Thursday, January 30, 2020

Studying for a Degree Essay Example for Free

Studying for a Degree Essay The above report is based on research and analysis produced by the Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report comments on the advantages to the UK economy from people with a degree in terms of tax income and reduced unemployment. The report arranges an objective argument in from a number of authoratitive reports and sources, on whether higher education is a contributing to factor economic growth and whether it should receive support and investment. According to the report male graduates can expect to earn $208000 more than people without a degree. The benefits to the states are $95000 in tax income and reduced unemployment. The critic of the report Professor Allison Wolf does not think the OECD’s analysis and findings are inaccurate. She believes anything extra a graduate earns is not directly attributed to having a degree and therefore should not be subsidised by the government. Studying for a Degree: UK versus USA. Both the Kingdom and United States boast a pool of universities which are world renowned and among the best in the world. This is a brief summary of studying the benefits and disadvantages of studying at both .Tuition costs are significantly higher in the USA compared to the UK, on average the highest fees charged are $12000 in the UK compared with $50000 in the USA. However the UK offer student loans systems which is only paid back once graduates are earning  £21,000 or more, and many universities in the USA provide high levels of means tested financial support (Guardian, 2011) which student do not have to pay back, in an attempt by US universities to attract international talent. Course length also varies, UK degree courses are mainly taught over three years where as courses in the USA last 4 and even 5 years, increasing the cost of studying in the USA. (Word Count 323).

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Shakespeare And Anti-Semitism In The Merchant Of Venice Essay -- Merch

Anti-Semitism and the desecration of the Jewish population have been in existence for nearly five thousand years. In the Elizabethan era, a question of anti-Semitism invariably arises. In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, we find that one of the characters is the embodiment and expression of anti-Semitic attitude that is pervasive in Elizabethan society. "Anti-Semitism was an intricate part in Shakespeare's years. Jews were considered vile and scorned upon. Shakespeare presents Judaism as an 'unchangeable trait'" (Bloom 37). Shakespeare's age based their anti-Semitism on religious grounds because the Elizabethans inherited the fiction, fabricated by the early Church, that the Jews murdered Christ and were therefore in league with the devil and were actively working to subvert spread of Christianity. The religious grounds of this anti-Semitism means that if a Jew converted to Christianity, as Shylock is forced to do in The Merchant of Venice, then all will be forgiven as the repentant Jew is embraced by the arms of the all merciful Christian God of love. In fact, some Christian believed--as do some fundamentalist sects today--that the coming of the Kingdom of God was aided by converting the Jews to Christianity. Anti-Semitism in Shakespeare's time is portrayed in his masterpiece The Merchant of Venice. "Shylock the Jew, one of William Shakespeare's profoundly ambivalent villains, is strangely isolated" (Bloom 24). He is portrayed as a usurer: A leader of money on interest rather than a receiver of stolen goods. This concept will prove to the audience that the Jews are in fact "cheap" and have a frugal sense for possessions. It is an intriguing idea to think that even in Shakespeare's time, stereotyping was a mundane part of their lives. Shakespeare's anti-Semitism seems harsh, but shows that not all Jews are vile like most people believed in his time. Shylock is shown to be hard working (Goddard 5). Believe it or not, there is some compassion for the desecration of the Jews in Shakespeare's play. Antonio recognizes the futility of opposing Shylock's passion with reason. "He seems the depository of the vengeance of his race" (Goddard 11). Antonio consequently appears as a charitable Christian who lends money freely, in contrast to the miserly an... ...an something like Marlowe's Barabas. But at the same time, it seems clear (to me, at least) that Shakespeare creates Shylock against an historical and cultural backdrop that was intensely hostile to Jews. Given this social context and historical tradition, it should come as no surprise if some of this hostility against Jews should infiltrate Shakespeare's work. Shakespeare was, after all, a commercial dramatist and many commercial dramatists make their livings by pandering to, rather than working against, conventional social mores. To make the claim that Shakespeare creates Shylock within an anti-Semitic culture, and therefore invests Shylock with biased anti-Semitic attributes, does not impugn the artistry of the drama. Nor does such a claim implicate Shakespeare himself as a monstrous anti-Semite. All this claim suggests is that Shakespeare, like most of the rest of his society, was hostile toward Jewry for religious and cultural reasons, and that hostility is revealed most clearly in Shylock. What these pages have tried to trace is the possible, or perhaps the probable, relationship between what was happening in Shakespeare's day and what is happening in Shakespeare's play.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Negative Effects of the Internet

I wholly disagree with the notion that â€Å"When you give everyone a voice and everyone power, the system usually ends up in a really good place†. This idea is not only naive and foolish but simply untrue. Cyber bullying , cyber stalking and cyber paedophilia are threats that have sprung up in recent years in tandem with the modern phenomenon that is social media where everybody’s voice and opinion can be heard (well, read ) no matter how inappropriate illegal or damaging it may be to another person or even a group of people.Along with these cyber space based problems, content shared or posted online can often step over the threshold of the internet and affect somebody’s day to day life. However, seldom the voice and power given by the internet and social media is responsible for awareness campaigns such as â€Å"Kony 2012†. Unfortunately the harsh and brutal reality is, when people can hide behind computer screens, even gain anonymity if they wish, the d arker side of a person quite often shines through and the system does not end up in â€Å"a really good place†.Cyber bulling, the scourge of my generation and many generations to come is vicious, devastating and unapologetic. Before the days of social media and even widespread mobile phone ownership, let’s say pre 2000 bullying would generally take place in school corridors, maybe within clubs or organisations and within the workplace. Even though bullying was and always will be a traumatic experience, in those days it was escapable, a victim of bullying could go home, or to a friends house or anywhere really out side where they were being bullied and be free of it.With the advent of social networking and text messages the torment of bullying has been made inescapable. Poisonously worded text messages, tormenting wall posts and mocking comments being fired at a person night and day by a coward hiding behind a computer screen is taking bullying to a whole new extreme. I n my opinion cyber bullying is far more detrimental, vicious and calculated then ordinary bullying , because of the power a person can feel hiding behind a computer screen punching out letters, words ,sentences at a rapid pace not even facing the person the toxic words are aimed at. Internet famous â€Å" former â€Å"site model† and myspace girl Leda Muir admitted she has been a victim of hurtful ,offensive and threatening messages on the internet and in the past was also guilty of sending them to other people. She describes the â€Å"instant rush† sending offensive messages gave her, and how she simply forgot about it minutes later. When she talks about receiving comments and messages similar to the ones she herself once sent, it is an entirely different experience.She describes how each derogatory comment and message she received stayed with her for weeks, and how it made her feel belittled, humiliated and depressed even when she didn’t know any of the bulli es personally. These bullies probably felt a similar rush to the one Leda described ,which probably comes from feeling â€Å"drunk on power† after all power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the year two thousand and twelve cyber stalking was more common then physical harassment.While in certain aspects it is similar to cyber bullying it is more disturbing, it is based on a twisted obsession with usually a single person with a determined and perverse want to control that person in some aspect. Unlike cyber bullies, cyber stalkers are not chasing an instant power high; they desire something much darker. The aim of a cyber stalker is to get their victim to yield to them in one way or another and may involve other people in this plan.Social media enables these individuals to obtain information such as where you live, work and even who your family members are which in turn gives them the power to make threats to you online using this information. As extreme as i t sounds anyone could be cyber stalked, even as it turns out, Mark Zuckerburg himself who probably has the most heavily protected profile on facebook.His stalker Pradeep Manukonda attempted to contact both Zuckerburg and his sister Randi requesting money. When the police told him to cease contacting Zuckerburg , he ignored them and continued to send the facebook Ceo e-mails, hand written letters(in one of which he describes the â€Å"power to communicate) and flowers. He even went to the extent of travelling to face book’s main offices and even Mark Zuckerburg’s house.This was evidently a traumatic experience for Zuckerburg has he took out a restraining order against his stalker , this is a prime example of when everyone is given power buy information obtained on the internet, things do not end in a good place. Finally the most sickening and disturbing threat on the internet, cyber paedophilia. 99% of children between the ages of twelve and seventeen have access to th e internet and this is something cyber predators are well aware of.Using chat rooms, web cam and an array of social networks paedophiles have the power to seek out potential victims. For example in two thousand and three , a man posted a message in a chat room requesting sexual favours in exchange for money, out of curiosity a pair of fourteen year old girls responded to this message and they were both violated. The man also texted the victims in order to intimidate and threaten them. This clearly illustrates how somebody can abuse the voice and power given to them by cyberspace to horrific effect.When everyone is given a voice, and given power it is up to the person themselves how they use that power. Some my raise awareness, some my rise to fabled â€Å"internet fame† and some may just spend twenty minutes browsing their news feed. However the idea of the whole system ending up in a good place is one of fantasy, some people can turn into power hungry monsters online while o thers may abuse their voice and power for disturbing reasons. When you give every one a voice and everyone power, the system won’t end up in a really good place.

Monday, January 6, 2020

The Case Of Ta Esha - 1344 Words

The Case of Ta’esha Ta’esha was born 6 weeks early, in a Louisiana public hospital. Ta’esha mother, Ronita, 16, started bleeding and was hospitalized until delivering. The doctor blamed formaldehyde in her family’s FEMA-funded trailer, their home since Hurricane Katrina displaced them from New Orleans. He also sternly said that Ronita stopped smoking, waited for few years, and gotten prenatal care; Ta’esha would be bigger and healthier. Ronita’s grandmother, who has obesity, diabetes, and heart problems, support the family with her disability insurance, Ronita’s youngest brother, Donnell, has cerebral palsy and frequent seizures, and also receives disability. Her mother and older brother are unemployed, like most FEMA trailer park residents. Her father, a day laborer, was murdered 5 years earlier. The family’s phone was disconnected, so Ronita could not reach her family when she went into early labor. Ronita had returned to school, 2 years after Katrina, when she went into labor. The local schools, overwhelmed by thousands of children displaced from New Orleans did not welcome more students, especially with babies, and her help with her youngest brother was needed at home. She liked high school and had hoped to graduate, baby and all, but worried her mother and grandmother could not manage without her. Ronita wanted Ta’esha, whom she thought would always love her best. She assumed her mother and grandmother would help Ta’esha, as her grandmother had helped with her. But