Looking for Alibrandi Essay Example for Free

Looking for Alibrandi Essay A world-wide hit in the late 1990s, Author Melina Marchetta wrote a manuscript about a teenage girl searching for herself and the way she is to live. Her name is Josephine Alibrandi who is a 17 year old Italian Australian or ‘wog’ as some know it, in the novel and film of ‘Looking for Alibrandi’. Much of the discussion of Alibrandi has centred around this portrayal of the multi-cultural society of Australia, although remarkably, the novel has managed to largely avoid the negative and superficial issues pigeon-holing so much realist fiction for young adults is victim to. There is no question that Marchettas own experiences as an Italian-Australian have informed her story. Nor is there any doubt that in Josephine Alibrandi she has created a fresh non-Anglo-Australian voice of great power and integrity. Nevertheless, Marchetta does find that the focus on the Italian heritage of her protagonist (and herself) can be both distracting and limiting; it was not, she says, her first impulse in telling Josephine Alibrandis story; Another legacy of the shared Italian-Australian heritage of both author and protagonist is the common assumption that the book must be autobiographical. The reading of her novel is in some ways complimentary, being as it is an indication of the kind of response readers have to Josephine, and to the lively and truthful tone of the novel; Marchetta has captured her characters, their situation and the inner city suburbs of Sydney acutely and precisely. The ambivalence Marchetta feels towards Josephine is revealed through the characters of Sister Louise, her headmistress, and her boyfriend Jacob, neither of whom hesitate to point out to Josephine when she is being selfish, over-dramatic, or plain stupid. A quite shocking example of this is in the scene where Jacob rescues Josephine from a violent mob of teenage boys in a McDonalds car park, and then abuses her for her stupidity in spitting on and further antagonising the ring-leader. It is an indication of the exasperation that Josephine provokes in those who care about her, and Marchetta agrees with Jacob that Josephines dramatic and impulsive behaviour too frequently land her in avoidable unpleasantness. To be fair, Josephine can be fairly hard on herself, and her ability at and willingness for self-scrutiny develops as she matures. It is testament to Marchettas care in balancing the complexities of Josephines character that the reader can witness her tantrums and drama-queen turns, her often thoughtless and selfish actions, and yet know that this is an essential part of her emancipation, and that it does not detract from her vitality, compassion and intelligence. Young Australian readers will find the setting of the novel very realistic and familiar. They will identify with the portrayal of Australian high school life, attending a debating meeting, the description of suburban Sydney and catching the ferry to Circular Quay, the fact of being part of a dysfunctional family ? all these details of the setting are realistic and will be instantly recognisable. Many teenagers of foreign parentage will relate to Josie’s rebellion against her Italian side and to all the references to the Italian culture.

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William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757 to James and Catherine Blake. His father, James was a hosier (seller of legwear) in London. Blake had four brothers, James, John, Richard and Robert; and a sister named Catherine (Harris 5). Blake got along best with his younger brother, Robert as they shared an interest in art (Clarke 1). As a young boy, Blake claimed to have had visions of God, spirits, prophets and angels. When he was four he is claimed to have seen God’s head in his window. In his most famous vision, he saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree and a tree of angels when he was nine (â€Å"Early Years†). Though his parents believed he was lying, they took into consideration that their son was â€Å"different† and did not believe he would succeed in a traditional school setting (â€Å"Poets†). So Blake was home schooled by his mother until he was ten years old. Blake was constantly by himself as a boy â€Å"†¦to seek a world of the i magination without fear of recrimination by others† (Harris 21). As a child, Blake spent his time engraving drawings of the Greek antiquities his father bought for him â€Å"(Early Years†). James and Catherine supported and encouraged Blake’s artistic ability and enrolled him in Henry Par’s drawing school in the Strand when Blake was 10 years old, there he first started writing poetry (Harris 5). He enjoyed the works of Shakespeare, Jonson and Spenser and ancient ballads as opposed to current literature at the time (â€Å"The Young Artist†). Some of Blake’s favorite artists ranged from Raphael, Michelangelo, Giulio Romano, Albrecht Dà ¼rer, and Maerten Heemskerck. (Merriman 2) In 1772, Blake was apprenticed to the engraver James Basire the engraver to the London Society of antiquities, due to the high cost of dra... ...nius during the French Revolution, aware of impending economic change and sick to the bone of ruling hypocrisy †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hagstrum 97-98). Implications Charles Swinburne, Percy Shelly, T.S Elliot and James Joyce all drew their influence from Blake (Profumo 1). William Butler Yeats especially was inspired by his philosophical and poetic ideas and even edited an edition of Blake’s collected works (â€Å"Blake and Shelley†). Bob Dylan Alasdair Gray, Jim Morrison, and Allen Ginsberg also have hints of Blake’s poetry (â€Å"William Blake in Doors†). More recently his poems have modified by U2, Jah Wobble, Tangerine Dream, Bruce Dickinson, M. Ward and Ulver (Maher 4) . His poems have been inspiration for characters of a number of writers of the twentieth century. Blake has been the muse for comic book writers Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, R. Crumb, and J. M. DeMatteis (Whitson 1).

Chapter 20 Problem 1

Week 5 – Financing Strategy Problem Problem 1 – Chapter 20 Firm A has $10,000 in assets entirely financed with equity. Firm B also has $10,000 in assets, but these assets are financed by $5,000 in debt (with a 10 percent rate of interest) and $5,000 in equity. Both firms sell 10,000 units of output at $2. 50 per unit. The variable costs of production are $1, and fixed production costs are $12,000. (To ease the calculation, assume no income tax. ) A. What if the operating income (EBIT) for both firms? Sales/Revenue: 10000 * 2. 50 = 25000 Variable Cost: 10000 * 1 = 10000 Fixed Production Cost: 12000EBIT = sales/revenue – variable cost – fixed production cost = 25000 – 10000 – 12000 = $3000 B. What are the earnings after interest? InterestEarnings after interest Firm A: 0 3000 – 0 = $3000 Firm B:5000 * 10% = 500 3000 – 500 = $2500 C. If sales increase by 10 percent to 11,000 units, by what percentage will each firm’s earning s after interest increase? To answer the question, determine the earnings after taxes and compute the percentage increase in these earnings from the answers you derived in part b. Sales/Revenue: 11000 * 2. 50 = 27500 Variable Cost: 11000 * 1 = 11000Fixed Production Cost: 12000 EBIT = sales/revenue – variable cost – fixed production cost = 27500 – 11000 – 12000 = 4500 Firm A Firm B Interest 05000 * 10% = 500 Earnings after interest (prior) 3000 – 0 = 3000 3000 – 500 = 2500 Earnings after interest (after) 4500 – 0 = 4500 4500 – 500 = 4000 Increase/decrease % 50% 60% D. Why are the percentage changes different? Firm B had a higher increase in profit because they had a higher net % change and lowered their interest income through their debt financing.

The Growth of Slavery - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 696 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/05/14 Category Society Essay Level High school Topics: Slavery Essay Did you like this example? As time went on in the early 1600s through 1775 in America, the colonists from the south felt the need to bring more and more slaves to their region. Slaves were needed to work for them on their plantations. There were a few different factors that played into the growing number of slaves during this time. A few of those factors were the geography of the south, the economy, and the social aspect. When we look at each of these categories we can see how the growth of slavery during this time period unfolded. The geography of the southern region of colonial America was much different than the northern geography, which led to the need to grow large amounts of new crops and acquire many field laborers. As a result from glaciers, the soil in the south was rich with a layer of rocky soil on the surface. Wet, humid, sub-tropical climate was perfect for growing tobacco, indigo, and rice. This climate was familiar to the slaves brought in from Africa, explaining how most Africans already knew how to grow some of these crops and making them an obvious choice for field labor. The self-watering delta in Louisiana created rich soil perfect for growing large plantations of sugar and cotton. The rivers in the south made trade available among the southern region for both supplies and slaves. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Growth of Slavery" essay for you Create order The agricultural economy of the south helped slavery grow in popularity. Tobacco was in great demand, driving its price down. In order to make their crops profitable, land owners needed to acquire large amounts of property, and cheap laborers to work their land. With profits in mind, this meant bringing in either indentured servants or slaves. At first, indentured servants were utilized because of their longer life expectancy than African slaves. The trade routes between Europe, Africa, and the West Indies exchanged spirits, sugar, molasses, cotton, among other goods, for slaves to be brought to the West Indies and America. This trade made acquiring slaves very affordable. As the people from Africa adjusted to life in the south and the exposure to new diseases, their life expectancy rose. This made slavery more appealing than indentured servants for a couple of reasons. Eventually an indentured servant would pay off their debt, and were to be released and given a portion of land. Slaves, however, would be owned for life. On top of that, slaves would eventually have children. Thanks to the House of Burgesses law passed in 1662, descendents of slaves inherited their parents title. This made slaves a great investment for plantation owners. Not only were slaves a great investment for land owners in the south, they were a sign of prestige. Slave ownership was a sign of wealth, and the more slaves you owned, the more status you gained in society. A shift in thinking began; whites considered themselves to be the superior race and blacks to be incapable of intelligence. Bacons Rebellion worried the wealthy planters when they witnessed angered farmers join with the indentured whites and blacks to attack against the Indians and Governor Berkeley. To prevent further alliances between poor whites and the blacks, lawmakers quickly improved quality of life for the white farmers while restricting the blacks further. The poor living conditions for blacks amplified their social standings as lesser than whites. Suddenly humans were regarded the same as cattle to be owned. With owning numerous slaves becoming a sign of wealth, its no wonder the social climate of the south contributed to the growth of slavery. As hard as it is to look back on this part of history and wonder what our forefathers could have been thinking, leaving Europe to find freedom only to enslave others, it is helpful to look at some contributing factors that led to this atrocity. Geography, economy, and social status all played a part in the supposed need for slavery. Individual plantation owners benefited greatly from slavery. It is despicable that profits were more important than the basic rights of fellow humans. We can only hope to learn from the mistakes made during the formation of our country and continue the work of putting an end to slavery world-wide.