Ratio and Financial Statement Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Ratio and Financial Statement Analysis - Essay Example Concepts that have been used include annuity which is a series of constant cash flows that occurs at the end of each period called a term, perpetuity which is a financial asset that does not have a maturity period but keep making payments indefinitely, compounding which is finding the future value of one or more cash flows, discounting which is determining the present value of one or more future cash flows. Financial decisions are made based on future value or present value. Future value is what one or more cash flows are worth at the end of the period while the present value measures the worth of one or more cash flows to be received in the future are worth today. The effective annual interest rate which is the annual growth rate that takes into account compounding. These concepts are fully covered in the paper while handing the questions. Financial management ratios are an area of expertise that every manager in any financial position should get acquainted with. They are useful in helping him to make sound financial decisions on the source of funds, the investment option to undertake and the financial prudence needed in the running of a business entity. What the time value of money is and why it is so important in the field of finance: The question that comes to mind is what the value of a future cash flow is today. The time value of money is the value of the stream of future cash flows today. Money has a time value since a dollar held today is worth more than a dollar to be received in the future. If you had the money today, you would have probably invested it and earned interest thus time value of money is the opportunity cost of foregoing todays consumption. Time value of money is important in the field of fiancà © because before investment decisions are made there is required that a comparison be made between the value funds invested today and the value of expected future cash inflows. The

Aunt Jennifers Tiger Essay Example for Free

Aunt Jennifers Tiger Essay Aunt Jennifer’s tigers is a poem by Adrienne Rich illustrating her feminist concerns. In the male dominant world, a women of her time was only supposed to be a dutiful homemaker. This poem through the world of Aunty Jennifer, tells us about her inner desire to free herself from the clutches of abusive marriage and patriarchal society. Poem Summary The first stanza opens with Aunt Jennifer’s visual tapestry of tigers who are fearless of their environment. Bright topaz[1] denizens[2] of a world of green – evoke an image that these regal tigers are unafraid of other beings in the jungle. Bright here signifies their powerful and radiant persona. There is a sense of certainty and confidence in the way these tigers move as can be seen in the line – They pace in sleek chivalric[3] certainty. In the second stanza, the reality of Aunt Jennifer is revealed as she is feeble, weak and enslaved, very much the opposite of the tigers she was knitting. Her physical and mental trauma is depicted in the line – find even the ivory needle hard to pull. Even though a wedding ring doesn’t weigh much, the massive weight of uncle’s wedding band, sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand signifies the amount of dominance her husband exercised over her. This also means that her inner free spirit has been jailed by the patriarchal society[4]. The last stanza starts on a creepy note about Aunt Jennifer’s death. Even her death couldn’t free her from the ordeals she went through which can be seen in When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by. While driving from her parent’s home to Cochin, she notices her mother sitting beside her dozing, her face pale like a dead body and her thoughts far away. This reminds her painfully that her mother is old and could pass away leaving her alone. Putting that thought aside she looked out at the young trees speeding by and children running out of their homes happily to play. These remind her probably of youth and life, her own younger days and her mother when she was young. But after the security check at the airport, looking back at her mother standing a few yards away, she finds her looking pale like the winter moon. She feels that familiar pain and childhood fear of the thought of losing her mother and of being lonely just as she had been when she was young because she was different from other children. She could only keep smiling and tell her ‘see you soon’ knowing full well that she might not see her.

Maxillary Central Incisor Tooth Form, Facial Form and Gender

Maxillary Central Incisor Tooth Form, Facial Form and Gender Title: Correlation of the maxillary central incisor tooth form with face form and gender in a section of the North Indian population – An AutoCAD analysis ABSTRACT Aim: An esthetically pleasing restoration or prosthesis should not be identifiable as artificial, but should be in harmony with the natural tooth arrangement of an individual. This study aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between the maxillary central incisor tooth form and the facial form and gender of subjects in a selected sample of the North Indian population. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge and Implants, Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad. Two standardized photographs each (portrait [closed lips] and teeth in occlusion [with cheek retractor]) of 200 subjects of North Indian origin (age range 18-25 years) studying at Manav Rachna International University were assessed for facial form and tooth form, using the AutoCAD © (Autodesk Inc. 2013, California, USA) software. Results and Conclusion: A statistically significant correlation of the maxillary central incisor tooth form with the inverted face form of the subject was found in a section of the North Indian population. However, the correlation between the maxillary central incisor tooth form and gender of an individual was found to be statistically insignificant. Keywords: Maxillary central incisor, tooth form, face form, gender, AutoCAD Introduction Esthetic dentistry is fast becoming a key consideration for dentists and their patients. Although, a smile is characterized by numerous factors involving both the teeth and surrounding soft tissues, the esthetic appearance of the anterior teeth contributes to a persons self confidence and how attractive he/she is perceived by others.1 For an esthetically pleasing smile, the position, form and colour of the maxillary central incisors are the most essential factors.2 Since the maxillary central incisors play a key role in the dental composition, various anthropometric and biometric references are used in their design and selection in esthetic accordance with the facial form of the patient.3 When only parts of the dentition have to be restored, the remaining natural dentition can serve as a guide, providing a relatively simple and direct procedure to design artificial teeth that blend with or complement the natural dentition. However, in cases where all the teeth are missing and the entire dentition has to be restored, and no information can be gained from the remaining natural teeth, old photographs, or cast models, other methods have to be applied to select and design the missing teeth.1 These methods are not only useful for complete dentures but also for any complex anterior restoration.2 Esthetic dentistry tries to produce a prosthesis that defies detection. This is possible only when, the tooth form, shade and tooth size of the patient are in optimum harmony with their facial form, dimensions and facial complexion. In 1914, Williams 4 was the first to suggest that a correlation existed between the upside down facial shape and the shape of the upper central incisors. Form shape came to be guided by comparison with the inverted shape of the face. According to this classification, the dental outlines of the upper incisors were in three shapes: tapered, ovoid and square, which is still considered by prosthodontists.5 In 1955, Frush and Fisher6 introduced the concept of dentogenics or the dentogenic theory which stated that the correct tooth form should be designed or selected with regard to the patients sex/gender, personality and age (SPA factor). The prosthodontics literature pertains primarily to the non-Indian population and there is a lack of information on the selection and design of artificial anterior tooth forms in the Indian population. The knowledge of racial norms for facial appearance might aid practitioners, since the treatment given would be in harmony with the facial appearance for patients of different races. Most studies,7, 8, 9 on the subject of artificial teeth design and selection, with respect to facial form and gender, have been based on subjective evaluation and assessments of different individuals; with lack of standardized methods and techniques and unavailability of technological resources. Hence, their reliability has been questionable. This study attempts to increase the accuracy of the methodology by employing a software known as AutoCAD © (Autodesk Inc. 2013, California USA) Auto Computer Aided Design and Drafting. AutoCAD is a 2-D and 3-D, vector based, computer-aided drafting software application used in architecture, construction and manufacturing to assist in the preparation of blueprints and other engineering plans. 10 This high end technology has been applied to make the process of evaluating the maxillary central incisor tooth form, easier, objective and more accurate. The present study aims to assess whether a correlation exists between the maxillary central incisor tooth form and face form of the subject and also to assess if any gender differences could be seen in relation to the form of the maxillary central incisor. The null hypothesis of this study is that there are no gender specific differences in tooth form as well as no correlation between facial form and tooth form of a person. Materials and Methods A total of 200 dentulous subjects of North Indian origin (age range 18-25 years) studying at Manav Rachna International University, with well aligned natural maxillary anterior teeth were randomly selected. The subjects being young adults belonging to different parts of North India formed an appropriate representative sample. Each subject was interviewed, to confirm the inclusion criteria and to rule out the exclusion criteria. The exclusion criteria were: subjects with anterior teeth fractures, subjects having maxillary anterior teeth with extensive carious lesions, subjects with incisal wear of maxillary anterior teeth, subjects with gingival hyperplasia in the maxillary anterior teeth, subjects who have undergone orthognathic surgery, orthodontic treatment, and those with congenital or surgical facial defects, those with microdontia or macrodontia and subjects with any type of prosthetic restoration on their anterior teeth. A participant informed consent form (PICF) was provided in both english and hindi languages. The informed consent form was explained to each participant and was signed by them before starting the procedure. A standardized photographic procedure was used to obtain images of the face and the maxillary central incisors. Each subject was made to sit upright on a chair with the occlusal plane of the maxillary teeth parallel to the floor. Two standardized photographs were taken for each subject: portrait (closed lips) and the maxillary incisors (without lips). For each photograph, standardized distances (portrait – 100cms, teeth- 12cms) were used (from the tip of the subject’s nose to the centre of the camera lens). A fixed focus of 1:1 was used for each subject, with theEF 100 mmf/2.8 Macro USM lens. The height of the Canon EOS 1100D DSLR camera mounted on a tripod (Traveller Mini Pro Tripod For Canon EOS 1100D) was adjusted individually according to the position of the subject’s face and teeth. A full face photograph with closed lips was obtained, with lens positioned parallel to subject face. The subject’s hair did not cover any part of the face and the teeth we re in contact [Figure 1]. The standardized photographic procedure was followed as per the earlier method followed by Wolfart S et al.2 Intraoral photographs of maxillary central incisors were obtained until the lens was parallel to the labial surface of the teeth. Cheek retractors were used to obtain full exposure of the maxillary central incisors. The maxillary incisors were centred in the photograph, with the midline centred and perpendicular to the incisal plane [Figure 2]. Using the image editing software (Adobe Photoshop 8.0.1, Adobe systems, San Jose, California), the images were adjusted so that the maxillary incisors remain centred in the image, one at a time, with the long axis set vertically. [Figure 3]. The mathematical assessment of the photographs was done according to the methodology proposed by Wolfart et al 2. The outline of the upper right incisor was traced and in the next step, the median of the tooth was drawn in the sketch. (X) was the most apical point of intersection between the median and the outline. Mesial and distal tangents were constructed to the outline – parallel to the median. Two perpendiculars were drawn on the median starting from the most apical (O1) and most incisal (O2) point of intersection between the outline and the tangent. They define two points of intersection (S1 and S2). The line S1S2 was bisected (S). By taking the width of the tooth through (S) the widest stretch across the tooth was defined (TB). Dividing the line SX into five parts, the line TA could be constructed parallel to TB on 4/5 of the length of XS. The outline sketch was turned upside down for the evaluation of the face shape. The lines FB (the widest stretch across the face) and FA (a defined parallel stretch to line FB) were constructed in an analogous manner to the lines TA and TB. [Figu re 4]. For the evaluation of the face shape, the outline sketch of the portraits was turned upside down. The facial outline form was determined by the outline of the temporal bone at the height of the hairline, temporal process of the zygomatic arch and the gonion. The facial quotient (FQ) was calculated in an analogous manner to that of the tooth quotient (TQ) [Figure 5]. According to the numerical values that were obtained, dental and facial forms were classified as: [2] Tapered (≠¤ 0.61) Oval (≠¥0.61 and ≠¤ 0.70) Square (≠¥ 0.70) The data, for each subject were recorded in a standardized proforma, along with the photographs of the subject before and after analysis. Results The data obtained were arranged systematically and transferred to Statisticals Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20, IBM Inc. for analysis. The following statistical methods were employed: descriptive statistical tests, chi square tests, independent t-tests and Spearman correlation. The level of statistical significance was set at p-value ≠¤ 0.05. Chi-square test was used for comparison between categorical variables. Student’s ‘t’ test was used for comparing two groups with respect to continuous and normally distributed variables. Discussion The design and selection of maxillary anterior teeth for esthetically pleasing prosthetic rehabilitation has long posed a challenge in clinical practice. A reliable and reproducible method is required for prosthetically restoring anterior teeth in terms of their size and form, which are in proportion to the face and gender of the patient. Our first objective was to determine the maxillary incisor tooth form of each subject using the AutoCAD software. The study was then classified into three forms ovoid, square and tapering. The oval category was the most prevalent tooth form among the study population while the square tooth form was the least prevalent. These findings were in accordance with the study by Brunetto et al 11 on a Brazilian population. However, in a study conducted by Wolfart et al 2 on a German population, although the oval category of tooth form was most prevalent, the least prevalent tooth form seen was the tapered form. These differences may be due to ethnic and genetic population variability and greater software accuracy, adopted in the present study. Our second objective of the study was to determine whether a correlation existed between the maxillary central incisor tooth form and the face form. Since this finding is statistically significant in the present study sample, therefore, the null hypothesis of the study, was rejected. This was in accordance with the results of studies by Selg 12 and Sellen et al 3 which postulated that the face form of a patient was helpful in selecting the artificial tooth form for their prosthesis. Our results also confirmed William’s â€Å"law of harmony† which states that a correlation exists between the inverted facial shape and the shape of the maxillary central incisors.4 Some studies 5 and literature reviews 3,13 confirm that even despite controversies surrounding the authenticity of William’s law of harmony, it is still the simplest, the most useful and the most predictable method of artificial tooth selection for anterior teeth. On the other hand, the validity of William ’s classification has been questioned by various authors. 14,2,15,16,8,17,18 The positive correlation seen between tooth form and face form in this study as compared to statistically insignificant results obtained in various previous studies 2 can be attributed to the use of a more practical, technically advanced and precise AutoCAD © (Autodesk Inc. 2013, California USA) software which enhanced the accuracy and reliability of the analysis. Previous studies were mostly based on visual and subjective determination of the tooth and face forms and hence did not provide valid results. The genetic variability of different populations, on which past studies have been conducted, may also have some influence on the final results. Our third objective was to determine whether a correlation existed between the tooth size and the gender of a person. This correlation was found to be statistically significant. The size of the maxillary central incisor in men was found to be larger than that of women. This is in accordance with studies which concluded that tooth size is known to correlate with gender.1,19,20,21 Our fourth objective was to determine whether there was a correlation between the tooth form and the gender of the person. This correlation was found to be statistically insignificant. This result was in agreement with that of Wolfart et al 2 and Berksun et al 16 who noted no significant differences in tooth form between the genders. However, Horvath et al 1 and Brunetto et al 11, reported that maxillary anterior teeth do have gender specific differences and that tooth shapes are gender specific. In our study, the oval tooth form was found to be the most prevalent in both the genders. This was similar to the results obtained by Brodbelt et al 22 and Wolfart et al 2. Hence, choosing the oval form has a better chance of matching the original tooth, irrespective of the gender. A higher percentage of the square tooth form was seen in women as compared to men. This result was also similar to that of Wolfart et al 4 and Brunetto et al. 11 This finding suggests that opting for a square toot h form for a male patient is statistically more likely to result in a mismatch. Hence, the dentogenic concept that suggests that the female teeth should be more rounded and the male teeth should be more squarish is not supported by the results of this study. Conclusion Within the limitations of this study, it was found that in a section of the North Indian population that: The oval tooth shape was most common while the square tooth shape was least common. The tooth size was generally found to be larger in males than in females. A significant correlation could be found between the face form and tooth form of a person, thus validating William’s law of harmony.2 No correlation or gender- specific differences could be found between the tooth shape and gender of a person. Hence, the dentogenic (SPA) concept was which states that tooth form is related to the SPA of the patient is not validated and supported by this study. 1

Macbeth Essay :: essays research papers

Ever since the beginning of time humans have set out goals for themselves; goals for power, wisdom and riches. Many times throughout history, these common goals have bee corrupted by people. Other times it has been for the greater good. People like Adolf Hitler became corrupt because of the goals he set out. On the other hand the goal of someone like Mother Theresa has helped all of mankind. In the case of Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Macbeth† the goal and desire for power corrupts the two main characters. However, to Macbeth’s credit, it takes a lot more deceiving to convert Macbeth to evil than it does Lady Macbeth. Macbeth seems to still have a conscience and has to debate evil deeds and ignore his natural good in order to do something bad. Lady Macbeth on the other hand ignores nothing and ask evil spirits to come into her to achieve her goals. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are two very different minds, striving for the same goals, they both throw of their consciences to fulfill their evil motives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Act one, Scene 3 the story line is laid down. The witches speak the prophesies to Macbeth in this Scene. After two of the prophecies come true Macbeth thinks the third prophecy must also come true and that the king will be murdered. He is mortified at the thought of the deed and is truly frightened and disgusted by the mental image. Later he conveys this information to Lady Macbeth in Scene 5 and she responds with jubilee. Macbeth says â€Å"If good why do I yield to the suggestion† which shows that he knows he could not do such a horrible act. But Lady Macbeth sees his approach to the third prophecy and launches a counter in scene five line twenty four where she says â€Å"Hurry Home, so I may pour my sprits in your ear.† This portrays the truly corrupt sprit that has been fueled by her goal to be Queen. While Macbeth is trying as hard as his mind will let him to dismiss the evil images from his mind he realizes that the irony of the prophecies i s to much to ignore. Back home Lady Macbeth is polar opposite to Macbeth’s feelings. Instead of being mortified at the idea she meditates on how it might be done and relishes in the idea. Both show a very different reaction to this horrible act.

Isolation in the Painted Door by Ross Sinclair Essay

The feelings of isolation and alienation can be frustrating, dangerous and eventually they can even drive a person mad. People have always dealt with such issues differently. Some managed to abandon those feelings and continued with their lives while others succumbed to them as they were unable to overcome and/or control them. Those souls who â€Å"surrendered† often faced destruction or even death as they were unable to cope with changes and the pressures of living a life below their expectations with no one to trust and confide, not even their beloved ones. When people are alone and isolated for a certain amount of time there is a chance that they forget about real life and even become â€Å"bushed†. This is one of the many problems of vast countries such as Canada especially its dry prairies and northern arctic regions can change people. In this essay, I will try to analyze and investigate different circumstances that can lead to emotional states, some of which are prominent themes in Canadian fiction – isolation, alienation, loneliness, loss of identity and madness. Isolation and alienation can occur out of many reasons. It is not only an isolated landscape that may trigger feelings of loneliness, fear or helplessness, but also isolation and alienation from society or even people closest to you. Other definitions may also include spiritual and emotional isolation. In Sinclair Ross’ The Painted Door the protagonist Ann fells alone and isolated for many reasons. Ann is not pleased with her life. She and her husband John live in the middle of nowhere, far away from company and populated settlements. The remote surrounding in which they live creates a feeling of extreme isolation, especially after previously living in a city. After being exposed to this geographical isolation for some time, Ann’s feelings of loneliness eventually intensify to the point where she even feels alienated from her own husband. But at that point she does not realize that her yearning for a better and different life will consequently change her life for worse and will make her feel guilty and miserable for the rest of her life. After having an affair with Steven she realizes that this is not what she really wanted and she also realizes that she has made a big mistake sleeping with him, while her husband was away. Therefore, we cannot consider Steven as the fulfillment of her desires for a better life, but rather as a temporary means to â€Å"cure† her from her isolation and loneliness. As John unexpectedly returns home during a storm, he witnesses the betrayal and leaves Ann never to return again. †¦ the explicit theme is centered on adultery. However, there are other, more subtle, motifs in the story that play a very significant role in its success. The themes essential in making the protagonist’s adultery understandable are the landscape, her isolation, and the feelings of betrayal and guilt that she experiences following the central act of the story. (The Painted Door) Ultimately, Ann’s needs to feel loved and acknowledged, as well as her actions out of desperation and loneliness, lead her to the destruction of her life and, consequently, the life or her husband. The blizzard, which can be seen as a metaphor for passion, as well as the physical and emotional separation from her husband engage her to do things she probably, under â€Å"normal† circumstances, would not consider doing. Therefore, it is in those extreme conditions where we have to search for the driving force behind Ann’s adultery. The answers that would â€Å"justify† her actions and would, as well, give us an insight into her inner loneliness and isolation are all hidden in this seemingly unreal wasteland. In this story we can find: †¦thematic elements considered the bedrock of Canadian writing: a landscape so bleak in winter that it seemed a region alien to life, but a house standing nonetheless standing against that wilderness, a refugee of feeble walls wherein persisted the elements of human meaning and survival. †¦ A woman who wants fine things and a social life, but a slow, taciturn, country-bound husband who only aspires to paying of the mortgage. (Stouck 2005, 93) The Painted Door is not Ross’ only short story dealing with issues such as isolation, alienation and madness. The other prominent example of him using such themes and motifs is The Lamp at Noon where Ross, by establishing a gloomy and intense atmosphere, creates a feeling of uneasiness and fear of the isolated and even manic environment which inevitably affects the story’s protagonists. It â€Å"illustrates how close to madness a person’s dreams of a better life may be juxtaposing the delusions harboured by a husband and a wife about their failing homestead.† (Estehammer 1992) The newlyweds Ellen and Paul moved from the city to a desert landscape during the time of the Great Depression to live as farmers in the Canadian prairie. Unfortunately, dust storms, as well as the soil’s dryness and lack of rain made their existence as happy and successful farmers almost impossible. Nevertheless, Ellen, who came from a rich family, tried to be a model wife by taking care of the household and their baby, but the fact that they were living on an infertile and isolated farm made things worse day by day and contributed to the couple’s constant quarreling. The lack of joy, food and tolerance caused both emotional and physical suffering for Ellen and Paul. It seems as if the shift from city- to rural life hit Ellen particularly hard as she seems to be very frustrated about her present situation and even afraid of what the future might hold for them. She feels as if she was living in a cage or a prison, and deep inside she knew that there is no way out of it. It is obvious that the setting is essential in causing havoc in Ellen’s and Paul’s lives. Therefore, to answer the question of where these feelings of isolation, loneliness and, in the end, even madness originate, we must consider the extreme unfriendly and even claustrophobic environment as a major factor. Other likely reasons would have to be Paul’s stubbornness and his foolish manly pride that made him ignore his wife’s request to change matters by setting up new priorities. For many years she has tried to persuade him to leave the farm but she has failed every time due to his reassuring comments about a better life. Because Paul is unable, or maybe even unwilling, to change, he eventually destroys his marriage and family by further contributing to his wife’s state of depression and, ultimately, insanity. It is only after Ellen’s desperate run into the sandstorm, in which she sees freedom, and their baby’s death when Paul realizes his mistakes but it is already too late. Their child is dead and his wife has lost her mind. Consequently it can be seen that both of Ross’ analyzed stories are, in fact, examples of how not to deal with isolation. By creating and describing both stories’ setting so vividly, Ross succeeds in reinforcing our own understanding of isolation, by taking us in the midst of this unfriendly and devastating environment. He makes us almost feel Ellen’s geographical and emotional isolation which eventually drive her into a state of madness. The Lamp at Noon is â€Å"especially powerful because it resonates with the unique historical conditions of the 1930s, when dust storms scourged the West, hard working farm families lost their land, and some people went mad† (Stouck 2005, 91). The lamp in The Lamp at Noon itself is a symbol of hope but when it dies out in the end all hope seems lost. It can be argued that Ross â€Å"does not simply present the landscape and weather as a cause for psychological disintegration but also deploys it as a metaphor to develop the inner landscape of his characters, the landscape thus serving as the objective correlative of the feelings and the states of m ind of his protagonists† (Pauly 1999, 70). The Old Woman by Joyce Marshall is another prominent example of how isolation can lead into madness. Molly and Todd got married in Molly’s homeland England. Soon afterwards Todd traveled to Canada leaving his Molly behind. She joins him after 3 years because she had to take care of her ill mother. When she arrives in Northern Quebec she realized that Todd has changed since their last meeting. Molly starts her life in the new environment like many women before her, by taking care of the household. Her husband was preoccupied with his job to notice that Molly felt unpleasant in the new environment. Instead of helping her to adapt to the new life, he becomes more and more distant, less talkative and absorbed by the machines in â€Å"his† powerhouse. After a while, Molly finds her calling as a local birth helper but, to her disappointment, her husband is disapproving towards her newly found occupation. He wants her to stay at home all day and to be like the other obedient wives without ever second questioning him in spite of his negligence towards her. In order to cope with her isolation she nevertheless decides that she must occupy herself in some way. She finally feels needed, something Todd does not understand nor desire. In the end it does not matter how Molly feels anyway because her husband has lost his mind after 3 years of living and breathing with the machines at the power house – he has â€Å"fallen in love† with them. In this story the gender roles and immigrant stereotypes have been turned upside-down. Not in the sense of male or female roles and duties but the fact that a local man, instead of a female immigrant, goes mad in the end distinguishes this story from others. There is a sharp delineation between the two possible approaches to the foreign territory. Since the machines have always been between Todd and the land, he has been unable to relate adequately to others. In his limited and confined existence he has, in the end, even gone insane. At the same time his wife discovers a personally satisfying role as a midwife in a French-Canadian community. Her productive approach thus carries her across apparent linguistic and cultural boundaries and across her isolation. (Pauly 1999, 64) In contrast to The Painted Door and The Lamp at Noon, where the female protagonists were the ones whose lives were destroyed by their actions out of isolation, loneliness and their dependency on their husbands, Molly, despite her inconvenient situation, lack of attention from her husband and her fear of loneliness, seemingly succeeds in overcoming the obstacles that were put in her way. By not taking the repressions of her husband any longer and deciding to pursue her own interests, Molly stands as a representative of a new feminist ideology which, however, can’t be compared with today’s notion of feminism as it had to undergo decades of changes and development to improve the roles and lives of women to the stage as we know them today. Unfortunately, women’s roles still differ very much. They strongly depend on the location, culture and religion the women live in. Classic gender roles were also turned upside-down in Isabella Valancy Crawford’s story Extradited. In it we find a â€Å"striking portrait of a petulant and narcissistic woman and her devastating examination of jealousy† (Stephenson and Byron 1993, 12). The protagonists of the story are Samuel â€Å"Sam† O’Dwyer, his wife Bessie, their baby and a man named Joe who was helping them on their farm. Sam and Joe quickly became very good and close friends. While reading the story one could even think that Sam, although twice of Joe’s age, might even hold deeper feelings for him (homoeroticism?). After a while, Bessie is annoyed by Sam’s admiration for Joe and as soon as she finds out that Joe is wanted by the police for a legal offence against his former employer and that there is a 1000$ reward for the one who catches him or turns him in, she immediately grabs the chance she considers to be the one that will ensure them a better life. However, after Joe’s heroically rescue of Sam’s and Bessie’s baby, and him drowning after saving it, Bessie, although informing the police of Joe’s whereabouts, stays without the reward but has inevitably to deal and live with her husband’s scorn as she has to bear the blame for a good man’s death. Bessie probably thought that she was doing the right thing. We would normally expect a man to act rational and women emotional at that time and place. However, in Sam’s and Bessie’s case it is the other way around. It is Sam who acts emotional, by wanting to protect Joe, and Bessie who acts rational, by wanting the reward in order to buy a new farm and within to pave the way for a better life for herself and her family. Therefore, it is the woman, not the man, who is a representative of realism, whereas the man can be seen as a romanticist. This example makes it clear that women were also aspiring beyond the domestic sphere and not on ly victims of their husbands’ arbitrariness. This stands in opposition to the naturalistic ideas of earlier eras where women had to stoically accept their traditional roles, i.e. teacher, maid, housewife, devoted mother, and had to sacrifice their own happiness for their children’s and/or husband’s sake. Women should repress their previous experiences and knowledge after getting married and were mostly appreciated as long as they kept their physical charms. In Canadian short fiction immigration is the process which, in many cases, causes isolation and alienation. It is a long and complex process as starting a life in a new country can be very difficult. The issues of immigration seem to have affected women particularly hard. In order to keep themselves sane and deal with the harsh realities that the early pioneers had to face, women, who mostly spent their time at home, wrote diaries. Susanna Moodie, who was one the most famous chroniclers of the early Canadian immigrant experience, was describing the negative aspects of environmental and social isolation among early immigrants in Roughing it in the Bush. Moodie’s sister Catharine Parr Traill even advised men to consult with their wives before emigrating to Canada as most immigrants were completely unprepared to live in such an unfriendly and unfamiliar environment. Brian, the protagonist of Moodie’s short story Brian the Still Hunter, is also, like Ellen from The Lamp at Noon and Ann from The Painted Door, a victim of isolation. However, the first and foremost reason for Brian’s isolation is alcoholism. As a result his extensive drinking has isolated him from society and even his own family. Alcohol has transformed him into an unpredictable character. This is why society treated him as an outsider. When Brian was drunk, he was not able to speak normally to anyone, not even his wife. Their relationship was put to the test due to ever-changing periods of guilt, shame and anger. He felt emotionally isolated, worthless, and he even attempted to commit suicide. He fails in this intention and matters get even worse for him. Afterwards he quits drinking and chooses physical isolation for himself instead. He is slowly falling into a state of insanity as he loiters about the land with only his dog by his side to keep him company. Many immigrants could not deal with the formidable reality which the Canadian landscape prepared for them and fell into a state of madness. Madness most commonly might have appeared due to some of the following reasons. It either developed as a consequence out of the confrontation between the ideas and lifestyles of the Old and the New World, or out of geographical and environmental differences (dangerous wilderness, plain and/or artic landscape). This new environment was not only dangerous to one’s physical but also psychical health. It was hard not to lose your identity while facing the limits of your capabilities and still keeping your sense of inner (subjective) and outer (objective) reality balanced. †¦while the plains sometimes provoked the outbreaks of insanities, the primary cause is often to be found elsewhere. These causes range from economic frustration, isolation from the people, frustration growing out of an inability to adapt, personal displacement and loss of identity, to guilt and isolation. All these are parts not only of a physical environment but of a mental landscape. Women’s nerves overstretched and they usually became depressed and silent whereas men more often turned to violence in order to act out their rage and frustration. In some cases these states were permanent, in others they were temporary and subsided after a finite period of time. (Pauly 1999, 53) Stories like The Lamp at Noon and The Old Woman can be best described as examples of â€Å"Pioneer Realism† and/or â€Å"Prairie Realism†. Besides Sinclair Ross, other prominent â€Å"Canadian† authors who dealt with the prairie experiences were Martha Ostenso, Laura Salverson and Frederic Philip Grove. In their works, these authors start their stories with a naà ¯ve or, we might even say, romanticized, view of the immigrants’ arrival to Canada. Later on, all become disillusioned by the setting and gradually alienated from their new home. These stories â€Å"generally include a ‘prairie patriarch’. [†¦] he is usually presented as a land-hungry, work-intoxicated tyrant. The farm women are subjugated, culturally and emotionally starved, and filled with a smouldering rebellion. All in all a fertile ground for conflict and all kinds of mental instabilities.† (Pauly 1999, 54) As an immigrant, your well-being will largely depend on your ability to adapt and deal with the given circumstances. Though those two stories are set in different locations, the first in a prairie and the latter in the Canadian North, both still are fictional stories dealing with the issues pioneers experienced when they first arrived and became aware of how dangerous it really was to be out of tune with the land. While some succumbed to the unknown and fled, lost their minds or even died, others luckily found other forms of distraction from the isolation which surrounded them, making their existence bearable. In continuation, other forms of dealing with the harsh realities of everyday life will be analyzed. These are the stories of escapement from the â€Å"sane† into a subjective â€Å"insane† world in order to survive. The protagonists of these stories are all isolated and alienated from other people, not necessarily because of an isolated landscape, but rather because of their dissimilarities. â€Å"[A]lineation is withdrawal from something – becoming strange and foreign to it, being put out or taking One’s self out and thereby becoming a stranger – separated. Since humans feel vulnerable when they are strangers, the emotional essence of alienation is fear and hostility† (Henry 1971, 105). The â€Å"sane† world can therefore be even seen as life-threatening to the â€Å"stranger† because all it wants to achieve is to isolate him even further and to destroy his reality. Ultimately, there are three choices a â€Å"stranger† can make. He can either let the â€Å"sane† world take over and destroy his very essence, he can protect himself by playing along, pretending to be someone else by acting out roles, or he can escape into his own reality where he alone decides what is right and wrong, what the truth is and what only illusion. Louise and Morrison, the protagonists of Margaret Atwood’s short story Polarities, are working colleagues in an unnamed dull city in the northwest. They came to this city because they could not find any other job elsewhere. Morrison finds this dullness rather irritating and the northern city a hard place to live in. Louise however claims that you just have to have â€Å"inner resources† to turn to when matters get tough. After some time, Louise started acting and talking strange. She would find meaning in things other people would not, as Morrison states: â€Å"she’s taken as real what the rest of us pretend is only metaphorical† (Atwood 1993, 69). Morrison more and more started to believe that there is something seriously wrong with Louise, as her strange behavior is not to be ascribed to fatigue or the abuse of substances, a fact another colleague also acknowledges. Morrison and Paul, the other co-worked, eventually agree that it would be best for Louise to be institutionalized. Nevertheless, Louise almost convinces the doctors that she is perfectly fine but she eventually makes a mistake and they decide to keep her hospitalized. After spending some time in the hospital, Louise’s intelligence begins to deteriorate due to the extensive amount of drugs she was forced to take. She almost stopped talking to anyone and it was obvious that she suffered tremendously, especially on the inside. It seems that before she had been taken to the mental hospital she was a little strange but nevertheless managed to get along in everyday life. All that remained now of Louise was an empty shell as she became only a shadow of her former self. Margaret Gibson was another author who wrote about oversensitive people unable to live in a â€Å"normal† society. Due to her mental state, she was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, she could relate to and identify with her writing as few authors before her. Nevertheless, she claimed that her works are not autobiographical. In her collection of short stories entitled The Butterfly Ward, she tried to explore the boundaries of sanity and insanity. Her own experiences as an outsider gave her the opportunity and ability to present a â€Å"stranger’s world† in a unique and exciting way. It is important to recognize at the outset that Gibson’s primary concern in relation to the theme of madness is with the responses to mental illness, rather than with its causes or manifestations. While she clearly does not neglect the latter issues, her writing often focuses upon the ways in which those categorized as mentally ill and those assigning the label respond to the condition. (Pauly 1999, 106) Her short stories The Butterfly Ward, Making it, Ada and Considering Her Condition are great examples of her writing creativity.   In the beginning of The Butterfly Ward we are introduced to Kira, the story’s heroine, who is staying at a hospital and is undergoing various extremely painful and brutal tests and examinations in order to determine what is causing her mental â€Å"condition†. As the story progresses, we get a glimpse of her earlier life. Before being admitted to the hospital, she worked in a home for mentally challenged children. Unfortunately, she had a very ambitious mother who dreamt of a better life for her and her daughter in Russia. Her mother is convinced that Kira’s occupation does not suit her and that she would be better of studying at a university. Kira becomes a victim of her mother’s ambition and pressure under which she, eventually, collapses. She is still aware of her surroundings but nevertheless decides to live her life in her own fantasy world which she considers a better place than the real world where she is being locked up and heavily medicated. The protagonist of Gibson’s story Ada is a girl of the same name as the title and who is, like Kira, residing in a mental hospital. As the story unfolds, it becomes obvious that the patients of this institution are being heavily mistreated and denied any basic human rights. The only visitor Ada has is her mother. Although we might think that her mother would like to help her to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, she does not show any genuine intentions of helping or understanding her daughter in her need. After some time, Ada realized that she cannot expect any help from anyone, and denies her mother, and other family members, visits because they do not understand her. More and more she drives herself into isolation from others and even from her own feelings. Ultimately, her isolation causes her to lose touch with reality entirely –so we might think. When another â€Å"inmate† joins the group at the asylum, the patients are presented as seemingly smarter than their doctors, as they are easily able to manipulate with them as in the case of Alice. However, Ada and her best friend Jenny manage to escape their isolation but must pay a very high price for it. Jenny, who wanted to protect Ada from Alice’s abuses, stands up against Alice and within she awakens Ada from her inner retreat. By later killing Alice, Ada awakens from her mental slumber and ends her child-like existence. Nevertheless, it can be argued that Ada’s retreat in her own world was, in fact, her strategy to survive in a depressive and live-threatening environment such as the mental asylum where normality of patients (their thoughts, emotions, actions) is considered as something abnormal. For Gibson, therefore, abnormality can be seen as the only way to survive in an inhuman and egoistic world. A similar story to Ada is Making It where the protagonists Liza, a schizophrenic, and Robin, a male homosexual transvestite, try to make something of their lives. Both of them try to hide their true nature because if they would not they would be considered as outcasts in a society intolerant of â€Å"crazy† people. Although they desperately want to fight society’s categorizations and prove them wrong, they are, nevertheless, unable to do so. Liza, who becomes pregnant, sees her baby as her own way of â€Å"making it† out of her troubles. Robin, on the other hand, sees his â€Å"salvation† in becoming a famous women impersonator in California’s entertainment industry. They are convinced that motherhood for her and fame for him will make them â€Å"normal† in the eyes of society. In the end of the story the two once again decide to live together like a regular, but in their case platonic, couple. Robin even rejects the men of his dreams in order to be able to help Liza to live a â€Å"normal† life. Unfortunately, happiness stays out of reach for them as they, after Liza’s baby was born dead, once again fall into isolation and feel alienated from society. Although considered abnormal, Robin and Liza’s feelings of belonging, friendship, helpfulness and love for one another are something we would have trouble finding in the â€Å"normal† world. For Gibson, we, the â€Å"sane† readers, are the ones who make existence for people like her protagonists unbearable and force them into isolation and self-destruction. In Considering her Condition, it is a man named Steven who drives his wife Clare into suicide after she gave birth to their baby son. Steven is a very suppressive, bossy and egoistic character. Clare never even wanted children but after Steven persuaded her it becomes clear that he never thought about what is best for her but rather what is best for him. Later in the story we get to know that Steven already has a child but has no contact with her anymore. When Clare was pregnant, Steven became obsessed with the baby and did not care much about his wife anymore. He even denied Clare her right to chose abortion despite the doctor’s advice to terminate the pregnancy. Claire must suffer enormously just to fulfill his desires and wishes. Gibson gives us a picture of how married couples’ lives can be destroyed by polarities and traditional gender-roles. Steven will not let Clare have her own life and she does not have the strength to fight his demands. Her suicide is the only action she can realize out of her own will. Not even her death affects Steven as he never though of her being more than a subordinate wife and the mother of his children. Considering her Condition can be seen as Gibson’s strong critique against a society that denies women their right to choose their own way of living and thinking and breaks their spirits by taking away their desires, pride and self-esteem. The analyzed stories in The Butterfly Ward: †¦focus upon individuals who have become objects of scrutiny to others. These others, †¦ , exercise a great deal of power over those who have failed to adapt to the expectations and demands of normal society. First and foremost among those strategies is simple observation. Whether an individual is labeled paranoid or simply maladjusted, the effect is similar. The individual ends up excluded from normal existence and confined within another territory. The responses of those thus observed, excluded, isolated and confined are various, but all, in some way, reveal attempts to escape this condition. (Pauly 1999, 116) Not only individuals can suffer tremendously under the influence of isolation but also whole communities. In W.D. Valgardson’s story Bloodflowers â€Å"the setting seems to imply that even today, people will tend to resort to primitive rituals when isolated and severely tried by living conditions† (Neijmann 1996, 311). It is the story of a young teacher named Danny who moves to an isolated island, called Black Island, where superstition is still widely spread among the island’s local community. Danny at first just wants to witness an ancient local fertility ritual taking place annually on the island. The ritual consists of sacrificing a man in order to conclude any misfortunes that have happened in the past year and might continue into the next one. Unfortunately for Danny, as misfortunes continue to happen, the locals consider him to be the cause of disturbance and they decide to sacrifice him in order to save themselves from further harm. It seems as if the local people are not having any trouble â€Å"justifying† the murders they have committed with superstition. In this story, where Valgardson makes extensive use of irony, we get to see the serious consequences (misunderstandings) that may occur when different or conflicting cultures cross paths. In Rudy Wiebe’s Where is the Voice Coming From?, the notions of isolation and alienation can be ascribed to the native Canadian inhabitants. The isolation of the indigenous (ethnic) voice and the question of a â€Å"Canadian identity†, by this I mean telling the other side of Canadian history (of the aboriginal inhabitants) too, are issues Wiebe tries to address. Its most prominent themes would have to be the social and cultural injustices and consequently isolation and alienation suffered by the indigenous people after the European settlers have taken over their lands. In conclusion it can be said that people were often driven mad by loneliness and isolation and some even saw death as their only means of escaping it. Others, who also lived in isolation, developed psychotic behaviors which not only made them self-destructive but also a threat to others. Taking into consideration all of the authors and their stories that deal with the themes and motifs of isolation, alienation, loneliness and madness, one cannot fail to observe that isolation has an extremely negative effect upon the development of the individual’s character in Canadian short fiction and probably also Canadian literature in general. Works Cited: Atwood, Margaret. Dancing Girls and Other Stories. New York: Bantam Books, 1993. Esterhammer, Angela. â€Å"†Can’t See Life for Illusions†: The Problematic Realism of Sinclair Ross.† In From the Heart of the Heartland, edited by John Moss, 15-24. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1992. Gibson, Margaret. The Butterfly Ward. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1976. Henry, Jules. Pathways to Madness. New York: Random House, 1971. Marshall, Joyce. â€Å"The Old Woman.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush, Or, Life in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998. Neijmann, Daisy L. The Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters: The Contribution of Icelandic – Canadian Writers to Canadian Literature. Montreal: McGill – Queens Press, 1996. Pauly, Susanne. Madness in English-Canadian Fiction. Ph.D. dissertation. Trier: University of Trier, 1999. Ross, Sinclair. â€Å"The Lamp at Noon.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds. 72-81. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Ross, Sinclar. â€Å"The Painted Door.† In The Faber Book of Contemporary Canadian Short Stories, edited by Michael Ondaatje. London: Faber and Faber, 1990. Stephanson, Glennis and Glennis Byron, eds. â€Å"Introduction†. Nineteenth-Century Stories by Women: An Anthology, 9-22. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1993. Stouck, David. As for Sinclair Ross. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. Valancy Crawford, Isabella. â€Å"Extradited.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds. 1-11. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Valgardson, W.D. â€Å"Bloodflowers.† The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 316-332. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Wiebe, Rudy. â€Å"Where is the Voice Coming From?† The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 270-279. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. â€Å"The Painter Door – A Canadian Short Story.† Term papers for students. http://www.essaysample.com/essay/002994.html (accessed August 8, 2008).

If It Wasnt For The Police, There Would Have Been No Riots essays

If It Wasnt For The Police, There Would Have Been No Riots essays If It Wasnt For The Police, There Would Have Been No Riots in Recent Years. Discuss The last centuries riots have a common cause: Police Brutality. In the UK, a Riot is defined by the 1986 Public Order Act as 12 or more persons who together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety. The result of a riot carries a possibility of a fine and a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment. If however, less than 12 people are present, violence may constitute the lesser offence of Violent Disorder. Throughout the world riots happen for a number of reasons. The term Police Riot has became increasingly more common through the late twentieth century, in which the term describes a situation where police in riot gear such as padded knee and elbow protectors, armour, helmets and face shields encounter a group of people for example a protest group which is not engaged in any violent behaviour, but is deemed by the police to be a threat to the community. In an encounter such as this violence often erupts. This violence is provoked by the police by either simple assault, assault with a deadly weapon, mayhem or even death. The term police riot is often used ironically as most citizens expect the police to be keepers of the peace and not inciters of riots. The abuse of authority by a police officer who gets themselves into a corrupt act is normally written about on a daily process in any leading newspaper. A Tukwila Police Officer will serve two days suspension for firing a beanbag gun point blank at a man and kicking him in the groin during Seattles tumultuous World Trade Organisation Conference. Tracy Johnson, Seattle News. Friday 21 January 2000. Then on the 19th February 2004, a FBI report which ha...