflation rate is significant and the p value is 0.096. As the p value is below 0.1 we will reject the null hypothesis. In Oswald (1982) where the prices were increasing more than the wage but in the end wages have been increased with the bargaining power of the trade union. Apart from inflation, there are many factors that affect the wage rate such as social and politics. The government of Mauritius has set up the Pay Research Bureau (PRB) and the National Remuneration Board (NRB) to determine the wage rate of the civil servants and those people working in the private sectors. In Mauritius, every five years, the PRB gives a rise in the wage rate so that the employees can be compensated for the increase in the inflation rate. When the PRB does not make any effect on the wage rate, the government might or should move towards the national minimum wage scheme. It is argued in Mauritius the wage-price spiral holds, as there is higher inflation rate in the country where the workers get an increase in their wage rate. The government of Mauritius compensates the employees by giving them wage compensation which is calculated by the PRB (Pay Research Bureau) on a five years basis. As, the nominal wage increase, it can be seen that people tend to demand more, whereby price will increase again and in the end, once again, they will be compensated for their loss in their purchasing power. This is similar to the theory of Blanchard (1986) where he reports that as soon as there is a rise in the aggregate demand, the price level goes up and the employees wage rate have been increased. It has been shown in his theory that wage price spiral dynamics is found in all economy around the world when the decisions of the price and wage rate are not taken at the same time. In Mauritius, the PRB (Pay Research Bureau) reports to increase and compensate the wage r ate come after five years. Therefore, the price and wage rate decision are not taken at the same time in Mauritius. Therefore, Mauritius is influenced by wage-price spiral where wage rate of an employee should be increased when it is affected by the inflation rate. Moreover, there has been an increase in the export prices, so it is absolute automatic that the wage rate should rise by 2.4042. It is a positive figure and it is also significant. The alternative hypothesis should be accepted. The products that Mauritius exports are fisheries, sugar, flowers, clothes, jewellery and others. Mauritius exports most of its products to the European countries in the world. In the Manufacturing sector, in the 1970 Mauritius had an export processing scheme to export clothes abroad which were quite helpful. Apart from the EPZ scheme, Mauritius was also focusing on the MEDIA (Mauritius Export Development and Investment Authority) 1984 where it helps Mauritius to export its products abroad more easily as well as help investors to invest in Mauritius. In 1997, the export of the products of EPZ has helped to bring a rise in the GDP. In Subramanian and Roy (2001) reports that as Mauritius was exporting its products, it helps the Mauritian people to have a better standard of living and leads towards economic growth. In the past, the government was also giving subsidy on export to decrease the effect of implicit tax on the goods that were exported. As Mauritius is exporting more products to abroad, money is coming into the country and the companies are making huge amounts of profits. The export companies are making huge amount of profits by sending their products abroad. As, the companies are maximising their profits, thus the company is more open to pay the labour a higher wage rate. The Export leads to economic growth so the wage rate of all employees should be increased. Furthermore, it has been stated in the theory that when there is an increase in the GDP, the wage rate should be increased so that people can have a better standard of living. According to Marinakis (1980), when there is an increase in the GDP, the wage rate has moved up in the Latin America. Unfortunately, it is not possible in the case of Mauritius. It is quite surprising to note that the GDP will not increase wage rate in Mauritius. The wage rate will not be increased by 0.500892 which has a positive sign and the p value is 0.115 which is non-significant as the p-value is greater than 0.1. Therefore, the p value is moderately important as it is closer to 0.1. The wage rate will not increase in Mauritius because it is the Pay Research Bureau (PRB) and the National Remuneration Board (NRB) do not depend on the GDP rate to bring an increase in the wage rate by giving wage compensation to the employees. The wage compensation is decided through the tripartite meeting in Mauritius. In t he Journal of Sobhee (2009) shows that GDP has increased by 3 % in 2005. An increase in GDP rate in Mauritius will not bring an increase in the wage rate. GDP has some shortcomings which cannot be ignored. Firstly, GDP may not be recorded such as the underground economy and poor data collection. In Mauritius, the wage rate index data is available since 1992. Before 1992, there was no data on the wage rate index which shows a poor data collection was in practice in Mauritius before 1992. Nevertheless, it has to be highlighted that the import turns out to be negative -3.44879 as it was expected. The p value is 0 and it is significant .It has become negative because revenue are going abroad from Mauritius. Most of the products that Mauritius imported come from Europe and from different parts of the world such as China, India and among others. In Sargan (1980), the government has put into practice the floating exchange rate where he varied the exchange rate system and keep hold of the import prices. This is different from the analysis as there has been the use of indirect taxes and ad-valorem tax rate in the other economy. The imports prices turn out to be negative because we are importing more products and less goods are being produced locally. Also, wages are rising more than the level of productivity level in the country, such as in the EPZ sector. Therefore, the wage rate will not be increased as the import figure is -3.44879. Factor price equalisation has to be taken into account in this study. Samuelson (1986) uses the theory of Heckscher –Ohlin (1919) to introduce the factor price equalisation model o show the one to one relationship between relative commodity price and relative factor price. There are three assumptions which are as follows: Firstly, there should be country A and country B that are producing both goods, the same level of technologies and there is equalisation of the prices of the product in both countries. Let’s assume that Mauritius is export capital-intensive products such as clothing and import labour intensive products, for instance, food. The price of the import will be higher in Mauritius compared to the other nation as Mauritius would have produced and export the product if the price was lower, that is, comparative advantage. Mauritius is trading more; this will cause a fall in the wage rate of the country. Finally, when there is an increase in the producer price, the wage rate should be moved up by 3.3688. This is so because the trade union especially in the public sector and the sugar sector are very strong to bargain for a higher wage rate so that people have a better standard of living on this blue planet. Therefore, the producer can charge for a higher price for their products. Even in the private sector the wage rate is increased by the trade union and the forces of demand and supply. The trade union has bargained to bring a rise in the wage rate and it has increased as they were having more money into their hands as the wage rate has goes up. In Mauritius, the producer price is useful for the sellers as well as the buyers to take precaution in advance against the coming inflation rate. The producer price will also be increased when the country is moving towards economic growth. In Borum (1981), the analysis is the same and there has been the use of anti-inflation programme to dea l with inflation rate. The difference is that the wage rate is calculated in hourly earnings and in Mauritius it is based on normal hours of work. Even, the producer price turns out to be significant and the alternative hypothesis will be accepted. The producer price index shows the producer price meaning the producer inflation. As the producer price increases, they get more profits and thus the trade unions can bargain so as some of these profits are given to labour in terms of higher wage rate. 4.5  The Error Correction Model (ECM) As a next step, an Error correction model, made famous by Nobel Prize Winners Engle and Granger, is presented to capture the short-run effects of the variables in the model. The table below illustrates that most of the variables in the model do have a short-run effect on the wage rate of the country; in fact, inflation, GDP and PPI are returning a positive sign on the coefficient while import on its turn is showing a negative sign. ERROR CORRECTION MODEL VARIABLES Coefficient P-value Std Err t-ratio dIninf 1.945232 0.103 1.171716 1.66 dInexp -0.36393 0.942 4.969895 -0.07 dInimp -0.02609 0 0.002846 -9.17 dIngdp 12.01238 0.007 4.30228 2.79 dInppi 0.003162 0.018 0.001292 2.45 Ut-1 -0.17705 0 0.022963 -7.71 Constant -4.08079 0.715 11.09744 -0.37 Observations 58 R-squared 32.65 Adj R-squared 0.7691 Prob>F 0 Standard errors in parentheses *** p Moreover, the ECM variable (Ut-1) has the expected negative and significant sign, meaning that any errors happening in the model in the short-turn are indeed converging towards the long-run co-integrated relationship at a speed of 17.7%. It has to be taken into consideration that the inflation, import, exports, producer prices which seem to have a short term effect. CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.0  Conclusion As a conclusion, it has to be noted that when there is an increase in the inflation rate, the wage rate should be increased. The government should give wage compensation to the employees so that they can have a better standard of living and satisfy their basic needs and wants. In Mauritius, the government has created institutions such as the PRB to bring an increase in the wage rate on an every five years basis and when the institution does not work properly and effectively, the government should shift to the minimum wage scheme. The results that have been obtained from the variables are positive except for the GDP rate. The econometric model that has been used is a log-log model to show the relationship between wage and other economic variables such as import, export, producer prices and others. The variables which are statistically significant are inflation, import, export, producer prices and the GDP is an exception which is statistically insignificant. In Mauritius, it is confirmed that wages are affected by the prevailing inflation rate and holds a wage-price spiral model. The government needs to get involved to control the inflation rate in order to establish a balance in the society as well as the country can make progress in the future and moves towards economic growth. The government intervention is needed as the R-squared is 51.2% which is low. The government should design some policies to combat the inflation rate. 5.1  Recommendations 5.1.1  Import inflation Mauritius is small country which depends on high level of import products. There will be imported inflation in the country. The government should find a way to import fewer products from abroad. The government should give some incentives and facilities to the people so that the products can be made locally instead of importing them. Thus, the inflation rate will be in control. The government can apply the import restrictions policies so as to prevent import and this can lead to higher wages. The can control import by using quota, tariff and other restrictions to reduce the inflation rate in a country. A quota is a barrier that is imposed on the goods that is brought in the country and sells in other markets. A quota will be helpful for the domestic industries and infant industries as they will be protected and they can increase the wage rate of their workers as well as the country will moves towards a good balance of payments. Export subsidy can also be utilised. In an export subsidy the payment is not delayed by doing an indirect payment and the government helps the foreigners by giving them subsidy, loans and other packages to be attracted to the country’s exports. 5.1.2  Fiscal policy and Monetary policy Fiscal policy can also be used to deal with the inflation rate. Fiscal policy will bring an alteration in the aggregate demand. The fiscal policy is concerned with the tax system. For example, if the government can bring an increase in the tax rates, this can bring a reduction in the demand of the economy. Monetary policy can also be used. The monetary policy deals with the rate of interest. The monetary policy will lead to a fall in the money supply and the interest rates will be increased. When the interest rates will go up, people will prefer to save their money. The purchasing power in the market will decline which in the end can bring a decrease in the inflation rate. By controlling the inflation rate in the country, the people can satisfy their basic needs and wants as there wage rate has been increased and will not be affected by a larger amount as the government is monitoring the inflation rate by the use of fiscal and monetary policy. 5.1.3 Income policy Furthermore, the income policy is another way to deal with the inflation rate. A proper income policy has to be determined to halt the wage price-spiral from increasing. If the inflation rate is based on cost push nature, the government will use the income policy. The government and the trade union should set a meeting to negotiate and cooperate together to bring an increase in the wage rate. A rise in the wage rate should be given when the level of productivity is rising. In the case of the EPZ sector, the wage rate was increasing more than the level of productivity which was not effective at all. When the productivity is rising and the wage rate is increasing at the same pace, this will have little effect on the inflation rate. A good work is being done by the labour party in Mauritius. As it has clearly stated in the budget of 2013 presented by the Honourable Xavier Luc Duval, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development where he said that with the help of PRB and Errors Omiss ion and Anomalies Commission, the wage rate will be increased at around 25 %. The government is spending Rs 6 billion to help consumers to have a good purchasing power. Another policy is concerned with the price policy. The price policy is where the government can controlled the price level and what price is going to be fixed in the market. 5.1.4 Maximum price The producer price can be control if the government uses the maximum price. The government put a maximum price where the producer cannot exceed the price level. This will bring price stability in an economy and the consumer will be protected from their purchasing power not be eroded. 5.2  Problems and Limitations The problem that has been arisen is that there was difficulty in finding data on the wage rate index in Mauritius. The data on the wage rate index was available in Mauritius since 1992. Thus, it has to be converted in terms of quarter to get a smooth graph and to do its regression. Due to the unavailability of data, the R squared is low which shows a poor fit. Therefore, the result should be decided in the light of the problem that has occurred. The limitation is that it is not always that inflation rate affects wage rate. There are other factors such as exchange rates, public utility rates, marks-ups and others which also affect the wage rate which has been showed in the journal of Marinakis (1980). It has also to be noted that even the political and social factors are used to decide the wage rate.

Whitey’s: The Bar amidst the Prairies :: Free Descriptive Essay About A Place

Whitey’s: the Bar amidst the Prairies Before going to the legendary Whitey’s in East Grand Forks, MN, I had thought it was bar patroned by middle-aged people. There didn’t seem to be as many college students going there. When writing about this place, I positioned myself in a neutral ground. I am from Grand Forks, and lived there for ten years, but attend college at NDSU, not UND (NDSU’s rival). I came to see or know Whitey’s through my older sister and friends who frequented there and I actually went there for my sophomore year of homecoming with friends when it was a restaurant as well. It is strange to write about the bar now that both the bar and I have changed. What I found by visiting Whitey’s was some the joy of watching others. Listening to their conversations, hearing their whispers, feeling like a part of something in that bar was fulfilling. I came to find Whitey’s as being a place of fulfillment and satisfaction not only for the alumni of UND or the regulars, but for myself as an outsider as well. I felt comfortable at this local nostalgic bar. When coming into this place, I felt a sense of comradry and affection. It was UND’s homecoming weekend, and this was the place to be for the alumni. The first thing you see when you walk into Whitey’s is the bar to your left, the bar down the aisle, and the pool tables to your right and left, different from most bars I have been to with the dance floor being the first thing you see. There are neon signs hanging behind the bar to your left giving specials on $1.50 pints of beer. As I glided in I could feel the reunion amongst the alumni and it almost became cozy to an outsider such as myself. It happened to be very cold outside, and very warm inside, furthering the sense of coziness. I sat at the bar farthest back with friends and began to try to understand and learn about the people around me, without interfering. The first person who caught my eye was a young man, probably late 20’s. He reeked of alcohol and walked in surrounded by friends coming down that long aisle that lead to the bar.

The Destruction of Female Possession in The English Patient Essay

In Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient we see a world completely ravaged by war. The land itself is damaged, sometimes beyond recognition as it is torn apart by bombs. Just as these human-made structures have faced the damage of imperialism, so have female bodies in the novel. Ondaatje creates several parallels between man’s attempt to â€Å"own† the land around him and his â€Å"ownership† of the female body. As we see in the novel, this attempt at ownership almost always ends in destruction, â€Å"war,† and often, death. What I believe Ondaatje is trying to present to us is the impossibility of â€Å"owning† something that should ultimately be free, such as the female body (or any body, for that matter.) Though some feminist theorists such as Lilijana Burcar have claimed Ondaatje’s novel perpetuates the idea of male ownership of female bodies, I believe we see several examples of female empowerment hidden throughout th e novel; examples of females outwardly rejecting such â€Å"ownership,† as Hanna refuses to be seen as a sexual object by Carravagio, and even changes her appearance to â€Å"defeminize† herself. We even see gender-roles reverse. The â€Å"male gaze† seems to apply not only to males, but to females as well as Hanna views the sapper, Kip, in a â€Å"feminized† and often â€Å"sexual† way. Most striking of all, however, is Ondaatje’s representation of the character Katharine as an almost voiceless physical body which is undoubtedly â€Å"owned† and consumed by Almasy’s desire. As we see, this â€Å"ownership† leads to what is arguably the biggest destruction in the novel: the destruction of both Katharine and Almasy altogether. Before focusing on the most extreme example of male ownership that is Almasy’s ownership of Katharine, I want to first exa... ...vere gender-divide that is only normally present in same-sex relationships. This along with Hana’s appreciation for her own body and sexuality show readers a new type of relationship. In this way, I feel Ondaatje’s novel is progressive and reflects several feminist values and ideals, though they are often hidden just below the surface. Works Cited Burcar, Lilijana. â€Å"Mapping the Woman’s Body in Ondaatje’s The English Patient† Postcolonialweb.org Bordo, S. 1993. "Feminism, Foucault, and the Politics of the Body." In C. Ramazanoglu, (Ed.): Up Against Foucault. Explorations of some Tensions between Foucault and Feminism. London and New York: Routledge.181 -202. Butler, J. 1990. Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London and New York: Routledge. Suleri, Sara. The Rhetoric of English India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Fighting for Equality and Freedom Essay -- American History Civil Righ

Across all nations and cultures, the enduring pursuit of equality in life seems global and timeless. Some would believe that their own country has achieved a true democracy with no residual inequalities of which to speak, while others know they are at the other end of the spectrum, enduring unjust laws that should not be bestowed on any human. Through the course of history many countries have fought for that democracy and all the equality that it implies. While some believe they have reached that goal, others continue to fight for the most basic human rights, even in this time of enlightenment. The journey each country takes on its road to that place may vary by origination, length, severity and outcome, but the goal seems to be the same. Looking at two such journeys through the writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. in his â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail† and from an excerpt of Aung San Suu Kyi’s In Quest of Democracy, the underlying theme of equality is thoug htfully penned with examples universally recognizable from each of their own perspectives, respectfully acknowledging their own histories, religions, and obstacles to illuminate the path toward that common goal of a just society despite unjust laws. In â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail,† King’s detailed writings demonstrate his understanding of the need to painstakingly explain his position to those controlling the unequal democracy under which he was being detained at that time. Even while writing of the history of his people as slaves, King skillfully avoids coming across as just another complainer, laying out the blunt truth as it was. He calls upon history to show that this never should have been in the first place, referencing the New Testament of the Bible ... ...rom suffering under unjust laws imposed by unfair rulers. Two people at different ages in their lives, different stages in their quests, of different histories and religions, one black, one Asian, one male, one female, with one goal for all. While Suu Kyi may one day be in a position to continue her fight, sadly the world lost King too soon. Their examples, as documented in their writings, of persistence, perseverance, and grounding in what is good and just for all mankind should be followed by all, to be benefited from by all. Works Cited King, Martin Luther, Jr. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail.† Reading the World: Ideas that Matter. Ed. Michael Austin. New York: Norton, 2007. 173-187. Print. Suu Kyi, Aung San. â€Å"From ‘In Quest of Democracy.’† Reading the World: Ideas that Matter. Ed. Michael Austin New York: Norton, 2007. 191-196. Print.

History Of Rock And Roll: The Beatles Essay

If there were would be one band that achieved fame more than any other else, this band is on the top of the list. This band reached the pinnacle and forever left their mark not just in the Rock and Roll scene but in the whole music industry. Not only did they made a lasting impact on music, but they also served as one of the most unforgettable people or group in the history of the world. Their music served influential and created a social impact as well. Composed of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, this group is arguably the most popular band of all time, the Beatles. THE BEATLES A group that originated in the small bars of Liverpool, the Beatles started off as one and only band who led the â€Å"British Invasion† into the United States. Their musical style can be easily attributed to the 1950s early rock and roll but eventually they grew into different genres that ranged from pop to psychedelic rock. They became trend-setters and their clothes, statements and styles became widely popular during that era. They even became a major influence in the 1960s’ social and cultural revolutions. â€Å"Their arrival in the United States marked such a wide recognition and frenzy. Like an approaching thunderstorm, the Beatles’ arrival in America was preceded by a few low rumbles and flashes of light, none of them giving more than the slightest hint of the potency to follow. Noting the saturation coverage in England of the Beatles’ Royal Command Performance two weeks earlier, Newsweek magazine offered one of the first American impressions of the band and its music. The tone of condescension and contempt in an article in the issue of November 18, 1963, would set a standard that virtually all American media would follow for months† (Goldsmith, 2004, p. 115) They have been one of the most successful bands commercially and has been noted as a critically acclaimed band that ruled the entire music scene. The Beatles has become the band that tops the charts among the best selling musical groups of all time. They had made almost more than 40 different songs that reached the top of the charts. And not were they only famous in the United States and the United Kingdom, but they were famous in almost every continent of the world. It has been estimated that they have already sold a billion records. The music of The Beatles displayed an array of songs depicting various messages and lyrics that ranged from different emotions. They were just made up of 2 guitars, 1 bass guitar and 1 drum set, though sometimes they use other musical instruments to create variations with their music. They also incorporated the Piano in some of their songs. The Beatles were influenced by R&B music and they kept on continuing to take different influences even if they have received initial success. Most of the time, they find new lyrical and musical ideas by listening to contemporary music. Some of these influences include Bob Dylan, who made an influence on songs as â€Å"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)†, and â€Å"You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away†. There are many other influential contemporary bands that made an impact on the Beatles, some of them are the Beach boys and the Byrds. The album of the Beach Boys’ named â€Å"Pet Sounds† was strongly liked by Paul McCartney and the band’s producer claimed that without that album, the album of the Beatles’ â€Å"Sgt. Pepper† won’t even exist as good as it did. While McCartney loved the Beach Boys, John Lennon gave high praise to the King of Rock, Elvis Presley. Lennon claimed that Elvis inspired him to buy records. He thought that the early music of Elvis was just phenomenal. John Lennon got hooked on Elvis’ beat music and when he hear the song â€Å"Heartbreak Hotel†, he wanted to fall in love with music and wanted to have something to do with it. The Beatles created variations with their music. They used sound effects but â€Å"Along with studio tricks such as sound effects, unconventional microphone placements, tape loops, double tracking and vari-speed recording, The Beatles began to augment their recordings with instruments that were unconventional for rock music at the time. These included string and brass ensembles as well as Indian instruments such as the sitar as in â€Å"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)† and the swarmandel as in â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†. They also used early electronic instruments such as the Mellotron, with which McCartney supplied the flute voices on the intro to â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†, and the ondioline, an electronic keyboard that created the unusual oboe-like sound on â€Å"Baby You’re a Rich Man†. Starting off with the utilization of a string quartet organized by George Martin with ideas form Paul McCartney on â€Å"Yesterday† during the year 1965, the Beatles spearheaded a modern kind of art song, represented by the arrangement of a double-quartet string on the song â€Å"Eleanor Rugby†, â€Å"She’s Leaving Home†, and â€Å"Here There and Everywhere† during the year 1966. McCartney was also inspired by the television performance of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 by Bach which in turn influenced him to utilize a piccolo trumpet on â€Å"Penny Lane’s† arrangement. Moving towards psychedelia with the songs â€Å"Tomorrow Never Knows† and â€Å"Rain† in the year 1966, while â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†, â€Å"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds†, and â€Å"I Am the Walrus† during 1967, the Beatles turned on a new leaf. Each member of the band provided almost an equal contribution. Due to the numerous songs, each member of the Beatles have created their own impact on songs whether be it heard with the rifts, the vocals, the beat or just simply by the over-all presence of the song. John Lennon and Paul McCartney provided the added lift with regards to ingenuity with their songs. Their capability to adapt with the times and even produce music that seems ahead of their time has made the Beatles as one of the best bands of all time in the world. Their performance style during the 60s’ somehow are just simple but very catchy. The crowds roar and women drool over the band member while listening to them rocking the stage. There are times where the Beatles are just performing at TV stations and most of the time they are also performing in huge stadiums, which is a first in the Rock and Roll scene. They spearheaded the stadium-performances which hosted magnanimous number of people, which by the way were all sold-out right from the get go. During the 70s, the Beatles somehow showed a correlation with art and even intertwined pop culture with mass media. Also, during one time in the 70s, they performed on one of the rooftops of a building. The crowd below listened and stopped and even caused mayhem. Police had to get up and fetch the Beatles while they were still singing â€Å"Get Back†. This is one of the most awesome performances that they have done. As the Beatles have mentioned themselves, the Beatles have been influenced by American music. One of the notable inspirations that they always mention is Elvis Presley. There’s no better influence other than the king of rock. Their music somehow professed a mixture of style and tempo of Gospel music and also a little bit of jazz. But all in all, they created a different and seemingly diverse music, a result of different influences. The Beatles reinvented social values in their music. Their style of Rock and Roll and Pop changed the social landscape. It is widely regarded that the Beatles were influenced by jack Kerouac. This American poet, writer and artist somehow made an impact on the band. â€Å"One of the key myths surrounding the Beatles’ is that their music was so artistically strong it could not fail to get to number one. This belief fails to take into account their huge ambition for fame and its rewards. In today’s usual reckoning of the Beatles as pop `artists’, we tend not to examine any of their baser motives, preferring to see them as purely motivated by a love of music and a need to communicate with the world. The Beatles themselves, it should be noted, have attempted to point out that not all their motives were pure. John in particular wielded the biggest attack against the Beatles myth – as he himself referred to it – in his 1970 Rolling Stone interview. To make it to the top he said you had to be a `bastard’ and the Beatles were in such a context the `biggest bastards on earth’. Albert Goldman’s The Lives Of John Lennon seems to have taken this remark to heart and pursued it relentlessly, missing the point of what John was trying to achieve with this comment. By making such knowingly sensational remarks, he sought to counter what he saw as widely held misconceptions of the Beatles. His remarks also served to emphasise that the Beatles were not gods, but ordinary human beings. It is from the last perspective that I have written this book – the Beatles not as four gods, but as four highly motivated, but otherwise normal, Liverpool lads. † (Rowley, 2002, p. 11). CONCLUSION If there would be one band that have made such a magnanimous impact all over the world, it has got to be the Beatles. Their musical style that ranged from variations of different genres displayed their flexibility. Their ability to adapt with the times and influence contemporary bands and the bands of today has been unmatched. Not only were they successful in the field of music but they also gained a huge following with regards to the trends that they have utilized. No other band sold more concerts or at least satisfied more people other than the Beatles. Their music has been a wonder of the world and still has that impact until today. The Beatles, unparalleled, unbeatable, unforgettable. They are just simply phenomenal. REFERENCES Goldsmith, M. (2004). The Beatles Come to America. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Rowley, D. (2002). Beatles for Sale: The Musical Secrets of the Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band