Analytical Techniques

Introduction A research on a subject has some objectives to fulfill, especially from statistical research analysis the major objectives are to find the description of the data using summary statistics, it is common for the data to include dependent as well as independent variables. Generally for business and market related studies the data is generally found to be multivariate consisting of many dependent and independent variables. So it becomes a necessity to choose which of the independent variables are more suitable for the data analysis. Here our topic is regarding multicollinearity of the data, why it emerges and how can it be controlled. The discussion followed the article by Jeeshim and Kucc (2003), Multicollinearity in Regression Models (sites.stat.psu.edu, 2003). Therefore all the discussions will be considered on the basis of this article. Review of the Article Multicollinearity is a problem in case of regression and must be checked before final prediction. The topic gives a complete reference to multicollinearity in different independent variables. It also gives a detailed process with respect to the data with which we can check for multicollinearity between the variables. Different data results has been used as examples for proper explanation. From the correlation matrix it can be often observed that there is a strong linear association between two independent variables like the area of the plot of the house and area of a house. These two variables represent the same thing , i.e. one variable can be significantly predicted from the other variable. This is when the problem of multicollinearity arises. We can then just take any one of the variables i.e.,replace one variable by another variable. Analysis and Discussion If multicollinearity is faced at a very low level then it is not a major issue but for variables whose correlations are very strong can make problems in predictions of the regression equation. The values of the variances or standard errors of the independent variable can be much more than usual. Another implication can be the p value which will be insignificant at times. As earlier stated there will be inevitably large correlation coefficient between the variables . Again if the data are modified to a slight extent the resulting coefficients will be changed largely. If the problems of any of these is evident from the data then it it could be a problem of multicollinearity and must be checked beforehand otherwise the regression will provide spurious estimates (Fekedulegn, 2002). The indications specified above only gives a hint of multicollinearity, like although two independent variables are highly correlated we cannot call for sure that the variables are having multicollinearity, neither can we confirm it from the significance level, standard error and coefficients of the independent variables. As to say there is no specified limit from which we can refer for sure occurrence of multicollinearity, however some measures like the tolerance value and the vif can be calculated besides regression and hence infer about multicollinearity to some extent. The tolerance value is 1 - R square value : which is the amount of the dependent variable that can be predicted via the independent variables. A low value of R square can be considered as a matter of concern. I/R square gives the VIF, a large value of VIF is a matter of concern but the exact cutoff value is not standardized. In this analysis the analysis is run in SAS where to calculate multicollinearity three measures have been used : the tolerance value, VIF and the Collin analysis. The dependent variable considered is expenditure within independent variables age, rent, income and inc_sq. Therefore the regression equation is used to predict the value of expenditure from the values of the variable age, rent, income and inc_sq. The regression model as run in SAS and from the value of the anova table it is seen that the regression equation is a good fit as the significance value is .0008 which is much less than the desired significance level. The value of R square is .2436. Age and inc_sq shows negetive association while rent and income shows positive association with expenditure. The values of the standard errors are very large. From the tolerance value it is seen that both income and inc sq have a very low tolerance level of .061 and .065 and thereby very high variance inflation of 16.33 and 15.21, show ing that the variability of both the variables are more than usual. Therefore these two variables have multicollinearity. Again from the collinearity diagnostics carried out in SAS the association between the variables is checked by the factors eigen value and the conditional index. Very small eigen values shows more collinearity . Conditional index is the square root of the eigen value having greatest value divided by the corresponding eigen value. Large values of conditional index indicates the problem of collinearity. From the table in the article it is seen that the eigen values of income and income squared are very close to zero and thus are collinear. Again from conditional index column it is seen that both of these variables have high values, the variable income squared show a value greater than 20. Also the proportion of variations table generated by SAS which shows the proportion of variation generated by the variables. The variable showing more proportion of variation compared to the Eigen value is considered to have multicollinearity (Neeleman, 1973). Thus it has been verified from all aspects that the variables income and income squared show multicollinearity. The major problem faced due to multicollinearity is that it reduces the rank of the correlation matrix and a matrix without having full rank will give false solutions and results and interpretations will be in vain. Apart from factor analysis principal component analysis could be used to reduce the size of unwanted variables. But it must be assured that there are some space for data reduction like in this analysis we verified that the variables income and income_sq show multicollinearity. In the principal component analysis the original matrix with dimension n is divided via n eigen vectors and n eigen values and a diagonal matrix where the sum of the diagonal matrix equals to 1. The eigen vectors and the eigen values are useful ways to infer about the variance of a variable (Jolliffe, 1986). To every eigen vector there exists an eigen value. The principal components are de cided from the eigen values and the eigen vectors. Before making calculations from the new matrix it is verified from the values of earlier regression results and also from the vif values the factors or variables showing multicollinearity. Here also from the articles it has been verified from the VIF values the variables showing multicollinearity. A transformed matrix is formed by multiplying the old matrix by the eigen vectors. Final regression is again carried on the transformed variables. Dimension is reduced for the variable having least eigen values and high conditional indices. As evident from the data in the analysis the variables income and income squared show the maximum amount of variation. But a confusion is created regarding the variable to be removed from the data to get proper predictions. For this reason a correlation matrix is created to check the association between the data. As expected the correlation between income and income square is very strong with a correlation of .963. to clarify which among these two variable must used for reduction in dimension two graphical plots are conducted one age versus income and the other income versus income square. It is evident from the graph of income of income_sq about their strong collinearity, but income can be considered as an important variable it has its effects with other variables,i.e. it not only affects the prediction itself also plays a major role in predicting the data with association to other variables like age. It is known that in regression it is not always the individual effects of the variabes but also a combined effects of the variables that could help in proper prediction. Therefore income is seen as an important variable which can be in no case removed from the prediction. Income_sq represents almost the s ame thing as income and thus repeating a variable of same usage twice is of no use for prediction. Also the variable being square of income creates unnecessary confusion and weightage to the data. Therefore the income squared variable was decided to be included for dimension reduction (Neeleman, 1973). This concept of dimension reduction is the concept of principal component analysis including only the factors or variables that account for maximum variance in the data through the Eigen values. There principal component analysis is an important aspect for reducing the unwanted variables by including only the variables that are needed for data prediction by using the variables that makes the data to differ by different aspect and excluding the variables that has no part in this prediction and acts as an extra baggage : intuitively this variables are often seen to be those variables that makes the same representation as the other variables. Therefore variables like this must be removed beforehand. There are some conditions for conduction of the principal component analysis. Only numerical variables are to be included and also Uncorrelated variables cannot be part of the principal component analysis. Again there must be proper data collection or sample collection implemented otherwise the analysis would be in vain. Before computing the principal component analysis it must be checked via other sources of calculation that there are some variables included in the data that show multicollinearity. PCA analysis nay not always be significant if there is a strong problem of outliers. Conclusion After the variable income squared was removed from the data, a regression was carried out with the other variable so check whether the data was a good fit. However from the first regression analysis the significance level was found to be .0008 and this time the significance level is seen as .001 therefore an increment in the p value is seen from which it can be said that the equation was a better predictor with the variable income squared being included. But since the equation is still significant predictor at 5% level of significance it can be used as a predicting equation. But again previously the value of R squared was .245 and this time the value of R squared has reduced to .198. Therefore less amount of the dependent variable can be explained by the independent variable after the reduction in the data. This proves that reducing the variable was of no use to the analysis. The coefficients, standard error , t values of the variables were calculated. Now to check whether there is a ny further space for multicollinearity again the VIF values and the conditional indices are calculated. From the VIF value and the values of the conditional indices it may be concluded that there exists a further chance of multicollinearity. Principal Component analysis is a well known procedure for data reduction and selection of relevant variables in the data. But unfortunately with this data the results dont prove completely justified. Therefore there may be other methods that could be used like new variables with importance to expenditure that is having strong relations with expenditure can be adopted. Sometimes if the variables are transformed then it may show relevant significance however this is not the case in income and income squared since both represents almost the same feature. If a variable is transformed then it could be transformed back to its original form by conducting the same transformation steps but in a reverse direction, therefore in many cases transformation can be very useful which is also used in principal component analysis to transform the variables back their older forms. Thus inclusion of more variables is the possibility and then their significance can be easily judged by factor analysis whi ch is a very important analysis to get a good prediction equation with variables that are genuinely important with respect to the dependent variables. References Fekedulegn, B. (2002). Coping with multicollinearity. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. Jolliffe, I. (1986). Principal component analysis. New York: Springer-Verlag. Neeleman, D. (1973). Multicollinearity in linear economic models. [Tilburg]: Tilburg University Press. sites.stat.psu.edu, (2003).Multicollinearity in Regression Models. [online] Available at: https://sites.stat.psu.edu/~ajw13/SpecialTopics/multicollinearity.pdf [Accessed 16 Jan. 2015].

Russian Revolution Essay Research Paper Essay QuestionExamine free essay sample

Russian Revolution Essay, Research Paper Essay Question: Analyze the grade in which there was a period of economic, societal and political consolidation following the critical radical period. During the period of 1921-1928 in Russia, following the critical radical period, there was a big grade of economic, societal and political consolidation. There were new policies drawn up, alterations in political orientations. These all led to things such as the NEP, the dearth, War Communism, Anti-religious positions, growing of urbanized countries, instruction, the usage of the secret constabulary and power-playing. This scrutiny would get down us at a certain happening known to all as the Kronstadt Rebellion. The ground for this rebellion was because of the policies of War Communism. These policies stated that fundamentally: h The province took over all production workss, for illustration mills, mines and workshops. h The province set up nutrient provisions. This was a group of people who gathered nutrient from towns and rationed in equally throughout all the small towns. We will write a custom essay sample on Russian Revolution Essay Research Paper Essay QuestionExamine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This made private trading illegal. h The province made work compulsory. H State took over Bankss, tried to get rid of money by utilizing goods and services system of payment. All the Russian people did non accept these policies to get down with, but none were courageous plenty to kick, as the secret constabulary ( the Cheka ) were out looking for such people who complained. These crewmans at this naval base Kronstadt had had plenty and demanded alterations or they would revenge against the province. These demands were: H Fair elections instantly H Freedom of address and imperativeness h Liberation of all political captives H Food provisions to be removed These conditions were bad plenty as these Rebels were known to be true loyal supports of Lenin, which made Lenin see that if his most loyal are turning against him now, so the others won t be far off. After seting this rebellion down, killing all involved, Lenin saw that the economic jobs that he faced during 1920-21 as a consequence of the civil war and War Communism was no production was being produced any longer as the Russian people were being starved to decease. Famine, cold conditions and disease killed 7 million Russians. The added jobs of cut-offs from where the beginnings of production were and the loss of valuable land to Germany during World War I was adding up. This made Lenin see that he needed a new Policy strategy. This came from the NEP ( New Economic Policy ) . The NEP, introduced by Lenin in 1921, March, had some new reforms. These new policies were: h Confiscation of farm green goods ceased, alternatively grain revenue enhancement imposed. h Small mills and stores operated under private ownership. Trade Unions were free of authorities control and work stoppages were permitted. h Foreign companies were encouraged to merchandise and put in Russia. These new reforms settled the public sentiment down and took force per unit area off the Bolshevik party for now. The NEP was rather successful though. From the major slack in 1921, Coal rose from 6.9 million dozenss to 27.6 million dozenss by 1926. Steel rose from 0.2 million dozenss to 3.1 million dozenss. Pig Fe rose from 0.1 million dozenss to 2.4 million dozenss. Electricity rose from 520 million kWh to 3508 million kWh. The Industry was back to its full strength. Conveyance rose. Rail cargo rose from 39.4 million dozenss to 83.4 million dozenss. In agribusiness, the seeded country grew from 77.7 million hectares to 104.3 million hectares and the grain crop rose from 50.3 million dozenss to 72.5 million dozenss. These statistics clearly show the roar that occurred during the NEP debut. Russia was on its manner back to going a World Power one time once more, but the chief thing being at the clip, acquiring out of the major slack it was presently in. Although Industry and Agricult ure boomed, there came to be known the Scissors Crisis. This was because although nutrient monetary values remained low, manufactured goods rose due to scarceness. The provincials could non afford to buy necessary tools, as industrial goods were expensive. Russia besides had a job with its currency. The support of agribusiness had placed a great strain on Russian fiscal resources and had led to the printing of the rouble notes, which resulted in the devaluation of the paper currency. This is seen by the fact that one gold ruble was about 21 paper rubles in January 1918, whereas in July 1921, the monetary value of one gold ruble rose to 80 700 paper rubles. A new currency and the NEP helped to brace this crisis though. In 1921, there was a party purging, fring the party of those who were critical of the cardinal leading and those of low morale stature. The Cheka were sent to cover with this job ( renamed the GPU in February 1922 ) . Therefore by the terminal of that twelvemonth, around one-fourth of the rank had been expelled. Lenin had certain positions upon the Educational, Social and Cultural subjects. From 1921 to the terminal of the NEP in 1927, it was a period marked with tolerance, diverseness and invention. Russian theater, movie and composing flourished under Lunacharsky, caput of the Commissariat of Enlightenment ( Ministry of Education and Arts ) . Traditional and Communist creative persons and authors were supported. Theaters were subsidised and enjoyed a sensible grade of liberty ( for illustration a pick of productions ) . Education was diverse and used modern approa ches. Individuality and creativeness were encouraged by a wide course of study. To 1928, the educational, societal and cultural alterations reflected Lenin s thought of a cultural revolution. He believed that there should be a gradual and non-militant elevation of cultural criterions, achieved in a non-confrontational manner, affecting the enlargement of mass instruction and an addition in literacy. Lenin s decease on January 21, 1924, caused a confusion as their darling leader who had seen the Russians through these recent and many rough times, the 1 who led the revolution had eventually gone. There was merely one thing to make at that clip to order the confusion, and that was to elect the new leader of the Communist Bolsheviks. This began known as the Power Struggle between Trotsky and Stalin, the chief rivals for the leading function. Now both these work forces had different backgrounds, positions, political orientations and programs for the hereafter of Russia. Trotsky came about with his motto of lasting revolution meant that his policies were to promote outside states to get down revolutions towards Communism, such as Russia did. He say that Russia had small opportunity of lasting under Communist regulation sing the might of the Western powers which surrounded them, which all did non like Communism one spot and Trotsky besides saw that force was necessary to transport out policies, abroad or at place. Stalin s motto was known as Socialism in One State. His policies were to maintain Communism to Russia for now, as Russia needed to construct up their ain economic system one time once more before worrying about other states and the chief purpose to construct up Industry in Russia. This was fundamentally how Stalin took control of the place of leader of Russia. Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky were on the right side of the party and Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev were on the left. In 1924, Stalin, Zinoviev and Kanenev formed a Triumvirate to barricade Trotsky. Trotsky was criticised for non go toing Lenin s funeral, knocking Stalin and assailing the cult of Leninism. Stalin reminded party members that Trotsky had merely been a Bolshevik for 7 old ages ( since mid 1917 ) , as he was a Menshevik to get down with. In 1925, Zinoviev and Kamenev sided with Trotsky sing the NEP. Stalin moved to back up the right side of the party and at the 1925 Party Congres s all leftist gestures were defeated. Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky were denounced as treasonists and expelled from the party by 1927. Then, Stalin and Bukhavin controlled the Politbureau after the shame of Zinoviev and Kamenev. In 1927, Stalin abandoned Bukhavin s economic policies. Stalin was able to denounce Bukhavin as a treasonist after declaring war on internal enemies. Finally, by the terminal of 1928, a purging of the Moscow subdivision of the Party had expelled Bukhavin and Rykov. Tomsky was expelled from the Politbureau in 1929. This eventually gave Stalin complete control of Russia. From here, Stalin made programs, which are good known as the Five Year Plans. These programs were to hike Russian Industry to an utmost point. But before these program came into action, a sudden happening happened, grain deficits. In 1926 and 1927, Russia was agin sing grain deficits. These were caused by the kulaks ( rich provincials ) keeping back their stocks in the hope of acquiring higher monetary values. Stalin was ferocious at this attitude, impeaching them of keeping the state to redeem from their ain selfish terminals. He was determined to nail the kulaks as a group, and collectivization of agribusiness was the manner to travel about this. Collectivisation involved provincials unifying their little secret plans into big farms, which could so be run more expeditiously by utilizing machinery. Farm outputs would increase, and workers who were replaced by machines could happen occupations in industry in towns. Few husbandmans shared Stalin s positions, and by 1928 merely 3 % of the country under harvest was collectivised. Bukhavin, Minister for Agriculture, recommended that the authorities wage more for wheat, therefore alluring the kulaks to sell their stocks and stop the nutrient crisis. Stalin would non hear of this, and ordered the stocks taken by force. This ictus of stocks in 1928 had merely short-run benefits. It had the consequence of weakening assurance in the new authorities, conveying back memories of war communism. It besides led to fewer harvests being planted in 1929. The Secret constabulary ( GPU ) was used on legion occasions to cover with the kulaks job, as it was critical to utilize such steps to maintain the regulating party in power. This can be seen in the statistics of 200,000 people were killed in the first twelvemonth of the secret constabularies debut, whereas the Czar s Okhrana killed merely 14 000 people in their last 50 old ages! ! The agencies of panic tactics was a really clear and effectual manner of fring resistance or menac es to the Communist authorities. Overall, the grade in which there was a period of economic, societal and political consolidation following the critical radical period was big. The different policies such as the necessary alteration from War Communism to NEP, the power-struggle, nutrient deficits, and the chief undertaking of maintaining the support of people on this regnant authorities. The obvious usage of the Secret constabulary was an indispensable portion of maintaining this authorities in power, particularly in its early old ages of power. Some could state, Stalin, the worst out of the Communist swayers ( if non of our full history ) sing to ferociousness, that he did these barbarous Acts of the Apostless with no attention because of his true place of birth, Georgia. Why would such a monster attention for the Russian people s deceases when he was non even one of them?

Definition and Examples of Semantic Satiation

Definition and Examples of Semantic Satiation Definition Semantic satiation is a phenomenon whereby the uninterrupted repetition of a word eventually leads to a sense that the word has lost its meaning. This effect is also known as  semantic saturation or verbal satiation. The concept of semantic satiation was described by E. Severance and M.F. Washburn in The American Journal of Psychology in 1907. The term was introduced by psychologists Leon James and Wallace E. Lambert in the article Semantic Satiation Among Bilinguals in the Journal of Experimental Psychology (1961). For most people, the way theyve experience semantic satiation is in a playful context: deliberately repeating a single word over and over again just to get to that sensation when  it stops feeling like an actual word. However, this phenomenon can appear in more subtle ways. For instance, writing teachers will often insist that students use repeated words with care, not just because it demonstrates a better vocabulary  and a more eloquent style,  but to avoid the loss of significance. Overuse of strong words, such as words with intense connotations or profanity, can also fall victim to semantic satiation and lose their intensity.   See Examples and Observations below. For related concepts, also see: BleachingEpimoneGrammatical Oddities That You Probably Never Heard About in SchoolPronunciationSemantics Examples and Observations I began to indulge in the wildest fancies as I lay there in the dark, such as that there was no such town, and even that there was no such state as New Jersey. I fell to repeating the word Jersey over and over again, until it became idiotic and meaningless. If you have ever lain awake at night and repeated one word over and over, thousands and millions and hundreds of thousands of millions of times, you know the disturbing mental state you can get into.(James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times, 1933)Have you ever tried the experiment of saying some plain word, such as dog, thirty times? By the thirtieth time it has become a word like snark or pobble. It does not become tame, it becomes wild, by repetition.(G.K. Chesterton, The Telegraph Poles. Alarms and Discursions, 1910)A Closed LoopIf we pronounce a word over and over again, rapidly and without pause, then the word is felt to lose meaning. Take any word, say, CHIMNEY. Say it repeatedly and in rapid succession. Within some seconds, th e word loses meaning. This loss is referred to as semantic satiation. What seems to happen is that the word forms a kind of closed loop with itself. One utterance leads into a second utterance of the same word, this leads into a third, and so on. . . . [A]fter repeated pronunciation, this meaningful continuation of the word is blocked since, now, the word leads only to its own recurrence.(I.M.L. Hunter, Memory, rev. ed. Penguin, 1964) The MetaphorSemantic satiation is a metaphor of sorts, of course, as if neurons are little creatures to be filled up with the word until their little bellies are full, they are sated and want no more. Even single neurons habituate; that is, they stop firing to a repetitive pattern of stimulation. But semantic satiation affects our conscious experience, not just individual neurons.(Bernard J. Baars, In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind. Oxford University Press, 1997)Disconnection of Signifier and Signified- If you stare continuously at a word (alternatively, listen to it over and over), the signifier and signified eventually appear to fall apart. The aim of the exercise is not to alter vision or hearing but to disrupt the internal organization of the sign. . . . You continue to see the letters but they no longer make the word; it, as such, has vanished. The phenomenon is called semantic satiation (first identified by Severance Washburn 1907), or loss of the sign ified concept from the signifier (visual or acoustic).(David McNeill, Gesture and Thought. University of Chicago Press, 2005)- [B]y saying a word, even a significant one, over and over again . . . you will find that the word has been transformed into a meaningless sound, as repetition drains it of its symbolic value. Any male who has served in, let us say, the United States Army or spent time in a college dormitory has had this experience with what are called obscene words . . .. Words that you have been taught not to use and that normally evoke an embarrassed or disconcerted response, when used too often, are stripped of their power to shock, to embarrass, to call attention to a special frame of mind. They become only sounds, not symbols.(Neil Postman, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992) OrphanWhy has my fathers death left me feeling so alone, when he hasnt been a part of my life in seventeen years? Im an orphan. I repeat the word out loud, over and over again, listening to it bounce off the walls of my childhood bedroom until it makes no sense.Loneliness is the theme, and I play it like a symphony, in endless variations.(Jonathan Tropper, The Book of Joe. Random House, 2004)Boswell on the Effects of Intense Inquiry (1782)Words, the representations, or rather signs of ideas and notions in the human race, though habitual to all of us, are, when abstractly considered, exceedingly wonderful; in so much, that by endeavouring to think of them with a spirit of intense inquiry, I have been affected even with giddiness and a kind of stupor, the consequence of having ones faculties stretched in vain. I suppose this has been experienced by many of my readers, who in a fit of musing, have tried to trace the connection between a word of ordinary use and its meaning, repeating th e word over and over again, and still starting in a kind of foolish amazement, as if listening for information from some secret power in the mind itself.(James Boswell [The Hypochondriack], On Words. The London Magazine, or, Gentlemans Monthly Intelligencer, Volume 51, February 1782)

Element Abundance of the Universe

Element Abundance of the Universe The element composition of the universe is calculated by analyzing the light that is emitted and absorbed from stars, interstellar clouds, quasars,  and other objects. The Hubble telescope greatly expanded our understanding of the composition of galaxies and gas in the intergalactic space between them. About 75% of the universe is believed to consist of dark energy and dark matter, which are different from the atoms and molecules that make up the everyday world around us. Thus, the composition of most of the universe is far from understood. However, spectral measurements of stars, dust clouds, and galaxies tell us the elemental composition of the portion that consists of normal matter. Most Abundant Elements in the Milky Way Galaxy This is a table of elements in the Milky Way, which is similar in composition to other galaxies in the universe. Keep in mind, elements represent matter as we understand it. Much more of the galaxy consists of something else! Element Element Number Mass Fraction (ppm) hydrogen 1 739,000 helium 2 240,000 oxygen 8 10,400 carbon 6 4,600 neon 10 1,340 iron 26 1,090 nitrogen 7 960 silicon 14 650 magnesium 12 580 sulfur 16 440    Most Abundant Element in the Universe Right now, the most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen. In stars, hydrogen fuses into helium. Eventually, massive stars (around 8 times more massive than our Sun) run through their supply of hydrogen. Then, the core of helium contracts, supplying enough pressure to fuse two helium nuclei into carbon. Carbon fuses into oxygen, which fuses into silicon and sulfur. Silicon fuses into iron. The star runs out of fuel and goes supernova, releasing these elements back into space. So, if helium fuses into carbon you may be wondering why oxygen is the third most abundant element and not carbon. The answer is because the stars in the universe today are not first generation stars! When newer stars form, they already contain more than just hydrogen. This time around, stars fuse hydrogen according to whats known as the C-N-O cycle (where C is carbon, N is nitrogen, and O is oxygen). A carbon and helium can fuse together to form oxygen. This happens not just in massive stars, but also in stars like the Sun once it enters its red giant phase. Carbon really comes out behind when a type II supernova occurs, because these stars undergo carbon fusion into oxygen with almost perfect completion! How Element Abundance Will Change in the Universe We wont be around to see it, but when the universe is thousands or millions times older than it is now, helium may overtake hydrogen as the most abundant element (or not, if enough hydrogen remains out in space to far from other atoms to fuse). After a much longer time, its possible oxygen and carbon may become the first and second most abundant elements! Composition of the Universe So, if ordinary elemental matter doesnt account for most of the universe, what does its composition look like? Scientists debate this subject and revise percentages when new data becomes available. For now, the matter and energy composition is believed to be: 73% Dark Energy: Most of universe seems to consist of something we know next to nothing about. Dark energy probably doesnt have mass, yet matter and energy are related.22% Dark Matter: Dark matter is stuff that doesnt emit radiation in any wavelength of the spectrum. Scientists are unsure what, exactly, dark matter is. It has not be observed or created in a lab. Right now, the best bet is that its cold dark matter, a substance consisting of particles comparable to neutrinos, yet much more massive.4% Gas: Most of the gas in the universe is hydrogen and helium, found between stars (interstellar gas). Ordinary gas does not emit light, although it does scatter it. Ionized gases glow, but not brightly enough to compete with the light of stars. Astronomers use infrared, x-ray, and radio telescopes to image this matter.0.04% Stars: To human eyes, it appears the universe is full of stars. Its amazing to realize they account for such a small percentage of our reality.0.3% Neutrinos: Neutrinos are tiny, electrically neutral particles that travel at near light speed. 0.03% Heavy Elements: Only a tiny fraction of the universe consists of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Over time this percentage will grow.

Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Research Paper

Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily - Research Paper Example While containing southern gothic tendencies, the story is characteristic of Faulkner’s style in terms of theme and symbolism. This essay considers these symbolic and thematic elements in terms of Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’. Perhaps the most pervasive theme in ‘A Rose for Emily’ is the power and exploration of death. This is perhaps one of the most important elements in articulating the story as an element of southern gothic literature, and it gives the tale a sort of surreal touch. Faulkner begins the narrative in reverse, already stating that Emily Grierson, the main focus of the story is deceased. Faulkner writes, â€Å"When Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to the funeral† (Faulkner, web). While this is only a narrative element, it’s position as the first sentence of the story is notable as it sets the general thematic tone for the tale. While Emily’s death represents perhaps the most significant, it is only on e among many deaths in the story. In addition to Emily’s death the story also indicates that Emily’s father died. Faulkner advances the thematic power of death in this instance by demonstrating that it extremely impacted Emily’s existence. Faulkner writes, â€Å"When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized† (Faulkner, web). Here, Faulkner is demonstrating that with Emily’s father’s death she began to live a solitary and confined existence. Emily’s reaction to her father’s death, namely the denial she faces, also demonstrates the thematic concern with the power of death. While actual death is a prominent theme, Faulkner also implements death imagery in advancing this theme; for instance, referring to Emily Faulkner writes, â€Å"Her skeleton was small and spare† (F aulkner, web). Here it’s clear that a gothic and macabre theme is being articulated. Another major thematic concern of the story is the nature of tradition vs. change. As Faulkner relays the story in a narrative that jumps a number of years, the structure presents particular insight into the nature of change and tradition. While tradition vs. change is articulated through a number of elements in the story, it is perhaps seen most clearly in terms of Emily herself. Faulkner even writes, â€Å"Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town† (Faulkner, web). While the story explores Emily’s life from a number of periods, she is always articulated as a sort of traditional aspect of the town, a sort of portal into the past. Even as Emily’s funeral occurs at the end of the story Faulkner links her to the older members of the community. He writes that they linked their lives in with Emily’s, †Å"?'...confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road, but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottleneck of the most recent decade of years† (Faulkner, web). While this is a masterful piece of writing, it also demonstrates Faulkner’s thematic linking with the traditional order. Faulkner explores the clash of the traditional and modern world perhaps most acutely when the city attempts to gain taxes from Emily. Emily had

Gender, Trade and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender, Trade and Religion - Essay Example According to Drislane and Parkinson, Patriarchy is â€Å"literally rule by the father but generally it refers to a social situation where men are dominant over women in wealth status and in all other aspects† (Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences). Since the time of creation women had been assigned the natural role of childbearer, homemaker and pleaser of their husband’s every whim. She didn’t chose, she was chosen. As in the case of biblical Leah and Rachel who were both given to Jacob in exchange of 14 years of labor. Or in the case of Rebekah, who was given to Isaac in exchange for gold, silver and other jewelries (Genesis 29:16-28). For thousands of millenia, the lot of women had been dictated by Patriarchy. When men had discovered that by bartering and trading, gargantuan profits could be amassed, women were either given away by their fathers in exchange for something dear or they served as courtesans to the foreign traders mostly with the knowledge and blessing of the fathers (Whitfield 133 ). To my opinion, this inhumane status of women being either given, bartered or rented by the hour as a result of international trade and contacts by the native populace with foreign merchants, soldiers and other kibitzers is the most interesting and important idea that we can put forward regarding gender relations in history. In the Indian epic poem of Ramayana, 2 Sita was given away in marriage to Rama because Rama succeeded in wielding the "mighty bow of Siva" a possession of Sita's father, King Janaka (Narayan 23). In utter obeisance to paternal pressure, Sita acceded. In The Analects of Confucius, out of 20 chapters of desiderata that compel the men to follow or avoid, only four sentences pertained to women, two of them were outright shocking to modern civilization. One says "The Master said of Kung-ye Ch'ang that he might be wived.Accordingly, he gave him his own daughter to wife" and "Of Nan Yung.He gave him the daughter of his own elder brother to wife" (Confucius chapter 5). Confucianism then, was the worst because women were not bartered or exchanged but outrightly given away gratis et amore. In the African Igbo tribe in Nigeria where polygamy is being practiced by men, women are not allowed to choose their husbands but they are given away after negotiations by groups representing both sides (Achebe xxx ). Since the subject matter of this paper involves gender relations as a result of international trade which also result to the spread of religion, nothing else illustrates this situation better than the Silk Road of olden days as all 3 elements are interlaced together. We therefore focus on the Silk Road phenomenon. The Silk Road is one of the world's most important and oldest trade route leading to ancient China. It was made possible because ancient China especially during the Han Dynasty was reputed to be the wealthiest and the most civilized among all nations and it had so many important and useful products to offer to the rest of humanity. Some of these are silk, porcelain, jade, lacquer ware, pearls, rubies, diamonds, satin, musk and rhubarb (Wood 9, 13-23).

The Borat Rodeo Scene Analysis Film Studies Essay

The Borat Rodeo Scene Analysis Film Studies Essay The movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. is a Mockumentary about a Kazakhstan state television reporter named Borat brings his broken English and chauvinism to America to make a documentary about life in the U.S. of A. Upbeat and naive, Borat and his producer Azamat come to America to find out what makes America great. What he finds is a hodgepodge of gracious, bewildered, angry, and racist people. The movie gives us a unique view of an outsider looking in on our society. Borats journey starts out in New York as he interviews various people for his state television station and becomes a quest across the country to be with his true love Pamela Anderson in California. As he crosses across the country Borats travels are filled with hilarious interviews and crazy antics. For my paper, I am going to examine a specific scene in the film in which Borat makes a stop in Salem, Virginia for a rodeo during his quest to be with Pamela Anderson in California. I think this scene is definitely one of the funniest and politically incorrect scenes in the movie. The scene begins as the camera pans over a crowd full of people who seem to be conservative WASPSs getting ready to see the rodeo. Borat, as he wears an American flag cowboy outfit, is conversing with Bobby Rowe, the general manager of the Imperial Rodeo. Rowe is telling Borat that he looks like a terrorist Muslim and that he should shave his mustache so that he will look like an Italian and not be so conspicuo us. He tells Borat that he will never be accepted looking like a Muslim because everyone will look at him and wonder what kind of bomb he has strapped to him. Rowe continues to display his hatred of the Middle East saying he cannot wait until the US wins the war and have all those damn son of the butts hangin from the gallows and not until then will the American people accept Borats diversity. Rowe then begins to talk about gays and tells Borat to stay away from them; Borat explains to Rowe that they hang gays is his country and Rowe replies thats what we are trying to get done here and then he gives Borat a high five. After his talk with Rowe, Borat is asked to sing the National Anthem to start off the rodeo. When he gets to the middle of the arena, he begins speaking to the crowd regarding the war on terror. He began by saying, My name is Borat, I come from Kazakhstan. Can I say firstà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ we support your war of terror! The crowd cheers and applauds Borat as he praises A merican patriotism, he then goes on to say, May George Bush drink the blood of every man, woman, and child in Iraq! At this point, the crowd erupts in agreement. After his speech, Borat quickly tells the audience he is going to sing the Kazakhstan National Anthem to the tune of Americas national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. At first, the crowd is reverently waiting to hear him sing, but as he begins to sing the Kazakhstan National Anthem the crowd begins to get in an uproar of disapproval. Because of the random lyrics in the song, the crowd did not know whether Borat was serious or joking by singing a song that was so degrading to the United States in their own country. The crowd was so shocked when they heard the lyrics, Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the world!, that a horse carrying a cowgirl with an American flag fell down as the arena exploded in boos. This scene contained many principles that made it humorous. To begin, the main purpose of this movie was to make fun the arrogance of our nation and prove that while America thinks it is the best country in the world, we are still fallible. Disparaging humor was the probably one of the most prevalent types of humor used throughout the movie and especially in this scene. Ferguson and Ford describe disparaging humor as remarks that are intended to elicit amusement through the denigration, derogation, or belittlement of a given audience (2008). What made this scene so funny was to see how racist and ignorant Bobby Rowe was as Borat roused him on during their conversation. The fact that someone would say that we should hang all the gays, or that we want to kill all the people in Iraq is so outrageous that it is very funny to laugh at and see how ignorant some people actually are. This humor is successful because, Rowe had the audacity to clearly belittle Borat, the people of Kazakhstan, and the rest of the Middle East while he knew he was being filmed because it gave him a sense of superiority. Critchley supports this point as he states that, we laugh from feelings of superiority over other people (2002). The crowd of spectators in the rodeo arena also displayed disparaging humor when the crowd begins to cheer as Borat talks about killing all the people in Iraq including women and children and drinking their blood. Under the psychoanalytic theory, Ferguson and Ford article explain that It provides the humorist with a relatively benign means of expressing and satisfying unconscious, socially unacceptable impulses(2008). Borat was able to egg on the crowd and Rowe to say and applaud views that are a racist and unacceptable to our society. In addition, the Incongruity Theory of humor was also used throughout the scene. Critchley explains, Humor is produced by the experience of a felt incongruity between what we know or expect to be the case, and what actually happens in the joke, gag, or jest (2002). For example, one would not have expected to see Borat dressed as an American flag themed cowboy or give an outrageous speech about George Bush drinking the blood of every Iraqi. Additionally, his pronunciation and word use also made it humorous. For example, Borat announces to the rodeo fans, we support your war of terror, instead of the typical wording, the war on terror. Also when Borat was announced to sing the United States National Anthem, it was unexpected and humorous that he randomly decides to instead sing the Kazakhstans National Anthem to the music of the Star Spangled Banner. Finally the Relief Theory of humor also was prevalent in this scene. The scene starts out showing the rodeo crowd, cowboys, bulls and a cowgirl on a horse holding an American flag. As Borat is sings Kazakhstans National Anthem to the music of the Star Spangled Banner and the stunned crowd begins to boo in outrage to what they are hearing and the cowgirl holding the American flag suddenly just falls down. Critchley tells us that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦laughter is explained as a release of pent-upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ energy where the energy that is released and discharged in laughter provides pleasure (2002). To make sure this movie was humorous to its viewers, Sacha Cohen, the creator of Borat, made sure to present this movie to an American audience who shares the same set of cultural symbols, norms, and expectations. This enabled moviegoers to relate to the outrageous antics that Borat does continuously throughout the movie. By exposing Americans to some of the reasons why other countries criticize or mock the United States, it eventually lets Americans realize their own ideological shortcomings. The movie also allows Americans to look at their culture from an outside foreigner perspective since Borats character was a person from a completely different country and culture. Cohen intentionally exposes Americas weaknesses as a political message to an American audience in hopes of influencing American society. By depicting how the United States has sense of superiority, Cohen does a superb job in showing how prevalent prejudice and racism is still alive in parts of the United States against other countries custom and cultures. This movie invites viewers to reconsider many issues regarding world politics by shedding light on popular controversial American ideology. By applying humor to serious subjects, it is easier for the viewer to digest. The movie accomplished its purpose by displaying how Americans are continually intolerant and racist towards other countries. By addressing these serious issues in a humorous way, the movie allows the viewer to digest more easily and remember the message that Cohen wanted to get across. In conclusion, I found this movie to be extremely funny. However, I can understand how some people may have been affected by Cohens sense of humor and found the movie to be insulting. Borat was my favorite movie to watch and analyze for this class. Having seen the movie when it first came to the theaters, and then watching it again for a class assignment definitely gave me a different prospective of the movie. I was able to see the movie with a more critical eye and appreciate the different styles of humor that were utilized throughout the film.