Analysis Of The Poem Drown By Junot Diaz - 1561 Words

To practice machismo, also known as masculinity in a Dominican culture, males have to hide their flaws and act a certain way. If men express their un-masculine nature, they will be seen as expressing their weakness. In Drown written by Junot Dà ­az, contains many stories about Dominican Republic male struggles as an immigrant in America. One of the struggles Dà ­az expresses in his text is appearing masculine in society’s eyes. From the story â€Å"Drown†, the unnamed narrator expresses what it means to be masculine. â€Å"Boyfriend† is a story about another unnamed narrator observing his neighbor’s relationship, and comparing it to his own past. Yunior, the narrator of the story â€Å"Negocios†, explains the history of his father Papi, also known as Ramà ³n. Society creates many definitions for what it means to be masculine, leading the narrator from â€Å"Drown†, the narrator from â€Å"Boyfriend†, and Ramà ³n struggling to choos e between doing what they want for themselves, or do what society wants to see. Being superior can lead to a dangerous relationship. From the story â€Å"Drown†, the narrator’s best friend Beto is about to go to college while the narrator still have a year left to go. During their hang out at a pool, the narrator mentions a word that Beto does not know while they are swimming. Beto demands the narrator to tell him the definition but he refuses. This causes Beto to become furious and pushes the narrator under the water. The narrator explains, â€Å"He was stronger than me and held me down

Analyse the poem The Eolian Harp by Samuel Taylor...

The Eolian Harp by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, can be described as the musings of a man thinking about his love for his wife Sara, the beauty of nature and about the wonder of God in providing him with both nature and Sara. The voice of the poem is Coleridge himself as it refers to Sara, his wife at the time of writing. It is a Romantic poem as it deals with a mixture of traditional Romantic themes: those of strong feelings, the importance of the imagination and the idea of the sublime, and the natural world. The Eolian Harp is written in blank verse and has an irregular split into two verse paragraphs, one long, one short. The form is lyrical as it deals with a mans thoughts and emotions but it is often written in a conversational style,†¦show more content†¦The end of each line needs and makes more sense once the next line has been read. In opposition to this quickening of pace is the use of caesura to cause a sudden thought provoking stop in the middle of a line:The stilly murmur of the distant SeaTells us of Silence. (l.11-12)The effect of using this technique at this point brings the thought to mind that we only truly hear the noise of the sea when all else is silent. This sudden stop and silence seems a perfect way to introduce the main theme as from this point on Coleridge talks about the Harp that is to dominate the tone of the poem until the end of the first verse paragraph. Coleridge uses a wonderful section of continuous alliteration from lines 17-20 in order to give depth to the Harp:And now its stringsBoldlier swept, the long sequacious notesOver delicious surges sink and rise,Such a soft floating witchery of sound (emphasis added) (l.17-19)The effect of this continuous use of the s sound creates the effect of a gentle, flowing and moving sound much like the long, delicious, floating sound that Coleridge tries to describe the harp as having. The actual effect of this alliteration is to create a sensual, relaxing tone at this point in the poem. Another technique of emphasis used throughout the poem is the use of imagery. Coleridge personifies the nature around him by comparing it to abstract nouns - the white flowerd Jasmin represents Innocence, the broad-leavd

Reason for Seeking a College Degree Free Essays

The purpose of this essay is to discuss why I chose to seek a college degree, my learning style as discovered by the results of questionnaires, and the fact that I feel the results are accurate for me personally. Everyone has their own individual reasons for pursuing a college degree. For me, it is the desire to become a state Game Warden after retiring from the military. We will write a custom essay sample on Reason for Seeking a College Degree or any similar topic only for you Order Now Being a state Game Warden requires that I have a degree in the biological or wildlife sciences. In a profession like this, it is important that one has a clear and concise understanding of wildlife biology at a collegiate level. To be a viable candidate in this profession, a college degree is necessary to present myself as a competitive individual for the job I am seeking to fill. Whether or not I have on the job training or experience, the college degree will show that I have the knowledge base to help me succeed as a warden. The end goal in my pursuit of a college degree is to not only broaden my scope of knowledge and skills, but to unlock career aspirations that would otherwise be unattainable for me without a degree. But before I put the cart before the horse, graduating with degree in hand requires I truly know myself inside and out. Basically I need to understand what my personal learning style is. Learning styles are not exactly chosen, they are natural and inherent to each learner. According to Felder Soloman (n. d. ) there are several different learning styles: Active, Reflective, Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Sensing, Intuitive, Verbal, Sequential and Global. To find out what kind of learner you are, a simple questionnaire or quiz can be taken to narrow these options down. In taking Felder Soloman’s Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (n. d. and the Learning Style Inventory (Penn State, 2010) questionnaire, I have discovered that I am an active learner and a visual learner. An active learner is one who gravitates toward interpreting, comprehending, and retaining information in a â€Å"hands on† or active fashion. In other words they discuss or apply and explain the information to others (Felder Soloman, n. d. ). The degree program I am enrolled in is online; which presents me with challenges and difficulties in using the active learning style that I normally rely upon. An alternative to active learning for me is visual, which will serve me well because online course material is something I can see to interpret and retain. Visual learners are those who absorb and maintain information efficiently through methods such as charts, diagrams, pictures, films or demonstrations (Felder Soloman, n. d. ). Suggestions for success as a visual learner include writing out ideas and information for memorization and fully utilizing all course materials, whether they are maps, flashcards, charts or filmstrips (Penn State, 2010). I am someone who always reads the directions prior to completing any task, therefore this fits me perfectly. I fully agree with the results of these questionnaires. I am a mechanic- someone who works day in and day out with my hands. The things I am trying to accomplish or figure out require me to read texts, diagrams and pictures and solve the problem using these resources. I also discuss and apply the information found with those who are masters of the mechanic profession. My reasons for seeking a college degree are simple. I need to hold at minimum at Bachelor’s in the wildlife or biological sciences to reach my goal of being a state Game Warden after retirement from the military. To be successful in this means that I understand I am a visual and active learner, as realized after taking the learning styles questionnaires. References Felder, R. M. , Soloman, B. A. (n. d. ). Index of learning styles. Retrieved from http://www. engr. ncsu. edu/learningstyles/ilsweb. html Penn State. (2010). Learning style inventory. Retrieved from http://www. personal. psu. edu/bxb11/LSI/LSI/htm How to cite Reason for Seeking a College Degree, Papers

Economic Condition of Pakistan free essay sample

Economic condition of Pakistan For the past few years Pakistan has been following the technique of assessment of domestic oil value against the international oil value on a fortnight basis. About 85% of the oil required for domestic uses in Pakistan is imported. Back in the year 2004 various subsidies were given by the government on the oil price as an attempt to protect the citizens from the prospective record fuel costs. It was also an attempt to curb the rate of inflation prevalent in the country. Financing these subsidies, which by the way are considered a birthright by the population of these countries, is a major burden for an emerging economy. For instance according to the estimate of various prominent economists and analysts, that subsidy was costing Pakistan a whooping 14. 5 billion rupees per month. This amounted to around $232 million per month. Not surprisingly as a result the Pakistani government was under major financial stress. We will write a custom essay sample on Economic Condition of Pakistan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although it has to be acknowledged that recent increases in the industrys cost of production were largely due to rise in other input costs. Industry is paying more for oil and other imported raw materials and capital goods in line with rising international prices and utilities and transportation costs, and wage costs have risen due to the rise in minimum wages. Pakistan’s inflation accelerated in December as local wheat prices rose to a record, pushed up by smuggling of the grain to neighboring Afghanistan. Wheat prices in the Pakistan, the world’s sixth- largest consumer of the grain, have risen by more than 20 percent since November as the government’s failure to curb illegal exports led to a shortage in the domestic market. An 80-kilogram bag of wheat flour sold for a record 2,000 rupees ($32) on Jan. 7 after riots cut supplies. The inflation rate had already reached a record high in January 2008 accompanied by the increase in the consumer prices which leapt to an alarming rate of 11. 9 percent as compared to the previous record rate released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics. It was forecasted than by economists that inflation may climb further as riots which erupted after the Dec. 7 assassination of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto threaten supplies of wheat and other food staples. That may put pressure on the central bank to increase interest rates. All these factors led to the first ever increase in the price of gasoline and diesel in Pakistan in almost twenty two months. This increase took place on the 1st of March 2008 against the last increase that was witnessed in 2006 in the month of May. The price at that time was raised by 4. 2 percent. Before the current implementation of the increment in oil prices the nationwide price of gasoline was 53. 7 rupees per litre whereas the price of diesel was 32. 57 rupees per litre. The announcement regarding the increase in oil prices in Pakistan was made by The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. The new prices of gasoline and diesel were increased by 5 Pakistani rupees per litre and 3. 5 Pakistani rupees per litre respectively. The new prices came into effect on 1st March. In June 2008, the headline CPI (Consumer price Index) inflation reached a 30-year high of 21. percent YoY (Year over Year), while food inflation rose to record high of 32 percent. In SBPs (State bank of Pakistan) assessment, the share of structural weaknesses (like energy shortages, supply chain management issues, low productivity etc) dominate the supply side issues compared with the impact of monetary tightening. In order to offset oil prices shocks, the Saudi Government has reportedly decided to give Pakistan a 500 million-dollar grant instead of an oil import facility on one-year deferred payment. If the two countries had agreed on an oil credit facility on one year deferred payment, Saudi Arabia would be providing Pakistan a foreign exchange cushion of six billion dollars. This implicates that Saudi Arabia has agreed to extend a special oil facility to Pakistan (SOF) to the tune of USD $4. 82BN, roughly equating to 110,000 barrels of oil per day or 40 million barrels a year. Apart from this the UAE will continue to provide oil to Pakistan on extended payment terms. Besides, various Saudi companies have also agreed to invest billions of dollars in Pakistan’s infrastructure. The Saudi grant would be the second such concession during the current financial year as the Saudi government had provided 300 million dollars to Pakistan in March to control budgetary gaps. All these announcements should do a lot to boost Pakistan’s economic indicators. For one, it represents almost 50% of the trade deficit and almost instantaneously wipes out the bulk of it. For another, the FDI inflows as a consequence of infrastructure investments will, in the short term, provide additional US$ reserves and in the long term, will add significant capacity to the economy.