The Philosophy Of Love Philosophy Essay

The Philosophy Of Love Philosophy Essay The philosophy of love transcends so many sub-disciplines including religion, epistemology, human nature, metaphysics, ethics and even politics. In most times, statements and arguments referring to love, its role in humanity for instance connects to the central theories of philosophy. Its often examined in either the philosophy of gender or sex (Singer 34). This paper gives a discussion about personal love by first distinguishing the various types of love. For instance, the manner in which a man would love his wife is very different from the kind of love he would have for his pet or child. This paper gives explanations from philosophical analysis of various kinds of love as explained by various Greek philosophers and authors. As part of my argument about the philosophy of love I will also divide love into four major types: love as emotion, love as union, love as valuing and love as a robust concern BACKGROUND INFORMATION The meaning of love differs from one situation to the other. For instance, the love for football may only indicate that I like football so much. On the other hand if I said I would love to be a father, it means that I would really love to engage in the activities of fatherhood. This could also mean that I value fatherhood. However, if I said that I loved my pet or I loved my spouse, it indicates something totally different from the previous two kinds of love that I have mentioned. This is a different kind of concern that one could not easily relate to anything else. This might therefore imply some feeling of caring about another person (Wagoner 14). The philosophy of love mostly focuses on this kind of love just like the personal love which is the main focus of the paper. Within the same personal love, there are three kinds of love that have been discussed by various Greek philosophers. These are love philia, agape and eros. Eros originally referred to the kind of love where one feels some passionate desire about some object. In most cases it required to sexual passion. Eros could also be referred to as the love of desire making it an egocentric kind of love. Eros is a response to the being beloved or selfish. This description seems to have distanced itself from the sexual aspect. Plato also encourages such an understanding of eros in the Symposium. Here Socrates believes that sexual desire is a deficient response to beauty (Soble 256). Eros love is in contrast with agape love which does not respond to an object. Agape love primarily comes from Christian tradition where it refers to the kind of love that God has for human beings. This is therefore some kind of unconditional love which is shared among everyone. It is spontaneous and unmotivated. God loves each human being in the same proportion and manner. There is no individual who is more loved than others before the eyes of God. Agape love is also an extension of the kind of love we should have for one another. Agape love creates value in its object rather than responding to love in the object. It is therefore supposed to create some fellowship between man and God (Soble 258). Philia love on the other hand originally meant that kind of love towards someones friends, family, business partner, or even country. Just like eros, philia love is also generally responsive to good qualities in an object or somebody. Could sexual intimacy be the sole difference between friendship and romantic love?(White 30). It even becomes more difficult to distinguish between philia and eros when Soble diminishes the idea of sexual attachment in eros. When we put into consideration the contemporary theories of love which include friendship and romantic love, it becomes even harder to distinguish between eros, philia and agape love. It is equally important to carefully differentiate love from other forms of positive attitude people could have towards one another such as liking. As a matter of fact, the difference between love and attitudes such as like is in the depth in love. Some philosophical analyses distinguish between loving and liking by explaining what liking amounts to. Liking is all but a matter of desire which only involves instrumental value (Singer 62). However, this is surely inadequate: there is a difference between loving a person and having some desire in her as an object. For instance, it is possible for one to care about some one but not necessarily love her. The best way to distinguish between liking and loving is by the virtue of the depth of love. For instance, loving someone means that you identify yourself with him. There is no such thing as identification when it comes to liking. One could feel the potential love he might have towards another person and decide to dedicate his life to this value (Nussbaum 316). Liking does not have such kind of a depth where one would sacrifice so much to be with someone he likes. Love could tentatively be divided into four major types: love as a robust concern, love as emotion, love as union and love as valuing. LOVE AS UNION This view of love claims that love exists in the desire to form important kinds of union. The idea of we is as a result of love. Union theories have been trying to explain the origin of the we aspect and whether it has been in existence ever since, or whether it is only metaphorical. Philosophers such as Aristotle, Hegel and Montaigne are some of the earlier variants of this view. Its proponents include people like Scruton, Delaney, Solomon and Nozick (Nussbaum 319). In his writing about romantic clove, Scruton claims that the existence of love comes too soon in life, as soon as the differences between in interests of people are over come. The idea here is that the union formed is as a result of the concern people might have for one another. This means that any decisions made by either party are not for his own sake but for the sake of the union. This implies that they bring together all their concerns and emotions and think as one. Any decision made is therefore for the good of both of them. Scruton therefore feels that there has to be some actual union of the concerns of the lovers (Nussbaum 330). This makes it clear that they view love in terms of a relationship and not just as a mere attitude people might have for one another. Solomons view on the union of love relies on the idea of fusion of two souls. This indicates that through love, partners redefine their interest and identities and begin thinking in terms of a relationship. The end result is that partners end up sharing their interests, virtue and virtues to achieve what used to be individual goals. This is however achieved by allowing each partner to play a crucial role in the relationship. Nozicks view on union is somewhat different from all the rest. He believes that the most necessary issue in love is the desire to become one and form a we by pitting together the desires reciprocated by a partner. He also explains that once partners unite they acquire a new identity that might come in various forms. For instance, they would want to be seen as a couple by the public, or sharing some kind of division of labor. There are two major criticism of the union view of love. First, opponents argue that union does away with individual autonomy. For instance the husband could be in control of all the decisions made by his wife. This means that the wife has to do away with all her individual thoughts and begin thinking in terms of herself as part of a family. Union theorists however defend this by arguing that losing of autonomy is a desirable feature that each union would very glad to achieve (Soble 266). The second form of criticism is about the fact that loving someone means having concerns for the persons sake. Union views try to eliminate such concerns by making them unintelligible when in real sense doing away with the differences between interest of two lovers makes either of them turning their lovers interests into theirs and vice versa (268). Love as a robust concern Critics of the union of love indicate that most people consider caring about ones partner for her sake as the main idea of loving her. It is for this reason that the robust concern takes this aspect into consideration. It therefore argues that if an individual loves another, it means that there are some benefits that she wants to get from her partner because she believes that he has them. The satisfaction of these wants is therefore considered as an end rather than a means to an end. The robust view therefore objects the idea of formation of we as the main idea behind love (Frankfurt 129). For this reason, Frankfurt is of the idea that loving someone has very little or nothing to do with the opinion he holds about them or how things make him feel. This account explains the idea that caring about someone is in some way part as a result of what happens to him. There is no way we could leave out other emotional responses when dealing with love in terms of the desires. For instance if one of my strong desires is negatively affected, I will definitely get emotionally crushed. The same will also happen when things go bad for my partner. This is for this reason that caring for ones partner would make him vulnerable to issues that might affect her (White 71). Critics of the robust view argue that it provides a very thing understanding of love because robust concerns also includes other features of love like emotional responsiveness to ones partner as effects if love rather than a continuant of it. Robust view therefore only considers love as an idea of focusing towards some end (Velleman 338). However, he also argues that sometimes love can have nothing to do with the desires. He even gives an example of love in troublemaking relation where one is in a union with someone she does not really want to be with. Such a view of love is mysterious in the sense that how one could still claim to be in love with someone even after his death (Badhwar 72). Defining love to be a desire means that it could only exist if there is something missing in ones life. However, this is not usually the case. Sometime we still feel love even if we have so much in our lives and we desire nothing. Either way, the robust view as it stands does not really account for love in its intuitive depth and also fails to clearly distinguish between liking and loving. Although, it has the capacity to make some sense in regard to how the lovers identity could be altered by his partner. This gives an understanding of the effects of love but not the real part of what love really consist of. LOVE AS VALUING Love could also be understood to be some mode of valuing an individual. There are two ways in which this could be addressed: the view of lover appraisal of value and looking at her as bestowing value. Appraisal of value Velleman provides an appraisal view to love where he understands love as a matter of acknowledging and responding to the value of ones partner in a certain distinctive way. For this to be understood full, there is a need to consider the kind of partners value to which one responds (Velleman 339). Moreover, distinctive response to the value ought to be considered. However, it should ne understood that is not all about the mere fact that love is viewed to involve some appraisal that makes an account to be of appraisal view. There are many more accounts that do so as reflected by robust concern accounts. In describing the value in love, price and dignity should be distinguished. To have price means having a value that could be compared to values of other goods and services in terms of price. This makes it possible to exchange items that are equivalent in value without making a loss. On the other hand, having dignity refers to having some value that could not be compared to any relative value because it renders it meaningless (Velleman 365). People are said to have dignity while material goods are said to have value. There is no way you could exchange someone with another person and keep the same values he had. This means that you will lose some incomparable worth if you make such as substitution. The dignity of human beings therefore exists in their rational nature. Similarly one way in which human beings exercise their rational natures is through respect to the dignity of other people. A response could be termed as respectful if it does not treat one as a means to an end. For this reason, love is only but a response to someones dignity (Velleman 371). It is therefore this dignity that justifies love. Nonetheless, respect and love are responses that refer to same value but in different forms: love arrests our tendencies towards self protection of our emotions from others rather than our self-love. This renders concerns such as sympathy and attraction that most people associate with love to be effects of love and not constituents of love. Bestowal of value Singer contradicts with Vellemans view and explains love to be fundamentally an issue of bestowing value upon a partner (Singer 43). This fact also helps distinguish between liking and loving. It considers loving as an attitude that has no clear objective and liking to be an inherently technological aspect. For this reason, there might not be any standards of the exact and correct manner in which such value could be bestowed making love different from personal attitudes such as generosity, gratitude and condescension. Loves reflects the importance of an objects regardless of how much it might be worth. Bestowing value therefore is some kind of commitment and attachment to a partner by treating her as an end so that he could also respond to different ends, concerns and interest in his life. Bestowing of value therefore revels itself when we care about the interests and needs of our partners, by being happy for their achievements and wishing to protect or benefit them. For me to be considered to have been bestowed value on a partner, I need to respond to his values appropriately (Singer 46). This can only happen if I understand his values and what his well being is all about so that I could act upon that. However, this also calls for me to understand what his strengths and weaknesses are for me to appraise in various ways. Bestowing therefore calls for really seeing a partner and attending to his needs. EMOTIONS VIEWS Considering that there are various problems concerning different accounts of love like valuing, it might be necessary that we consider the emotional aspect of love. Emotions are mere responses to some object. They combine motivation, evaluation and other phenomena surrounding the attitude of love. Most philosophers including Badhwar and Baier claims that love is an emotion (Badhwar 52). There is no way you could convince someone that love and hate are not emotions because it wont be true. The difficult aspect of this view lies in the fact that the emotion refers to no specific homogeneous collection of states of the mind. This has led to various meanings of the word love. There are basically two kinds of emotion view: emotion proper and emotion complexes. Emotion proper is a kind of response to an object based on evaluation and motivation. There are several objects associated with emotions. For instance, the target of an emotion refers to an object upon which the emotions are directed. The formal object on its part is the nature of evaluation directed at a specific target (Badhwar 59). However, emotions are not only about evaluation of a target, they can also motivate an individual to act in a certain manner. Moreover, emotions are also understood to refer to passions towards an object. In general we could therefore say that emotions are abnormal changes in the body that are caused by the changes in the evaluation or appraisal of a situation or an object that the agent considers to be on concern to him. The emotion complex view on the other hand considers love as a complex emotional attitude directed at another person. Considering the emotional interconnections between people, this view could offer the best account of depth in love. It could also offer an understanding of love as an evaluative issue without singling out formal objects of love. Love does not only refer to an emotion felt by people towards other (Badhwar 122). It is involves other different emotions tied together which are shared between two or more people. To some extent it could also include sympathetic emotions for instance in a way that one would feel disappointed when his lover fails and rejoice when he succeeds. CONCLUSION Regardless of the different views presented by different philosopher, love has to much to do with robust concern about an individual. As philosophers like Fransten put it, love is not always about the concern for a union. You can care about an individual but this does not really mean that you have to for a union. Similarly, you can form a union with someone and yet you do not love him. For instance, there are several occasions where people are forced to enter into a marriage not because they love one another but because of the mere fact that they had a baby together. It might have been accidental but it ends up forming a union. Unions are therefore never a strong consideration when it comes to definition and existence of love. On the contrary, you would care about someone to an extent that if any negative thing happens to her, you become disturbed. In as much as you might be a union, this is more of love that formation of a union. Robust concerns are therefore a very important aspect of love. Work cited Badhwar, Neera K. Friendship: a philosophical reader. New York: Cornell University press, 1993. Print. Frankfurt, Harry G. Necessity, violation and love. Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print. Nussbaum, Martha., 1990, Love and the Individual: Romantic Rightness and Platonic Aspiration, in Loves Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 314-334 Singer, Irving. Philosophy of love: a partial summing-up. New York: MIT Press, 2009. Soble, Alan. The philosophy of sex: contemporary readings. New York: Rowman Littlefield, 2002. Print. Sternberg, Robert J. Weis, Karin. The ne psychology of love. Yale: Yale University Press, 2006. Print. Vellemen, Daid J. Love as a moral emotion Ethics 109: 338-374. Wagoner, Bob. The meaning of love: an introduction to philosophy of Love. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997. Print. White, Richard, J. Loves philosophy. New York: Rowman Littlefield, 2001. Print.

IDEA – due process & procedural safeguards

Idea: Due Process & A ; Procedural SafeguardsIDEA stresses the cardinal importance of the function of educational decision makers every bit good as parent ‘s in the affair of each single pupil ‘s academic public presentation. IDEA outlines the necessary actions for a school territory to implement an single educational plan, besides known as an IEP. The first measure each territory must follow is to inform the parents of the pupil in inquiry. â€Å" IDEA sets forth demands for States and local educational bureaus ( school territories ) in supplying particular instruction and related services to kids with disablements, ages 3 through 21 ( US Dept. of Educ. , 2010, para.1 ) . The territory must besides supply a â€Å" anterior written notice † to the parents. At specified times, the school territory must supply parents with a â€Å" procedural precautions notice † which explains their rights under Part B of the IDEA. Prior to July 1, 2005 province and federal ordinances required school territories to supply the parent with a transcript of procedural precautions upon each presentment of an Individualized Education Program ( IEP ) meeting ( US Dept. of Educ. , 2010, para.1 ) . The typical province ordinance used today â€Å" school territories merely require the proviso of procedural precautions statement to be given to the parent one clip per school twelvemonth, during initial referral for rating for pupils, besides on the day of the month to do any alterations to the pupils IEP, every bit good as a parental petition for any extra transcripts, and moreover upon the first happening of the filing of a due procedure hearing petition or kid ailment is another clip a parent will have the precaution statement † ( DESE, 2010, portion B parity. 2 ) . Under 34 CFR AA §300.503 ( degree Celsius ) , each single school territory must give parents a written in the native linguistic communication of the parent and dated when any opportunities are made in the instruction of the pupil. Under 34 CFR AA §300.503 ( a ) the school territory must advise parents if a pupil is refused any educational services pending rating consequences. Taylor, S ( 2005 ) . Basically after eligibility is determined, parents are notified, and if in understanding, the IEP for the pupil will be developed and implemented. However concerns originate with parents and pedagogues of what is deemed appropriate for the single pupil. Typically a ailment made by either a parent or school decision maker deems a demand for a due procedure hearing. Each party will show their grounds with an ample sum of factual information to make a decision of action. Parents and pedagogues will explicate their grudges in an appropriate mode. Parents and pedagogues will routinely mention back to the pupils IEP. If plaintiff makes a ailment that is non portion of the pupils IEP, typically the consequence will non be favourable for that peculiar party. Each party demands to hold grounds to back up their statement. The end is to convert the justice to do a determination in favour of the grounds provided. The ailment must be caused by the school ‘s actions, or deficiency of action, refering to the pupils educational public assistance, and/or if the pupil is non having educational benefit that is stated in IEP and without disciplinary steps, the pupil ‘s instruction will be harmed. Each school territory must take appropriate steps, including the proviso of auxiliary AIDSs and services determined appropriate and necessary by the kid ‘s IEP Team, to supply kids with disablements an equal chance for engagement in instruction. Section 300.308 requires that the IEP squads finding the eligibility for kids suspected of holding a learning disablement are to include: the kid ‘s parents ; a squad of qualified professionals including the kid ‘s regular instruction instructor ; at least one individual qualified to carry on single diagnostic scrutiny of kids, e.g. a school psychologist or reading specializer. Section 300.309 ( a ) a squad can happen that a kid has a learning disablement if the kid does n't accomplish adequately for the kid ‘s age or does n't run into grade-level criterions. When difference declaration, mediation have non helped a due procedure hearing is the following measure to do a more definite program of action refering to a pupils educational demands. What is due procedure? A due procedure hearing is normally an functionary, test between parents and school territories. Each party will be represented by their ain chosen council. Harmonizing to William B. nor shall any State deprive any individual of life, autonomy, or belongings, without due procedure of jurisprudence. Typically a parent or school functionary will convey a compliant to either party. The compliant will include a description of the issue and possible redresss to the job or alteration. Then the following measure is a response, that is necessary within 10 yearss of reception of a due procedure petition ; the non-complaining party ( school or parent ) must direct a written response to the kicking party. Within 15 yearss, the hearing officer and the other parties must be notified in composing if the hearing notice is thought to be deficient. The hearing officer has 5 yearss to find the importance of the notice. Parents and members of the IEP squad meet to discourse and to seek and decide the ailments. Typically a hearing would be held within 15 yearss of reception of petition for hearing unless both parties: agree to travel to mediation or hold in composing to relinquish the hearing. In a Due Process Hearing, the Judge will do a determination based on testimony and facts submitted to the tribunal on a finding of whether the pupil received a ( FAPE ) free and appropriate public instruction and/or whether a procedural misdemeanor occurred. Either party has the right to appeal the justice ‘s determination to federal or province tribunal, or every bit far as the Supreme Court. The Due Process hearing can be financially dearly-won for all parties. The determination to bespeak a Due Process Hearing requires thoughtful consideration and should be contemplated merely after all other options have been exhausted. In the terminal a judgement is made and will necessitate one party to supply a service or pay a amount of money to the other party. Sometimes the losing party feels victimized by the Court and refuses to pay or go on with the judgement made by the tribunal. These actions typically lead to more struggle. An illustration of would be after the U. S. Supreme Court instance of Brown v. Board of Education, some Virginia school boards closed their schools. These school boards used monolithic opposition to avoid following with the determination. Harmonizing to Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 ( 1954 ) â€Å" Resistance besides slowed execution of the Brown determination in schools and led to many extra tribunal instances. For illustration, Prince Edward County, Virginia, closed all of its public schoolsaa‚ ¬ † for Whites every bit good as blacksaa‚ ¬ † instead than incorporate. The most influential instance I researched was TINKER v. DES MOINES SCHOOL DIST. , 393 U.S. 503 ( 1969 ) . This instance focused on pupil have oning armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. Petitioners, three public school students in Des Moines, Iowa, were suspended from school for have oning black armbands to protest the Government ‘s policy in Vietnam. They sought nominal amendss and an injunction against a ordinance that the respondents had promulgated censoring the erosion of armbands. However due to the insisting of pupils following in the political societal propaganda as their parents a choice of pupils fitting and decided to do a base by have oning armbands to school as a signifier of protest of the war. When word of this new sense of an anti-war message reached the school functionaries, â€Å" principals of the Des Moines schools on December 14, 1965, the school adopted a policy that any pupil have oning an armband to school would be asked to take it, and if he refused he would be suspended until he returned without the armband. The pupils were cognizant of the new school policy, yet ignored the warning. It upheld [ 393 U.S. 503, 505 ] the constitutionality of the school governments ‘ action on the land that it was sensible in order to forestall perturbation of school subject. 258 F. Supp. 971 ( 1966 ) . Harmonizing to TINKER v. DES MOINES SCHOOL DIST. , 393 U.S. 503 ( 1969 ) The District Court dismissed the ailment on the land that the ordinance was within the Board ‘s power, despite the absence of any determination of significant intervention with the behavior of school activities. The District Court recognized that the erosion of an armband for the intent of showing certain positions is the type of symbolic act within the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The decision of the school governments was sensible because it was based upon their fright of a perturbation from the erosion of the armbands. Another interesting point made by TINKER v. DES MOINES SCHOOL DIST. , 393 U.S. 503 ( 1969 ) â€Å" Their divergence consisted merely in have oning on their arm a set of black fabric, non more than two inches broad. They wore it to exhibit their disapproval of the Vietnam belligerencies and their protagonism of a armistice, to do their positions known, and, by their illustration, to act upon others to follow them. They neither interrupted school activities nor sought to irrupt in the school personal businesss or the lives of others. They caused treatment outside of the schoolrooms, but no intervention with work and no upset. In the fortunes, our Fundamental law does non allow functionaries of the State to deny their signifier of look. † In the terminal, the instance was to be a â€Å" affair for the lower tribunals to find † The instance was reversed and remanded. TINKER v. DES MOINES SCHOOL DIST. , 393 U.S. 503 ( 1969 ) . What is interesting is that merely 7 pupils of 18,000 disobeyed the new policy sing the armbands. Five pupils being from the Tinker household ages 8-15. Another instance that demonstrates the usage of due procedure in instruction is, â€Å" West Virginia v. Barnette, supra, this Court held that under the First Amendment, the pupil in public school may non be compelled to toast the flag. Our job lies in the country where pupils in the exercising of First Amendment rights collide with the regulations of the school governments. † Another contention is the cost of the due procedure hearing. Parents and School Districts have to utilize the household nest eggs and or the school budget for lawyer fees, tribunal cost, and execution of either transit for pupils, new plans and or auxiliary AIDSs and learning resources for instructors. Parents worry about the preparation and experience of the instructors who are educating their kids. This is a important obstruction of trust and communicating that can be missing from both parties. Appraisal is critical in the early instruction of all pupils. The earlier any intercession can be performed the better a pupil will be to accomplish the satisfactory scene with equals. The stairss involved include doing certain the pupil is eligible for services, find what the pupil needs to be evaluated on, find what appraisal is best for the pupil, observe the pupil, evaluate and construe the findings, and so make a course of study that fits the pupils larning abilities best. Possible inquiries to remind an pedagogue during appraisal and observation is: Does the kid have a need/deficiency in the accomplishment or ability? Does the kid have a get downing degree of accomplishment or ability? Or does the kid have a mastery degree of accomplishment or ability?

The Supernatural as a Means of Protagonist Empowerment in Like Water

The Supernatural as a Means of Protagonist Empowerment in Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende IB A1 English HL World Literature Comparative Essay Word Count: 1496 Keri-Anne Murray Candidate #: 003072-058 World Literature Comparative Essay 1 In Like Water for Chocolate and The House of the Spirits, respective authors Laura Esquivel and Isabel Allende use a connection with the supernatural to empower the protagonists in three ways. Firstly, the central characters in each story possess unique otherworldly abilities, which enable them to distance themselves from their oppressors.Secondly, the supernatural is active in providing spiritual healing of those in dire situations. Finally, supernatural events are responsible for the eventual suppression of the main antagonist of each novel, and the subsequent liberation of the protagonists. Supernatural empowerment is also used to convey the authors’ perspectives on Latin American cul ture, which will be explored in relation to each form of supernatural empowerment discussed. In both novels, the oppressors of the central characters desire to control them completely, however, the protagonists have unique abilities which come to their aid.In The House of the Spirits, author Allende uses Esteban Trueba’s desire and expectation to possess his wife Clara entirely, to portray the view that in Latin American culture, there is an implication of female inferiority and submissiveness in relationships. Allende, however, expresses a negative view of this societal expectation, by giving Clara supernatural abilities which sustain her, allowing her to detach herself from him and be independent. The reader learns that Esteban desires â€Å"far more than her body; he wanted control over that undefined and luminous aterial that lay within her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Allende 111). The use of magical realism in this description of Clara’s â€Å"undefined and luminous† a spect emphasises her otherworldly character, creating an image of a bright light which Esteban cannot grasp with his hands, for his fingers simply pass through. It is precisely this supernatural aspect of Clara’s character which gives her strength, independence and the power to resist domination by Esteban. â€Å"He realised that Clara did not belong to him and that if she continued living in a world of apparitions †¦ she probably never would† (Allende 118).Clara’s clairvoyance and preoccupation with spirits prevent Esteban from controlling her. Whilst he becomes increasingly enraged at the unbridgeable distance between them, Clara is content, strong and empowered, thus defying the Latin American culture of female inferiority which is implied in the novel. In Like Water for Chocolate, Mama Elena has a similar obsession to Esteban’s, in desiring to control her daughter Tita’s every move. Through her description of the de la Garza family traditi on, the author portrays Latin American culture as giving family values great importance.In compliance with her family values, Tita, as the youngest daughter, is required to devote her Keri-Anne Murray Candidate #: 003072-058 World Literature Comparative Essay 2 life to the care of her mother, who strictly denies her the opportunities of love and marriage. By empowering Tita through her supernatural culinary abilities, an attribute of Tita’s character which Mama Elena cannot control, the author protests against this focus on honouring family tradition at the expense of individual rights. â€Å"In the kitchen †¦ flavours, smells, textures and the effect they could have were beyond Mama Elena’s iron command† (Esquivel 45).Tita’s domain is the kitchen, and she transfers her inner-most feelings to her cooking. The results are dishes which recreate Tita’s mood and infuse her deepest desires into those who consume the food. When Mama Elena bans all c ommunication between Tita and her love Pedro, Tita channels her emotions into her cooking to create â€Å"a new system of communication† (Esquivel 49) with Pedro. The author uses the oppressiveness of Mama Elena and the de la Garza family tradition to portray a negative image of extreme emphasis on family duties in Latin American culture.The attribution of supernatural culinary abilities to Tita allows her to escape Mama Elena’s control and bring herself closer to Pedro, and this illustrates the author’s desire for respect for individual rights in family relationships. In both novels, the supernatural plays an active part in healing those in troublesome situations. The authors describe positively an intimate Latin American culture in which a suffering individual can depend upon assistance from trusted friends, even in the most dire circumstances.Such a phenomenon occurs in The House of the Spirits, when the imprisoned Alba has resigned herself to death in a â₠¬Å"dark, frozen airless tomb† (Allende 469). Into this atmosphere of oppressive coldness, Clara materialises as a radiant apparition, â€Å"with the novel idea that the point was not to die †¦ but to survive, which would be a miracle† (Allende 469). Clara’s radiance contrasts with the darkness of the â€Å"doghouse† (Allende 469) which holds Alba, inspiring her with hope.Clara urges Alba to write a journal in her mind so that others may one day learn of â€Å"the terrible secret she was living through† (Allende 470), evoking in Alba a purpose and will to live. The author gives Clara the ability to empower others even after her death, emphasising her positive opinion of a culture of trust, selfless giving and unconditional love among friends. A similar healing phenomenon occurs in Like Water for Chocolate when Nacha’s appearance to Tita, as she eats the oxtail soup at Dr Brown’s house, restores Tita’s spiritual health and he r speech after her breakdown caused by Mama Elena. With the first sip, Nacha appeared there at Tita’s side, stroking her hair †¦ kissing her forehead† (Esquivel 114). Tita cries for the first Keri-Anne Murray Candidate #: 003072-058 World Literature Comparative Essay 3 time in six months, resulting in a â€Å"stream that was running down the stairs† (Esquivel 114). The author’s use of magical realism is effective in emphasising the emotion and miracle of the situation. Tita makes the decision to speak again; she is â€Å"fully recovered, ready to start a new life† (Esquivel 117-118).Like Clara in The House of the Spirits, Nacha possesses the ability to empower those she loves even after her death, and this element of magical realism is employed by the author to illustrate a positive perception of Latin American culture, where connections based on love and friendship can overcome even the most hopeless of circumstances. The final use of the supe rnatural allows the author to describe a culture in which disaster befalls those who bring control and malevolence to relationships which should be filled with love and friendship.In both novels, supernatural events result in the suppression of the antagonist to empower the protagonists. In The House of the Spirits, Esteban’s jealous suspicion causes him to banish his sister, Ferula, from his house, and ban her from contact with her family. In response to his cruelty, Ferula curses him: â€Å"You will always be alone! Your body and soul will shrivel up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Allende 158). Esteban soon observes his body â€Å"shrivelling†: â€Å"he could tell from his clothes †¦ his sleeves and his pant legs were suddenly too long† (Allende 212).There is also evidence of his soul â€Å"shrivelling†: as he drives others away from him, he is indeed cursed with the fate of being alone. His violence against his daughter and his physical abuse of Clara who stands up for Blanca, sever the few weak bonds he had remaining with these members of his family. Esteban’s experience of his physical shrinking and his alienation from family, result in personal insecurities, a deflation of his ego and a sense of loneliness, and those he has mistreated are no longer oppressed by him. In Like Water for Chocolate, Tita’s wholesome cooking has adverse effects on oth Mama Elena, and Tita’s callous sister, Rosaura, indirectly resulting in their deaths. On her return to the ranch after Mama Elena is left temporarily paralysed by a group of bandits, Tita carefully prepares oxtail soup for her mother â€Å"so that she would recover completely† (Esquivel 119). Mama Elena, however, immediately detects a bitter taste, and accuses her daughter of poisoning her. Ironically, as a result of emetic overdose taken secretly to combat the imagined poison, Mama Elena eventually dies. Tita’s sister, Rosaura, suffers a similar fate. She beco mes overweight and flatulent from eating Tita’s food.While in San Antonio, Rosaura loses weight, but â€Å"all she had to do was come back to the ranch and she got fat again! † Keri-Anne Murray Candidate #: 003072-058 World Literature Comparative Essay 4 (Esquivel 192). Following her selfish proclamation of her intention to subject her daughter, Esperanza, to the oppressive family tradition of forced self-sacrifice, Rosaura dies from an extended attack of flatulence attributed to Tita’s cooking. Through the supernaturally caused deaths of Mama Elena and Rosaura, the author describes a culture of retribution for those who bring control and malevolence to relationships which should be sources of love.Their deaths liberate Tita and Esperanza, enabling them to love freely. In Like Water for Chocolate and The House of the Spirits, the supernatural is used as a positive force to empower the leading characters. Characters possess supernatural gifts which provide them w ith an untouchable inner strength; the supernatural gives them the power to heal others in dire need; and ultimately, it is the supernatural which is responsible for the downfall of the oppressors, and the liberation of the gifted characters.Furthermore, the authors use supernatural empowerment to integrate their perceptions of positive and negative aspects of Latin American culture into the novels. 5 Keri-Anne Murray Candidate #: 003072-058 World Literature Comparative Essay Works Cited Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits. Trans. Magda Bogin. London: Black Swan Books, 1986. Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. Trans. Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen. London: Black Swan Books, 1993.

Analysis of Financial Statements - Minicase Chapter 3

Mini Case Chapter 3 A. Ratios are used to standardize numbers, facilitate comparisons, and highlight both weaknesses and strengths. In addition, ratios are important profit tools in financial analysis that help financial managers implement plans that improve profitability, liquidity, financial structure, reordering, leverage, and interest coverage. Managers use ratios to help them effectively run the business. Creditors use ratios for risk analysis. Equity investors use the ratios for stock valuation and to estimate the value of the organization. The 3 groups that use ratios are stockholders for stock evaluation, managers/investors to help run the business and bankers for credit analysis. B. 2011 Current Ratio†¦show more content†¦| |Accounts Payable |9.9% |11.2% |10.2% |11.9% | |Notes Payable |13.6% |24.9% |8.5% |2.4% | |Accruals |9.3% |9.9% |10.8% |9.5% | |Total Current Liabilities |32.8% |46.0% |29.6% |23.7% | |Long-Term Debt |22.0% |34.6% |14.2% |26.3% | |Common Stock (100,000 Shares) |31.3% |15.9% |47.8% |20.0% | |Retained Earnings |13.9% |3.4% |8.4% |30.0% | |Total Equity |45.2% |19.3% |56.2% |50.0% | |Total Liabilities And Equity |100.0% |100.0% |100.0% |100.0% | Computron has a higher ratio of inventory and current assets than industry. In addition, it has more equity, which means it has less debt than industry. Computron has more short-term debt, but less long-term debt than industry. Common Size IncomeShow MoreRelatedBai Tap1805 Words   |  8 PagesJuan Ibarra 2/13/07 Professor Anu Vuorikoski Bus 173A - Intermediate Financial Management Chapter 8: mini case a. Why are ratios useful? What are the five major categories of ratios? 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