A Lack of Hope in The Catcher in the Rye Essays

A Lack of Hope in The Catcher in the Rye Essays A Lack of Hope in The Catcher in the Rye Essay A Lack of Hope in The Catcher in the Rye Essay Essay Topic: The Catcher in the Rye While you may feel hopeless during a time of despair, it is often the desire for success that turns despair into hope. To be hopeful, you have a yearning for something to work out the way you wish. When you despair, you are still aware of what could happen, but begin to lose hope. Depending on how strong that feeling is, you might be able to turn it into hope before it is too late. For those who feel despair, they may feel that life is not worth living. Unfortunately for Holden, his feelings of despair have gone too far out of hand. Holden Caulfield, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, lives a very troubling life. He struggles with staying enrolled and engaged in his classes, has difficulty with friendships due to his constant need to tell lies, and has thoughts of suicide often. It seems that this is a story of despair; Holden’s life lacks any signs of hope. It is clear that he does not have anything to live for since the thought of suicide frequently crosses his mind. Holden has fallen so far into this pit of despair that it is nearly impossible for him to recover. Holden has little desire and motivation at school. He is most recently kicked out of school for failing four out of five of his classes. Upon visiting one of his teachers, his teacher makes comments about how little effort Holden put into the coursework. On his assignment, Holden even wrote his teacher a note stating â€Å"it is all right with me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway† page 15 Holden is showing his teacher how little his grades matter to him; he is not even hopeful that his teacher will try and pass him. Instead, he gives his teacher the permission, in a sense, to fail him. It wouldnt matter anyway since Holden does not have a chance at passing regardless of his note. Suicide is a reoccurring thought for Holden. There are instances in which he is about to commit suicide; however he refrains from doing

The Compton Effect or Compton Scattering in Physics

The Compton Effect or Compton Scattering in Physics The Compton effect (also called Compton scattering) is the result of a high-energy photon  colliding with a target, which releases loosely bound electrons from the outer shell of the atom or molecule. The scattered radiation experiences a wavelength shift that cannot be explained in terms of classical wave theory, thus lending support to Einsteins  photon theory. Probably the most important implication of the effect is that it showed light could not be fully explained according to wave phenomena.  Compton scattering is one example of a type of inelastic scattering of light by a charged particle. Nuclear scattering also occurs, although the Compton effect typically refers  to the interaction with electrons. The effect was first demonstrated in 1923 by Arthur Holly Compton (for which he received a 1927 Nobel Prize  in Physics). Comptons graduate student, Y.H. Woo, later verified the effect. How Compton Scattering Works The scattering is demonstrated is pictured in the diagram. A high-energy photon (generally X-ray or gamma-ray) collides with a target, which has loosely-bound electrons in its outer shell. The incident photon has the following energy E and linear momentum p: E hc / lambdap E / c The photon gives part of its energy to one of the almost-free electrons, in the form of kinetic energy, as expected in a particle collision. We know that total energy and linear momentum must be conserved. Analyzing these energy and momentum relationships for the photon and electron, you end up with three equations: energyx-component momentumy-component momentum ... in four variables: phi, the scattering angle of the electrontheta, the scattering angle of the photonEe, the final energy of the electronE, the final energy of the photon If we care only about the energy and direction of the photon, then the electron variables can be treated as constants, meaning that its possible to solve the system of equations. By combining these equations and using some algebraic tricks to eliminate variables, Compton arrived at the following equations (which are obviously related, since energy and wavelength are related to photons): 1 / E - 1 / E 1/( me c 2) * (1 - cos theta)lambda - lambda h/(me c) * (1 - cos theta) The value h/(me c) is called the Compton wavelength of the electron and has a value of 0.002426 nm (or 2.426 x 10-12 m). This isnt, of course, an actual wavelength, but really a proportionality constant for the wavelength shift. Why Does This Support Photons? This analysis and derivation are based on a particle perspective and the results are easy to test. Looking at the equation, it becomes clear that the entire shift can be measured purely in terms of the angle at which the photon gets scattered. Everything else on the right side of the equation is a constant. Experiments show that this is the case, giving great support to the photon interpretation of light. Edited by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Slavery through Kara Walker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Slavery through Kara Walker - Research Paper Example She is well known for her graphic use of silhouette figures to depict mirages American African slaves. A close look at her work reveals vividly the impact of slavery especially through eliminating depth in all visual perspectives of the art work. She further emphasizes the depth of the images through use of the overlapping techniques on the silhouettes hence creating scenes on the several aspects through which slaves were exploited. For instance, the images portray the slaves used as sexual objects. This essay uses the three of her works that is â€Å"Slavery! Slavery,† â€Å"Gone† and â€Å"The End of Uncle Tom† to explore slavery in the United States with emphasis on South America. In the 1830’s, slavery was concentrated in the south of the United States of America concentrated in small farms and large organizations, cities and towns and any other place extra man power was necessary. The slaves were property to their owner and all blacks were slaves as primarily, the slaves in the south of America performed tasks mostly in the plantations and homesteads of their masters. They took part in clearing new lands, digging ditches and other household chores for their masters; the black women cared for the young ones and prepared meals and other functions like spinning, sewing and weaving. As outlined in Blassingame (25), slavery in the antebellum period in the South America was focused on the plantation farms, and the homestead within the firms; this was primarily the period before the First World War. Carson (164) notes that the labor market was divided between blacks and whites in the community. The probability of both skilled and unskilled laborers was evident and comparable by race. The whites had higher chances in white color jobs compared to the blacks whose major area of work was in the unskilled domains. Other than plantations labor, slavery also involved debauchery activities. This primarily comprised of the slaves being forced into immoral

Engaging with the Media Product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Engaging with the Media Product - Essay Example The first one, filtering, occurred when I decided to ignore some aspects of the show and processed the rest of it, depending on what I was interested in. Next came meaning matching, during which I matched the concepts about vampires shown in the show with the ones I already had knowledge about. Finally, when I encountered a message of which I had no knowledge of, or which went against my previous knowledge, I constructed a new meaning for it after evaluating what I watched on this show. While watching The Vampire Diaries, I was particularly interested in a vampire named Damon. Therefore, whenever there was a scene involving Damon, I would pay extra attention to his way of talking, and his attitude to others. As a result of processing all the scenes involving Damon, I can now recall the phrases used by him depending on the situations he faces. Moreover, my mind took in all the information-old and new-that I gained about vampires and other supernatural beings in general, perhaps due to my interest in them. On the other hand, there were messages that I unconsciously filtered out, such as the dates of previous centuries which the show’s characters would state when they would recall instances of the past. Another message which I filtered out was the words used by Bonnie (the name of a witch in the show) whenever she casted a spell. This is because the words used by her were part of a different language which I did not understand. Thus, during the scenes she caste d spells, my mind automatically tuned out and instead focused on the outcome of those spells. Once my mind filtered in all the scenes and messages which I paid attention to, I automatically matched them with what I already knew from before. For example, whenever I think about vampires, I imagine someone who looks like a normal human being, except that he/she has longer and sharper canines and has a thirst for blood. I have learnt this concept because I

Week 7 discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 7 discussion - Essay Example Each pair of students will stand at the end of a one hundred meters track stretch. Along the track, there will be minor obstacles such as ankle length huddles, tires and a simple block puzzle. One student leads another blind folded student through the obstacles to the end of the track where they will â€Å"tap you are it† the other half of the team and they will go through the same process. . The students, in their respective groups, will carry out the obstacle race activity under strict supervision. It is imperative that the gym instructor is present. Also, the winning team will get small gifts like â€Å"cool† pens. The concept here is to provide a fun way to explore the importance of meaningful interpersonal relationships. The blind fold is crucial to introduce the aspect of human dependence. The students, within the groups, will comprise of different genders, race and ethnic background; the aim is to show that human cooperation goes beyond societal prejudices. The obstacles will make the activity more challenging and competitive. This activity is a break from other activities such as watching films that have graphic scenes of acts of intolerance in society such as racial prejudice. Also, the aspect of fairness will be brought out as the gym instructor and I oversee the activity to ensure that the winner is legitimate. Good morning class? Please confirm that your attire is well won, fitting and shoe laces are well tied to avoid any accidents. In previous lessons, the subject of tolerance and meaningful human interactions has concentrated on books with literature on heroes such as†¦ (The students should then raise their hands to give relevant examples). However, this class needs a practical example on how to set aside differences and work as one human entity. I will divide the students into groups of four, two girls and two boys (it will not be evident to the students that the groups are heterogeneous in

Key Economic Theories Of Price Fixing Economics Essay

Key Economic Theories Of Price Fixing Economics Essay 2A. Features of an oligopoly and key economic theories of price fixing : Introduction : This part of the coursework aims to identify the key features of oligopolistic competition in market and the economic theories related to price fixing. In monopoly one company controls the major market share while in oligopoly; market is controlled by more than one firm or a group of small firms. This analysis describes the features of oligopoly and kinked demand curve in oligopolistic situation. It also explains the pricing theories in context with game theory and Nash Equilibrium. Oligopoly : In oligopoly, large percentage of market is captured by leading firms, producing same product or services. Such firms agree to cooperate and act as single monopoly thus making a cartel to generate maximum profits. Key features of oligopoly are: Same product or service by the group of dominated firms. Branded product by each firm. Entry barriers. Interdependence among the firms. Non-price competition. Small firms may exist in oligopoly but the market is usually controlled by large players having more than half of the industry output. Each firm produces branded product, therefore creating high competition resulting in high marketing and advertising costs. Entry barriers such as government regulations, patents, setup cost and undivided resource ownership, restricts a new entrant to enter the oligopolistic market. Interdependence means that each firm must take into account the likely reactions of other firms in the market when making pricing and investment decisions (Begg Ward). Such an uncertainty in market can be resolved by the use of game theory which is applied by a firm taking account of the decisions made by the rival firm. Non-price competition among the oligopolistic firms, aim at increasing their market share significantly e.g. media advertising, promotional offers and discounts, use of technology, customer friendly services such as self scanning machines and customer loyalty benefits etc. Kinked demand curve theory According to Paul Sweezys assumptions, if an oligopolistic raises its price, the rivals are unlikely to follow the same suit because keeping the prices constant will increase their market share. Revenue of the firm that raised its price will fall by fairly large amount, making the demand curve relatively elastic. However if the firm reduces the prices, it is highly likely that the competitors will also reduce the prices. Source: Tutor2u Limited,2010 This non-collusive theory explains the stability once the price is set but fails to explain how the stable price is achieved. In oligopolistic situation; each company has an option either to start a price war with the rival or to cooperate. Game theory deals with the prediction of probable outcomes of the games of strategy in which rivals have incomplete information about others intensions e.g. Prisoners dilemma is a situation in which two suspects are interrogated in separate rooms, depicts an example of game theory. Each suspect has simple options either confesses and bears the consequences or denies and hopes the other has also done the same. To explain which strategy the firms will adopt can be explained by Nash equilibrium, in which each firm considers its rivals response before taking their own strategy.(Begg Ward,p.131) Equilibrium occurs when each player takes the best possible action for themselves given the action of the other player. Nash equilibrium is a situation in which none of the firms could improve pay-off, given the rivals strategies e.g. firm A would not be able to improve profits , given firm Bs strategy and vice versa. Each firm may indulge in high or low price strategies. If both firms collude to adopt high price strategy, both would yield above normal profits and if both adopt low price strategies, both would yield normal profits. Suppose in long run, each firm fails to trust the rival and indulge in low price strategy to increase its profits and the rival adheres to the high price than the rival may face heavy loss. Such a fear that the rival may adopt a damaging strategy exists within the firms and it is therefore in the interest of both the firms to adopt a low price strategy. Such a situation is called Maximin strategy where the player adopting the strategy yields maximum profits, assuming that the rival may inflict maximum damage. At times a group of oligopolists engage in an overt agreement to fix the prices and the level of production. Such an overt collusion, in order to act as a monopolist, is called collusive oligopoly and aims to earn maximum profits by restricting the production and increasing the prices. Price changes of one firm are sometimes matched by the other firm and the firm initiating the price change is called price leader; such collusion is called as tacit collusion. Rectangle abcd depicts the cartels profits. Cartels are likely to break in long run as the members are intended to cheat sometime or the other by increasing production. By producing more output than decided, the member can increase its share from cartels profit. If each member cheats than cartel ends up in earning monopoly profits and thereby leaving no reason for the firm to remain in the cartel. Conclusion Interdependence is the key feature of oligopolistic market. The outcome of any strategy by a firm is uncertain and the price competition may lead to price-war. Entry barriers help the dominant firms to maintain their control over the market. Formation of cartels may yield short term gains but are hazardous in long run. It is also observed that non-price competition may benefit oligopolists to increase market share and sustain in long term. 2B.Extent to which telecom sector in India is an oligopoly and price determination strategy Introduction Indian Telecommunication industry is the second largest and fastest telecom industry in the world with around 706.37 Million telephone (landline and mobile) subscribers and 670.60 Million mobile phone connections as of Aug2010.Dominance of few major players has made this sector perfect case of Oligopoly in India. Due to the presence of limited number of players, each player is aware of the rivals actions and therefore the decisions of one firm is affected by the action of the other firm. Service Provider wise Market Share as on 31-7-2010 Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Concentration Ratio Players Market Share(%) Bharti (Airtel) 21.34 Reliance 17.37 Vodafone 17.08 Tata 11.47 Concentration Ratio 67.26 Table above shows that four firm concentration ratio is above 40% Barriers to entry in Telecom The high entry barriers in telecom sector as mentioned below turns the market oligopolistic in nature. High capital investment required by the new entrant for initial setup competition with well established operators Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and Tata license fee on revenue sharing basis plus one time entry fee continuously emerging technology e.g. VOIP,3G lowest tariffs in the world acquiring spectrum high initial operating losses. Lower rates makes it longer for the new entrant to achieve equilibrium as most new subscribers churn from one network to another. Low Tariffs: Facet of Competition Indian telecommunications is the lowest cost market in the world. The cut throat competition among operators has left no scope of having single price leader in market as all the operators compete for lower prices and high customer base. Increased number of players has resulted in increased price wars among the competitors, with consumer being the beneficiary. Such factors declines the profit margins which are expected to consolidate the industry. Offset of price wars In mid nineties, at the start of cellular services in India, operators used to charge heavily for the incoming calls on their network. After the launch of BSNLs free incoming call facility, other operators followed the same suit. Still the major chunk of customer remained with BSNL due to its low call rates and better network coverage. With the launch of Reliance Communications as a new telecom giant, teledensity in India raised enormously to 8.2% in 2004 from that of 2.32% in 1999 and to 54.10% in April 2010 (as per TRAI).Introduction of low cost cellular services, along with handset, made Reliance the price leader in telecom industry attracting a huge chunk of customer base. Other leading service providers like Airtel, Vodafone and Hutch had to match their prices with that of Reliance. To monitor and regulate the irregularities in tariffs charged by telecom operators, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was formed by the government of India. The Telecommunication Tariff Order 1999 started declining tariffs and influenced the rapid growth of cellular phone users. TRAI is also responsible to monitor and prevent the formation of cartels by cellular operators in the cover of associations such as COAI and AUSPI. Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Graphs show the percentage decline in national and international call rates. This occurred due to intense competition that generated after TRAI regulations. Steps taken by TRAI that affected tariffs: Interconnect Usage Charge payable by one operator to another for using their network Reduction in Access Deficit Charge also contributed in bringing down the call rates Calling Party Pays regime fixed low termination charges further reduced prices Unified Access Service License gave operators the privilege to determine tariffs Impact of price-war Price war among operators hits the revenue growth significantly. For the new entrants, the break-even point at which expenses equals revenue also increases. The decline in prices due to competition increases the consumer base to unsustainable levels. Previous data suggests that only 50% of the subscribers are new and the rest are either churning the network or keeping an additional connection. Graph shows increase in demand with decrease in price Table below shows market revenue growth in terms of MRPU. major players.jpg Marginal Revenues Per Minutes (MRPU) Graph below depicts the growth in usage actuated by reduction in tariffs. Apart from low call rates, reduced cost of handsets and free handset facility by service providers also contributed to the increase in customer base. Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Non-Price Competition Recent launch of per second billing option by Tata, pushed its rivals to indulge in non-price competition. Most of the operators have now started offering similar per second billing to its customers and this has resulted in creating more pressure on margins. Value added services and customer friendly facilities like online payment, internet access and better network coverage constituted in non-price competition. Conclusion The above research and analysis of data implies that Indian telecom industry exist in oligopolistic situation where few major players are having large share of the market. Strategic change of one operator impacts the strategy of other players, resulting in interdependence among operators. High entry barriers restrict new entrants to enter the industry and regulatory authority like TRAI monitors the formation of cartel in the industry. Analysis also shows that competition in oligopolists is not only due to price-wars but other factors such as better services and low cost of handsets also influence a large customer base.

Internet Gambling Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Abstract:   Internet gambling has become one of the hottest areas of the web, both in the sheer volume of sites and quantity of money involved.   Increasing controversy is accompanying this new industry, as federal and state government officials scramble to update legislation that restricts interstate wagering.   This paper examines the roots of Internet gambling and exposes some of the motivations driving the heated debate over its legitimacy. The business-to-consumer sector of the Internet commerce arena contains the most lucrative and fastest growing web-based industry: online gambling, which includes sports wagering, casino-style games and lotteries [1].   In a September 11th article from last year, Wired on-line reported statistics from Websense, which tallied over 21, 000 websites devoted to gambling - a figure up 169% from the total just six months prior [2].   Later in the article, web research specialists Christiansen Capital Advisors predict that Internet gambling sites will earn $2.2 billion in 2000, double the figure from 1999 and four times the 1997 sum [3].   The number of Internet gamblers continues to rise above its 1998 mark of 14.5 million [4]. Not surprisingly, the increasing presence of the Internet gambling industry has generated tremendous legal controversy, since residents of states that outlaw gambling partially or entirely can access gaming servers located anywhere.   In 1998, Republican Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona brought the controversial Internet Gambling Prohibition Act to the Senate, which would "make it unlawful for any person engaged in a gambling business to knowingly use the Internet or any other interactive computer service to: (1) place, receive, or otherwise make a bet... ...From http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-344707.html?tag=rltdnws) [12]. Marinaccio, Wendy.   New York gambling ruling sets precedent.   July 29, 1999.   (From http://cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-345504.html) [13]. Krigel, Beth Lipton.   New York court rules Net gambling illegal.   July 26, 1999.   (From http://news.cnet.com/news/0,10000,0-1005-200-345356,00.html) [14]. Farmer, Melanie Austria.   Nevada to permit sports gambling on the Web.   October 13, 2000.   (From http://cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-3183887.html?tag=st.ne.1002.bgif.ni) [15]. Mariano, Gwendolyn.   Atlantic City makes a gamble for online betting.   January 19, 2001.   (From http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-4537570.html) [16]. Beyer, Andrew.   Internet Gambling Bill: All Bets Are Off.   July 25, 1998.   (From http://washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/national/longterm/intgambling/stories/opinion072598.htm)