The Bourgeois Social Class in Chaucers Canterbury Tales...

It is clear that Geoffrey Chaucer was acutely aware of the strict classist system in which he lived; indeed the very subject matter of his Canterbury Tales (CT) is a commentary on this system: its shortcomings and its benefits regarding English society. In fact, Chaucer is particularly adept at portraying each of his pilgrims as an example of various strata within 14th century English society. And upon first reading the CT, one might mistake Chaucers acute social awareness and insightful characterizations as accurate portrayals of British society in the late 1300s and early 1400s. Further, one might mistake his analysis, criticism, and his sardonic condemnation of many elements of British culture for genuine attempts to alter the†¦show more content†¦We cannot read the CT as an honest criticism of 14th century English society without examining the entire picture - and this picture includes Chaucers ideological contradiction. To better understand Chaucers real message - c riticizing the Three Estates system in order to encourage acceptance of his own Estate, the merchant or middle class - I will briefly discuss the Three Estates system and Chaucers role in the systems shift to include a Fourth Estate (and how this shift influenced the CT). Then I will examine four stories from the CT (The Wife of Baths Prologue, The Friars Tale, The Summoners Tale, and The Pardoners Tale) in which Chaucer seems to denounce elements of the social paradigm. I will then examine four stories from the CT (The Knights Tale, The Man of Laws Tale, The Second Nuns Tale, and The Parsons Tale) in which Chaucer contradicts his criticism of his society. Finally, I will discuss how the dominant social paradigm influenced Chaucers view of the lower classes, and how the classist structure led to ideological contradictions within the CT. Before we discuss Chaucers ideological contradictions, however, we must first examine the system he was attempting to change, the Three Estate s ystem. Although Chaucers society was in the midst of dramatic transformation regarding traditional medieval hierarchy, the social paradigm in the late 1300sShow MoreRelated Compare and contrast how the three male characters are presented to us913 Words   |  4 Pageshow the three male characters are presented to us in The Millers Tale and consider their roles in the Fabliau. The three male characters in Chaucer’s ‘The Millers Tale’ present many of the classic themes in and genre ‘Fabliau’. In English literature there is only a small amount of these tales and half of those are Chaucer’s. While in French literature there are over 300 stories. Nicholas is presented at the start of the ‘tale’ as gentle (hende) shy and therefore trusted and experienced inRead MoreEssay about Chaucers Canterbury Tales2379 Words   |  10 PagesChaucers Canterbury Tales After reading explications of Chaucers Canterbury Tales, a student is likely to come away with the impression that the Franklin is the critics favorite punching bag. To the average reader in the modern English-speaking world, the Franklin comes across as surprisingly fair-minded and level-headed, noteworthy as the man kind and inventive enough to resolve the marriage cycle with a tale of decency and openness. The critics, however, often depict the Franklin as a manRead MoreThe Comedy of Chaucers Fabliaux Essay1945 Words   |  8 PagesIn a significant number of his tales Chaucer uses the comic genre of fabliaux, which are short, typically anti-intellectual, indecent tales of bourgeois or low life. The plot usually involves an older husband who is cuckholded by a younger man whom (often) the older man has himself brought into the house, and his often younger wife. The Miller, the Reve, the Merchant and the Wife of Bath all tell tales which are essentially amoral - in fitting with the genre; tales which would not have been acceptable

Development of Feminism and Its Impact on Religion Free Essays

Feminism is a movement concerned with the advocacy of uplifting the roles and status of women. This struggle of campaigning for women’s rights has started from the nineteenth century up to the present. It takes in various forms of protests and activities, all of which are geared towards the attainment of equal rights for women from different classes. We will write a custom essay sample on Development of Feminism and Its Impact on Religion or any similar topic only for you Order Now This movement has gone across different borders including their struggle in the areas of politics, economics, social status, and in the religious aspect. Over the history, the disparity of rights between males and females is noticeable. Women have become victims of discrimination and double standards. However, the growth of the feminist movements is considered successful in the way that women have become more empowered and represented in different arenas. In the area of religion, feminism has become a distinct philosophy and it has gained influence and respect from different groups. In certain religious groups, women are now allowed to hold certain positions of power. Women are now ordained as clergy, hence granting them rights that were in the past held solely by men (â€Å"Feminism and Religion). Feminist philosophers of religion also became widely influential in the study of religion, and as such they were able to provide remarkable standpoints on how religion is to be viewed in a perspective that is beneficial to women. Thus, this has served as a useful tool for women in expressing their own beliefs, ideas and relate their experiences to other people in a way that they are properly heard without being negatively criticized (Frankenberry 2005). This development in the feminist movement was able to seek transformation in the society by challenging social insitutions and attempting to change social norms and standards. The emergence of female heroic figures and saints is an example of how feminist movements have developed over time (Hunt 2004). The challenges posted by feminism became strong that feminists around the world were able to gather support and hasten changes in the society, not only in political and economic aspects, but also in the field of religion which was for long been dominated by men. How to cite Development of Feminism and Its Impact on Religion, Papers

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man free essay sample

What can be said of the menacing literary masterpiece that is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is that the gender issues Joyce so surreptitiously weaves into Stephan Dedalus’s character create sizable obstacles for the reader to overcome. Joyce expertly composes a feminine backdrop in which he can mold Stephan to inexplicably become innately homosexual. As Laurie Teal points out â€Å"†¦ Joyce plays with gender inversion as a uniquely powerful tool of characterization. (63) Stephan’s constant conflict with himself and what he wants generate a need for validation that he tries to simulate through day dreams and fantasies but is ultimately unable to resolve. Through exploring the tones of characterization and the character development of Stephan himself, I will argue that Stephan Dedalus rejects his heterosexuality in favor of homosexuality so that he may eventually find himself. Dedalus’s character must inherently be homosexual in able for his story t o progress believably. Joyce conceives his character, a hero in fact, in a moment of genius. A hero must have a fatal flaw. I wish to clarify Joyce’s work and explain how homosexuality IS present in Portrait and does work in creating a hero. Stephan rejects possible companion after companion yet ceaselessly alludes to his constant social isolation. On Stephan’s definition of normal, Garry Leonard has this to say, â€Å"Although Stephan strives for such a system, he also seeks relief from it, declaring all responses illegitimate except for a state he calls ‘esthetic stasis. ’†(Leonard, 81) Joyce’s decision to create â€Å"such a system† within Stephan demonstrates Joyce’s choice to make Stephan unable to delineate from what is normal and was is not. Stephan is confused with himself and with his surroundings. Here, we are able to see that if there was even a chance for Stephan to understand himself at some point, it is now gone. In his creation of a system, Stephan actually makes it harder for himself. He cannot now arbitrarily choose whether something is normal or not, he must run it through his skewed system. Stephan’s sexual relations with the women in the novel are examples of him following this system, in regards to women in a sexual manner and using them as the base sustenance his body needs. He decides that it is normal to experience sex, to view it as a bodily need rather than an intimate connection. However Stephan’s psychological relations with the women he encounters are three hundred and sixty degree turns from the sexual. He regards each female as an example in which to measure himself against. â€Å"He is moved partially by what he perceives as the messy, degrading aspects of womanhood to write his Villanelle: a tender compassion filled his heart as he remembered her frail pallor and her eyes, humbled and saddened by the dark shame of womanhood (P 222). The muck of menstruation humbles her in Stephens imagination. † (Scott, 173) Bonnie Kime Scott illustrates here that Stephan takes this womanly bodily function, that men do not, and usually wish not to understand and uses it to define an opinion. Stephan even creates with this idea. He takes menstruation and uses it as an inspiration and a subject for his writing; writing that is possibly may be the most viable example of Stephan’s true self we are offered. Stephan is not heterosexual here. He definitively offers the reader a genuine glimpse of his character, a glimpse that can only be construed as homosexual. I believe that Stephan’s homosexuality is extremely deeply rooted in his development at Clongowes. Stephan’s experiences with Father Dolan created contempt of masculinity. Here, Stephan connects masculinity with Dolan’s indifference to his explanation of his broken glasses and the subsequent beating Father Dolan gives him: â€Å"And his white-grey face and the no-coloured eyes behind the steel-rimmed spectacles were cruel looking because he had steadied the hand first with his firm soft fingers and that was to hit it better and louder. (Joyce, 44) Stephan says that the prefect of studies appears cruel because â€Å"he had steadied the hand first with his â€Å"firm soft fingers. † A firm, soft finger may be an allusion to a penis. This phallic image becomes distorted by the pain experienced by Stephan and in so wrongly, subconsciously interpreted as sexual cruelty. Stephan’s continued isolation and inability to recognize normal is initiated at thi s time. Stephan regards the beating not as a normal party of Irish schooling, but as a personal attack on his being. The adjectives of firm and soft are employed by Joyce to â€Å"mood† the setting and produce sexual connotation instead of disciplinary connotation. This confused sexuality is the whole purpose of the passage. We need it only to see that in Stephan’s development, he has created an inversion in his thought process. Suddenly, masculinity is violence, arrogance even. Stephan admittedly wants to feel acceptance, a harmony with his environment. Harmony is the opposite of violence. Here, Stephan finds a feminine niche in which to live: harmony without masculine violence. Soon there after, Stephan’s triumph after speaking with the rector creates a joy that he has not experienced before. The act of telling the rector that he was mistreated by the prefect of studies initiates a weakness within Stephan that he can no longer deny. This confusing turn of events leaves Stephan’s subconscious in shambles and exposes him in the most crucial stages of development. By rejecting the masculine urge to suck it up, he forfeits his right to the male gender. The pairing of the two incidences forms a â€Å"queer† confusion in which Stephan disillusions himself from the male gender and becomes part of the female gender. From here on out, Stephan searches for masculine force to latch onto, creating the first homosexual tendencies seen in Portrait. His feminine niche is only invaded if he wishes it so. Stephan’s new homosexual identity prevents this niche even to be viewed by the other characters and most readers because there is an innate fear with his difference since all Stephan wants from life is to be accepted, loved. This is why homosexuality is never publicly claimed by Stephan. In fact, there is no mention of his preference in a companion anywhere. Stephan idealizes women but never actually gives the reader a description of what or who would satisfy him completely. Though Stephan may now officially be deemed homosexual, any acknowledgement of this by Stephan himself is never seen as I expressed earlier. The experiences Dedalus has during his stay at Clongowes make sure of that. Joyce employs a setting of all boys in which Stephan develops an unconscious hatred of himself. We see that through out his school years, a number of boys are ridiculed after being accused of homosexual behavior. This number of boys could easier be omitted by Joyce if there was no meaning behind them. Joyce’s mention of smugging and Lady Boyle and how these situations and people are treated influence Stephan’s mind and body. Stephan, after hearing of these things, becomes almost homophobic, joining in on the taunts of Lady Boyle and ponderously thinking on the boys caught smugging. He rejects himself before he knows who he is. Stephan also develops into himself in the same moment he rejects his being. Clongowes is the place where Stephan emphatically decided to be feminine as illustrated by his meeting with the rector. Joyce deliberately incorporates all so that the reader may comprehend Stephan and his relations with his surroundings. The femininity of Ireland as noted by Joyce’s repeated naming of the country as a her and the stark masculine harshness of Clongowes force Stephan into a corner where he must uncover his true individualism within himself. This individualism shaped primarily by these two modes happens to be homosexuality hidden beneath a strong sense of sensuality and just insecurity. Stephan is also not guided by men as he matures but by the women he desires as he lets his body place claim on his mind and create fowl fantasies that are never kept in check. For example, when Stephan feels â€Å"the slight change in his house; and those changes in what he had deemed unchangeable were so many shocks to his boyish conception of the world,† he does not turn to his father to seek guidance but retreats into himself to Mercedes. In his reverie, Stephan recognizes that there will come an instant where he will become â€Å"transfigured. Joyce purposefully does not give Stephan the opportunity to mature in this instant, but chooses to give him the opportunity to rid himself of â€Å"weakness and timidity. † The passage as a whole displays the image of a gender inversion: â€Å"He returned to Mercedes and, as he brooded upon her image, a strange unrest crept into his blood. Sometimes a fever gathered within him and led him to rove alone in the evening along t he quiet avenue. †¦.. They would be alone, surrounded by darkness and silence: and in that moment of supreme tenderness he would be transfigured. He would fade into something impalpable under her eyes and then in a moment he would be transfigured. Weakness and timidity and inexperience would fall from him in that magic moment. † (Joyce, 56) Here, Stephan recognizes that a woman will change his life but not because she completes him or fulfills his life but because he will become what would normally be gender-identified as male. He wishes to shed any femininity â€Å"in that supreme moment of tenderness† and evolve. This gender inversion is from female to male, not what is to be expected from a biological male. At this point, Stephan is plainly admitting that weakness, tenderness and timidity rule him, and that he is feminine, but also admits that he desires to fulfill his biological role. Joyce presents the reader with Mercedes and asks them to see that Stephan needs some mode of escape from what he cannot emotionally deal with (his father’s failure), and simultaneously allows Stephan to reach an epiphany in which he realizes that at some point he will have to face reality. Joyce gives the reader two choices in this passage: the reader is either forced to choose to believe Stephan and his desires or reject them and this daydream. I believe that Joyce allows Stephan to access this subconscious desire in a daydream so that he may have another chance to present the reader with Stephan’s hidden identity, hidden desire to become heroic. This instance is similar to the villanelle written by Stephan that which I previously mentioned. Joyce is clearly toying with the reader’s image of Stephan and characterizing him as weak. The reader now has access to the true Stephan through an unguarded moment presented as a whimsical, almost sexual fantasy. The reader now understands the internal conflict within Dedalus. I propose that this is the epiphanic moment where Stephan actually regards himself as homosexual. Here, Stephan understands himself clearly and his able to delineate from what he is and what he longs to be, normal from abnormal It becomes visibly clear that Stephan rejects his biological sex from childhood and only now tries to reclaim it. Joyce is clarifying Stephan’s flaw. Stephan acknowledges his weakness, and deals with it simply. He is wary, yet not enough to act upon it. Joyce is showing the reader that they must sympathize with his character and must understand him completely if any meaning is to be attained from the novel. Though Stephan may recognize his desire to undergo a mental sex change of sorts, I feel that he never truly reverts back to male, never reaches his moment of supreme clarity. He is unable to reclaim his sexuality because Stephan never wholeheartedly works at it. While fantasizing about the Virgin Mary, Stephan refers to himself as a sinner and offers us a hint of his inability to commit to working towards his dream: â€Å"Her eyes seemed to regard him with mild pity; her holiness, a strange light glowing faintly upon her frail flesh, did not humiliate the sinner who approached her. If ever he was impelled to cast sin from him and to repent the impulse that moved him was the wish to be her knight. If ever his soul, re-entering her dwelling shyly after the frenzy of his bodys lust had spent itself, was turned towards her whose emblem is the morning star, BRIGHT AND MUSICAL, TELLING OF HEAVEN AND INFUSING PEACE, it was when her names were murmured softly by lips whereon there still lingered foul and shameful words, the savour itself of a lewd kiss. † (Joyce, 92-3) This passage can be viewed as a very strong example of homosexuality. Stephan seems to have sex with his imagined Mary as he validates himself. The Virgin does not reject Stephan in his daydream and he is internally consoled. Because she does not reproach him, he feels accepted on some level and his brief moment of longing to become male is forgotten in the beauty of his vision. Stephan justifies his actions by creating unreal situations in which he is happy, in which he can live without his fear of being different. He is not sexually stimulated by Mary herself but of the validation of his mind, body and soul. Stephan is sexually aroused by himself in the form of the Virgin Mary. Joshua Jacobs analyzes the same passage and notes that â€Å"†¦Joyce frames this ostensible purification as a regression to Stephan’s soul and desire, Stephan imagines a vaguely sexual union in which he is utterly impalpable, surrounded by darkness and silence. † At any time during his musing could Stephan stop and remember his previous desire but he does not. Instead, Stephan creates an unreal instance in which he may feel comfortable at in his own shoes. Because of the social conditioning Stephan receives at Clongowes, he is unable to cope with his own sexuality. Stephan’s experimental relations with Emma additionally add homosexual tones to his character. Stephan uses Emma to test himself and clarify his understanding of his true soul. Every instance in which Emma appears, Stephan remains confused and unsure because he is too often ruled by his body. Sexual attraction may be the initial reason for Stephan’s interest by I suggest that the real reason Emma is so unattainable to him is because he subconsciously views her as a maternal figure in which he yearns to attract. Once again, Stephan’s desire to become more masculine emerges and presents itself here. He is attracted to her because of her outer-lying appearance but senses that he wants to be her. After putting himself in the female position and searching for a masculine counterpart, Stephan is hit with a gender-disorienting bomb named Emma. His masculine side wants to claim her but his feminine side wishes to be her. In an article by Brian Hogue he mentions Eugene A. Waith’s ideas: â€Å"He thinks of EC, like Davins temptress, as a bat like soul waking to the consciousness of itself and surmises that her soul had begun to live as his soul had when he had first sinned. The composition of the final stanza is described as an imaginary act of sexual intercourse, in which EC is metamorphosed into the words of the poem while both are symbolized by flowing water. No passage in the book links temptation more unequivocally with artistic creativity, and none make clearer that the emphasis is not finally upon sin. † (122-123) EC was and remains throughout the entire novel unabl e to fulfill Stephan. Stephan quietly submits to him loneliness and inability to find true companionship: â€Å"He had known neither the pleasure of companionship with others nor the vigour of rude male health nor filial piety. Nothing stirred within his soul but a cold and cruel and loveless lust. His childhood was dead or lost and with it his soul capable of simple joys and he was drifting amid life like the barren shell of the moon. †(127) Even with a prostitute, Stephan is unable to connect: â€Å"His lips would not bend to kiss her. He wanted to be held firmly in her arms, to be caressed slowly, slowly, slowly. In her arms he felt that he had suddenly become strong and fearless and sure of himself. But his lips would not bend to kiss her. (Joyce, 135)Stephan views the prostitute here as a surrogate mother. He wishes to feel strong in her arms instead of seek please from her lips. Again, Stephan blends his sexual needs with his instinctual need to become legitimate. Stephan’s refusal to deny these thoughts and to sit beside a prostitute and still look at her as a maternal figure illustrates his homosexuality. He does not want her to touch him sensually but to show him the primal pleasure o f sex. Stephan views the prostitute as a tool to release his sexual needs, not desires. Though the text in not explicit on the sexual orientation of its main character, I believe that Joyce’s intention was for Stephan to deny any implied fact given about his desires so that the story could have an alternate meaning underneath the actual text. Joyce creates a homosexual undertone to Stephan to comment on the social conditions of Ireland. It is extremely apparent that the novel has a strong undercurrent of social commentary. The deliberate femininity of Ireland in Joyce’s work parallels the deliberate femininity presented within Stephan himself. I previously have defined the connects Stephan has created with the females in the novel. I now wish to explore how Joyce had intended the novel to read. My understanding of the novel is that Stephan is a lost, unrecognized genius. His homosexuality only helps to exemplify this. Joyce understood that to create respect for such a weak, seemingly uninteresting character he would have to create a flaw, relevant to the setting and plot of the novel, that would take weakness and turn it into an understandable fear. What I aim to validate is the genius present within Joyce’s work. Homosexuality here is not a plot point, it is a fatal flaw that only a true hero could carry as his burden. Perhaps this explains Joyce’s addition of Parnell into the story line. It is safe to say Stephan was greatly influenced by his father, as every son is. Mr. Dedalus’s love of Parnell, love of this hero of Ireland is Stephan’s first encounter with the heroic. â€Å"He was for Ireland and Parnell and so was his father. † (Joyce, 32) As Stephan understands the magnitude of the love that a hero such as Parnell receives, he subconsciously registers that love with heroism. Joyce clearly understood this and had to find a way to demonstrate it discreetly. Parnell’s fatal flaw was his affair. Stephan’s fatal flaw is his homosexuality. This similarity is easily conceived when one understands Joyce’s motive. Stephan must be heroic for any reader to sympathize, even to care at all. Every instance in the novel where Stephan feels the need to connect with another human, he views as a transaction. Stephan takes his life and at each crossroads he asks himself whether what he is about to do is normal. His misgiving is his inability to realize that he is heroic and does not need validation from anyone. I think that Joyce’s goal in Portrait was not to tell a story, but to uniquely craft a situation in which the character of his story does not understand himself and searches for life’s meaning when in fact, the character is heroic, is able to feel acceptance without actually doing anything. Homosexuality here is marvelously employed as a literary device. I have explained how Joyce has created this homosexual being and how he left it veiled from the reader and the actual character himself but to understand the novel, we must understand why. Homosexuality as a literary device is used here to demonstrate Joyce’s true genius with words. Joyce skillfully shapes a situation in which his character cannot emerge as a hero so that he may pull them from their mundane pages and create brilliance without the character ever knowing. It is up to the reader to pull this meaning from the pages if they are able. I have explored homosexuality so that I may illuminate this reading of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man so that the true aptitude for literature that James Joyce instinctively has.

Is Using Cell Phone Dangerous

Overtime, our lives have been tremendously been transformed with the mobile phone technology. We are able to attend to issues at our work place and even at our homes without the need of us appearing there physically.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is Using Cell Phone Dangerous? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nowadays, instead of writing long letters to your friends, you can use the mobile Short Message Service (SMS) to chat with them for a while. However, this technology has come with its own setbacks such as the risk of exposure to carcinogens, cell phone dependency and mobile phone crimes. In fact, the use of cell phones exposes us to more danger than good. Although these gadgets are portable and convenient to use, studies that have been conducted by medical experts show that they emit radiofrequency radiations that are â€Å"categorized into ionized radiations and non ionized radiations† (Oberto 316) . The ionized radiations have shown to increase the risk of the user suffering from cancer. Research has further shown that â€Å"the side of the brain that is exposed to the ionizing radiations from the cell phone metabolizes more glucose than other parts that are not exposed to it† (Larjavaara 35). These effects largely depend on how frequently one uses it, how close the user is with the antenna of the gadget and the distance between the network center and the user. Actually, the use of a cell phone is hazardous to human health. On the other hand, to alleviate some of the above effects, radiologists have recommended the use of wireless headphones that allow the user to receive calls at some distance from the gadget. Using them for emergencies especially when you cannot access a landline phone also reduces one’s exposure to them. However, despite one taking these measures and the attractive features (camera and games) of these mobile phones, they have shown to have gr eater effect on children than in grown-ups. This is because young children are still growing and their cells are rapidly multiplying. As a result, the ionizing radiations emitted from the phones predispose these cells to cancer. These facts make mobile usage more dangerous to children who can succumb to body malformations. Besides, the use of mobile phone has enabled us to supplement our brains memory capacity with their storage memory capacity. Hence, we can be able to save important passwords and other important information in them without necessarily memorizing them.Advertising Looking for essay on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This has been encouraged with the changing times when we have a lot of information in soft copies and less in hard copies. To secure such information, the computers allow us to come up with passwords and other safety features that could easily remembered by saving them in these ph ones. As result, the mobile technology has taken a turn to crime where thieves steal these phones from their owners and then easily gain access to important information regarding their credit cards or automatic teller machines (ATMs). This has seen many innocent people lose a lot of money to these non suspecting criminals. Indeed mobile phone technology has brought more harm than good. In addition, the technology has also come up with the mobile money transfer where the users are able to transfer money to other people conveniently. This service has impacted developing economies greatly as people from rural areas can receive money from urban areas without necessarily gaining access to physical bank halls. However, there are many times when the person sending the cash misses one or two digits of the user and ends up sending the money to a wrong number. This wrong receiver may rush to a nearby service provider and get the cash and as a result, the sender ends up being conned and his/he r efforts to get help from the network provider may prove fruitless. The service provided by these gadgets is of essence to the society, but its maneuver by non suspecting criminals is exposing the users to more losses than expected. Moreover, â€Å"the concept of time and space† has changed overtime by the use of the mobile phones (Fortunati 513). Instead of people meeting physically as they do most of the times, now they talk over the phone to solve any pending matters. Hence, issues to do with time such as being punctual at meetings is now solved. Although this service has improved communication, many people have adopted a culture of lying to their friends whereby if they are asked where they are, they state a place either far or near the person asking depending on the circumstances. This kind of mobile phone lies has made their use dangerous to our associations in society. Furthermore, it’s worth noting that nowadays when a cell phone user is bored, he/she resorts to this gadget. As a result, the person develops â€Å"cell phone dependence† (Leung 359).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is Using Cell Phone Dangerous? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This behavior has substituted the visiting of friends when we are bored or grieved by different circumstances. Many quickly get to social networks like Facebook and Twitter where they interact with thousands of friends that they meet online. The way people used to meet sometimes back no longer seems to work in this busy generation that is always embracing the changing times. When one gets annoyed with his/her online friend in the social network, he/she removes the friend unlike in the physical relationships where if one get upset with his buddy, he just walks away or even fights. However, psychologists would tell you that expression of hunger on the face is important than in writing either an SMS (Short Message Service) o r equally an email via the mobile phone. Physical expression has a strong touch where one part is able to show his feelings about a particular situation and the other responds in return. This adds value to the spoken word. Hence, the turndown of our lives with this mobile phone service is socially drawing us back. Last but not least, the cell phone usage has impacted greatly on students. Tully says that â€Å"the use of cell phones has had a negative effect on grammar† especially among the Short Message Service users (444). This is because, the more you get into doing something the more it becomes a habit. Consequently, when students do their homework, they end up using the same jargons that they have been used to on their mobile phone. In addition, since they are able to gain access to the internet via these gadgets, many students get tempted to cheat in examinations as they can easily search for the answers online. This kind of cheating is a crime since in the first place t hey are practicing plagiarism and many of them end up getting degrees they don’t deserve. Also, for the advanced phones, the students can use them to watch movies and other pornographic materials that they can access online. This draws their attention away from the classroom and as a fact, the use cell phones encourages bad morals that never existed in the ancient times. In conclusion, despite the many services that we get from mobile phones, their use comes with many effects. They predispose the users to radiofrequency radiations that are cancerous to their body tissues. These carcinogens are especially dangerous to young children whose cells are rapidly dividing thus exposing them to malformation. These gadgets have also changed our lives backwards as they have encouraged hacking of passwords and theft of credit card information exposing the users to unprecedented losses.Advertising Looking for essay on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It’s also worth noting that they have greatly impacted on relationships. In addition, they have encouraged negative morals in our schools where students watch movies in class as their instructors teach and cheat in exams by searching for answers from the mobile phone internet. Indeed, cell phones are small gadgets that are convenient to carry and easy to use but their usage comes with many setbacks that override their benefits. Works Cited Fortunati, Leopoldina. The Mobile Phone: Towards New Categories and Social Relations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Print. Larjavaara, Schuz. Gliomas in Relation to Mobile Phone Use: Case to Case Analysis. New York: Harper-Collins, 2006. Print. Leung, Louis. Leisure Boredom, Sensation Seeking, Self Esteem and Addiction: Symptoms and Patterns of Cell Phone Use. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print. Oberto, Rolfo. Carcinogenicity: Radiation Research. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print. Tully, Claus. Growing Up in Technological Worlds: How Modern Technologies Shape the Everyday Lives of Young People. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. Print. This essay on Is Using Cell Phone Dangerous? was written and submitted by user Cody Parks to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Drug Courts in the United States

Drug Courts in the United States Free Online Research Papers Drug courts in The United States have three main goals which are rehabilitating participants, reducing the use of drugs and reducing recidivism. Drug courts and treatment programs are more effective then the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders. The use of drug courts are effectively fighting the budget problems that US criminal justice system are experiencing due to the cost of treatment programs compared to the cost of incarceration. Drug courts can be defined as special court calendars or dockets designed to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent, substance abusing offenders by increasing their likelihood for successful rehabilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment; mandatory periodic drug testing; and the use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services (Drug Courts: Overview of Growth, Characteristics, and Results, Government Accountability Office, 1997). Participants for drug courts undergo frequent court appearances, incentives, sanctions, long term treatment and counseling. When treatment programs are successfully completed the participant may get their charges dismissed or reduced. Drug courts not only put legal obligations on drug offenders but the mandatory treatment and counseling they receive grant the participants the necessary tools to rebuild their lives. According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance there were 2,038 fully operating drug courts in The Untied States and 226 that were in the planning stages, as of July 2009. A statistic created by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2001 stated that between the years of 1984 and 1999 the number of defendants charged with a drug offense in the Federal courts increased from 11,854 to 29,306. Due to the increase in drug offenses the first drug court was created in1989 in Miami Florida when Judge Herbert M. Klein was troubled by the disabling effects that drug offenses were wreaking the Dade County Courts. Judge Klein became determined to â€Å"solve the problem of large numbers of people on drugs† (Miami’s Drug Court: A Different Approach,1993) Drug Courts across The United States share three primary goals. The first is to reduce recidivism or reduce the revolving door of crime and drugs by providing treatment to drug-addicted criminal offenders. Only 3.3% of participants who completed the treatment programs successfully were rearrested in the first six months after being released compared to the 12.1% of inmates who did not receive treatment. Compared with other offenders, drug court participants have lower recidivism rates, even if they do not finish the program. The second goal is to reduce substance abuse among participants. Drug court participants are less likely to use drugs after completing the treatment programs compared to drug users who are incarcerated and do not participate in treatment programs.20.5% of participants in the drug treatment programs used drugs within six months after being released. 36.7% of drug violators who were incarcerated used drugs within six months of being released. The third goal is to rehabilitate participants by successfully completing the treatment programs. Participants who went through a drug court are 15% less likely to repeat their offences than those who did not go through a specialized drug court. Drug court participants report that interactions with the judge are one of the important influences on the experience they have while in the program. More drug courts are being established to deal with first and second offenders rather than the normal use of the criminal justice system. The motivation has been more of a financial necessity than the need to make America drug free. While analyses on the effectiveness of drug courts are still ongoing, research indicates that drug courts can reduce recidivism and promote other positive outcomes such as saving the country money. Drug treatment programs are less expensive then long term incarceration. In 1998 there were 417,784 drug offenders in federal prison, state prison, and jail. Also in 1998 it was estimated that of the $38 billion were spent on corrections that year more than $30 billion was spent incarcerating individuals who had a history of drug or alcohol abuse, were convicted of drug or alcohol violations, were using drugs or alcohol at the time of their crimes, or had committed their crimes to get money to buy drugs. Drug courts are more cost effective then the standard US courts. Drug courts free up criminal justice recourses to use against violent and other serious criminal offences. On average it cost $5,928 for one person to complete a drug treatment program. It cost more than $20,000 to incarcerate a person for one year. The Average sentence for drug trafficking is 3.5 years, which is a total of $70,000, saving the country $64,072. Drug courts are effectively accomplishing there three primary goals of reducing recidivism, reducing substance abuse among participants and rehabilitate participants, while also saving billions of dollars to be used against serious and violent criminals. In the Spotlight. (2010). Retrieved November 06, 2010 from National Criminal Justice Reference Service: ncjrs.gov. Drug Treatment in the Criminal Justice System. (2008). Retrieved November 04, 2010 from Office of National Drug Control Policy: whitehousedrugpolicy.gov. Drug Court Review. (2010). Retrieved November 01, 2010 from National Drug Court Institution: ndci.org. Drug Courts. (2010). Retrieved November 06, 2010 from Minnesota Judicial Branch: mncourts.gov/. Research Papers on Drug Courts in the United StatesThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UsePETSTEL analysis of IndiaCapital PunishmentUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andOpen Architechture a white paperQuebec and CanadaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

Formality on ACT English Strategies and Tips

Formality on ACT English Strategies and Tips SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You wouldn’t wear a tux on a first date or jeans to a wedding. The ACT also tests you on whether or not you understand what level of formality is appropriate in different circumstances. Read on to learn more about one of the most unusual topics covered on the ACT! Formality questions are some of the least common on ACT English, so you shouldn't be too concerned about this topic. Nonetheless, in this article, I'll cover everything you need to know to tackle any formality questions you might see: What is formality and how is it tested on the ACT? The"normal" level of formality on the ACT Key signs of a formality error Examples of formalityissues Top tips for tackling formality questions on ACT English What Is Formality on the ACT? â€Å"Formality† refers to the idea that different textsare written with different audiences in mind, sosome are more casual whileothers are more formal. Usually, ACT English passages are written very similarly to a textbook or a newspaper article. You will notice that the author usually doesn't talk as if the reader is his best friend nor does he speak as if drafting a speech to read in front of Congress. The key to formality questions is that your answer choicesshould follow the patterns laid out by the original author. What Do "Normal" ACT English Passages Look Like? Passages on the ACT fall into the middle of the formality scale. There are two main types of passages that you will see: factual/historical passages and personal narratives. The example belowis what a factual/historical passage looks like. You will notice that it is written in a very straightforward fashion, similar to what you might see in a high school textbook or a newspaper. Benjamin Banneker, African American inventor and astronomer, grew up on his family's farm in colonial Maryland. Though he had limited access to formal education, Banneker nevertheless demonstrated a keen curiosity and a consuming interest in acquiring knowledge. The personal narratives may seem slightly more casual than the factual/historical passages: they are written in the first person (using the pronoun "I") and include more contractions. However, overall they're still in the middle on the formality scale. If you see overly casual language, such as slang, it will also be incorrect here. I live with my father in the summer, when I'm on vacation from school. Last week, he told me he had to go on a business trip in connection with his work and that I'd be staying with his sister for three days. Although I love my aunt, I wasn't happy about the prospect of three days at her house with nothing to do. It turns out I was in for a surprise. Now that you know what ACT English passagesshould look like, let's discuss why formality questions can be difficult and some strategies to attack them. What Makes Formality Questions Difficult? Formality questions can trip up some test takers because they are all about style, not grammar. In fact, the incorrect answer choices for these questions will usually be grammatically correct! Furthermore, there are no specific rules you can learn that will let you answer these questions correctly every time. Understanding the formality level of writingis a skillthat you acquire over the long term, through reading lots of different kinds of documents in English and learning how people communicate to different audiences. As such, these questions arelikely to be most difficult for non-native speakers of English. Despite the challenges posed by formality question, there are some signs you can look for in order to see if a phraseor sentence is written too casually and is therefore incorrect. What Are Some Signs of Overly Casual Language? The following types of language generally signal an overly casual style and, thus, a wrong answer: Slang.Slang isa word or phrase that has a cultural meaning different fromits literal meaning. Examples include "cool," "sketchy," and "crush." Vague language.Ideas could be expressed much more clearly and directly, with more detail. Wordy language.Oftentimes, casual language will take more words than necessary to make a point. Unnecessary commentary.When an author writes casually, they may alsoadd unnecessary comments, such as personal thoughts or opinions about the topic. Beware of slang. What Are Some Examples of Formality Issues? Here is an example of a few sentences written with mid-level formality, whichis the type of writing that is normal on ACT English. Although Tolstoy preached abstinence to his many followers, he actually had thirteen children of his own. His wife, Sofia, was offended by his stories that insulted their married life and implied that she had been unfaithful to him. And here are the same sentences written more casually. If you see something written this casually, it will always be incorrect on ACT English. Tolstoy told his followers that they shouldn’t have lots of kids, but actually he had a load of his own. Unfortunately for him, his wife, Sofia, got pissed off when he implied through a story that their marriage was a sham and that she had been messing around. Can you spot the key signs mentioned above? Slang: â€Å"a load of his own," â€Å"got pissed off," â€Å"messing around† Vague and lacking detail: â€Å"a load of his own† Wordiness: â€Å"that they shouldn’t have lots of kids† instead of â€Å"abstinence† Unnecessary commentary: â€Å"Unfortunately for him† The ACT won’t usually be this obvious with their errors. But now that you know what mistakes to look for, keep an eye out when you think you’re being asked a formality question! Top Tips for Formality Questions on ACT English #1: Remember that all ACT passages will be in the middle on the formality scale. While it's technically possible for a passage to be written more formally or casually,we have never seen an example of this actually occurring on the ACT. #2:Eliminate grammatically incorrect answers first. Formality questions are extremely rare, so you shouldn't rule out answers based on their level of formality until you're certain there aren't any other errors in the choices. Always focus on grammatical errors and more common style errors like redundancy and relevancefirst, and only worry about using formality to narrow down your choices if you don't see those other types of issues. #3: Cross out any answers that strike you as overly formal or overly casual. If you're reading a sentence that sounds like something you might say to a friend, then it iscasual. These choices may strike you as colloquial and friendly, or may use the signs of casual language that we discussed above. If you see an answerchoice with these qualities, it will be incorrect. On the flip side, if a sentence or answer choice seems quite stuffy and high-brow for the ACT, then it'soverly formal.These options will also beincorrect because they don't match the rest of the passage. #4: Re-read the sentence with your answer choice. Does it seem to flow? Make sure that your answer seems to fit in with the rest of the sentence. Remember passages will be written in the middle of the formality scale. Let’s Look at an Example Together In 1970, the school board in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, approved a dress code that prohibited students from wearing certain types of clothing. The school board members believed that wearing â€Å"play clothes† to school made the students inefficient toward their school work, while more formal attire established a positive educational climate. A. NO CHANGEB. lazy and bored to tears withC. blow offD. lax and indifferent toward As I'm reading through this passage, it feels like it is at a standard formality level for the ACT. The language is not overly complex and flowery nor is it extremely casual. Let’s start withthe underlined section. â€Å"Inefficient toward† is idiomatically incorrect, so A is out. (Idiomatic errors can be tricky to detect - see our article on them here.) Nowlet’s turn to the answers. Option B uses the phrase â€Å"bored to tears." This expression is a very casual phrase used to express extreme boredom. It’s far too casual to fit with the rest of the paragraph, so we can eliminate B. Similarly, the phrase â€Å"blow off† in C is slang, whichdoesn’t fit in with the formality of the rest of the passage. We can rule out C as well. D is the only option that’s left. When you put it in the sentence, it reads, â€Å"The school board members believed that wearing â€Å"play clothes† to school made the students lax and indifferent toward their school work, while more formal attire established a positive educational climate.† This option matches the rest of the paragraph in formality, and it’s also grammatically and idiomatically correct. Therefore, D is the correct choice. Here Are Some Practice Questions to Try on Your Own! Choose the answer that correctly completes each sentence, paying particular attention to formality. I've explained the answers at the end of the article. Smith’s example has inspired architects to donate their skills towards charitable projects. (1) Since 1998, the Association of Professional Contractors has presented an annual award recognizing the professional who best showcases a spirit of giving and community service. In 2004, the award was renamed the Robert Smith award. His parents, who were so instrumental in Smith’s professional success, were bursting with pride. (2) While Smith’s architectural achievements remain prominent in Chicago for passersby to enjoy, it’s really great that the effects (3) of his generosity continue to make an impact and inspire others to follow his example. 1. A. NO CHANGE B. into projects that are really good for other people C. into charitable projects D. to charitable projects 2. A. NO CHANGE B. were super proud C. were proud of their son D. were appreciative of the illustrious honor bestowed upon their son 3. A. NO CHANGE B. the effects C. it is good that the effects D. DELETE the underlined portion Answers: 1. D; 2. C; 3. B Explanations: 1. As written, the sentence is idiomatically incorrect. We say that we "donate to," not "donate towards." Therefore, D is going to be the correct answer. But even if that didn't jump out at you right away (idioms can be difficult!) there was at least one answer choice that you could have eliminated: choice B. This answer is an example of unnecessary wordiness, which is one of the signs of overly casual language. The other choices all use the word "charitable," which succinctly describes the projects being donated to. Choice B, in contrast, says "projects that are really good for other people." Though this means the same thing, it is a much longer and more casual way of expressing the information, so this answer is incorrect. 2. As written, this sentence usesoverly casual language. "Bursting with pride" is slang - it has an implied meaning that is differentfrom its literal meaning (I hope his parents weren't literally exploding!). Choice B is also slang. The real definition of "super" is "good or excellent," but here it is used to mean "very" - which is a common casual use of the word. On the other hand, choice D is too formal - it uses unnecessarily formal words (and is also too wordy!) to express a simple idea. Choice C is the best answer here. It's grammatically correct, and also directly and succintly completes the sentence without being too casual or too formal. 3. Here's another example of a too casual sentence. Can you see which trap of casual language it's falling into? It has unnecessary commentary. It's very casual for the author of the passage to tell us that he thinks "it's really great." We can rule outA. Looking at the answer choices, you can see that C falls into the same trap, by telling us that "it is good." We're down to B or D. D suggests that we should delete the underlined portion. However, if you read the sentence with the underlined portion eliminated, it's obvious that you create a fragment. Therefore the answer is B, which states the information clearly and directly, is grammatically correct, and is in the middle of the formality scale. What’s Next? Now that you know how to tackle one of the trickier subjects on the ACT English, try another: here is how to take on idioms on the ACT. Not sure what else you’ll be up against? Here is a full breakdown of what you will find on ACT English. Aiming high? Here are some top tips to get a 36 on ACT English. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Registration System Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Registration System - Assignment Example And the costumer can avail this discount inform via his email account. Also, the main HQ and local admin can send to the costumer's email the latest offers if there is. The main HQ administrator has the access in controlling the system, the HQ can either add or remove motel. Both of the main HQ and the local Administration can update the room type, availability and pricing of their rooms. 1. The personal information of the customer includes his ID, name, address, contact information, age and other personal detail with his email address. The customer can access through web, he can check the availability, type and pricing of the room. Also he can check seasonal offers of the company. 2. With his personal email address he can send his messages and other inquires about his booking. He can receive special the other offer, be informed for special discount and other newsletter from the company. And also he can be informed if ever the payment and booking transactions is successful or not. 4. Costumer's history includes with the customer's booking number, the total of booking the customer made the other details of his booking from this the company will base their decision if they will give a special discount of not. The Main flow: Payment 1. Payment transactions must include the customer's ID, the date and amount he paid off. The payment of the customer may be in the form of cheque or card payments. 2. If the transaction was done by cheque then the transaction must include the payment number, cheque no., sort code, account number and other banking information. 3. IF the transaction was done by card payments the detailed information must include the card number, the date when it is issued and the expiration date. 4. All the payment transaction between the customer and the company. The company and the customer must be informed by the electronic banking system if the card or cheque is accepted or rejected. The Main flow: Motel 1. Both the main HQ motel administration and other local administrations can check their customer's history. 2. The HQ and other local administrations can update the rooms' availability, type, and pricing. Only the Main administrator can add or delete rooms. 3. The main HQ administrator can add and remove their local motel branches. Also they can remove, add or transfer their staffs.

Gaslan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gaslan - Essay Example Therefore, I see that Gasland will continue to bring more profits and jobs in the economy of China. I know the department is wondering about the safety of using coal in China. In regards to safety when using coal, am aware of migration of methane when coal is used for long as seen in places like Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Methane is a natural gas which migrates to aquifers when there is a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Therefore, there is a need to avoid driving down natural gas costs and pollution of environment by coal plants. The department should understand about the hydraulic fracturing or fracking. It is a method whereby the chemical fluid is added to earth to free natural gas trapped far underground. The fracking change is actually good news, because it helps in national security and boost the economy of the government. This is achieved since it reduces imports and creates more jobs in the economy and brings about new investment in China. Th e department confirmed that the critics given can be solved it the people take their time to understand that pollution is actually reduced because the amount of coal used in plants is reduced. This clearly shows that boost in fracking increases productivity. Any economist know that without energy China cannot grow economically, therefore, energy is a fundamental service for each and every day living. We know companies like Sinopec and Recon technology which boost the economy of China. Without fuel in the economy, it leads to poverty, although it has effect to the environment, the need of fuel is more important. Meeting the increasing requirements for energy in the entire world is hard to achieve. Therefore, there is a need for fracking even if it has environmental effects. Our choices have to weigh between environmental effects against the economic and social benefits of current supply availability. When fracking is adopted in China, the economy is transformed, it become self-suffic ient than when natural gas is used and could become the biggest exporter this will automatically boost the economy of China. Economists know that a big investment is made through fracking than renewable energy. Therefore, fracking should be encouraged. The shutdown of all fracking will drastically affect the domestic and international markets. In short the oil industry should increase its plans to increase oil production with hydraulic fracturing to increase oil recovery even if it’s threatening the communities’ air and drinking water. Economists should know that the process of hydrofracking is controversial gas and oil extraction methods develop in late 1940s to have access to fossil energy deposits which are inaccessible by drilling machines. The methods actually involve smashing of the rock with a lot of water with sand and a lot of chemicals so that to bring the gas into the surface. The process involve drilling of vertical well bores into the earth, via sediment l ayers, the water table and other rocks to reach oil and gas. (Ralph & Peter 2012) Drilling is done in a horizontally angled and smashed with a lot of water and fracking fluid, chemicals and sand to break the rock and shale. Small explosives are used to open up the bedrock and allow the gas and oil to be removed from the rock formations. Fracking has been there for decades and the process of doing it has been varying from deep fracking to other methods. In conclusion, economists should use fracking approach but try

Legal Underpinnings of Business Law Essay Example for Free

Legal Underpinnings of Business Law Essay The key to limiting liability exposure is to realize where your company might be vulnerable. It is important to be able to recognize possible situations that make a company vulnerable. Knowing all possible significant aspects of any liability associated to the type of business an owner wants to participate in is vital. A business owner should always understand and have working knowledge of all laws that apply to your business to prevent liabilities. Personal Business Venture My future personal business venture would a clothing line for curvy women. As a curvy woman, it is very difficult to find non-geometric, non-tent like, flower patterned, ugly business and casual clothing. The best business organizational form for this business would be an LLC. LLC’s are easy to set up. Chose a business name that incorporates LLC, file an article of organization, create an operating agreement, obtain licenses and permits, hire employees, and finally open the doors. I would have variety of partners from textiles, designers, clothing producers, managers, and finally marketing specialists. The personal liability exposure would be minimal. With an LLC if I messed up the partners would not be responsible. The consequences are not as bad is if I was in a corporation. The LLC is more flexible. The positives are less record keeping and more profit sharing. The state would have some say into my company so I would have to keep up with guidance regularly. The negative of this company is that once a member leaves, the entire company must complete their duties and responsibilities and then dissolve. Another down fall is that self-employment tax contributions towards Medicare and Social Security. â€Å"The net income of the LLC is subject to this tax. The federal government does not recognize LLC as a business entity for taxation purposes, all LLCs must file as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship tax return. Certain LLCs are automatically classified and taxed as a corporation by federal tax law. †

Got Coal? :: Research Essays

Got Coal? In this essay, I hope to inform the reader about the variations in Pennsylvania’s coals, explain the differing methods of coal mining, and provide insights into the use of coal. Although Pennsylvania’s coal reserves have dwindled, coal is still one of the major energy forms used for electric power generation. Widespread use of alternative energy forms have not yet taken place, although this is an area that needs to develop further, if we don’t want to exhaust our current reserves of fossil fuels. Currently, Pennsylvania is the fourth largest coal producer in the United States. More than 69.5 million tons of coal were mined in the state in 1995. Anthracite and bituminous coal are the two types of coal that are mined in Pennsylvania, and they are classified as hard coals. (â€Å"Coal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Anthracite is the hardest coal type and contains close to 90% carbon, more than any other coal type. When burned, anthracite emits only a very small amount of smoke. It is used in domestic and industrial applications. Bituminous coal is the most widely used coal in the United States. The uses for this coal type are generating electricity, making coke, and space heating. It is mined mostly in the Appalachian Mountains (â€Å"Clean†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). The heating value and the specific gravity (the weight of a particular volume of coal) vary with coal rank. Low-volatile bituminous coal has the highest heating value. The heating value of anthracite is somewhat lower. In the same manner, specific gravity increases with increasing rank (Edmunds 15). Underground, open-pit, and auger mining are the three ways of extracting coal from the ground. Until recently, the room-and-pillar method was the most widely used. In this method, large â€Å"rooms† of coal were excavated and â€Å"pillars† were left in place to hold up the roof. This method is not very efficient, as only 50-60% of the coal can be recovered, the rest is left in the pillars and is effectively lost (Edmunds 16). The longwall method has been increasingly used by larger companies.

Native American Religions Essay

Native American Religions happen to be one of the oldest and most enduring forms of religion. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups. Native Americans arrived on the North American Continent fifth-teen thousand to twenty thousand years ago. Native Americans have literally sources that exist from only the last four hundred years even though Native American life covers perhaps twenty thousand years. Over three hundred tribes have been recognized by the United States government. Native Americans are the only known ethnic group in the United States requiring a federal permit to practice their religion. In the state of Virginia, Native Americans face a unique problem. Virginia has no federally recognized tribes. Native American Religions have also been known as American Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, Aboriginal, Indians, Indigenous, Original Americans, Red Indians, or Red Men. Native Americans religions are polytheistic. Native American Religions are remarkably free of priesthood. Native Americans are very personal in that they encourage Page 2 individuals to contact the spirit world alone. Native Americans believe that many levels of Gods and Spirits exist in the universe. They think of the High God or Great Spirits as a personal God. They believe in the Supreme Being in a manner found in many basic religions. Native religions have some of the qualities of monotheism, polytheism, and monism. Native American has been exposed to Christian eschatology for more than four hundred years. The influence of Christianity has been so strong that today most Native Americans are Christians. They are interested in the day-to-day life among the multiple spirits found in the world. Native Americans have a reverent attitude toward the land, trees, rivers, and mountains. Native Americans who practiced agriculture revere the soil, plants, and tree. Hunting was an important part of life within many Native American Cultures. The hunter would pray to the spirit of the animal before the hunt. Hunting was a religious pursuit in which the hunters saw the animal as a fellow creature, with a similar spirit. After all hunting’s one would ask the animal for forgiveness. They would basically perform a taboo. A religious action that enables people to avoid doing things that would offend the spirits of nature and the ancestors. This was one of the ways the Native American would protect themselves from possible danger from the spirit world. Another widely observed taboo is the avoidance of the dead. Taboo concerning about Page 3 the dead led Native Americans to be greatly concerned about their final resting places. There is no heaven for those who have been righteous and no hell for those who have been wicked. Native Americans often seek to control the forces of spirit world with ceremonies. The purpose of their ceremonies, rituals, songs, and dances is not necessarily worship. They are a mean of renewing the partnership between humans and the spirit world. Long hours of dancing in this atmosphere prepare the participants for contact with the spirit world. Holy week is also celebrated a song and dance. Native Americans often gain special powers by seeking visions that may place them in connection with the spirit world. Visions are sought by Native Americans at other times in life. The spirit may appear after a period of fasting and prayer, or sometimes without any preparation. The Sweat Lodge is probably the most important Native Ritual. The sweat lodge usually occurs before and after every other major ritual like the â€Å"Sundance† and â€Å"Vision Quest†. It is also a â€Å"stand alone† ritual meaning that it occurs whenever it is needed. Its original purpose was to cleanse or purify individuals. Mother sweat lodge essentially translates in to returning to the womb. The Sun Dance last from four to eight days starting at the sunset of the final day of preparation and ending at sunset. It showed continuity between life and death – regeneration. It shows that there is no true end to life, but a cycle of symbolic and true deaths and rebirths. All of nature is intertwined and dependent on one another. This gives an equal ground to everything on the Earth. The sun dance was a significant part of the Crow Indian people’s Page 4 spirituality. It was a spiritual retreat in which a large number of participants would fast, pray and dance for a period of days. They asked for answers to events going on in their lives. Traditional Native Americans seem to believe in two souls, neither of which is considered immortal. One soul is the life, or the breath, that accompanies the body. The other soul is known as the free soul. One of the most common elements of Native American Religions is the use of tobacco and the sacred pipe in religious ceremonies. Tobacco was originally grown and used only for religious purposes by Native Americans. The tobacco used in religious ceremonies is stronger than the tobacco used in cigarettes. The ritual tobacco is occasionally smoked in rolled from corn husks. Most Native American tribes had traditional gender roles. Men hunted, traded and made war, while women gathered plants, cared for the young and the elderly. Women ever had the task of making weapons and tools, they took care of the roofs of their homes and often helped their men hunt buffalos. Many Native American people believed in the unusual power of a woman at these times in life. During a women menstruation she was kept away from ordinary society. Native Americans today have a special relationship with the United States of America. In conclusion, Native Americans can be found as nations, tribes, or bands of Native Americans who have sovereignty or independence from the government of the United Statesry society. Like other religions, Native American belief systems include many sacred Page 5 narratives. Such spiritual stories are deeply based in Nature and are rich with the symbolism of seasons, weather, plants, earth, water, sky and fire. The idea of an all powerful Great Spirit, a connection to the Earth, diverse creation narratives and collective memories of ancient ancestors are common. Traditional worship practices are often a part of tribal gatherings with dance, rhythm, songs and trance.

Case Briefing and Problem Solving

Issue Spotters Delta Tools, Inc. , markets a product that under some circumstances is capable of seriously injuring consumers. Does Delta owe an ethical duty to remove this product from the market, even if the injuries result only from misuse? Why or why not? I think Delta Tools, Inc. doesn't owe an ethical duty to remove the product from the market unless the company doesn't warn its customers of the danger they can meet upon misuse of the product. If the company takes all the measures to warn their customers of the danger of the product once it's misused, customers have knowledge of the risk and voluntarily assume it.For example, the use of any antibiotics with the alcohol can lead to many harmful processes and activities. Nevertheless, pharmaceutical companies don't remove these products from the market because of that. It's a customer's responsibility to use the product properly. Case problems 8–1 Business Ethics. Jason Trevor owns a commercial bakery in Blakely, Georgia, that produces a variety of goods sold in grocery stores. Trevor is required by law to perform internal tests on food produced at his plant to check for contamination.Three times in 2008, the tests of food products that contained peanut butter were positive for salmonella contamination. Trevor was not required to report the results to U. S. Food and Drug Administration officials, however, so he did not. Instead, Trevor instructed his employees to simply repeat the tests until the outcome was negative. Therefore, the products that had originally tested positive for salmonella were eventually shipped out to retailers. Five people who ate Trevor's baked goods in 2008 became seriously ill, and one person died from salmonella.Even though Trevor's conduct was legal, was it unethical for him to sell goods that had once tested positive for salmonella? If Trevor had followed the six basic guidelines for making ethical business decisions, would he still have sold the contaminated goods? Why or why not? The issue in this case problem is whether Trevor's actions were unethical. In my opinion it was unethical for Jason Trevor to sell goods that had once tested positive for salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause many illnesses.Two basic ethical approaches can be applied to this case. Firstly, Trevor should've thought about his customers from the religious position. He could've foreseen that products positive tested on salmonella would harm people inevitably. Secondly, he had to consider the outcome of this sale. He didn't think about the consequences that can follow. He acted negligent by letting his employees ship the products to the retailers. If Trevor followed the six basic guidelines for making ethical business decisions he would not have sold the contaminated goods to the public.Having five people seriously ill and one person died because of the contaminated products harms the name of the brand associated with this incident. Thus, company loses its custom ers and, as a result, part of the revenues. I think Trevor also should feel guilty about what happened to those people meaning that on the Conscience step, which is the 4th guideline, he would've reconsidered his actions and probably changed his mind. I guess he would've not been happy to be interviewed about the actions he was about to take.And the next step, which is Promises to his customers, would've made him doubt his decisions because of the trust of the customers that he held in his hands. And I am sure Trevor's hero would not have acted the way that can harm people. Thus, Trevor would not have sold the contaminated goods had he followed the basic guidelines for making ethical business decisions. Brody v. Transitional Hospitals Corporation United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 280 F. 3d 997 (9th Cir. 2002). http://caselaw. findlaw. com/us-9th-circuit/1019105. html FACTS Jules Brody and Joyce T.Crawford filed a class action complaint against Transitional Hospitals Cor poration (THC) and its officers on August 28, 1997 accusing THC of unlawful insider trading after THC bought 800,000 shares of its stock between February 26 and February 28 without first disclosing that Vencor and other parties had expressed interest in THC. In addition, Brody and Crawford claimed that THC, in its March 19 and April 24 press releases, materially misled them about THC's intention to sell the company. The district court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss the claims. The plaintiffs appealed to the US Court of Appeal, Ninth Circuit.ISSUE Are Brody and Crawford the proper plaintiffs to sue THC for damages for violation of the statute and rule? regarding the insider trading? DECISION No. US Court of Appeal, Ninth circuit, affirmed the district court's decision to dismiss Brody and Crawford's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. REASON The Court noted that plaintiffs did not meet a contemporaneous trading requirement, a judicially -created standing requirement, which specified in Section 14(e) and Rule 14e-3 that the plaintiffs must have traded in a company's stock at about the same time as the alleged insider.In addition, the Court decided that the plaintiffs' complaint must specify the reason or reasons why the statements made by THC in its press releases were misleading. Brody and Crawford argued that in order for statement not to be misleading, â€Å"once disclosure is made, there is a duty to make it complete and accurate†, for which the Court found no support in the case law. The case law? only prohibits misleading and untrue statements, not statements that are incomplete. FOOTNOTES: ? Sections 10(b), 14(e), and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, 15 U. S. C.  §Ã‚ § 78j (b), 78n (e), and 78t (a), and Rules 10b-5 and 14e 3, 17 C.F. R.  §Ã‚ § 240. 10b-5 and 240. 14e-3, promulgated thereunder by the Securities Exchange Commission (â€Å"SEC†) ? Rule 10b-5 and Section 14(e) Full case: BRODY v. TRAN SITIONAL HOSPITALS CORPORATION Jules BRODY; Joyce T. Crawford, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. TRANSITIONAL HOSPITALS CORPORATION; Wendy L. Simpson; Richard L. Conte, Defendants-Appellees. No.? 99-15672. Argued and Submitted July 11, 2001. — February 07, 2002 Before: HALL, WARDLAW and BERZON, Circuit Judges. Jeffrey S. Abraham, New York, NY, for the plaintiffs-appellants. Mark R. McDonald, Morrison & Foerster, Los Angeles, CA, for the defendants-appellees.In this case we address several securities fraud issues, centering on whether a plaintiff must have traded at about the same time as the insider it allege violated securities laws. ? Jules Brody and Joyce T. Crawford brought suit against Transitional Hospital Corporation (â€Å"THC† or â€Å"the company†) and its officers claiming violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (â€Å"Exchange Act†) and state law because the defendants both traded in reliance on inside information and released misleading public information. ? The district court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Brody and Crawford now appeal the district court's order on several grounds. BACKGROUND In determining whether the complaint states a claim upon which relief could be granted, we assume the facts alleged in the complaint to be true. ?Ronconi v. Larkin, 253 F. 3d 423, 427 (9th Cir. 2001). ? The facts alleged in the complaint are as follows: THC was a Nevada corporation that delivered long-term acute care services through hospitals and satellite facilities across the United States. ? In August 1996, the company announced its plan to buy back from time to time on the open market up to $25 million in company stock. Two months later, THC expanded the repurchase plan to $75 million. On February 24, 1997, Vencor, Inc. submitted to THC's board of directors a written offer to acquire the company for $11. 50 per share. ? THC did not disclose this offer publicly. ? Between February 26 and February 28, THC purchased 800,000 shares of its own stock at an average price of $9. 25 per share. ? This $7. 4 million buy-back was in addition to another $21. 1 million that THC had spent purchasing its stock in the three month period that ended on February 28, 1997. The plaintiffs do not allege that the total repurchase exceeded $75 million. THC issued a press release on March 19, 1997, detailing the progress and extent of its stock repurchase program. ? The press release did not mention Vencor or any other party's interest in acquiring THC. The plaintiffs argue that because of this omission, the March press release was misleading. On April 1, 1997, Vencor increased its offer to purchase THC to $13 per share. ? In the next few weeks, THC also received offers from two other competing bidders. ? On April 24, after receiving all hree offers, THC issued another press release, stating that the company had â€Å"received expressions of interest from certain parties who have i ndicated an interest in acquiring† it. ? The same document also stated that THC had hired â€Å"financial advisers to advise the company in connection with a possible sale. † ? The plaintiffs argue that this press release was also misleading; because it did not state that substantial due diligence had already taken place, that THC had received competing offers exceeding $13 per share, or that a THC board meeting would take place two days later to consider these offers.At the board meeting, the THC board voted to negotiate a merger agreement with Select Medical Corporation (â€Å"Select†). ? On May 4, THC publicly announced that it and Select had entered into a definitive merger agreement and that Select would purchase THC at $14. 55 per share. ? Vencor thereupon threatened a hostile takeover. ? To fend off that maneuver, THC ultimately agreed, on June 12, to a takeover by Vencor rather than Select, at $16 per share. Brody and Crawford sold shares at times that sa ndwich the April 24 press release. ? Two days before that press release was issued, Crawford sold 500 shares at $8. 75 per share. ? Brody sold 3,000 shares of THC stock at $10. 50 per share on April 24, just after the press release was made public. ? The plaintiffs argue that had they not been misled by THC, they would have held onto their shares, and benefitted from their subsequent increase in value. Brody and Crawford filed a class action complaint against THC and its officers on August 28, 1997. ? In addition to alleging violations of Nevada state law, Brody and Crawford alleged violations of Sections 10(b), 14(e), and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, 15 U. S. C.  §Ã‚ §? 78j(b), 78n(e), and 78t(a), and Rules 10b-5 and 14e 3, 17 C.F. R.  §Ã‚ §? 240. 10b-5 and 240. 14e-3, promulgated thereunder by the Securities Exchange Commission (â€Å"SEC†). ? These claims focus on two aspects of THC's course of action: Brody and Crawford accuse the company of illegal insider trading beca use THC repurchased 800,000 shares of its stock between February 26 and February 28 without first disclosing that Vencor and other parties had expressed interest in THC. In addition, Brody and Crawford claim that THC, in its March 19 and April 24 press releases, materially misled them about THC's progress toward its eventual merger.The district court dismissed all of Brody and Crawford's claims. ? In so doing, the district court held that Brody and Crawford are not proper parties to assert any insider trading claims, as Brody and Crawford did not trade contemporaneously with THC. In addition, the district court decided that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim under Rule 10b-5 or any other law based on materially misleading information, as the press releases were not misleading under the applicable standards. The plaintiffs appeal these aspects of the district court's dismissal. We review de novo the district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Procedure Rule 12(b)(6). ?Zimmerman v. City of Oakland, 255 F. 3d 734, 737 (9th Cir. 2001). DISCUSSION A.? Insider Trading As they pertain to insider trading, Section 10(b), Rule 10b-5, Section 14(e) and Rule 14e-3 make it illegal in some circumstances for those possessing inside information about a company to trade in that company's securities unless they first disclose the information. See, e. g. , United States v. Smith, 155 F. 3d 1051, 1063-64 (9th Cir. 998). ? This type of prohibition is known as an â€Å"abstain or disclose† rule, because it requires insiders either to abstain from trading or to disclose the inside information that they possess. The district court dismissed the insider trading claims, holding that the named plaintiffs could not assert them because they did not trade contemporaneously with THC. On appeal, Brody and Crawford argue that nothing in the applicable securities laws requires investors to have traded contemporaneously with insiders in order t o maintain a suit for insider trading. In addition, they argue that even if such a requirement exists, they in fact did trade contemporaneously with THC. 1.? Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 Neither section 10(b)1 nor Rule 10b-52 contain an express right of action for private parties. ? The Supreme Court has held, however, that proper plaintiffs may sue for damages for violation of the statute and rule. ? See Superintendent of Ins. v. Bankers Life and Cas. Co. , 404 U. S. 6, 13 n. 9, 92 S. Ct. 165, 30 L. Ed. 2d 128 (1971). Because neither the statute nor the rule contains an express right of action, they also do not delineate who is a proper plaintiff. ? In the absence of explicit Congressional guidance, courts have developed various â€Å"standing† limitations, primarily on policy bases. 3 For example, in Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U. S. 723, 95 S. Ct. 1917, 44 L. Ed. 2d 539 (1975), the Supreme Court held that to bring an insider trading claim under Rule 10b-5, a plaintiff must have traded in the same stock or other securities as the insider trader. The contemporaneous trading requirement, at issue in this case, is another judicially-created standing requirement, specifying that to bring an insider trading claim, the plaintiff must have traded in a company's stock at about the same time as the alleged insider. ?In Neubronner v. Milken, 6 F. 3d 666, 669 (9th Cir. 1993), the Ninth Circuit adopted a contemporaneous trading requirement for Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 actions. ? See also In re Worlds of Wonder Sec. Litig. , 35 F. 3d 1407, 1427 (9th Cir. 1994). Neubronner explained that two reasons animate this rule: First, â€Å"noncontemporaneous traders do not require the protection of the ‘disclose or abstain’ rule because they do not suffer the disadvantage of trading with someone who has superior access to information. † ? 6 F. 3d at 669-70 (quoting Wilson v. Comtech Telecommunications Corp. , 648 F. 2d 88, 94 95 (2d Ci r. 1981)). ? Second, the contemporaneous trading requirement puts reasonable limits on Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5's reach; without such a limitation, an insider defendant could be liable to a very large number of parties. Id. at 670. Brody and Crawford offer two reasons why the contemporaneous trading rule adopted in Neubronner should not here apply. ? First, they argue that the rule does not make sense, as a matter of statutory interpretation. ? In other words, they request that we declare that Neubronner's interpretation of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 was incorrect. ? Although the decision in Neubronner is not beyond debate, we do not consider the question further, as a Ninth Circuit panel may not overrule a prior Ninth Circuit decision. ?Hart v. Massanari, 266 F. 3d 1155, 1171 (9th Cir. 2001).Brody and Crawford attempt to avoid this precedential barrier by claiming that Neubronner's implementation of the contemporaneous rule was dictum, and therefore not binding on us. ? It wa s not. ?Neubronner explicitly described its ruling regarding the contemporaneous trading requirement as a â€Å"holding. † ? 6 F. 3d at 670. ? In addition, the determination was a necessary predicate for the case's ultimate conclusion that contemporaneous trading must be pleaded with particularity. ? Id. at 673. Brody and Crawford's second submission in avoidance of Neubronner is that United States v. O'Hagan, 521 U. S. 642, 117 S. Ct. 2199, 138 L.Ed. 2d 724 (1997), overruled Neubronner. ? That assertion is simply wrong. ? O'Hagan, which was a criminal case, addressed neither the contemporaneous trading requirement in private actions nor any other standing rule. ? Instead, by approving of an expansive concept of who qualifies as an insider under Section 10(b), the Supreme Court in O'Hagan clarified that more defendants may be liable under Section 10(b) than some courts have previously thought. ? Id. at 650, 117 S. Ct. 2199. ? In so doing, the Supreme Court did not alter pre-e xisting notions concerning whom insiders harm when they trade based on privileged information. Brody and Crawford next argue that even if the Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 contemporaneous trading requirements remain, the court should define contemporaneous trades as trades that take place within six months of one another. ? Under this definition, Brody and Crawford would have standing, as they sold their stock just under two months after they allege THC bought the large block of stock in February. [3]? In Neubronner, this court did not decide the length of the contemporaneous trading period for insider trading violations under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, 6 F. d at 670, nor has this court decided the question since. ? Because the two-month time period presented by the facts of this case exceeds any possible delineation of a contemporaneous trading period, it is not necessary in this case either to define the exact contours of the period. ? We simply note that a contemporaneous tradi ng period of two months would gut the contemporaneous trading rule's premise-that there is a need to filter out plaintiffs who could not possibly have traded with the insider, given the manner in which public trades are transacted. 2.?Section 14(e) and Rule 14e-3 Brody and Crawford also argue that the district court erred in dismissing their claims under Section 14(e)4 and Rule 14e-35 by holding that insider trading actions brought under Section 14(e) and Rule 14e-3 must also conform to a contemporaneous trading requirement. ? In making this argument, the plaintiffs urge that we hold for them on two matters of first impression: (1) whether a private right of action exists under Rule 14e-3; and (2) if a private right of action does exist, whether it contains a contemporaneous standing requirement. We can assume, without deciding, that a private right of action exists under Rule 14e-3, for we see no reason why the same contemporaneous trading rule that applies under Rule 10b-5 would n ot apply in such an action. ?As noted, this court has definitively adopted a contemporaneous trading requirement under Rule 10b-5. ? Although Rule 14e-3 differs in some respects from Rule 10b-5, (and was adopted in order to plug some holes the SEC perceived in Rule 10b-5),6 its core, like the core of Rule 10b-5, is an â€Å"abstain or disclose† requirement. And, as is true of the â€Å"abstain or disclose† requirement of Rule 10b-5, the similar requirement of Rule 14e-3 is designed to prevent the disadvantage that inheres in trading with an insider with superior access to information. ?45 Fed. Reg. 60411-12 (1980). ? So we would have to have some excellent reason to adopt a different standing rule under Rule 14e 3 from the one we use under Rule 10b-5. ? We are convinced that there is no basis for drawing such a distinction. The best candidate appellants have advanced as a basis for differentiating the standing requirement under the two Rules is Plaine v. McCabe, 797 F. d 713 (9th Cir. 1986). ?Plaine held that a plaintiff suing under Section 14(e) need not have traded at all, let alone contemporaneously. ? Id. at 718. The fulcrum of Plaine was a distinction suggested by Piper v. Chris-Craft Indus. , Inc. , 430 U. S. 1, 38-39, 97 S. Ct. 926, 51 L. Ed. 2d 124 (1977), between the types of shareholder protections contained in Sections 10(b) and 14(e): Piper noted that while Section 10(b) was enacted to protect only individuals who actually traded in stocks, Section 14(e) can be understood as protecting not only those who buy or sell stocks but also shareholders who decide not to trade. 430 U. S. at 38-39, 97 S. Ct. 926. ? Because Rule 14e-3 was promulgated under Section 14(e), the argument that a plaintiff who alleges insider trading under Section 14(e) or Rule 14e-3 need not worry about the contemporaneous trading requirement-because he need not have traded at all-has some initial plausibility. On a closer examination, however, Plaine does not speak to the issue at hand. Rather, Plaine focused only on non-insider trading claims brought under Section 14(e), and did not consider the standing requirements for an insider trading claim brought under Rule 14e-3. Section 14(e) broadly prohibits â€Å"fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative acts or practices, in connection with any tender offer;† it does not contain any specific reference to insider trading. ? Rule 14e-3, on the other hand, focuses on one type of behavior, insider trading, whose prohibition is thought to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative acts. ? See O'Hagan, 521 U. S. at 672-73, 117 S. Ct. 2199. ? In accordance with its specific, prophylactic focus, Rule 14e-3 applies to a different set of behaviors than does Section 14(e): Section 14(e) centers on the actual tender offer, whereas Rule 14e-3 regulates illegal insider trading that takes place while a tender offer is under consideration. ? As appellants' brief states, â€Å"[a]ll the elements of a Sec tion 14(e)/Rule 14e-3 insider trading violation are supplied by the language of Rule 14e-3. A comparison of the facts in Plaine with the facts in this case illustrates the difference between the Section 14(e) claim considered in Plaine and the Rule 14e-3 claim considered here. ? Plaine held shares in a company subject to a tender offer. ? She complained that false information in proxy materials had induced other shareholders to tender their shares. ? Because so many other shareholders tendered their shares, the merger went through at a price Plaine viewed as inadequate. Although Plaine did not tender her shares, the court ruled that she alleged injury occurring as a result of fraudulent activity in connection with a tender offer and had standing to assert her claim. ?797 F. 2d at 717. ? Plaine did not, however, allege insider trading, and therefore could not have made out a claim under Rule 14e-3. Brody and Crawford, on the other hand, did allege insider trading but did not allege t hat THC manipulated the tender offer process through the use of false information or by any other means. ? As such, the facts in the current case present a very different situation than that presented in Plaine. The circumstances do, however, bear a much closer resemblance to those in Neubronner, a Rule 10b-5 case centering around accusations of insider trading in violation of an abstain-or-disclose requirement. ? See Neubronner, 6 F. 3d at 667. Despite the similarities of the issues here and in Neubronner and between Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3, as applied to insider trading allegations, Brody and Crawford emphasize the differences between the Rules. ? Unlike Rule 10b-5, Rule 14e-3 does not require proof that a person traded on information obtained in violation of a duty owed to the source of the inside information. Instead, Rule 14e-3(a) creates a duty for a person with inside information to abstain or disclose â€Å"without regard to whether the trader owes a pre-existing fiduciary du ty to respect the confidentiality of the information. † ? O'Hagan, 521 U. S. at 669, 117 S. Ct. 2199 (quoting United States v. Chestman, 947 F. 2d 551, 557 (2d Cir. 1991) (en banc)). ? Although Rule 14e-3 thus expands the notion of who is an insider, it does not follow that the Rule also expands the class of shareholders who may complain when an insider trades without disclosing insider information. As a result, the fact that Rule 10b-5 and Rule 14e-3 are not identical does not lead to the conclusion that one has a contemporaneous trading requirement and the other does not. More importantly, perhaps, in this case, the allegation is that THC traded in its own stock on the basis of inside information. ? Such allegations would state a â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtraditional’ or ‘classical’ theory of insider trading liability [under] Rule 10b-5 based on ‘a relationship of trust and confidence between the shareholders of a corporation and those insiders who have obtained information by reason of their position with that corporation. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  ? O'Hagan, 521 U. S. at 651-652, 117 S. Ct. 2199 (quoting Chiarella, 445 U. S. at 228, 100 S. Ct. 1108). ? As such, this case is one that could be-and indeed, was-brought under both Rule 10b-5 and Rule 14e-3, and as to which any differences between the two rules regarding the necessary relationship between the insider and the source of information is not relevant. Brody and Crawford note another reason that, they argue, suggests an expansive reading of Rule 14e-3 is appropriate. In O'Hagan, the Supreme Court ruled that the SEC is permitted to promulgate rules under Section 14(e), such as Rule 14e-3, that prohibit acts not themselves fraudulent under the common law if the rules are reasonably designed to prevent acts that are. ?521 U. S. at 671-73, 117 S. Ct. 2199. ? This authority derives from the prophylactic rule-making power granted to the SEC by Section 14(e), a power that has no parallel in S ection 10(b). ?Id.That the SEC had more power to protect investors when it promulgated Rule 14e-3 than it did when it promulgated Rule 10b-5 does not mean, however, that the SEC exercised that power so as to protect noncontemporaneous traders under Rule 14e-3. ? And, in fact, what evidence there is demonstrates that the SEC did not intend to protect investors who could not have possibly traded with the insiders. In O'Hagan, the Supreme Court quoted at length from and afforded deference to the SEC's explanation of why it promulgated Rule 14e-3. Part of the Federal Register excerpt quoted in O'Hagan stated: The Commission has previously expressed and continues to have serious concerns about trading by persons in possession of material, nonpublic information relating to a tender offer. ? This practice results in unfair disparities in market information and market disruption. ? Security holders who purchase from or sell to such persons are effectively denied the benefits of disclosure a nd the substantive protections of the [legislation that includes Section 14(e)]. 21 U. S. at 674, 117 S. Ct. 2199 (quoting 45 Fed. Reg. 60412 (1980)). This quotation evinces a particular concern for those who â€Å"purchase from or sell to† insiders, and suggests that these shareholders, and not others who trade later, are the intended beneficiaries of Rule 14e-3. ? The contemporaneous trading requirement, designed to limit the class of potential plaintiffs to only those who could have possibly traded with the insider, is therefore precisely congruent with the SEC's expressed purpose in promulgating Rule 14e-3.In sum, Rule 10b-5 and Rule 14e-3 contain similar insider trading prohibitions, triggered by similar concerns. ? While Rule 14e-3 focuses on the tender offer context, the background history and language of Rule 14e-3 indicate that the Rule does not alter the premise that a shareholder must have traded with an insider or have traded at about the same time as an insider t o be harmed by the insider's trading. ? We conclude that there is no principled distinction between Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3 as regards the need for a contemporaneous trading allegation.We therefore extend the contemporaneous trading requirement to insider trading actions brought under Section 14(e) and Rule 14e-3 actions. ? Because Brody and Crawford traded nearly two months after they allege THC traded, they did not trade contemporaneously with THC. The district court was correct in dismissing their Rule 14e-3 insider trading claims. B.? Misrepresentation We next consider a different set of concerns addressed by the securities laws: Rule 10b-5 and Section 14(e)'s explicit prohibition against the making of untrue or misleading statements. The plaintiffs do not maintain that either press release issued by THC was untrue. ? They do argue, though, that THC violated the prohibitions against making misleading statements when it issued the two press releases here at issue. ? In order to sur vive a motion to dismiss under the heightened pleading standards of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (â€Å"PSLRA†), the plaintiffs' complaint must specify the reason or reasons why the statements made by THC were misleading. ?15 U. S. C.  §? 78u-4(b) (1); see also Ronconi, 253 F. 3d at 429.As an initial matter, Brody and Crawford correctly assert that a statement that is literally true can be misleading and thus actionable under the securities laws. ? See In re GlenFed Sec. Litig. , 42 F. 3d 1541, 1551 (9th Cir. 1994). ? But they err when they argue that in order for a statement not to be misleading, â€Å"once a disclosure is made, there is a duty to make it complete and accurate. † This proposition has no support in the case law. ?Rule 10b-5 and Section 14(e) in terms prohibit only misleading and untrue statements, not statements that are incomplete.Similarly, the primary case upon which Brody and Crawford rely for their innovative completeness rule su pports only a rule requiring that parties not mislead. ? Virginia Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg, 501 U. S. 1083, 1098 n. 7, 111 S. Ct. 2749, 115 L. Ed. 2d 929 (1991). ? Often, a statement will not mislead even if it is incomplete or does not include all relevant facts. 8 ? Further, a completeness rule such as Brody and Crawford suggest could implicate nearly all public statements potentially affecting securities sales or tender offers. No matter how detailed and accurate disclosure statements are, there are likely to be additional details that could have been disclosed but were not. ? To be actionable under the securities laws, an omission must be misleading; in other words it must affirmatively create an impression of a state of affairs that differs in a material way from the one that actually exists. ? See McCormick v. The Fund American Cos. , 26 F. 3d 869, 880 (9th Cir. 1994).We conclude that neither Rule 10b-5 nor Section 14(e) contains a freestanding completeness requirement; th e requirement is that any public statements companies make that could affect security sales or tender offers not be misleading or untrue. ? Thus, in order to survive a motion to dismiss under the heightened pleading standards of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (â€Å"PSLRA†), the plaintiffs' complaint must specify the reason or reasons why the statements made by THC were misleading or untrue, not simply why the statements were incomplete. 15 U. S. C.  §? 78u-4(b) (1); see also Ronconi, 253 F. 3d at 429. ?Brody and Crawford's allegations do not comport with this requirement. ? They allege, first, that the press release issued on March 19 was misleading because it provided information about THC's stock repurchase program but did not contain information regarding THC's possible takeover. ? Although Brody and Crawford specify what information THC omitted, they do not indicate why the statement THC made was misleading. ? If the press elease had affirmatively intimat ed that no merger was imminent, it may well have been misleading. ? The actual press release, however, neither stated nor implied anything regarding a merger. ?Brody and Crawford also claim that THC's second press release, issued on April 24, was misleading. ? Again, the plaintiffs do not argue that the press release was untrue. ? Instead, they argue that it was misleading because it stated generally that THC had received â€Å"expressions of interest† from potential acquirers, when in fact it had received actual proposals from three different parties. Importantly, the complaint does not provide an explanation as to why this general statement was misleading, nor is it self-evident that it was. A proposal is certainly an â€Å"expression of interest. † ? Moreover, the press release did not simply state that there had been vague â€Å"expressions of interest;† it went on to state that the â€Å"expressions† were â€Å"from certain parties who have indicate d an interest in acquiring either the entire company or in acquiring the company, with the company's shareholders retaining their pro rata interests in Behavioral Healthcare Corporation [a THC subsidiary]. ? This specificity concerning the nature of the parties' proposals certainly suggests that something more than preliminary inquiries had taken place. Further, the press release additionally stated that the â€Å"Board of Directors has engaged financial advisors to advise the company in connection with a possible sale. † ? This additional information again suggested proposals that were concrete enough to be taken seriously. ? And the reference to multiple parties contained in the press release suggests an ongoing auction for THC was taking place with at least two participants.In short, the press release did not give the impression that THC had not received actual proposals from three parties or otherwise mislead readers about the stage of the negotiations. ? Instead, althoug h the press release did not provide all the information that THC possessed about its possible sale, the information THC did provide-and the reasonable inferences one could draw from that information-were entirely consistent with the more detailed explanation of the merger process that Brody and Crawford argue the press release should have included. Put another way, Brody, if he read the press release, would have been on notice, before he sold his shares, of the distinct possibility that the value of the shares would increase in the near future because of a takeover contest. 9 [11] Because Brody and Crawford have not alleged facts indicating that THC's April 24 press release was misleading, the district court properly dismissed that aspect of the plaintiffs' complaint. CONCLUSION Brody and Crawford have not met the contemporaneous trading requirements necessary to have standing in the insider trading claims they assert. Additionally, they have failed properly to allege misrepresentat ion against THC. As a result, we affirm the district court's decision to dismiss Brody and Crawford's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. AFFIRMED FOOTNOTES 1. ?Section 10, in relevant part, states: It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange-?..... b)? To use or employ, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security registered on a national securities exchange or any security not so registered, or any securities-based swap agreement (as defined in section 206B of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act), any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance in contravention of such rules and regulations as the Commission may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors. 2. Rule 10b-5 states: It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirec tly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails or of any facility of any national securities exchange,(a)? To employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud,(b)? To make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or(c)?To engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security. 3. ?These â€Å"standing† limitations are not, of course of the constitutional variety, grounded in Article III of the Constitution, but simply delineate the scope of the implied cause of action. 4. ?Section 14(e) states: It shall be unlawful for any person to make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to tate any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading, or to engage in any fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative acts or practices, in connection with any tender offer or request or invitation for tenders, or any solicitation of security holders in opposition to or in favor of any such offer, request, or invitation. ? The Commission shall, for the purposes of this subsection, by rules and regulations define, and prescribe means reasonably designed to prevent, such acts and practices as are fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative. . ?Rule 14e-3(a) states:(a)? If any person has taken a substantial step or steps to commence, or has commenced, a tender offer (the â€Å"offering person†), it shall constitute a fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative act or practice within the meaning of section 14(e) of the Act for any other person who is in possession of material information relating to such tender offer which information he knows or has reason to know is non public and which he knows or has reason to know has been acquired directly or indirectly from:(1)? The offering person,(2)? The issuer of the securities sought or to be sought by such tender offer, or(3)?Any officer, director, partner or employee or any other person acting on behalf of the offering person or such issuer, to purchase or sell or cause to be purchased or sold any of such securities or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for any such securities or any option or right to obtain or to dispose of any of the foregoing securities, unless within a reasonable time prior to any purchase or sale such information and its source are publicly disclosed by press release or otherwise. 6. ?Chiarella v. United States, 445 U. S. 222, 100 S. Ct. 1108, 63 L. Ed. d 348 (1980), considered, but did not decide, the viability of a misappropriation theory of liability under Rule 10b-5. ?445 U. S. at 235-37, 100 S. Ct. 1108. ?(A misappropriation theory extends liability to some parti es who trade in a company's securities on the basis of confidential information but who have no special relationship with the company's shareholders. ) Following Chiarella, the SEC promulgated Rule 14e-3, which clearly creates liability for insiders who trade in connection with a tender offer and do not disclose the inside information, regardless of their relationship to the shareholders or the source of the information. Then in 1997, the Supreme Court decided O'Hagan, answering the question left open by Chiarella and deciding that Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 do create liability under a misappropriation theory. ?521 U. S. at 650, 117 S. Ct. 2199. ? The upshot is that Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3 largely overlap with regard to the scope of insider trader liability, although they differ in some respects not here pertinent. ? See p. 1004, infra. 7. As we discuss below, in O'Hagan the Supreme Court approved Rule 14e-3 as a prophylactic rule designed to prevent core violations of Section 14(e) . ? See p. 1004, infra. 8. ?For example, if a company reports that its sales have risen from one year to the next, that statement is not misleading even though it does not include a detailed breakdown of the company's region by region or month by month sales. 9. ?We note that Crawford sold his shares before the April 24 press release, so he could not have been influenced in his trading by the release. BERZON, Circuit Judge.