The Arab-Israeli Conflict Essay - 3003 Words

In 1948 the Jewish state of Israel was created out of the land of Palestine; the homeland of many Arabs who have lived there since the middle ages. Since then there has been continual conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis. From about 1500 BC, the Jewish people have lived in the land of Palestine. In the first century AD, Palestine was controlled by the powerful Romans. In AD 70 and again in AD 135 the Jews revolted against their Roman Rulers. The Romans crushed both the revolts severely and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, which included most of the temple, and expelled them from their lands. The Jews fled to all corners of the Roman Empire over the next two hundred years and many†¦show more content†¦The Jews (or Israelites) had lived there nearly 2500 years before and where several thousands still remained. However it was not all Jews who wanted to have their homeland, the majority of Jews, who lived in Western Europe and the United States were happy where they lived, it was only a small number, mainly from Russia who desired this â€Å"Promised Land†. So between 1880 and 1914, 60 000 Zionists, so called because Zion is the Jewish name for Jerusalem, settled in Palestine. There the y bought land and started to farm and build houses. At this time, Britain needed America to enter the First World War, so they told the Zionist leaders in America (which had a high Jewish population) that if America entered the war they would support the creation of a Jewish state. So America entered the war. The trouble had begun. The Arabs had been in Palestine and the Middle East since the seventh century AD when they swept across the Middle East and North Africa from their homeland. In their empire they spread their new found religion of Islam by force and settled. Then in the sixteenth century the expanding Turks, who were Muslims but not Arabs, conquered much of the Middle East. The native Arabs were forced to pay taxes and provide soldiers for the Turkish army. The First World War was a turningShow MoreRelatedThe Arab-Israeli Conflict1427 Words   |  6 PagesThe Arab-Israeli dispute is among the centermost issues facing the Middle East today. The conflict itself has spawned a number of wars, myriad militant skirmishes, and several embargos, as well as a lasting peace between Israel and a number of its former opponents. The conflict today is waged primarily between Israelis and the Arab Palestinians that inhabit Israeli territory. The Arab-Israeli dispute is rooted in the separate movements of Zionism and Arab-nationalism. Zionism is an historical movementRead MoreThe Arab Israeli Conflict Essay1263 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to an apocryphal story, Pope John Paul once said that he believes there are two possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the realistic and the miraculous. The realistic being divine intervention, and the miraculous being a voluntary agreement by both parties. On September 13th, 1993, it looked like the miraculous had happened when the Oslo Accords were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat on the White HouseRead MoreThe Arab Israeli Conflict883 Words   |  4 PagesMy chosen subteam for this negotiation is based on a Fundamentalist Christians opinion. As I had the chance to learn previously, Christians fully support the relocation of Jews in this conflict. This is because one of the main roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict starts by  the Movement of Zionism. The Bible is interpreted by man y religions in many different ways, however the Christian Zionists belief in a series of Biblical Philosophies and Prophecies. Some of this prophecies are events that have alreadyRead MoreThe Conflict Of The Arab Israeli Conflict1420 Words   |  6 Pageswords have been devoted to the topic of Israel and the underlying causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict; all of which seek to discern the culprit and contrive a remedy. The story behind this age old conflict is, as quoted by Israeli historian Illan Pappe, â€Å"the simple but horrific story of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine† (qtd. In â€Å"The Catastrophe†). As such, thorough review of the causes behind this ethnocentric conflict is vital in understanding the tumultuous power struggle in Israel and the violentRead MoreArab Israeli Conflict 883 Words   |  4 Pages1.1 WHAT IS THE ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT? The Arab-Israeli conflict is a hotly contested issue both in the Middle East and the broader global community.1 The modern conflict is essentially a dispute over the area known up until 1948 as Palestine, which is considered holy to all three major monotheistic religions.2 The primary parties in the conflict are Israeli (formerly Zionist) Jews and Palestinian Arabs (who are predominately Muslim).3 It is one of the unresolved problems bequeathed to the regionRead MoreThe Arab Israeli Conflict And Arab Palestinian Conflict3221 Words   |  13 PagesThe  Arab–Israeli conflict  is the political and military conflict between the nation of Israel and specific Arab countries. The Arab–Israeli conflict began in the late 19th century as a result of the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism. The two sides have fought over land that both parties regard as their holy land. The Jews looked to reclaim the land promised to them by God after their escape from slavery in Egypt. The Arabs, who already resided on and owned the land, looked to maintain their ownershipRead MoreThe Arab Israeli Conflict Of Palestine Essay1198 Words   |  5 PagesThe Arab-Israeli conflict began in 1948, when the British Mandate over Palestine ended. Resulting in the proclamation that established the Jewish state in Eretz Israel. The conflict was a struggle between the Jewish state or Israel and the Arabs of the Middle East concerning the territory and control over Palestine. The geographical area and political status of Palestine has changed dramatically over the years, but the region as always been considered Holy Land. This Holy Land is sacred among theRead MoreThe Arab-Israeli Conflict Essays649 Words   |  3 Pages The current conflict in the Middle East between the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Arabs has many historical roots. Several events in the history of this conflict have been very important and also have a strong connection with the current situation between the two sides. One of these important events was the Nazi Holocaust. During the Second World War the Jews were persecuted by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. By the end of the war in 1945 6 million JewsRead MoreThe Arab-Israeli Conflict Essay1856 Words   |  8 Pages Your Name Pol 340-01 March 20, 2008 Term Paper The Arab- Israeli Conflict The Arab- Israeli Conflict is a conflict between the Arab and Jewish people in the Middle East over Israel and Palestine. This conflict has led to wars and millions of displaced people. This particular conflict has historical origins in the lives of the Arab and Jewish people. â€Å"The beginning of Zionism and the Arab-Israeli Conflict explain the basic principles of this complicated dispute†(Frankel 17)Read MoreArab-Israeli Conflict Essay717 Words   |  3 PagesWestern media outlets play a huge role in the public’s understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The way people gather their news is very diverse now. The Reuters Institute for Study of Journalism Digital News Report (2017), have shown that the majority of millennials receive their news from Facebook, and social media. The issue with receiving news intel from many news outlets today, is the articles are often bias. Facebook has algorithms, that often caters different news to your own opinions,

The Problem Of The Obesity Epidemic - 1950 Words

Today nearly 60% of America s population is overweight, a statistic that s only growing. More and more children are abandoning traditional forms of exercise for video games, television and other forms of a rapidly expanding simulated reality. Too many Americans today are more concerned with social media and popular culture than what s going on in their neighborhoods and in the country we all call home. People are losing touch with their own realities. Furthering this argument of a lost touch with reality comes the notion and expectation things come easily and anything requiring hard work or discipline is voided unnecessary, which I believe is a side-effect of technology. The obesity epidemic has drawn considerable attention from policymakers, and while new policy initiatives to address the issue are already underway, new policy initiatives are not enough and are likely going to overlook the simple truth. Technology is a major culprit behind this nation’s obesity epidemic. Cell phones, video games and 600 television channels are making kids gain weight, and there is no easy way to solve the issue, other than to get off your couch, pick up a salad instead of a slice of pizza and get active. The continuing expansion of America s waistline has pushed obesity to the top of the list of major health problems in the United States. Although obesity is currently a hot topic among policy movers and shakers, it is certainly not a new issue and has been a topic of concern since theShow MoreRelatedObesity A Social Problem Or A Epidemic1671 Words   |  7 Pageswill be responding to Task 3: OBESITY A SOCIAL PROBLEM OR A EPIDEMIC. In the research that I performed on this topic, I learned many things, including that the problem of obesity is not one or the other it is both. Meaning that it is not just a social problem, or just an epidemic it is both of them depending on the environment or situation that the particular person or people are in at the time. It is also not just a problem in the United States, but it is a problem on a global scale. I plan to presentRead MoreObesity : Becoming An Epidemic Problem Essay1437 Words   |  6 Pagesoverweight was the careless path I chose to g o at the time, until I decided to lose weight and start eating right, staying active and being aware. It completely changed my views on the serious epidemic problem we face today in the united states with obesity. Obesity has become an epidemic problem in the U.S. Obesity is the  condition  of  being  very  fat, The difference between being overweight and being obese is that being overweight means that a person is above a weight that is considered normal and healthyRead MoreObesity A Social Problem Or A Epidemic1670 Words   |  7 Pagesproposal will be responding to Task 3: OBESITY A SOCIAL PROBLEM OR A EPIDEMIC. In the research that I performed on this topic, I learned many things, including that the problem of obesity is not one or the other it is both. Meaning that it is not just a social problem, or just an epidemic, it is both of them depend on the environment or situation that the particular person or people are in at the time. It is also not just a problem in the United States, but it is a problem on a global scale. I plan to presentRead MoreThe Problem Of The Global Obesity Epidemic Essay928 Words   |  4 Pagesconcept of weight is at the forefront of the majority of soci ety’s mind when approached with the abstract idea of what it means to be â€Å"healthy†. It is often viewed as an indicator to determine which people are of good health, and which are not. With obesity rates increasing over the past decade, much fascination surrounds the topic due to the fact that it is believed to be one of the few aspects of health that society may control themselves. While people may not be able to completely control whetherRead MoreObesity Epidemic : A Growing Problem Within Our Population861 Words   |  4 Pages The obesity epidemic Americans face today is a growing problem within our population. With serious health issues associated with obesity, it is a problem that needs to be addressed and changed. While fast foods have been around for a long time, many people claim that fast food places are to blame. Each day people turn to fast food for a quick meal, wether it is breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even snacks. As fast foods begin to expand an d progress throughout the world, people especially in the UnitedRead MoreThe Obesity Epidemic Is A Problem Underlying The World s Population2019 Words   |  9 Pages The obesity epidemic is a problem underlying the world’s population and has only gotten worse over the decades. The processed food industry has almost conditioned the human mind to believe that the information they provide is genuine. Using various different techniques, the processed food industry has worked its way into the everyday life of most. It is very important that society takes into careful consideration the dangers of processed food, and are made aware of how the industry in a sense,Read MoreObesity : An Epidemic And One Of America s Most Challenging Public Health Problems889 Words   |  4 Pagesthe semester. Which includes; The Common Challenges to a Healthy Lifestyle, Marital Expectations, and Income. OBESITY As a little girl I have always struggled with my weight, and I continuously stayed active because of the factors faced against me (i.e., genetics, socioeconomic status). Obesity has been called an epidemic and one of America’s â€Å"most challenging public health problems† (Mason 300). The percentage of obese Americans has more than doubled since 1980, with more dramatic increases foundRead MoreShould We Assign Personal Responsibility For Obesity Epidemic?1649 Words   |  7 PagesShould we assign personal responsibility for obesity epidemic? Obesity is a growing threat to public health in the World and in the United States. Since 1960, the prevalence of obesity increased twice in the United States. According to a latest report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  on November 11, 2015 obesity rates among U.S. adults increased from 30 % in 2003 to 36.5 % in 2011-2014. The estimated annual health care costs of obesity-related illness is approximately $190 billionRead MoreChildhood Obesity: A Gowing Problem Around the World649 Words   |  3 PagesObesity is a growing problem all around the world for far too many children. Obesity means a person has too much body fat. Body fat is measured by a person’s body mass index. When one is measuring a person’s body mass index, they are finding their height and body weight then comparing it to the recommendations made by doctors for each age and gender. After doctors calculate it, they then find a percentile rank to determine present and future health issues. Around the world, childhood obesity hasRead MoreThe Obesity Epidemic : Obesity Essay1696 Words   |  7 PagesThe obesity epidemic proves to be an issue in America and continues to grow with time. In simple terms, obesity is a disorder where the subject has increasing amounts of fat, leading to health problems in the future. This epidemic has steadily increased in American bodies for decades and researchers have tried to find the root causes of this problem. Though there is controversy as to what is the primary cause of this rising epidemic, it is clear that there are many factors that contribute to the

Satire in Jane Austen’s Pride in Prejudice Free Essays

string(109) " poking fun at the societal importance of class in her time and instead sees nothing but a charming romance\." Jane Austen’s Satirical Writing: Analyzing the Satire of Social Class Within Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice delves into the issue of why social standing in a society based solely on class should not be the most important thing when evaluating the worth of a person. Through several different literary techniques – such as letters and abundant focalizers – Austen conveys important information about key issues she has with the significance placed on social standing. The theme of class and social standing is echoed constantly throughout Austen’s novel in numerous ways, highlighting several aspects of the gentry that she distrusts. We will write a custom essay sample on Satire in Jane Austen’s Pride in Prejudice or any similar topic only for you Order Now The entirety of the novel focuses mainly on the distances placed between characters due to their social standing in a class based society. Regardless of how fit a person may be in either mind or capabilities, if a high sum of money is not contained within their personhood (or their estate), they are considered menial. Jane Austen uses the social relationships between her characters to satirize the importance placed on the hierarchy of class in society. Austen wrote the novel in order to define and satirize the problems that she saw in the hierarchy of class in the society of her time. Throughout the entire novel â€Å"there isn’t a character†¦who’s introduced without his income being mentioned in the next sentence† (Selznick 92). The ridiculousness of the value placed upon money – of which the middle class has very little – is evident as Austen progresses the story and the relationships between her characters – namely between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. The fact that, in Austen’s time, the society revolved around the gentry – whose entire idea of class and power involved money – makes it easier for the audience reading Pride and Prejudice to understand why she has satirized this issue. She does this quite flawlessly throughout the novel, relying on her knowledge of the increasing adamancy of the middle class to gain social status and power through more than just land, money and relations. The significance of social standing and the desire of the characters aspire to it can be seen in different instances throughout the novel. However, there are a few characters for which the idea of wealth and power mean very little, who strive to better themselves through their own wit and charm, rather than through the advantages of money. Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the novel, is one such character. It is difficult for her to adjust to the sense of reality in which the novel exists due to the fact that the society has been permanently established and there is very little she can do to earn the credit she deserves. Yet it is due to Elizabeth’s unique personality that the audience is able to understand why her interest for the things at Pemberley and the positive change in heart she has for Mr. Darcy’s character show the dual nature of how Austen thought of the personal attainment of identity and morality balanced with her begrudged acknowledgement of a limited and restrained society (Hamilton). There are several other characters that believe the importance placed on monetary gain to be superfluous and still others that also come to realize this. It is through both the understanding and ignorance of these characters that it becomes evident just how deeply Austen distrusted the idea of an individual requiring social power in order to be recognized as an accomplished individual. Austen paid especially close attention to economic and social standing when it came to her characters for the express purpose of satirizing why their superior class was not necessarily more agreeable or accomplished than those in the lower classes. She wrote her novels with the idea that â€Å"the quality of humanity is to be judged by moral and human standards†¦not by social status; but like her own temporary snobs†¦she pays full attention to their social status first† (Copeland 121). As seen with Austen’s character Mr. Darcy, she concentrates fully on his attachments to his reputation before she delves into who he becomes and how much better off he is when he realizes the error in his way of thinking. In assessing the weight that social standing has on the progression of the story in Pride and Prejudice, one can attain a great bit of insight into why specific characters act the way they do throughout the novel. The infamous Bingley sisters, for instance, are so attached to the idea of material wealth that they fail to realize when their comments are unacceptable. Ms. Bingley herself, who is so attached to the idea that she is superior to Elizabeth in every way, cannot understand why Mr. Darcy could possibly find Elizabeth attractive in any sort of manner. It is her status-hungry and conceited personality that allows the audience to see the sheer difference between her and her brother, Mr. Charles Bingley. Unlike his sisters, he is not trying to climb up the social hierarchy to gain status and power; instead, he shows a gentler, more levelheaded side to the gentry as he falls in love with Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane. It is characters with personalities and ideals like Mr. Bingley’s that Austen revered and trusted above all others. Curiously enough, however, the hardheaded Mr. Darcy, who is very aware of his social standing, is the one character in the novel who goes through the most drastic personality change. Though Elizabeth Bennet had the positive, clever and levelheaded personality that Austen herself may have had when dealing with the social mobility of her time, it is instead the incredible change of heart that Mr. Darcy undergoes that shows how someone who is socially superior can realize the importance of wit, charm and beauty of those around him instead of being concerned only with their social status. This is how Austen is able to satirize these problems so efficiently that a modern audience does not realize that she is poking fun at the societal importance of class in her time and instead sees nothing but a charming romance. You read "Satire in Jane Austen’s Pride in Prejudice" in category "Papers" Yet Austen was doing much more than writing a simple love story. The novel was written in a transitional period when peoples’ way of thinking was shifting from a romantic look at life to a more enlightened view of living. The ideals of the eighteenth century – where people saw society as organized and divinely structured – were quickly lost to the thinkers of the more modernistic views of society in the nineteenth century, in which there was a significant loss of faith in any spiritualistic based society. Instead, nineteenth century thought turned towards the idea of the individual as the only path towards order. This new idea of placing emphasis on the self was especially important to Austen, yet she realized that the tendency of an organized and structured society was to value a person by their material wealth, rather than who the individual really was. She was able to take both ideas and mold them into her ideal situation, which can be seen in the last few lines of the novel when Elizabeth is at last accepted into Pemberley and its heritage. It is here that the individual â€Å"remains exactly where Austen would have it, in the center of a stable eighteenth-century world† (Hamilton 36). Class and social standing is a very evident and important issue for Austen and she satirizes it with the utmost diligence throughout the novel using intricate, yet simplistic designs for her characters’ relationships. For instance, instead of being forced to marry Mr. Collins for the express purpose of making a new connection on their own, Elizabeth refuses to be controlled by society’s standards and defies Mrs. Bennet’s wishes in order to â€Å"demonstrate that it is still possible for individuals to make new connections in defiance of society† (Austen 395). Tony Tanner, a British literary critic, who wrote the original introduction to Pride and Prejudice conveyed that Austen wrote about â€Å"a society which stresses social control over individual ecstasy, formality over informality, sartorial neatness over bodily abandon, and alert consciousnesses over the more Romantic states of revery and trance† and yet it is also â€Å"a society in which the individual can experience freedom as well as commitment† (Austen 395). The unfathomable amount of thought that Jane Austen put into writing Pride and Prejudice show how deeply she cared for the freedom of the individual and the ability to stand proudly in a society that overlooked individual assets for material ones. Tanner also credited Austen with the ability to create a character around the central idea of attempting to prove their individual worth within a society bound entirely by the ordinance of class. He is able to demonstrate the importance Austen placed on her characters – especially Elizabeth and Jane Bennet – finding themselves in a gentry-based society by drawing on William Blake’s In the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Tanner argues – with Blake’s ideals in mind – that Austen takes two completely different aspects of life, energy and reason, and instead of reconciling these opposite attractions, there is a mutual coming together of complementary characteristics. He puts it plainly when he states that â€Å"she makes it seem as if it is possible for playfulness and regulation – energy and boundaries – to be united in fruitful harmony, without the one being sacrificed to the other† (Austen 106). This ability to take two unlike ideas and mesh them together without either losing its significance is exactly how Austen takes society’s emphasis on social standing and class and reverses it into something that now benefits a character where before it could only hinder (i. e. Elizabeth’s transformation from a meager middle-class girl, to the Mistress of Pemberley). However, not all critics have been kind to the way in which Austen portrays this transformational miracle of a young girl suddenly coming into great sums of money, merely by the tact and wit she shows in the way she lives. These critics find Austen’s dealing with social standing and class to be abhorrent. In fact, one such critic happens to be a famous authoress who, in writing a letter to G. H. Lewes in 1848, stated that she disliked the novel due to its frivolous dealings with the common life of both the upper and the middle-class. In her writing to the British literary and theatre critic, the authoress stated that she â€Å"should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses† (Austen 368). It was, in fact, Currer Bell – more widely known as Charlotte Bronte – who wrote this letter, in which the reader can clearly sense the contempt she had for Austen’s writing and the way she portrayed her characters. Though perhaps more of an criticism towards the way Austen wrote in general, Bronte was still very serious with her concern about the way in which Austen depicted her characters and their lives. She had, in Bronte’s view, â€Å"no sense of the outward world – either scenery or personal appearance† (Mazzeno 558). It is obvious that Austen’s portrayal of social standing, class, romance, money, marriage and many other themes throughout Pride and Prejudice were not held in high regard with Bronte. Though the majority of critical analyses both praising and condemning the way in which Austen depicts social standing in her novel have been done by literary thinkers, there have been other mediums through which the novel has been adapted, such that even criticism of someone as famous as Charlotte Bronte is outshined. For example, in their book Authority, State and National Character, professors Kuzmics of the University of Graz and Axtmann of the University of Wales, when addressing the problems that both Britain and Austria have seen in relation to social class when examining the issues that arose in several literary novels and dramas of the time, state that when they first studied Pride and Prejudice, they thought it had very little to do with such issues. They believed that â€Å"the fate of the Bennet sisters in rural gentry-based England just after the turn of the century revolved around such harmless matters as a ball at Netherfield† (Kuzmics 223). It is apparent that both professors believe – at least upon their first reading of it – that Austen’s novel had very little to do with the very real problems that are satirized throughout the story. Their criticism of the novel, however, in relation to how both Austrian and English society has evolved during the civilizing process is perhaps accurate without an in depth reading of Pride and Prejudice, as it seems to merely have a â€Å"relaxed air of cheerfulness and ironic, detached art of people watching† (Kuzmics 223). Conversely, after one looks past all the pleasantries that the story has to offer, one realizes that, as the professors correctly stated, it only appears to have nothing to do with issues of class. This is why the novel must be read carefully, to push past the obvious romance of the story and dig into the satirical tone in which Austen addresses such important matters. As the professors continue their research into the heart of the novel, they revealed very important aspects of Austen’s writing about social class and how it is a perfect example of English society, even to this day. She defined so clearly how England was a â€Å"face-to-face† or â€Å"shame society† in which â€Å"the opposite of social respectability is social disgrace† which was â€Å"to be avoided at all costs† (Kuzmics 227). This meant that for those families that were unable to depend on an inheritance or their relations in order to live comfortably in society, they could only rely upon prospective marriage partners for a comfortable life. It is because of this importance placed upon society’s standards of what makes a family valuable that â€Å"the social value and respectability of the potential future spouse is ascertained and made visible† (Southam 113). This, in turn, makes it difficult for someone such as Elizabeth – who is very accomplished in her wit and charm – unable to stoop so low as to accept a marriage proposal from someone she has no tender feelings toward. The idea of marrying only for money, power or social stability is part of the reason why Elizabeth Bennet is thought of as impertinent by other characters in the novel such as Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine, and at times even her own mother. Yet it is because of Elizabeth’s character and the audacity she is capable of showing to such renowned individuals that proves Austen meant her novel to be much more than a romantic story between two characters. She wanted a stab at the problems of the gentry, to affirm her belief that basing the worth of an individual merely by their material wealth was hardly the best way of assessing someone’s value (Wilhelm). She was able to do a fantastic job of satirizing the gentry throughout her novel by using several different aspects of what made a renowned person so important: money, connections and property. In the general notes of the Penguin Classic version of Pride and Prejudice, David Spring, author of Interpreters of Jane Austen’s Social World, used historian Alan Everitt’s coined term ‘pseudo-gentry’ to describe a group of individuals that were comprised mostly of those involved with the trade, who aspired to attain the lifestyle of the landed gentry. It is because of this idea that in order to be worth something, a person must own land, that several of the characters from Austen’s novel seek ‘land-based wealth,’ which is an obvious sign of â€Å"a class intensely interested in income as means to, and a sign of, status† (Austen 413). This shows that Austen’s novel is written from a point of view that sees upward mobility as a bleak, corrupt hierarchy and is much more interested in the professional middle class – the class which, in Pride and Prejudice is represented quite adeptly by the Gardiners. This idea of attempting to identify oneself in a strict society based on social class has taken on numerous different forms: books, critical essays, movies and television series. Innumerable amounts of professional critics have delved deeply into Austen’s novel’s representation of class, manners and even the social status of women in British society. In the incredibly faithful six hour long AE/BBC adaptation of the book, Sue Britwistle – the program’s producer – wanted to include â€Å"many clear illustrations of the way that class and gender are governed by proper British manners†¦and highlight the importance of economic status in Regency England† (Selznick 92). The fact that women could only gain social standing through marriage is very apparent through all of Austen’s writing, not just Pride and Prejudice. It is incredible to think that a woman was worth nothing unless she had a substantial inheritance, as seen with Georgiana and Mr. Wickham. He cared nothing for her abilities, her looks, her personality – the only thing he desired was the hefty sum of money she would receive through inheritance. The type of relationship is seen numerous times throughout the novel and only contravened when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy marry the two Bennet sisters. It is, as professors Kuzmics and Axtmann so rightly called it, a marriage market. The worth of an individual could only be seen through the instance of marriage, when a person’s monetary value was ascertained and brought into light. There are several different instances throughout the novel in which social standing and class are satirized, though none so much as the motif of carriages. Austen placed importance upon how many and of what kind carriage a person owned; it signaled wealth, status and power – which, to Austen, was not a feasible way to judge the worth of a person. The aspect of carriages even flows into the marriage market, where the prospective bride (because the groom always seemed to be worthy regardless) is critiqued and either approved or denied. Part of this process is inquiry into how many and what kind of carriages the bride owns – if any. Their chances of finding a suitable match dwindles if they do not own an acceptable carriage (Walder). This is seen when Lady Catherine tracks down Elizabeth at Longbourn, wondering how her nephew could have possibly proposed to one such as her – someone who walks places without the aide of a carriage to take her anywhere. One of the most noteworthy characters that Austen uses to satirize social standing in her novel is Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Austen utilizes Lady Catherine for the primary function of criticizing the aristocratic society in which she places her character, as Lady Catherine is one of the most prideful and overbearing personalities in the novel. Jane Austen mercilessly ridicules the hierarchal society she was raised in by using Catherine as a means to convey how prominent figures (who were only important because of their wealth) thought themselves to be experts on almost every topic, even if they had no prior knowledge of the subject of which they were speaking on. For example, when Elizabeth visits Lady Catherine at Rosings, she is not only terribly inquisitive about how the girl had been raised, but when she asks Elizabeth if she plays the piano, Catherine admits that she herself could not. Though, as she states soon afterward, if she had practiced, there was no doubt that she would have been incredible. Ironically enough, it is due to Lady Catherine’s sudden visitation with Elizabeth near the end of the novel that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are married. By telling her nephew of the interview that she had with Elizabeth, Catherine allows the seed of hope to appear in Mr. Darcy. Lady Catherine’s attempt at interference between her nephew and Elizabeth is ultimately the reason that the two marry – not to mention that it is a means by which Austen can convey the strong personality she bequeathed upon Elizabeth to show that one’s social station should not limit her, but help her to hold her own in what most people saw as polite-society. Through many instances of dark humor, tragedy and even comedic aspects, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice takes a critical look at the issue of social standing in society and severely reprimands its ideals. Austen distrusted several aspects of the society in which she lived and tried to right its wrongs by satirizing the importance that the gentry placed on social standing and class. Though this may not have worked quite as well as she would have hoped – as most people view Pride and Prejudice as a mere romance story – with her cut and dry, black and white views of what a person should be judged by, Austen clearly wanted her society to realize that a person could only be considered accomplished if they truly had the talents to be – not whether or not they could afford to buy their name. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin, 2003. Print. Copeland, Edward, and Juliet McMaster. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print. Hamilton, Sylvia N. Constructing Mr. Darcy: Tradition, Gender, and Silent Spaces in Jane Austen. Thesis. University of Central Oklahoma, 2007. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2008. Print. Kuzmics, Helmut, and Roland Axtmann. Authority, State and National Character: the Civilizing Process in Austria and England, 1700-1900. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2007. Print. Mazzeno, Laurence W. Jane Austen: Two Centuries of Criticism. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2011. Print. Selznick, Barbara J. Global Television Co-producing Culture. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2008. Print. Southam, B. C. Jane Austen: the Critical Heritage. London: Routledge, 1999. Print. Walder, Dennis. The Realist Novel. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. Wilhelm, Julia. Appropriations of Jane Austen’s â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† in Contemporary British Fiction. Thesis. Johannes Gutenberg University, 2007. Mainz, Germany: Grin Verlag, 2008. Print. How to cite Satire in Jane Austen’s Pride in Prejudice, Papers

Best Macro-Economics Assignment Solution & Marking Guide

Questions: Question 1 Part A The table lists some macroeconomic data for a country in 2013. Item Billions of dollars Wages paid to labour 710 Consumption expenditure 780 Profit, interest and rents 450 Investment 230 Net taxes Government expenditure 110 240 Exports Imports 450 430 (a) Calculate the countrys GDP in 2013, using expenditure approach. (b) Explain the difference between income and expenditure approach in calculating GDP. An economy produces only apples and oranges. The base year is 2012, and the table gives the quantities produced and the prices. Quantities 2012 2013 Apples 76 78 Oranges 85 88 Prices 2012 2013 Apples $1.05 $1.15 Oranges $0.95 $1.03 (c) Calculate real GDP in 2012 and 2013 expressed in base-year prices. (d) Calculate the real GDP growth rate between 2012 and 2013. Part B Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the following data for 2013:Labour force participation rate: 64.5 per cent Working-age population (in thousands people): 18,450Employment-to-population ratio: 61.5Calculate the(e) Labour force.(f) Employment.(g) Unemployment rate.The Lucky Country reported the following CPI data:June 2011 103.7June 2012 108.8June 2013 110.1(h) Calculate the inflation rates for the years ended June 2012 and June 2013. Explain how the inflation rate changed in 2013 and what it indicates on the price level? Question 2 Part A IMF Warning over Slowing Growth The global economy may face a marked slowdown next year as a result of the turmoil in financial markets, the International Monetary Fund has warned. The IMF said the global credit squeeze would test the ability of the economy to continue expanding at recent rates. While future economic stability could not be taken for granted, there was plenty of evidence that the global economy remained durable, it added. (a) Explain how turmoil in global financial markets might affect the demand for and supply of loanable funds, interest rate, investment, and global economic growth in the future. Bernankes Asian Savings Glut Theory Blasted U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says that high saving rates in Asia (that he called a glut of savings) were to blame for the extraordinarily low bond rates during the first half of the noughties, as well as U.S. soaring house prices and current account deficit. Claudio Borio, research director at the Bank for International Settlements, says Bernanke is wrong and excessive lending by financial institutions caused low interest rates. (b) Graphically illustrate and explain the impact of the glut of savings on the real interest rate and the quantity of loanable funds. (c) How do the high saving rates in Asia impact the world loanable fund market and investment in other countries? Part B The table shows information about an economy. (millions of dollars) Banks reserves at Central Bank 20 Current deposits 90 Cash in vault 10 Saving deposits 110 Bank notes held by households 30 Bank notes held by firms 40 (d) Suppose now that the cash in vault was initially zero. Calculate the total quantity of money, the monetary base, the desired reserve ratio and the currency drain ratio. (e) Suppose that the cash in vault was initially zero and there were no excess reserves. If the Central Bank decreases banks reserves by $1.5 million, what will be the money multiplier? Will the quantity of money increase or decrease, and by how much? Will the quantity of deposits increase or decrease, and by how much? Part A Explain your answers to following questions. (a) In January 2013, the exchange rate was $1.05 US dollar per Australian dollar and traders expected the exchange rate to remain unchanged. Today, with new information, traders now expect the exchange rate in 2014 to fall to $US0.90 per Australian dollar. Explain how the revised expected future exchange rate influences the demand for Australian dollars and the supply of Australian dollars in the foreign exchange market. Why? (b) In October 2012, the exchange rate was 103 US cents per 100 Japanese yen. Over the year, the supply of Japanese yen increased as a result of Abenomics and by October 2013 the exchange rate fell to 84 US cents per 100 Japanese yen. What would happen to the quantity of Japanese yen? Would people plan to buy or sell Japanese yen in the foreign exchange market? Draw a diagram to explain. Part B The UK pound is trading at 1.75 Australian dollars per UK pound. There is purchasing power parity at this exchange rate. The interest rate in Australia is 2.5 per cent a year and the interest rate in the United Kingdom is 3 per cent a year. (c) Calculate the Australian interest rate differential. (d) What is the UK pound expected to be worth in terms of Australian dollars one year from now?(e) Which country is more likely to have higher inflation rate? How can you tell? Part C The table gives some information about the US international transactions in 2013. Item Billions of U.S. dollars Imports of goods and services 3,551 Foreign investment in the US 987 Exports of goods and services 2,874 U.S. investment abroad 305 Net interest income 131 Net transfers 82 Statistical discrepancy 23 (f) Explain and calculate the current account balance.(g) Explain and calculate the capital account balance.(h) Did U.S. official reserves increase or decrease? Explain (i) Was the United States a net borrower or a net lender in this year? Explain your answer. Answers 1 Part A: Item Billions of dollars Wages paid to labor 710 Consumption expenditure 780 Profit, interest and rents 450 Investment 230 Net taxes Government expenditure 110 240 Exports Imports 450 430 (a) Countries GDP in 2013 using the expenditure method:GDP = Consumption expenditure + Investment expenditure + Government expenditure + Net ExportGDP = 780 + 230 + 240 + (450-430)GDP = 1270 (b) The income approach and the expenditure approach:There is a difference between the income approach and the expenditure approach. The income approach basically measures the total income that is earned by the households of a country in a given year (Gordon, 2012). On the other hand the expenditure approach basically measures the expenditure on the goods and services in a given country at a specific year. Thus the income approach measures the income of a nation and the expenditure approach measures the expenditure of a nation in a given year. The main components of the expenditure approach are consumption expenditure, government expenditure, investment expenditure and net export (export - import). On the other hand the main components of the income approach are wages, Depreciation, interest income, rental income, indirect business income, and business profits (Bostick and Freese, 2012). So these are the main difference between the income and the expenditure approach for measuring the GDP.(c) An economy produces only apples and oranges. The base year is 2012 and in the following table the quantities produced and the prices is given. Quantities 2012 2013 Apples 76 78 Oranges 85 88 Prices 2012 2013 Apples $1.05 $1.15 Oranges $0.95 $1.03 The real GDP in 2012 = (76 * 1.05) + (85 * 0.95) = 79.8 + 80.75 = 160.55 The real GDP in 2013 = (78 * 1.05) + (88 * 0.95) = 81.9 + 83.6 = 165.5 (d) The real GDP growth rate between 2012 and 2013, by considering the base year prices can be calculated here.Real GDP growth rate = (GDP2013 GDP2012)/GDP2012Real GDP growth rate = (165.5 160.55)/160.55Real GDP growth rate = 0.0308So, the real GDP growth rate between 2012 and 2013 is 3.08%. Part B The following data has been reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics for 2013. Employment-to-population ratio: 61.5 The employment to population ratio is (labour force employed / total population) Working-age population (in thousands people): 18,450 The working age population is basically the estimation of total potential workers in an economy. Labour force participation rate: 64.5% Labour force participation rate is the percentage of working-age people in an economy. Labour force participation rate = (labour force/working age population) (Gordon, 2012) (e) Labour force: labour force participation rate * total populationLabour force = 64.5 * 18,450Labour force = 1,190,025(f) Employment rate:It is known that,Labour force employed / total population = 61.5Or, labour force employed = 61.5 * total populationOr, labour force employed = 61.5* 18,450Or, labour force employed = 1,134,675So, the employment rate = (1134675/1190025)The employment rate = 0.953The employment rate is 95.3%.(g) Unemployment rate: Unemployment rate = (1190025-1134675) /1190025Unemployment rate = 0.046511Unemployment rate in the economy is 4.65% (Bowen, Hollander and Viaene, 2012).The following CPI data is reported the lucky country.June 2011: 103.7June 2012: 108.8June 2013: 110.1(h) Inflation rate is basically the general increase in the price level of an economy. On the other hand, the CPI or the consumer price index basically measures the level of price changes of a market basket consisting of goods and services that the households buy. Here the inflation rate ca n be calculated for the year 2012 and 2013 with the help of CPI.Inflation rate in 2013 = ((CPI2012 CPI2011)/CPI 2011)*100 Inflation rate in 2012 = ((108.8 103.7)/103.7) * 100Inflation rate in 2012 = 4.9180%Inflation rate in 2013 = ((CPI2013 CPI2012)/CPI 2012)*100Inflation rate in 2013 = ((110.1 108.8)/108.8)* 100Inflation rate in 2013 = 1.195%Thus it is found that the inflation rate in 2012 is 4.918% and it is 1.195% in 2013. Thus the inflation rate has fallen in 2013. Thus it can be indicated that the price level change has significantly increased from 2011 to 2012 but the increase in price level change is not significantly high from 2012 to 2013 (Hubbard and O'Brien, 2013). Answer 2 Part A The global economy may face a market slowdown next year due to the financial market turmoil that is warned by the international monetary fund. According to IMF, there will be global credit squeeze that can test the ability of the economy for the continuous expansion at recent rates (Krugman and Wells, 2013). (a) Here it can be said that, due to the turmoil in the global financial market, there will be impact on various factors like the demand and supply of loanable funds, interest rates, investment and global economic growth.It is known that loanable fund is the total of all the money that is saved and lent out to borrowers in the economy by people and entities rather than using it for personal consumption. Thus in the presence of the financial turmoil the demand for loanable funds will fall where the supply of loanable funds will increase (Krugman and Wells, 2013).Here it can be said that the as a result of the credit crunch, the interest rates will rise significantly and thus it will increase the supply of loanable funds and will lead to a decrease in the demand for loanable funds (Mankiw, 2013).The investment will fall due to high interest rates in the market as a result of the credit crunch.There will be a slowdown in the economic growth due to a fall in investment and the prevalence of credit crunch.(b) In the following diagram the impact of the glut of savings on the real interest rate and the quantity of loanable funds can be shown. In the above diagram it is seen that in the loanable funds market, as a result of the glut of savings, the supply of loanable funds will increase and the thus there will be a rightward shift of the supply curve. As a result the equilibrium quantity of loanable funds will increase and the rate of interest will fall (Melvin and Norrbin, 2013). (c) High savings rate in the Asia will lower the interest rate in Asia and it will affect the world loanable funds market by lowering the world interest rate and it will lead to increased investment in other countries. Part B In the following table the information about the economy is shown. (millions of dollars) Banks reserves at Central Bank 20 Current deposits 90 Cash in vault 10 Saving deposits 110 Bank notes held by households 30 Bank notes held by firms 40 The cash vault is initially zero. Monetary base = Currency + Bank reserves = 0 [since initially cash in vault is zero] + 20 = 20 million dollars Desired reserve ratio = Bank reserves / bank deposits = 20 / 90 = 0.22 =22% Currency drain ratio = currency / deposits = 10 / 90 = 0.111 = 11.1% Total quantity of money = bank reserves / reserve ratio = 20 / 0.22 = 90 (e) Since, the cash in vault was initially zero and there were no excess reserves, the total quantity of money will become zero. If the Central Bank decreases banks reserves by $1.5 million, the money multiplier will become = 1/ bank reserves = 1/18.5 = 0.000554 Here, the quantity of money will reduced to 20 1.5 = 18.5 million The volume of bank deposits will remain same (Smith, Walter and DeLong, 2012). Answer 3 Part A (a) In January 2013, the exchange rate was $1.05 US dollars per Australian dollar. It was first expected by the traders that there will be no changes in the exchange rate but it is now expected that the exchange rate will fall to $US0.90 per Australian dollar. Thus with the given new information, the traders will expect the value of Australian dollars to fall in the future and thus the demand for the currency will fall in future. On the other hand the supply of Australian dollars will increase as its value will fall in the future thus the supply will increase (Melvin and Norrbin, 2013). (b) In 2012, the exchange rate was 103 US cents per 100 Japanese yen. As a result of Abenomics, the supply of Japanese yen increased and as a result there was a decrease in the exchange rate. The exchange rate in 2013 was 84 US cents per 100 Japanese yen. In the diagram above it is shown that when the supply of Japanese yen increased, the currency depreciated in the market and the Japanese yen fell from P* to P1. It is seen that, as a result the equilibrium quantity has increased from Q*to Q1 in the market. People will plan to sell Japanese yen in the market as the value of the currency is depreciating. Thus people will not buy Japanese yen, instead they will sell it in the market and as a result the supply will further increase and the price value will further depreciate. Part B The UK pound is trading at 1.75 Australian dollars per UK pound. There is purchasing power parity at the exchange rate. The interest rate in Australia is 2.5% a year and the interest rate in the UK is 3% a year. (c) Interest rate differential: the interest rate differential is the gap in the rate of interest between similar interests bearing asset (Bostick and Freese, 2012). Interest rate differential = 3 2.5 = 0.5 percent(d) One year from now,Value of UK pound one year from now = (1.75 * 0.025)/0.03 = 1.45833(e) Low interest rate means consumers have more money to spend, causing the economy to grow and inflation to increase. So, Australia is more likely to have higher inflation rate. Part C The information regarding the US international transaction is given for the year 2013. Item Billions of U.S. dollars Imports of goods and services 3,551 Foreign investment in the US 987 Exports of goods and services 2,874 U.S. investment abroad 305 Net interest income 131 Net transfers 82 Statistical discrepancy 23 (f) Current account balance: the current account balance is one of the significant indicators regarding the health of the economy (Bowen, Hollander and Viaene, 2012). The current account is the sum of balance of trade. Current account surplus means that the country is a net creditor to the world. On the other hand, current account deficit indicates that the economy is debtor to the world. The current account balance = export of goods and services Import of goods and services + net transfer + net interest incomeCurrent account balance = 2874 3551- 82 + 131 = - 628(g) Capital account balance: the capital account balance represents the capital transfer of a country. A surplus in the capital accounts indicate that money is flowing inside the country and a deficit in capital account represents that money is flowing out of the nation. The capital account balance = foreign investment in the US US investment abroad + statistical discrepancyCapital account balance = 987 305 + 23Capital ac count balance = 705(h) Here it is seen that there is a surplus of 705 in the capital account balance and there is a deficit of 628 in current account balance. It is known that the balance of payment is calculated from the current account and capital account balances and these two are the main components of the balance of payment. Thus it can be seen that the surplus in the capital accounts is more than the deficit in the current accounts. Thus U.S. official reserve will increase (Bowen, Hollander and Viaene, 2012).(i) The U.S. is a net lender this year. Here it can be said that the country is has net BOP surplus as the current account deficit is lower than the capital account surplus. Thus it can be said that the country is a net lender this year. References Bostick, N. and Freese, S. (2012).Managing money. [Costa Mesa, Calif.]: Saddleback Educational Pub. Bowen, H., Hollander, A. and Viaene, J. (2012).Applied international trade. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Gordon, R. (2012).Macroeconomics. Boston: Addison-Wesley. Hubbard, R. and O'Brien, A. (2013).Macroeconomics. Boston: Pearson. Krugman, P. and Wells, R. (2013).Macroeconomics. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Mankiw, N. (2013).Macroeconomics. New York, NY: Worth. Melvin, M. and Norrbin, S. (2013).International money and finance. Boston: Elsevier Press. Smith, R., Walter, I. and DeLong, G. (2012).Global banking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.