The Role of the Bank of England

The Role of the Bank of England The United Kingdom’s central bank is the Bank of England. It is also known as the â€Å"Old Lady† of Threadneedle Street. The Bank of England was established in 1694 amid a founding contract that stated its principle was to â€Å"promote the public good and benefit of our people†. (About the Bank, 2015) Today, The Bank of England’s purpose is the sign of that vision or agenda first articulated by its founders. Their mission as stated in their official website is â€Å"to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.† The bank was originally founded as a privately-owned organization. After the Second World War, the Bank of England was nationalised, but kept hold of its broad though largely informal unrestricted or public service mission. (About the Bank, 2015) This focus somewhat changed during 1997, when Parliament voted to provide the Bank functioning independence with a comprehensible remit to practise price stability, which was the most important challenge the macroeconomic policy makers were facing for the last two decades. This financial crisis revealed the necessity for a new move towards to financial parameter in the United Kingdom. This change has resulted in a foremost expansion in the Bank’s duties and responsibilities, which came into action since April 2013. In some way, this represented a come back to the broader task that the Bank practiced in the past. However, though the Bank’s pledge to providing the public good is recognisable by its seventeenth century organizers but its responsibilities are currently defined by the Parliament. Financial Policy Committee: The Financial Services Act of 2012 founded an autonomous Financial Policy Committee (FPC) as a subsidiary of the Bank which will work as a new prudential regulator. This created new duties for the management of fiscal market infrastructure providers. This particular committee is responsible for taking steps to reduce or remove general risks with an analysis to protect and enhance the flexibility of the country’s financial system. The FPC also has a secondary purpose to maintain the economic course of action of the Government. Prudential Regulation Authority: The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has the responsibility to supervise the banks, credit unions and building societies, insurers and key investment firms. This regulation authority controls almost 1,700 financial firms. Its role can be defined in two legal objectives. They are- (1) To promote the safety and security of the firms, (2) to ensure the insurers contribute in securing the proper degree of security to the policyholders. While promoting the safety of the firms, the Prudential Regulation Authority focuses mainly on the problem that the firms can create to the steadiness of the country’s financial system. A steady financial system means it is one in which firms can keep on providing significant monetary services to the economy which is a prerequisite for a strong and successful economy. (About the Bank, 2015) Monetary Policy Committee: Having monetary stability means constant prices and confidence in the money or currency. Stable prices can be defined by the Governments inflation objective which is what the Bank aims to meet by the assessments done by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). In the United Kingdom the monetary policy generally operates through the interest rate meaning the price at which money is lent. Since March 2009, this committee also started to input money directly into the economy in addition with setting Bank Rate. It injects money by buying financial assets which are often known as â€Å"quantitative easing†. Quantitative easing (QE) is an unusual type of monetary policy where a Central Bank makes new money by electronic means to purchase monetary assets, like government bonds. The aim of this process is to directly enhance the spending of the private sector in the economy and return the inflation to the intended target. (Monetary Policy, 2015) In August 2013, the Monetary Policy Committee gave some clear guidance regarding the future performance of monetary policy. The committee plans to at least maintain highly stimulative monetary policy until economic laggings have been reduced substantially given this will not put any material risks to price constancy or financial stability. (Monetary Policy, 2015) Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee: The London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FX JSC) was founded in 1973 under the support of the Bank of England. It was established mainly as a medium for banks and brokers to talk about broad market topics. The aim of the Committees regular work is concerned with issues of frequent concern to the diverse members in the foreign exchange market. The Chairman and Secretary of this committee is provided by The Bank of England and its senior staffs are from many of the key banks functioning in the foreign exchange market in London, as well as from voice- and electronic-brokers, corporate users of the foreign exchange market, as well as delegates from the British Bankers Association, the Wholesale Market Brokers Association, and the Association of Corporate Treasurers. One of the main duties of the Committee is to keep up the Non-Investment Products Code. This code is a type of voluntary code of good market functionality that covers wholesale deposits as well as the Foreign Exchange market. Bank’s function in the foreign exchange market: The Bank functions in the foreign exchange market mainly for two reasons: Managing the UKs foreign currency and gold reserves on behalf of the government’s economic and finance ministry (HM Treasury). Organizing the Monetary Policy Committees (MPC) comparatively smaller band of foreign currency reserves. In addition to these main objectives, the Bank of England also controls general foreign currency transactions for the many departments of the government and also a small quantity of its customers. In the past year, quite a few members of a subgroup of the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee which is known as the Chief Dealers Subgroup, have either been suspended by their employers or dismissed because of having association with the global inquiry into probable manipulation of the currency market. (Albanese, 2014) The $5à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °trillion-a-day worldwide foreign exchange market is used by governments and multinational companies to buy and sell notes, as well as hedge against the danger of currency instability. The Bank of England plays an important role as both the participant and regulator of the market as it maintains the UK government’s currency transactions. In the market they use a benchmark which is known as the 4pm â€Å"fix†. If this benchmark is by any way manipulated by traders then it can cost UK firms millions of pounds and affect everything operating in the market from business accounts to the worth of investments. (Quinn John, 2 014) The London 4pm fix which is now a joint venture was initiated in 1994. It notes down the exchange rate among foreign currencies at the 4pm closing value and then these rates are then used for transaction in the foreign exchange deals all over the world. This benchmark aster its initiation was rapidly followed by many clients looking for a universal reference point. However, the currency traders who have the knowledge of currency rates and their client orders can have a major advantage. According to Chris Towner, a foreign exchange dealer, â€Å"Currency dealers will start buying before the client and then complete the client’s order at the higher 4pm rate.† (Quinn John, 2014) Thus, the central bank plays a vital role in keeping the foreign market in balance. If the price rates of currencies are shared beforehand then market imbalance is certain. Recently the bank is going through speculation on its benchmark policy as one trader who was suspended by his employer has provided the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom a handwritten note from a private meeting which was help on April, 2012 at the bank. The note proves that the central-bank officers were given the instruction that the practice of sharing and collecting client orders was common. (Albanese, 2014) The recent allegations over the manipulation of currency markets in UK came into focus after the Libor scandal. The Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) is an average interest rate which is calculated by submissions of interest rates by key banks in London. Libor scandal pointed out the possible manipulation of other financial markets such as gold and silver because they were mostly loosely monitored before the financial crisis. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England has been facing hearings on the court regarding probably manipulation in the foreign exchange market. The manipulation of foreign exchange markets is estimated to become a criminal offence. (Treanor, 2014) The central bank plays an important role in terms of maintaining the inflation and exchange rate of a country. Since, they have the responsibility to monitor the entire market and control the private banks; any manipulation by the central bank can cause serious damages in the national financial market as well as the foreign market. The recent financial crisis has put the Central Bank of England come under serious scrutiny.

Despite several attempts to regulate campaign finance, money increasingly dominates the US electoral process

In recent years the increase in money poured into US elections has created a seemingly money dominated election with some arguing success relies on the highest level of campaign funding. As a result of the Watergate scandal The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 attempted to make a number of significant changes. However with the increased regulations there have been increased loopholes and many ways to get around these regulations, many donating large sums of money argue they are not the most important part of the campaign and the significance still lies with the Candidates strength and skills. But as the 2008 and 2012 hugely exceeded the expenditure of any previous election it is clearly to see money is playing an increasingly significant role. FECA of 1974 aimed to reduce candidates’ reliance on few wealthy donors and equalise money spent by the major parties. This law was however weakened by the Supreme #Court in the Buckley v Valeo ruling that limitations on what individuals or PACs could spend infringed the 1st amendment. In a similar case the 2010 Citizens united v FEC decision restrictions on corporations was removed leading to Super PACs. These played a significant role in the fundraising and spending in the 2012 presidential election. Supporters see them as a positive consequence of free speech, however many see that they are yet another outlet for unlimited money in electoral politics. It is evident to see that money is the arguably the most significant part of the election process due. Barack Obama has taken part is the two most expensive elections, with 1. 1 billion being raised by Obama in 2012, raising more than Romney and subsequently won the presidential election. The increasing importance of finance has been shown by Obama’s actions in 2008, when he rejected federal funding in order to avoid restrictions on his spending, aware of the advantage of large fundraising support. Indeed in 2012, neither Romney nor Obama took matching funds and neither did any of Romney’s rivals in the Republican primaries suggesting an end to the era of matching funds. Campaign finance has not been sufficiently regulated; this is partly why it is increasingly dominate in the electoral process. As the campaign increases in length, and the apparent non-stop campaigning of US politics, with the invisible primaries, primaries and mid-term elections it is increasingly essential that candidates receive financial support and the need for bigger and earlier funds to compete in all rounds of the election process. The need to campaign through increasingly expensive TV adverts is ever the more important, as these target a large audience and can be very effective in building up own support or knocking an oppositions support. Money is also the most important factor due to the diversity and size of the American electorate. Many interests need to be targeted and this relies on different angles of campaigning with different emphasises on differing policies for individual groups of the electorate. For example Obama in 2012 gained a significant proportion of Latin voters – a +44% advantage over Romney – and targeted these voters with information about immigration. The need to reach out to such a large demographic of voters further puts strains on the costing of elections. Many states require visits and this insures great travel costs for each of the candidates as they go on election tours and rallys. Obama in 2012 visited 4 states in one day in November – New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio and Colorado. As the elections become ever closer swing states also play a higher significance and winning these states have a higher impact on the outcome of the election, visiting these is of primary importance and more money in advertising is require for these states due to the difference undecided voters can make. As the campaign extends and increases more political advisers are typically hired by candidates, Romney in 2012 had 24 Foreign Policy advisors working with him throughout the campaign. However, although money plays a part in the campaign, especially from an administrative point of view it is not the main deciding factor in a candidate’s success. Despite the spending of Bush in 2004 he would have most likely won despite this funding, and Romney is 2008 was the highest spender in the Republican primaries but was not the eventual winner. The use of the free media by candidates is limited and this requires to be bought supporting the argument of the significance of finance, however commercials can backfire and if the candidate is not a strong candidate with wide support this can cost them an election e. g. Bush and Willie Horton. The influence adverts has shown a higher significance media has rather than money being most dominant. This can be supported by the Presidential TV debates, where verbal errors can be costly and have proved difficult for many candidates for example Mondale in 1984. Elections can be won or loss due to the outcome of these debates, debates often do more to confirm what voters already feel about candidates and can challenge and influence de-aligned voters and can convert passive audiences. However the significance of these can be questioned, very few debates have been controversial or change the course of election events out of 30 debates that have taken place. Media today allows for 24hr news on cable and network TV. Radio, websites, social media and smart phones also play an increasingly role with many crediting Obama’s success among younger voters to the influence of social media. The media set the agenda, amplify debate and frame debates and messages. The role of policy and a candidate’s personal strengths can be said to play the most significant part. Opinions on key issues such as the economy in 2012, views and actions to tackle these key issues are likely to change voters’ minds and capture undecided voters. For example the swing voters play a large impact on deciding who wins an election, many in 2012 believe Obama’s ‘Latin vote advantage’ won him the election over Mitt Romney, and in a Reuters poll 61% of mothers felt the country was on the wrong track favouring their vote against the incumbent president. In conclusion, money does not guarantee electoral success but it is increasingly difficult to win without large funds due to the financial demands of the elongated campaigns and reliance on advertising. It is capturing the vote of most Americans that is most essential and significant in the election, and although this can be easier done with financial backing, finance does not necessarily affect people’s opinions presidential candidates and key issues. But as elections get increasingly expensive the dominance of money may lead to a situation whereby only wealthy candidates are able to mount a successful attempt at winning the presidential election.

Politics & Watchmen Essay

Comic books have long held the fascination of young and adult alike. Their social commentary on politics and cultural integration of societies along with their charismatic protagonists pitted against the forces of evil become a gateway into self-reflection – whether or not that self be a person or a government. In Alan Moore’s graphic novel The Watchmen such policy questions and the ambiguity of evil come to the forefront of the story. The Watchmen is a graphic novel with takes place in the United States in the 1980’s but facts about history have changed in order to give the reader a more amoral society: Nixon is still president, America won the Vietnam War and the future looks like a bright place full of peace thanks to Dr. Manhattan’s element introducing new engineering feats to even new fabrics (as seen with Rorschach’s mask that had once been a lady’s dress). All of these elements combine to enlighten the reader and to cause them to question a static government whose lines of good and evil are nonexistence in the face of progress as Moore stated in 1986, â€Å"[I] was consciously trying to do something that would make people feel uneasy. † (Stewart Synchronicity and Symmetry 1987). This paper will seek to develop an analysis of Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel including commentary from other sources that will support and deny the brilliance of this novel and its social commentary on American culture. Alan Moore presents the reader with passages throughout his text which aid the reader in subplots of his story. Some sections are dedicated to Nite Owl while others are dedicated to the tragedy of a pirate shipwrecked in Tales of the Black Freighter. The point of these small diversions from the main story is to give the reader a more comprehensive look into the morals of the story at hand. Moore is giving his readers an idea about heroes and their obligations to justice paired with their personal identities as Singh states, And we meet the protagonists, each with his or her own set of personal demons – including the amoral Edward Blake/The Comedian (a character about whom I would have liked to learn more) whose death sets the plot in motion and the two erstwhile Nite Owls who meet on Saturdays to reminisce about glories past. The only character in the book who actually has supernormal powers is Dr Manhattan/Jonathan Osterman, who developed extraordinary control over matter following a laboratory accident. While the classic superhero comic might have used Dr Manhattan to great effect in action scenes, his function here is different: he serves as a dispassionate observer/commenter on human affairs. (Of course, he is also being used as a weapon by the US – a dubious move, since his very presence in the world encourages the possibility of mutually assured destruction. ) (Singh How Superheroes Fade 2006). Through Moore’s writing the reader discovers that the hero’s battle for justice is being underwritten by the government, especially with the enforcement of the Keene Act: An act which requires masked avengers to give the public their true identity. While some heroes do in fact acquiesce to this new law (i. e. the Silk Spectre/Laurie Juspeczyk, and Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt) or not (Rorschach/Walter Kovacs), or simply retire (the second Nite Owl/Daniel Dreiberg) the fact that the government is requiring for their heroes to divulge their identity and thereby become more of a target to their enemies is part of that running dialogue of government policies that serve no purpose, and definitely no good purpose that Moore was adamant about writing into his story. This idea about heroes begets the ideas about Greek and Roman culture (indeed many comic book heroes have their origins with ancient gods and goddesses) and with this connotation comes another Greek route: That of a hero’s flaw as Bradford Wright writes about Moore’s concept of the graphic novel that The Watchmen is, â€Å"Moore’s obituary for the concept of heroes in general and superheroes in particular. † (Wright 272). There is one hero in this story which allows for the bending of good into the realm of evil to play a dynamic role in the book: Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt seeks to become like Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great conquered the known world- and he did this in order to unite the world and thereby eliminate opposition and evil. In Adrian’s mind, in order to become a great hero he must accomplish a united world in order to have global peace. Thus, he decides to fake a global threat in the form of an alien attack toward the close of the novel. This attack succeeds in uniting the United States with Russia and other leaders (remember this was a time when the Cold War was a serious issue, and even though Moore chose to change the face of the president for his graphic novel, the impending doom of the world is something he still kept in as a fact for his story). As most heroes have flaws, Ozymandias’ flaw may be considered to be his ego – for he wants to be greater than his own personal hero Alexander the Great. Tragic heroes begin their stories with aplomb of luck, or ego, or a rosy view of the world. With literature or drama the tragedy of the unmistakable truth found in the character’s own self-realization is typically the denouement. The writer’s tragic heroes have survived in life under false pretences, thus they are doomed to suffer from their one flaw of ego as Iain Thomson writes,†developing its heroes precisely in order to deconstruct the very idea of the hero and so encouraging us to reflect upon its significance from the many different angles of the shards left lying on the ground†. (Thomson Deconstructing the Hero 101). What is different in Moore’s novel is that Ozymandias doesn’t succumb to his ego – at least not in the written pages of the novel (for Rorschach’s novel does reach the attention of the Frontiersman newspaper and the reader is left to assume its pages will be printed and the truth about the alien hoax will be publicized). Thomson goes on to state â€Å"†¦ develops its heroes precisely in order to ask us if we would not in fact be better off without heroes†¦[and the story’s deconstruction of the idea of a hero] suggests that perhaps the time for heroes has passed [which further illustrates] this postmodern work from the deconstructions of the hero in the existentialism movement. † (Thomson 111). Thus, with the hero turned bad guy (for the cause of world peace) and not being punished by the ultimate superhero of the book, Dr. Manhattan, the reader is left wondering Where is justice? It is this question which spurns on the plots and subplots of the novel. With the Keene Act masked avengers are forced to reveal their identity but The Comedian/Edward Blake does not have to do this as he is an agent for the government. His work for the government is similar to a mercenary soldier – he goes into American occupied territories and takes care of local uprisings. The part of the book dedicated to Blake’s story shows him in Vietnam with a flame thrower killing soldiers. The next scene is of Blake in a bar with a pregnant woman asking him to take of her now that the war is over. Blake laughs at her and she then grabs a bottle and breaks it then attacks him brutally slashing his face as Reynolds states of Blake’s personality, â€Å"[he is] ruthless, cynical, and nihilistic, and yet capable of deeper insights than the others into the role of the costumed hero†(Reynolds 106). The justice of the novel in this scene takes place when Blake takes out his pistol and shoots her in the stomach. The underlining commentary on this scene is further developed as the reader realizes through Blake’s dialogue with Dr. Manhattan that Manhattan could have turned the gun into anything he wanted, but he didn’t, he simply allowed events to play through. So, the characters’ amoral personalities and their ability to follow their government as soldiers and kill villagers then kill a pregnant woman, or even to allow a pregnant woman to be killed when one could have done something to prevent it, layer the story with what are the definitions of good and evil and these traits applications to men who claim to be fighting for justice. Does guilt make evil actions less amoral? This is a question which plagues through Moore’s commentary on the government. The United States government sent Dr. Manhattan to annihilate small villages in order for them to surrender to the U. S. all in under the guise of peace as Klock states, â€Å"[l]ike Alan Moore’s kenosis, [Veidt] must destroy, then reconstruct, in order to build ‘a unity which would survive him. ‘† (Klock 75). Does a government feel guilt over the thousands that die on the opposition’s side? And, if they do feel guilt, how does a feeling make recompense for the harm that is done? Indeed, Moore’s novel about ambiguous feelings gives all of the contradictions of the American government (Sabin 165). In the world of graphic novels, the cut and dry interpretation of the hero fighting side by side with its government and government agencies such as cops, it would seem then that the government would become a hero in association with the protagonists of the story. In Moore’s novel, the reader sees the development of the anti-hero in full climax with the character of The Comedian. The Comedian is a social commentary on how governments, different agencies and countries are a joke – they promise to help the people but when the government sends Blake and Dreiberg to control the rioting in the street all it takes it one person from the crowd to throw a beer bottle at the Archimedes (Nite Owl’s flying device) for Blake to go into the crowd shooting his gun at the people he’s supposed to be protecting. All throughout the novel Moore has Dave Gibbons illustrate the phrase â€Å"Who Watches The Watchmen† written in graffiti all over the city. At this pivotal scene in the novel, when the crowd disperses one lone soul is spray painting this phrase on the side of a building when Blake comes up to them. This is main theme of the graphic novel – who controls the hero when the hero becomes evil? This question comes to a climax with Ozymandias’ character along with (to an extent) Blake’s character.

Among School Children Essay - 1394 Words

quot;Among School Childrenquot; is a poem used by Yeats to determine an upcoming generation with the underlying concept that no possible life can be fulfilled. The philosophy controlling this work suggests that perhaps life prepares us for what never happens. Consistent with Yeatsean philosophy, it follows the dogma which states that wistlessness brings about innocence, whereas knowledge brings us ballyhoo. Within the realms of acquired wisdom, consciousness produces an anarchic state within the individual, causing conflict to be the degradation of the soul and mind. Understanding these forms of consciousness, inscape and instress, as Tenyson has termed them, causes a heightened awareness towards understanding the human spirit and the†¦show more content†¦It would seem that innocence is freedom to follow the divine will. It is the natural order and within the childs mind a unknown parallel held between each individual is present. Innocence becomes beauty and consciousness be comes mere confusion.Yeats is constantly using forms of innocence which may be considered the opposing factor to forms of consciousness. If consciousness is understanding in a universal sense, then innocence would be unable to interpret this wisdom. He displays the children, a mother, a nun and his wife throughout the piece, using them as monuments of innocence and in some senses, heavenly glory and beauty. These images of innocence give us intense pictures of purity and are representative of moral order. Yeats begins his piece in the classroom. As he walks through the pairs of puzzled young faces he is told by their teacher that they learn to read, sing and sew. These common classroom activities are what we are taught. They are quot;neat in everything / in the best modern wayquot;(ln5/6), and in relation to his final two lines in the piece, this is one of the only ways in which we know how to dance. These teachings have been passed down by generations in hope of increasing our knowledge into an eternal state of bliss and beauty. Another philosophical concept is aroused here. What constitutes eternal bliss? Is it knowledge and reason, or innocence and wistlessness? Indeed, within Yeats prospective standpoint, it is the latter.Show MoreRelatedBullying And Emotional Abuse Among School Children888 Words   |  4 PagesResearch Summary of Bullying and Emotional Abuse Among School Children Bullying is a social phenomenon that goes beyond gender, age, and culture. There are wide ranges in the definition of the term, bullying it is essentially characterized by one or more individuals primarily to assert control or power. Bullying is a common thing now a day’s on school playgrounds, neighborhood, social media also called â€Å"cyber bullying†, and at homes. 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How to Pronounce the Name of Taiwanese Politician Tsai Ing-wen

In this article, we will look at how to pronounce the name of the president Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen (è” ¡Ã¨â€¹ ±Ã¦â€"‡), which in Hanyu Pinyin would be written Cà  i YÄ «ngwà ©n. Since most students use Hanyu Pinyin for pronunciation, we  will henceforth use that, although the notes about pronunciation are of course relevant regardless of system. Cà  i YÄ «ngwà ©n was elected president of Taiwan on Jan. 16, 2016. And yes, her personal name means English, as in the language this article is written in. Below are some easy instructions if you just want to have a rough idea how to pronounce the name. Then we’ll go through a more detailed description, including analysis of common learner errors. Pronouncing Names in Chinese Pronouncing can be very hard if you havent studied the language; sometimes its hard, even if you have.  Ignoring or mispronouncing tones will just add to the confusion. These mistakes add up and often become so serious that a native speaker would fail to understand. Read more about how to pronounce Chinese names. Easy Instructions for Pronouncing Cai Yingwen Chinese names usually consist of three syllables, with the first being the family name and the last two the personal name. There are exceptions to this rule, but it holds true in many cases. Thus, there are three syllables we need to deal with. Cai - Pronounce as ts in hats plus eyeYing - Pronounce as Eng in EnglishWen - Pronounce as when If you want to have a go at the tones, they are falling, high-flat and rising respectively. Note: This pronunciation is not correct pronunciation in Mandarin (though it is reasonably close). It represents an attempt to write the pronunciation using English words. To really get it right, you need to learn some new sounds (see below). How to Actually Pronounce Cai Yingwen If you study Mandarin, you should never ever rely on English approximations like those above. Those are meant for people who dont intend to learn the language! You have to understand the orthography, i.e. how the letters relate to the sounds. There are many traps and pitfalls in Pinyin you have to be familiar with. Now, lets look at the three syllables in more detail, including common learner errors: Cai  (fourth tone) - Her family name is by far the hardest part of the name. c in Pinyin is an affricate, which means that it is a stop sound (a t-sound) followed by a fricative (an s-sound). I used ts in hats above, which is sort of okay, but will lead to a sound that is not aspirated enough. To get that right, you should add a considerable puff of air afterward. If you hold your hand a few inches from your mouth, you should feel the air hitting your hand. The final is okay and is pretty close to eye.Ying  (first tone) - As you have probably guessed already, this syllable was chosen to represent England and thereby English because they do sound quite similar. The i (which is spelt yi here) in Mandarin is pronounced with the tongue closer to the upper teeth than in English. Its as far up and forward you can go, basically. It can almost sound like a soft j at times. The final can have an optional short schwa (as in English the). To get the right -ng, let your jaw drop and your ton gue withdraw.Wen (second tone) - This syllable seldom clauses problem for learners once they sort the spelling (its uen but since its the beginning of the word, its spelt wen). It is actually very close to English when.  Its worth pointing out that some English dialects have an audible h, which should not be present here. It should also be noted that some native speakers of Mandarin reduce the final to sound more like un than en, but this is not the standardized way of pronouncing it. English when is closer. The are some variations for these sounds, but Cai Yingwen/Tsai Ing-wen (è” ¡Ã¨â€¹ ±Ã¦â€"‡) can be written like this in IPA: tsÊ °ai jiÅ‹ wÉ™n Conclusion Now you know how to pronounce Tsai Ing-wen (è” ¡Ã¨â€¹ ±Ã¦â€"‡). Did you find it hard? If you’re learning Mandarin, dont worry; there arent that many sounds. Once you’ve learned the most common ones, learning to pronounce words (and names) will become much easier!

Ethical Relativism Moral Or Immoral - 1382 Words

Brittany Haskell Mr. Legge CLN 4U Due: December 19, 2014 Ethical Relativism Moral or Immoral Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one s culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. Moral or ethical relativism is the idea that what is considered moral or immoral depends on the accepted behaviors within the society in which the determination is made. Therefore, what is considered moral or ethical in one society may be considered immoral or unethical in another, but each society is equally correct. For this reason the question remains, if and action is considered to be moral does that mean that the action is also normal? Although something may seem right to someone living in a different community, people living in a society like ours today may feel differently. Ethical Relativism can be looked at are moral or immoral in many different ways. Looking at the articles Guarding The Boundaries, A Defense of Ethical Relativis m and Butterflies and Wheels, it is clearly shown that although ethnical relativism may seem immoral, but really in many ways is moral. In the article Guarding The Boundaries, by Anthony Daniels. The philosopher states that men can no more avoid making moral and aesthetic judgments than they can avoid eating. In our society it is clearly shown that abuse is incorrect and immoral, but looking at in in a different perspective canShow MoreRelatedCultural Relativism Essay1475 Words   |  6 PagesMoral principles being determined by each culture can be described as conventional ethical relativism. Every culture is entitled to have their own moral laws, beliefs and values, and these will differ from culture to culture. What is moral in one culture could be considered immoral in another, which is something that we must accept. 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K12 Program free essay sample

There is also the dramatic framework set up by Northrop Frye, Hayden White and others: * Spring/Comedy/Conservative/Hero succeeds in reforming a corrupt society of some kind and in romance and/or other personal endeavorsthe story line is considered conservative because it suggests that our society is basically all right, at the core, although individual injustices must be met and defeated (and that this can be done through wit and the uncovering of hypocrisy and vanity rather than through action, particularly radical and violent action). Summer/Romance/Anarchistic/Hero abandons or fails to reform a corrupt society but succeeds in romance; the genre is considered anarchistic because it presumes that victory can only take place on the level of personal success or failure; often, the best way to deal with a corrupt society is to simply go away, to escape and create ones own society. * Autumn/Tragedy/Radical/Hero restores order but is destroyed or endures personal loss because of it; the genre is considered radical because it suggests that changes in society can be made, should be made, must be made with action, and must be made even at great personal cost. Winter/Satire/Liberal/Hero neither restores order nor succeeds in personal goals; often, the hero is as corrupt as the society he would, in other genres, be attempting to reform, or he becomes corrupt in his attempt to create reform; the genre is consider liberal because it suggests that political change is a myth, that no change in the system will produce fundamental changes in societyalthough perhaps we can achieve small victories by living wellbut we must accept an Im okay, youre okay attitude about things and accept that heroic plans to make big changes are doomed to failure. It is important, by the way, to keep the political aspect of literature in mind. Nothing is more political than literature, even when it does not overtly makes an argument about a particular political issue, because so much of literature is concerned with power and morality, about what is true, good, and possible, about what is just and beautiful, about who has power and who should have power in society and in the family, and how that power should be employed, and for what ends. It is hard to find a work of literature that does not ask us to join with or join against certain characters (or the narrator); in doing this, a work of literature becomes an argument for (or against) a particular political, ethical, social, and/or moral agenda. Another idea is that of the text as verbal object, as self-contained universe of verbal logic, whose artistic impact comes not so much from the ideas themselves but from how those ideas and characters operate as a self-contained system, in the way that a symphony is not so much about tone but about structures of tones, and the way a sculpture is not so much about image as about the cooperation of many images to create a single effect. 2. Questions of motifs and symbols Motifs are another important aspect of fictional form. Images or themes may e repeated or, as often occurs in music, employed as a series of variations on a central image or theme. As in cluster criticism, the use may not have to refer to any meaning outside the text, although in some cases this is of central importance to the meaning and impact of the text, but it is always true that they create a sense of connection between different aspects or moments in the text itself. For example, if we know that roses are import ant to the hero, any use of roses or rose imagery may be a sign of this kind of connection. Symbols are, of course, a central aspect of literature. Anything that is not literally what it is, that may have some hidden meaning or meanings, can be a symbol. Symbols, of course, can be used to create a resonance or connection of meaning(s) throughout the text through repetition and variation. 3. Questions of character One of the most important issues in literature is that of character. After all, one of the main reasons we enjoy and think about literature is because we are interested in the fictional people who inhabit the invented worlds we visit when we read or watch stories, plays, films, etc. It is not unusual to become emotionally invested in certain characters (and this often says as much about who we are as it does about the characters themselves). We often need to consider who the characters are and what kinds of characters they are: hero, anti-hero, protagonist, villain, antagonist, heroine, main character, secondary or minor or supporting character, etc. In short, we need to consider the role each character plays in the story. How do they affect the action of the story and what is the author trying to say with these characters? In addition, one can consider the depth of character development. Often you will have archetypal or stock characters: virginal heroine, innocent child, ambitious general, fallen woman who tempts the hero, etc. Some stock characters are tied to certain genres. More modern works usually try to develop characters in far greater psychological depth; it is seen as a sign of good writing that the characters are more than stock figures but fully realized individuals. (A heroine can still be virginal, and often is, but she should be a particular virginal heroine, an individual rather than a mere type. Of course, some stories deliberately draw upon stock characters and then do something different with them, such as a noble cowboy who is treated as a comic figure because he is also dumb as a rock. Another issue is the role of secondary characters and their relationship with the main characters. Often, secondary characters are used to complement the main characters or to contrast with them in s ome way. A system outlined by Northrop Fryesee  Anatomy of Criticism, pages 172-173has four basic character types The first is the  eiron  (the self-deprecator). There are several kinds of  eirons, including the neutral hero and/or heroine and the witty side-kick (originally in Roman drama, this was a tricky slaveif youve seen Marty Feldman in  Young Frankenstein  you get the idea) Other types of characters in Fryes discussion of drama (which can probably cross over to fiction some- what) are: * the  alazon  (the blocking force, often a hypocritical boaster, and sometimes a father figure in competition with the hero for the girl (Frye points out that comedies often combine both sexual and political triumphs: boy saves world  and  gets girl) * the  buffoon  (who increases the festivity of the mood rather than contributing to the story) * the  churl  (sometimes a straight man, often a naive rustic, sometimes simply someone who refuses to enter into the cheerful spirit of events) We should always consider how a character fits into a story, how they further the plot, what the author might be trying to teach us by including c ertain characters. We may also want to examine whether characters are fully developed and three dimensional, stock character types (the brash soldier, the stoic gunslinger, the sage, the virginal princess, etc. , or entirely symbolic or allegorical. Sometimes authors use deliberately complicated charactersthe character  who  suddenly does the reverse of what we expect to draw attention to the whole notion of stereotypes and stock characters (e. g. , the virginal princess who is also a better shot than the hero). In addition, one should consider how public or private a view we have of the charactersdo we only see what they do and say, or do we get a chance to see what they think and feel, too? 4. Questions of style Style is one of those fuzzy terms that can mean a lot of things. It is, however, worth considering the actual diction, syntax, and presentation of the text. This can cover an enormous range of textual features, including the length and complexity of sentences, the variation of sentence forms, the relative degree of abstract or concrete language employed by the text, the use of images, the length of paragraphs, pacing, the division of the text in chapters or sections, even the physical layout and production values of the text (the size and font of the typeface, the quality of paper used, etc. ), although this last may be outside the control of the author. All of these factors can influence how we experience the text, how realistic we find the story, how we view the characters and their actions, and so on. 5. Questions of genre  (definition) Genre literally means kind or class. Almost every text can be described as belonging to one or more genres; the few textsif any existthat are unclassifiable can still be approached based on the genres to which they may be responses (including rejections). Genres are useful to readers and critics because every genre establishes a set of guidelines, expectations, etc. , about the texts form, content, goal, people who are allowed to create such texts in the first place, people who are supposed to read the text once it is completed, how important the text is, what themes might be explored in the text, and so on. Some basic questions include the following: What makes this a novel, as opposed to some other form, like a novelette, an epic, a drama, a ballad poem (in prose form), and so on? What makes this a certain kind of novel, e. g. , historical, western, science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, etc.? Is the essential dramatic quality of the story comedic, tragic, romantic, or satiric? Another issue is whether the genre is one that uusally (although not always) treats the subject seriouslytragedy, drama, epic, horror, romantic tales, hard science fiction, some kinds of comedy, etc. or which is deliberately absurd, humorous, and/or unrealisticparody, some types of satire, etc. Of course, with genre, it is always important to remember that some stories fit perfectly into one genre or another, while others are not so easily categorized because they seem to fit into more than one genre or violate some of the expected conventions of their genre, and some deliberately blur the boundaries between genres, levels of realism, etc. because the author is trying to make a point of some kind. 6. Questions of universals One approach to literature is that it addresses universal questions of human experience. Some critics argue that what makes a text literature, the reason it stands the test of time, is that it addresses issues that are of common concern to all (or, at least, most) human beings. Some of these questions might be classified as considering What is the human experience? What does it really mean to be alive and to be human? What does it mean to grow from childhood into adulthood, and to grow old and face death? What does it mean to be in love? What are the uni versal experiences that are generally true for all people in all times? A related set of questions often explored in literature might come under the heading of What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What does it all mean? What is a good life and how shall we live it? What does God (or the gods, nature, the universe, etc. ) ask of us? 7. Questions of morality (or ethics)  (Is it good art? ) Many critics believe that literature must have a moral or ethical component. Samuel Johnson was concerned about the new genre of the novel in the 18th century because he was concerned about it being a bad moral influence. He and other writers believed that true art instructs while pleasing. John Gardner believed that literature, real art, should present valid models for imitation, eternal verities worth keeping in mind, and a benevolent vision of the possible which can inspire and incite human beings toward virtue, towards life affirmation as opposed to destruction or indifference. (Three of the most common of these eternal verities, discussed by various critics as the central aims and subjects of art, are Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. What those terms mean are, of course, open to interpretation. Like Johnson, he says, and I believe both of these authors are right, that Art instructs. This is, I think a central issue. Books are not responsible for making us better people. We are responsible for making us better people. But authors, through their booksand so ngwriters through their songs and directors through their films and so onmight be considered responsible for giving good advice. One of the most important things the arts can do is to help us live a good life. Literature cannot force us to be something, we are ultimately responsible for who we are and what we do, but literature and other forms of art can guide us and advise us and steer us towards certain beliefs and certain choices. In fact, that might be a good definition of literature:  literature is good advice given in a compelling way. To what extent does the text teach, and what does it teach, and do you believe it is a good thing that the text is teaching these ideas? Why or why not? (Often, questions about what is erotic or pornographic are based on this notion. ) It is worth mentioning that art may be able to teach by accident. Often, a writer or a director has a message they want to send; they are trying to teach a specific idea or lesson. However, in some cases, the author or director is only trying to tell a good story. Their main goal is simply to enterain. Regardless of intent, storytellers frequently rely on standard characters (the stalwart hero, the femme fatale, the eccentric genius, the sleezy politicisan, etc. ) and plot elements (the great man with a secret, the pretty girl in danger, etc. ). These things are often used for no other reason than that they feel right to the storyteller and/or allow the storyteller to create tension, provide the hero with an obstacle, etc. However, in doing this, storytellers may still be teaching after all, through the reptition of common or stock story elements, they may be reinforcing existing beliefs (some valid, some not) about good and evil, gender roles, our rights and responsibilities as human beings or as members of a society, and so on. In short, even when the story was created only to entertain, the author, director, etc. retains some responsibility to make sure they are not giving bad advice. Literature can usually be examined in terms of good and evil. Each work of literature is usually an argument, explicit or implicit, in favor of certain kinds of thinking and certain kinds of behavior, and as an argument against other kinds of thinking and behavior. I suppose one way of thinking about this is that a work can be examined (and perhaps praised or condemned) not on the basis of whether or not it makes people better, but rather on the basis of what kind of advice it gives people and how well it gives that advice. It is, in my opinion, ridiculous to judge a work on whether or not it makes people better. Books are not responsible for making us better people;  we  are responsible for making ourselves better people. Authors may be able to help by giving good, life-affirming advice, but it is then the responsibility of the reader to first decide if that advice is appropriate to his or her situation (not all good advice is good for all people and/or good all the time) and, if it is, to then follow that advice. This is another question that has become more important for me as a teacher of literature over time. Edmund Burke is reputed to have said that All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Sometimes the best way to fight evil is to simply tell people why they should not do something or how to make up for what they have done wrong. As an example, Rabbi Hillel is reputed to have said, when asked about the meaning of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary. Sometimes the best way to give good advice is to explore the nature of evil, to show us what not to do and what not to be. And examining how literature treats evil can be a rich area for discussion (or, as I like to tell my students, Evil is a many-splendored thing. ) What is evil? How is evil different from sinful or naughty or failing to be as good as one should be and so on? What kinds of evil exist in the world? What makes something or someone evil? What might cause an otherwise good person to behave in an evil manner? How should we respond when others do evil to us? Can some kinds of evil be excused or forgiven? If someone does evil, is it possible for them to redeem themselves, and, if so, what must they do? 8. Questions of heroism, villainy, and monstrosity Literature often asks questions like these: Who are the heroic figures and why? What is the author trying to say about the nature of humanity and heroism that these people are the heroic figures? How heroic is the protagonist? The antagonist? What is the author trying to say by using heroic and  unheroic  figures in these positions within the story? Who are the villainous figures and what makes them villainous? Who are the anti-heroic figures? What makes them anti-heroic? Is it simply a quality of being somehow ordinary, normal, etc.? Finally, literature examines questions of the normal and the abnormal, and asks: Who are the monstrous figures? What makes them monstrous or grotesque (as opposed to evil)? The monster is often used to address such questions as What does it mean to be human?   and  What makes something or someone a monster? Replace the term monster with foreigner or outsider and you have an entirely new set of questions. Often, of course, stories that involve monsters suggest that the monsters may be more human than they appear; some of them also suggest that someone who looks like a perfectly ordinary person (or a hero) might be far more monstrous than a creature or person who is simply strange or ugly. Fantasy, science fiction, and horror are often concerned with this last issue. Examining the other (monster,alien, immortal, ghost, etc. ) is often a way to address certain aspects of being human. In addition, horror as agenre is frequently concerned with examining the relationship between the normal and the abnormal, the wholesome and the taboo, etc. In fact, horror often frightens or disturbs us not only by putting certain characters in danger, but by blurring or violating the boundaries between the normal and the abnormal, etc. For more on this, see the works of critics like Marie-Helene Huet and Barbara Creed. ) 9. Questions of power In recent years, I have come to rely more and more on the issue s related to this question. Ciceros On Duties and On Friendship are important works for many reasons, but I think one of them is that they identify two of the critical issues explored in literature. The first is the issue of power.? Human relationships are often hierarchical; some people have power of some kind over other people. It may be because they are kings, or parents, or employers, or landowners, or teachers, or officers, or some other kind of political or community leader. What does it mean to be a leader? What makes a leader a good leader? What are the rights and the obligations of a leader? The other side of the question is what are the rights and obligations of someone who is ruled or commanded or guided or protected? What makes a good child, a good subject, a good soldier, a good community member, and so on? 10. Questions of relationship Another issue addressed by Cicero and other writers is one of friendship. Human societies are full of relationships where people are not connected by power, but by some kind of kinship or friendship. What is a good friend? A good brother? A good wife? A good husband? How should we treat those to whom we are related not by power, but by affection, by kinship, by friendship, or by marriage? 11. Questions of reality and depiction  (mimetic criticism and other issues) One approach to literature is the relationship between art and the real world, between art and truth. A great deal has been written about whether or not art should be truthful or not, whether realism is the real measure of art, or if art is more real than reality because it allows us to see the essence of things that we can only experience in terms of material or social aspects. Some critics have recommended that writers use nature as their guide, that the stories and characters they invented must be plausible or true to life. Many writers believe that literature should try to be as realistic as possible, to try to record and express (or perhaps to capture) real life in verbal form. Of course, some writers turn this question on its head and deliberately write stories or poems or plays that are not realistic. Sometimes they are doing this to explore some kind of symbolism or to explore what they think an experience like passionate love or drug addiction or dreaming might be like. Sometimes they do this to draw attention to the relationship between art and real life, to show that while they are related, they may not be exactly the same thing. Some questions that might be considered are as follows: What view of the world is being presented in the text? How realistic is the text and why do we believe it to be realistic? How does the style and arrangement of the text serve to create or destroy a sense of realism, surrealism, etc.? Another issue is to consider if and how the text calls attention to its existence as a text, rather than text that pretends to be a literal translation of reality into a linguistic structure. 12. Questions of narration and silence  (viewpoint) Every story is narrated. Someone, whether it is one of the characters in the story, or an unseen narrator, or the point of view provided by a films director, is relating the events of the tale to us, letting us experience those events in one particular way, while blocking out other viewpoints. This blocking out of alternatives is usually not malicious, although authors are frequently aware of the significance of having the story told from one point of view and not another. Ultimately, the choice of one narrator over another is unavoidable; there is no way for a single narrator or author to present the totality of everything that takes place in a story, but we need to be aware that every story can be told in an infinite number of ways. Some of the questions one can consider are as follows: Who is telling the story and how does that influence how the story gets told? What  kind of narrative techniques are  being used and how does that influence the way the story is told? Who is not getting to speak and how does that influence how we view the story and the ideas it contains? Whose point of view is being valorized? Whose point of view is being silenced? 13. Questions of change  (process, history, and relationship with text) Novels and dramas are dynamic forms of literature; almost always, the action described by a novel or a play takes place over a period of time and describes some kind of change. So we can look at the following: How does the plot develop? We are used to the traditional description of plot as one of introduction, crisis, climax, and anticlimax or conclusion (although in some non-Western societies we do not see this kind of development, suggesting a more spatial/static relationship with the world rather than the dynamic/process/progress/change-oriented relationship common in Western societies). How do things change in the  novel. In particular, how do people change? As I mentioned earlier, Orson Scott Card has said his main character s always the person in the most pain and implied that the story is not over until that pain is somehow resolved. (Gardner  talks about writing as a response to  woundedness. ) Who or what is responsible for the changes that take place? Another issue is that we are involved in a relationship with the text. Consider the very process of your reading of the text. How have you changed (in knowledge, attitude, etc. ), if you have changed, during the course of reading the text, and now, afterwards, having finished it? 14. Questions of rhetoric  (rhetorical criticism) Every text can be treated as an argument, explicit or implicit, for certain things. The author wants us to believe certain things or do certain things. The author wants us to feel certain things about certain characters. The author wants us to experience the ideas and themes of the story in a certain way. How does all this happen? How does the text operate as an explicit or implicit argument for a certain agenda? What is the author trying to prove and how does he or she go about proving it? How successful is the text as an explicit or implicit argument? Why does it succeed (or fail)? A related issue is  text as semiotichow does it go about communicating its meaning to the audience? How does it operate as or within a system of symbols? One can also adapt the classical treatment of rhetoric to literature, examining the text as a kind of persuasive speech and exploring the three types of Aristotelian arguments: A Ethos: Who is the narrator and why do we trust both the narrator and mode of presentation? What relationship is established between text/narrator and audience? Logos: What ideas are established and how are they established, implied, or proved? Pathos: How does the author (through the narrator and/or the events of the text) appeal to the audiences values or emotions? Why is this done? What does the author hope to accomplish by doing this? How does it help in her attempt to persuade the audience? Kenneths Burke pentad and notion of identification are also valuable for considering how a text might attempt to persuade or argue with an audience. What kind of dramatic structures are being set up in the text, what is being identified with what, and for what purpose? Finally, one can consider how a text might influence an audience in ways the author may not have originally intended (for example, do slasher films encourage violence towards women? if so, how? ) 15. Questions of race, gender, and class  (multicultural, feminist, and Marxist criticism) This is a cluster of questions related to the views of the author and the possible influence of the text on topics concerning power and relationships between different groups of people in society. What does the text say about masculine and feminine roles in society? What does the text say about the relationship between races and the concept of race? What does the text say about working class people, white collar workers, bosses and laborers, masters and slaves, the relationship between classes, and the very concept of class? 16. Questions of tradition, culture, and canon? Every text can be considered in relationship with a canon, a hierarchy of works that are considered the core of a genre, either because of their quality, or originality, or influence, or  representativeness. Those most central to the canon are those which represent the best in what that culture or discourse community considers best and most beautiful among a certain set of texts; they reflect ideological assumptions about a genre or a set of genres. What place does any specific text have within that hierarchy? Is it primary, secondary, minor, marginal, or outside the canon? A related question is how a text fits within a tradition or genealogy. One way of looking at this is to consider that texts are responses not only to the real world, but also to other texts which they imitate, draw upon, react to, refer to, and so on. In other words, texts have meaning to us because we have read other texts, so the relationship, implied or explicit between a text and other texts, in or out of its own genre, is worth exploring. For example, how does our concept of Frankensteins monster affect our reaction to the monster in  Grendel? In short, how does the writer refer to and draw upon (and perhaps even comment on) other stories, myths, etc. in his own stories? Another way of looking at this issue is to ask what literary or aesthetic or rhetorical traditions the text belongs to and how it fits into those traditions. What does it mean, for example, to say that a novelist has written an absurdist play or a picaresque novel? One can argue whether or not tradition is another name for genre, but it is sometimes useful to treat the two issues as separate 17. Questions of culture  (cultural criticism) What does the text tell us, either directly or by implication, about the society in which it was composed or the audiences for whom it was intended? Ideology here refers to the underlying assumptions about what is true, good, and possible (and the opposite: what is false, bad, and impossible) used by individuals or groups. All people and all groups have some kind of ideology, although certain ideologies are more flexible than others. In addition, ideologies are often invisible, the assumptions are so basic to our understanding of reality that we are not aware of them or, if we are aware of them, never think of questioning them. Regardless of what the text seems to say on the surface, what appear to be the ideological assumptions that the text is based upon? What can we say about the community in which the text was originally written? What can we say about the community for which the text was written? Authors who write for the universal audience still  have  some assumptions about what that audience is and what they expect, and will write in reaction to these assumptions. ) The image we might use here is the text as a window o nto the lives and minds of a particular culture. Finally, it is worth asking how a text relates to the culture in which and for which it was produced. How is a text typical (or atypical) not only of a genre, but of a historical period and locale. For example, to say that James Joyce is a modern Irish writer tells us something about him, just as to say that Joyce was an experimental novelist also tells us something. What exactly does it mean to say that a writer is typical of a certain period, geographical location, etc.? (The term community or culture can refer to any group of people who share a set of assumptions about the true, the good, and the possible. Many critics and philosophers use the term discourse community to discuss some of these issues.? This is based on two notions.? First, they believe that all communities are discourse communities since people can only operate as groups through the use of language and texts in the first placeas I recall,  Cicero  made this argument about two thousand years ago.? Second, the word ? community? sometimes implies a specific time and place.? However, as the Internet has shown, a community can bevirtual; it can consist entirely of words and ideas and feelings and arguments shared by and between people who might never physically meet. )? 18. Questions of Critical Approach There are a variety of specific critical approaches that provide ways of approaching literature. One of these is what is sometimes called  Burkean  approaches to literature, drawing upon the theories of Kenneth Burke.? This includes the notion of form as the arousal and fulfillment of expectations (from Kenneth Burke). What expectations does the text create and how does it ultimately fulfill them, if it does indeed do so? We can also employ a tool referred to as the  Pentad. Developed by  Kenneth Burke, the Pentad addresses any dramatic (or fictional) work in terms of looking at any action within the text as a combination of agent, agency, act, purpose, and scene (Who did it? By what means? What did he or she do? Why? Where and when? )  See  A Grammar of Motives  (and, also,  A Rhetoric of Motives) for more information. One important aspect of the pentad is that by breaking the fiction down into its  dramatistic  elements, we can see which ones are most important to an author (for example, if circumstances drive a character to certain actions, if scene and not agent or purpose determines the act, then this tells us something about the way the author views and is portraying reality. ) In addition, Burke talks about identification, by which he means how one thing is associated (or identified) with other things. This is useful in determining how the author creates certain effects or feelings in the audiencerepeated images of life are used to describe books in  Fahrenheit 451, for example,  identifying  books (and their ideas) with life and living things, a symbol that works on several levels (books and ideas are the life of a society, ideas are alive, books are not simply dead pieces of paper and cardboard but are living things because of the ideas contained within them). Related to all this is another form of criticism designed by Burke called  cluster criticism. Here, one looks for clusters of terms, themes, and images and attempts to outline the network of connections between them. They need not really refer to the meanings of these ideas outside of the text, what matters is that within the text they are creating their own interlocked system of meanings. Another approach is use the text as a way of understanding the author (usually because the author is seen as a kind of ? wisdom figure? or because he or she is seen as having a coherent philosophy about one or more issues or concepts).? What can we learn about the authors views by examining the text? What is the author trying to say about the nature of heroism, beauty, truth, reality, justice, etc. in this text? How is the text typical or atypical of a particular authors works, viewpoints,  etc. How does it show his or her growth or progress as an author? Finally, many critics are interested in the  metatextual  aspects of a piece of art. Modern linguistic theory argues that linguistic meaning takes place within the free play between signifiers, that words are meaningful not only because they refer to something in the world, but because of their place in the enormous network of meaning that is a language. In fact, words have meaning because of their difference from other meanings. But if this is true, if there is no center of language, no final anchor of meaning, texts can be approached by asking how the meaning of the text deconstructs itself through the internal contradictions created by assuming any final structure of language or meaning. 19. Questions of comparison and contrast This is one of the easiest and broadest of all the questions. Quite simply, one should consider how any one particular work is similar to or different from any other work. Often, it is by comparing one work with another that the unique features of both works will come into sharp focus. Because this is such a broad question, however, it is often useful to compare the work in question with another work that you are familiar with, and to combine it with other questions from this list, but only one question at a time. For example, one can explore how the Hero in Shakespeares  Henry V  differs from  Dorimant, the protagonist in the Restoration comedy,  The Man of Mode. Or, one can consider the treatment of evil in  Frankenstein, as compared to the treatment of evil in  To Kill a Mockingbird. 20. Questions of reaction  (reader response) One of the new theories of criticism is based on the very real factor that we do not simply passively absorb experiences; instead, what we experience as reality is mediated, the raw sensory experience goes through several filters (sensory, linguistic, cultural, etc. ) and our own personal desires, quirks, interests, memories, etc. , operate upon the information to construct what we think reality is. Reading  is, under this view, not a simple communication of data; we are as responsible for what we see in the text as the writer who originally transmitted the information. We are all translators. In other words, we not only receive the information, but participate in constructing our understanding of what we have read. For this reason, all individual reactions to the text are potentially valuable. And, although the affective fallacy (a term invented by W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley) reminds us that our own emotional reactions to a text do not automatically prove anything about it, I would argue that these reactions (e. g. , enjoying a movie, hating a character, wanting a story to have a certain outcome, being shocked or confused by a certain method of storytelling, etc. ) can be a very good place to start. What do you personally think about the text? What do you find in it? Why do you feel this way? Your view is as important as any other critic; the only difference between you and the so-called professional critics is often nothing more than that they took a lot more English courses than you have and, as a result, have somewhat more experience (i. e. , they have developed their own system for looking at texts).