Merchant Of Venice Shylock The Antagonist Essays - Orientalism

Merchant Of Venice: Shylock the Antagonist? In The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, there appears Shylock. He is a Jew, that much we are told in the cast list. But, as the play unfolds Shylock is seen to be the villian. He is protrayed as being cold, unbending, and evil. But is he? Is Shylock really the antagonist in this play or can he also be viewed as persecuted individual who resorts to revenge only after he has been pushed too far. To fully understand the character of Shylock we must first look at Elizabeathen attitudes towards Jews. In the sixteenth century Jews were rarely if ever seen in England. In the Middle Ages Jews had fled to England to escape persecution in France under the Normans. They were granted charter in England by Henry I in return for a percentage of their profits from trade and moneylending. It is here that the stereotype of Jews lending money was started. Because of the tariffs placed on them by the crown Jews took to charging high interest rates to secure profits for themselves. Here we see echos of Shylock with his usury. Finally the Jews were ordered out of England in 1254 by Edward I. They did not return to England until the later half of the seventeenth century. (Lippman 3-4) Jews were also viewed as devils by Elizabeathan audiences. Old stories portrayed them as "blood- thirsty murders" that poisoned wells and killed Christian children for their bizarre Passover ritu! als. (Stirling 2:1) These were the stereotypes which Shakespeare's audience held in regard to Jews. Shakespeare himself had never seen a Jew but he goes to great lengths to humanize Shylock even while perpetuating the stereotype. In Act 1:3, before Shylock ever says a word to Antonio, he lets the audience know in an aside that he hates Antonio. He hates him for having hindered him in business and for having humiliated him in public by spitting on him and calling him names such as "dog" and "cutthroat Jew". Shylock tells the audience he hopes to exact revenge on Antonio both for his own humiliation and for the persecution that the Jews have long suffered at the hands of the Christians. I hate him for he is a Christian;. . . If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.He hates our sacred nation . . . Curs?d be my tribe if I forgive him (I,iii,40-49) Shylock then tells Antonio that he wants to be friends with him and will conclude the bond for a pound of flesh as a "merry sport." In the second act, however, he still seems to bear a deep grudge against the Christians, for he tells Jessica that he is going in hate and not in friendship to dine with them. "But yet I'll go in hate to feed upon the prodigal Christian. . . .I am right loath to go." (II,v,14-16) After Jessica's elopment, Shylock suspects Bassanio and Antonio of abetting her escape, and this suspicion increases Shylock's animosity toward Antonio. We learn later in the play that Antonio has personally rescued a number of debtors from Shylock's bonds when Antonio says "I oft delievered from his forfeitures; Many that have made moan to me." (III,iii,23-24) We also discover that Shylock cannot or will not explain his reasons for demanding Antonio's flesh. "But say it is my humor," is all the reason he is able to show. The sum of Shylock's motives for hatred is gi! ven in the rarely quoted lines b efore the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes": "He hath disgraced me, and hind'red me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies_and what's his reason? I am a Jew." (III,i,49-54) (Lippman 2) Shylock himself is an alien in a society geared towards Christians. His clothes, customs and race make him an object of scorn in Venetian society. We as a modern audience are bound to feel some sympathy for him. When Jessica runs away from home we realized that Shylock's most trusted prop has failed him, he placed absolute confidence in his daughter with his house and wealth. The fact that he cries out for his ducats as well as his daughter should not obscure the sense of keen personal loss he feels. " I say my daughter is my own flesh and blood." (III,i,34) We also see this when Tubal tells Shylock that Jessica has traded one of his rings for a monkey. Shylock's lamentation for his

A Writers Best Friend

A Writers Best Friend A Writer’s Best Friend A Writer’s Best Friend By Mark Nichol I was bemused recently to read in the acknowledgments section of a book the author’s expression of gratitude toward someone who had read the manuscript before publication. The writer thanked the other person for â€Å"doing great proofreading,† but he followed that comment with â€Å"Not copy editing [sic]; we were both cautious about that, as our strongly held opinions don’t often match.† My first impression was that the book’s author has or had at the time a fundamental misunderstanding of copyediting (since the book was published, the closed-compound version of that term has come to prevail), as he implied that such a process would interfere with his expression of his views. (The person who assisted him is an expert in the book’s subject matter.) That’s absurd, because no editing role certainly not copyediting involves revisions of writers’ expressions of their beliefs or judgments. A developmental editor for a book publisher, or an assigning editor of a periodical, might discuss this issue with a writer but generally does not impose on the author’s convictions; presumably, the opportunity for the author to express these ideas is the reason the content is being published in the first place. But then I considered that perhaps, by â€Å"strongly held opinions,† the writer meant his notions of what constitutes good writing. Perhaps he was referring to the fact that his ideas about how to construct prose conflicts with those of the person who reviewed the manuscript for him. This possibility led me to reflect on my long-held opinion, acquired through decades of painful experience, that there’s a strong correlation between good writers and good grace when it comes to responding to grammatical and syntactical revisions, concomitant with the disturbing degree to which many poor writers protest such improvements. For in this case, the book suffered greatly not only from the fact it, at least before it was submitted to the publisher, was proofread but not copyedited. It also was compromised by the apparent lack of copyediting (or any editing) during the production phase of publication. The writing is verbose, repetitive, poorly organized, and clumsy (barely) competent, but dull and tiring to read, and in dire need of attention from both a developmental editor and a copy editor. This mediocrity was all the more disappointing because of the anticipation with which I had approached the book, which covers a topic of great interest to me. I was especially puzzled about the writing quality because the book dates to the early 1980s, the last period in which a reader could count on well-edited books before, for many but fortunately not all publishing companies, the bottom line became more important than the line edit. Ultimately, though, that this book is an exception to the rule is not the writer’s fault; the publisher let him and me and other readers of this book down. But writers aren’t helpless in the face of this trend; if they lack a partner or other close associate qualified and willing to review a manuscript (or even if such an ally is put to work), they can resort to pre-editing. That’s the now-widespread practice of preempting a publishing company’s possible neglect or short-changing of the editing process, and/or improving the chance of the manuscript’s acceptance, by hiring a freelance developmental editor and/or a freelance copy editor to polish it before submitting it to publishers. It’s unfortunate that the assembly-line model that now prevails in the publishing industry necessitates this step for one or both reasons stated, but though it requires a financial investment by the writer, it’s a wise strategy that enhances the likelihood both that the manuscript will be published and that the book will succeed. Another wise strategy is to have a little humility about one’s writing ability and the value of one or more objective second opinions. I’m a good writer, though not a great one, but even if I did claim (and perhaps actually have) more talent, I would, as I do in reality, welcome both substantial and mechanical revisions that make me look even better. For me and many good and great writers it’s a no-brainer, but that indirect reference to my earlier comment about the correlation of writing talent to amenability to editing reminds me of another observation: Common sense isn’t as common as it should be. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.3 Types of Headings8 Great Podcasts for Writers and Book Authors

Nervous system Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nervous system - Research Paper Example Facial nerve paralysis is in turn more common with Lower Motor Neuron (LMN) lesion than Upper Motor Neuron (UMN) lesion. Forehead muscles can be tests by asking the patient to raise her eyebrows in order to determine if UMN or LMN disease is the real cause behind face drop. If the furrows of the forehead are asymmetrical, it is a LMN disease like Bell’s palsy. If otherwise, it is UMN disease like pseudobulbar palsy. The patient in the case study is most probably suffering from Bell’s palsy because that is more often the cause of â€Å"muscle weakness on one side of the face† (El-Bab, 2011, p. 2134). Assigning this patient to a novice or proficient nurse depends on physical condition of the patient. If there are no extreme symptoms like blindness, seizures, or severe headache, if facial drooping started suddenly, and if there is no wrinkling on forehead, the patient has no stroke and is suffering from Bell’s palsy. In that case, treatment with steroids should immediately begin which can be handled by a novice nurse as well. El-Bab, M.F., Makhdoom, N., Al-Harbi, K.M., Baghdadi, H.H., & Alam, A. (2011). Facial Nerve Palsy Incidence, Clinical Feature, and Prognosis in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 1(11),

Business article (Auto Bailouts) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business article (Auto Bailouts) - Essay Example However, expending some financial assistance using the money coming from the taxpayers does not directly address the main factors why most of these large-scale businesses fail to cope with the challenges that usually arise during economic decline and slow growth. This is the main reason why most of the Americans oppose the idea of auto bailout. Based on a national poll survey, â€Å"six out of 10 Americans oppose using taxpayer money to help the ailing of major U.S. auto companies. (Steinhauser)† Upon analyzing the historical effects of auto bailout in the U.S. auto industry, it is clear that shredding out billions of dollars from the U.S. taxpayers will not solve the declining U.S. economy. Aside from the fact that extending a large portion of collected tax would be unfair to most Americans who will not receive any direct benefits from the auto bailouts (Steinhauser), extending large sum of government funds on U.S.-based automobile companies would only provide the people with temporary solution. Without focusing on the importance of implementing organizational re-engineering and restructuring, there is no way for the automobile companies to survive the financial crisis even if the government provides them with financial assistance. Extending auto bailout to car makers is not a good option since providing them with excessive amount of financial assistance would only impede further improvements in their management and business practices of the local companies. Instead, one of the best solutions that will enable the major automobile companies to survive the global financial crisis is to shoulder the short-term negative consequences of having limited financial resources in order to restore the companies’ long-term viability (Mitchell). Aside from negatively affecting the business practices and management behind the large-scale automobile companies, allowing the U.S. government to grant auto

The Homo Erectus vs Modern Man Essay Example for Free

The Homo Erectus vs Modern Man Essay The 2002 discovery of a1. 77 million year old bones of an old man in Dmanisi, Georgia unveiled fertile grounds for a plethora of information about the Homo erectus. Dmanisi, a village characterized by its medieval ruins, is not far from Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. Dmanisi has been the focus of archaeologists’ explorations since the early 1990s. Findings up to 2002 were typically comprised of early human fossils. The latest evacuations of 5 Homo erectus vertebrae in 2005 was even more infinitive providing anthropologists with a unique opportunity to make instructive comparisons to modern human beings. Anthropologist Marc Meyer from the University of Philadelphia together with David Lordkipandize and Abesalom Vekua from the Georgian State Museum in Tbilisi said that the vertebrae were compared to those of modern man, chimpanzees and gorillas. It is possible that the ancient Homo erectus spoke to one another. The Homo erectus’ remains unearthed at Dmanisi in 2005 and compared to modern man, chimpanzees and gorillas reveal that the ancient remains were capable of supporting respiratory organs that are necessary for oral speech. Although Meyer notes that it is not possible to prove that prehistoric man spoke, the Homo erectus remains evacuated at Dmanisi did not exhibit respiratory constraints relative to speech. The vertebrae of the Homo erectus, although significantly smaller than that of modern man is vastly similar. The similarities in vertebrae structures are indicative of similar human physical traits in terms of posture, mobility and quite possibly communication. This might explain why there is a large debate over the characterization of a 1. 6 million year old skeleton unearthed in Kenya in 1984. The skeletal remains were small and similar to that of a chimpanzee leaving some scientists to conclude that it was the remains of Homo ergaster rather than a Homo erectus. The fact is, scientists are more inclined to conclude that the Homo erectus was possessed of a speech-friendly physique. Previously, all other Homo genus forms were devoid of the vertebrae supportive of speech and had limited speech range. References Beers, K. ; Odell, L. ; Arpin, G. ; Brinnin, J. and Hermacki, T. (2003) Holt Literature and Language Arts. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Bower, B. and Lobdell, J. (2004) History Alive! Teachers’ Curriculum Institute. National Geographic (April 2005) â€Å"Human Erectus Discovery†. http://ngm. nationalgeographic. com/ngm/0504/feature2/gallery4. html (Retrieved July 7, 2010). The Dmanisi Site (n. d. ). http://www. donsmaps. com/dmanisi. html (Retrieved July 7, 2010).

Do Not Go Gentle IntoThat Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay -- Not Go G

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Many people get to the end of their lives and only then do they realize what they have missed. They realize that there is something that they just did not do in life and they try to do that thing before life's end. The poem, 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas, is based around five people. There is a wise man, a good man, a wild man, a grave man, and a father. For some reason, others more obvious than the ones before them, they have reached life's end. They are about to pass on into the next life; however, before they can pass on they each have some issue or loss in life that they must fix. The first example in poem is the wise man. Wisdom is often associated with age and maturity. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word wisdom means "the accumulated philosophic or scientific learning, the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships". It also means "good sense, generally accepted belief, a wise attitude or course of action and the teachings of the ancient wise men". If that is true then what does one so keen, so aware of how living things must cease to live, have to fix? Dylan Thomas appears to be telling us that wise men fear that they have not given their wisdom to others appropriately. It seems that wise men worry that all the wisdom they have accumulated over the many years of their existence was of no matter. Thomas has an eloquent way of phrasing things, ?Though wise men at their end know dark is right Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night? (Thomas ll. 1-6). To reiterate my point Thomas used the term of forked lightning this represents the wise men's words. Lightn... ... is even near being fought. No one enjoys the fact that soon there comes a life?s end, but it does. The problem is that people often try to find what they have not done in life instead of what they have. The past is a play, whether or not you as a character in the great play have a big part or little one it does not matter. What matters is that you appreciate what you did in life and what you have gained from being alive. Works Cited Kubler-Ross, Elizabeth. Living With Death and Dying. New York: MacMillan, 1981. Lucas, George. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Hollywood: 20th Century Fox, 1999. Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. London and Glasgow: Collins. 876. Thomas, Dylan. ?Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.? Literature and Ourselves. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1997; 553.

Capstone Case Study †Arthur Andersen LLP Essay

1. Discuss the environmental, strategic and organizational changes that occurred over the life of Andersen in the context of figure 11.1. While Andersen started off as a stable environment, once changes started being made to the main focus of the company many changes were expedited. While still successful in it’s auditing business, other opportunities arose that allowed for quicker and more dynamic revenue growth. This strategic shift from auditing only to offering a number of other services (automated bookkeeping, information technologies, consulting, corporate staffing) eventually led to a rift within the company, the separation of operations into two companies under one umbrella, and the eventually severance of those two companies into two wholly separate corporate entities. Once the two companies (Andersen Consulting and Arthur Anderson) split, Arthur Andersen, which was originally the auditing only arm, but had dipped back into the consulting business even though it should not have per it’s agreement with AC, went full force into offering the full range of services. In the quest for the biggest sale and to drive non-audit revenue, managers were compensated based on sales targets instead of performance or quality of work. This lack of quality control and change in the focus of the business was the beginning of the downward projection of AA. The fact that there were changes in all three areas, environmental, strategic and organizational, made it difficult for there to be tight control at AA and almost made it acceptable to make questionable decisions as long as the clients got what they wanted and revenues continued to come in. 2. Evaluate Andersen’s claim that their problems on the Enron audit were due to a few â€Å"bad partners† in the organization. If you agree with this claim, discuss what you think were the root causes of the problem. It was AA’s decision to hire 40 auditors from Enron, then augmented by 150 of  their own staff, and place them within Enron as it’s in house accounting staff. Since the staff was on site at Enron, attended Enron meetings, and made decisions in the best interest of Enron and not with the idea of doing quality work, it is hard to put stock in AA’s claim that it was only a few â€Å"bad partners†. Also, AA made the decision to break up it’s own Professional Standards Group and re-locate members of that group to local offices. Once that happen though, their power was usurped and held no water. If they questioned decisions, they were removed. It is up to the company to make decisions that not only help generate business, but protect the company and it’s employees from any questionable situations or circumstances where unethical scenarios might play out. 3. Suppose you were Andersen’s managing partner in the early 1990’s. Would you have done anything differently than the actual management (assuming you knew only what they did at the time)? There are a couple of things that I could have done had I been the managing partner for Andersen in the 1990’s. I think the separation of the consulting business and the accounting business into two companies was actually a good move. The fact that AA eventually started to offer and go after non-auditing services business with clients was where a mistake was made in my opinion. If I were a partner at AA I would have strictly enforced the agreement that we would be sticking with auditing business only. While offering a lower margin than the consulting business, it was a solid foundation and allowed more oversight, tight controls and decreased the likelihood that questionable decisions would be made. I also would have kept the Professional Standards Group in tact to oversee and review all aspects of the operation. Splitting up the group and assigning individual members to local offices basically neutered their power and allowed for those looking to manipulate the system to do so. 4. Discuss the relation between what happened at Andersen and multitask principal agent theory. With the Multi-Task Agent Theory, certain tasks are rewarded and other tasks  are not, and because of this the non-rewarded tasks suffer from neglect of a decrease in quality. The first time this was an issue is was before the split into two companies, where those driving the consulting and IT business were unhappy with the fact that the auditing side had so much power over the company even though it was not the segment driving the revenue. After the eventual split into AC and AA under one umbrella, and then the total split into two separate corporations, with Andersen bringing in business other than auditing was rewarded more than auditing business, to the point that it was expect that managing partners brought in twice as much consulting and other business as it did auditing business, otherwise face penalties or even termination. In all three stages of the company’s history the inequality between the consulting business and the auditing business led to there being a de-emphasis on the auditing segment of the business (both in quality and as a driver of revenue). 5. Discuss the relation between the â€Å"hard† and â€Å"soft† elements of a firm’s corporate culture in the context of this case. In the case of Andersen, it almost seems as if the changes in the â€Å"soft† elements of corporate culture were either directly related to or a side effect of change in the â€Å"hard† aspects of the corporate culture. As stated in the case study, during the majority of the company’s existence, â€Å"tradition was everywhere†. From â€Å"soft† elements like the physical design of offices and the way partners dressed and looked to hard elements like the quality control exerted over all aspects of the business, there were standard all across the board. As changes started to happen in the â€Å"hard† culture, like the focus being on driving revenue as opposed to putting out quality work, changes were also seen in the soft aspects of the culture. Managing partners did not dress as sharp, the giants wooden doors of the offices (that seemed to be a metaphor for the strong, sturdy operation of the company) were removed, and a new corporate logo was introduced. 6. Do you think that the problems at Andersen were unique to them or did they exist at the other big accounting firms? Suppose you were the top partner at one of the other major accounting firms at that time of Andersen’s demise. What action, if any, would you take in response? Explain. As shown when Andersen themselves called into question the practices of one of it’s competitors (calling for an investigation), these issues at Andersen are not unique to their company (though it may not happen on as grand of a scale). If I was the top partner at one of the other major accounting firms at the time of Andersen’s demise, I would have immediately either called for an internal investigation of my firm’s practices or volunteered to have my company’s practices reviewed by the SEC or another appropriate authority. I would be open with what was found, make any necessary changes to organizational structure or practices, and move forward. I think this would be important because at the time of Andersen’s demise, it is likely the credibility of ALL accounting firms was hurt, and I would want there is to be proof that our company was doing things the right way. 7. In 2000, the SEC proposed new regulations that would limit consulting work by accounting firms. This proposal was not passed by congress. Do you think the legislators were trying to act in the public interest when they failed to pass this proposal? Explain. Legislators were not acting in the public’s best interests; they were bowing to pressure from the auditing industry lobbyists. Steve Samek, who spearheaded operations that already lead lawsuits, payouts, bankruptcies and fines, led the charge to oppose the proposal. At that point it should have been obvious that the right call was passing the proposal. The fact that different legislation related to the oversight of accounting firms was eventually passed later on in 2002 (the SOA) shows that oversight was necessary, but just needed a spectacular failure like Andersen/Enron to allow legislators to feel comfortable in taking a stand. 8. The American Institute of CPAs is the primary professional association for CPAs. It has developed a Code of Professional Conduct that sets the  standards of conduct for CPAs. People can file complaints about the ethical conduct of a CPA with the AICPA, which can levy sanctions and other penalties against its members. Do you think that the unethical conduct at Andersen (and possibly other accounting firms) was the fault of the AICPA for not setting and enforcing higher ethical standard among its members? Explain. While I think the AICPA has a place in setting standards and ethics in the industry, and has the right to levy sanctions and penalties against it’s members (based on complaints that are filed), they are not a regulatory agency and their reach only extends so far. In reality, being a member organization, if a corporation does not want to deal with or answer to the AICPA, they and choose not to be a member. It may hurt their reputation, but in the long run the work they do and the clients they have will have a much greater effect of their business than whether or not they are a member of the AICPA. While it is nice to have organizations like the AICPA and the SEC overlooking the practices of corporations in the industry, it is hard to transfer fault for the unethical behavior of a company away from the company that behaved that was to some member organization or regulatory agency. It is the organization or agency’s place to set guidelines and respond when corporations do not follow them. 9. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 established a new five-person board to oversee financial accounting in publicly traded corporations. The board is appointed by the SEC. Prior to the creation of this board the industry relied primarily on self-regulation through the AICPA. Do you think the establishment of the new oversight board was a good idea or should he profession have continued to be self-regulated? I think in practice, a combination of both works. The industry need to show that it is interested itself in keeping it’s practices on the level and being transparent. But at the end of the day, you will always find someone who likes to work outside the system. In these cases having the SEC oversight board is a critical tool to keep companies in line that may think they can work the system. Also, having SEC oversight can result in much  stiffer penalties for the organization, so it carries and extra layer of deterrent for companies who may think about making questionable decisions. Andersen themselves, in the form of managing partner Leonard Spacek, saw the power of SEC intervention early on (1947).