Innocence in Daisy Miller, My Antonia, and the Great Gatsby Essay

Innocence in Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is not as easy as it seems to distinguish who is innocent and who is not. Innocence is a cultural concept which is usually confusing. An act that is naà ¯ve and normal in one society can be a public disgrace in another. Then a question comes to mind: What is innocence? Challenging the norms of a society makes a person totally wicked? What spoils or preserves innocence? The word innocence is ambiguous. It has double vision because people put different masks on their faces for different occasions. Innocence is also one of the themes that can be focused on three American novels: Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These three books help the reader to see the other side of the medallion and they suggest that it is our prejudices and cultural differences which shape our view of others. To start with James' novella Daisy Miller, the reliability of the narrator can be discussed. Winterbourne, an American but a Europeanised man is told to be an "extremely amiable fellow, universally liked." Everything looks alright with him. There seems to be no way to discuss his honesty, his innocence can be discussed because he does not really try to help Daisy. He is only affected by her in a physical way. If he had a chance of flirting with Daisy, he would not miss that chance also he would not marry her. He regards her as an innocent, fresh, and young lady but also he thinks that he is common and unsophisticated Winterbourne is not together with Daisy all the time. This is why his reliability as a source can be discussed. He is confused by her and t... ... illusions. They live in a broken paradise. Their life is full of corruption, moral decadence, hypocrisy, abusive power of money and shattered dream. Theirs is a demoralized civilization. But their honesty and innocence are not only corrupted by inner forces but also by the environmental factors. They live in a time of excess. They are a lost generation and they are afraid of poverty and worship to success as Fitzgerald says. To conclude James and Cather's novel characters have similar qualities. The females do not look moderate but they have a pure heart. Fitzgerald, who criticizes the corruption of American dream -not the dream itself- satirically presents seemingly respectable but actually spoiled and lost characters. These three novels tell the reader not to judge people just by appearance and they allow people to gain a new perspective on human behavior.

Biotech Ethics and Advancement Essay

Biotechnology: Of Ethics and Advancement Thousands of years ago, early man, like the rest of earth’s fauna and flora, was at the mercy of the elements; we relied on nature’s gratitude when it came to finding food and survival. As Charles Darwin would say, only the fittest could survive Mother Nature’s test. Eventually, however, a fully-evolved man turned the tide of the competition; we began to domesticate the once savage beasts we hunted and competed with like wolves and horses turning them into livestock and our own companions bred out of their natural ferocity, to grow our own food for our own and tart agriculture, and eventually we started to settle down into permanent communities. Man had transcended nature when the first steps of human civilization began to grow. Since then, man had crafted its own grand design for himself; the discovery of metals like Bronze and Iron, to the Pyramids of Egypt and Cities of Rome, and the rest, as they say, Is modern history. In the Modern world, we still have that said control, and with It we have now intrinsically used our knowledge to design nature herself In our Ideal Image. Technological Advancements have allowed us wield it as we pleasure. We can now edit Mother Nature’s work and remake It anew through our vast Interference with the body that is Science. The presence of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), Dolly and all her Cloned brethren, and Real life Cyborg-Animals are Just samples of what weVe done to her. Eventually, because of this, someone Just had to say It: â€Å"When will it be too much? When will we know when weVe gone too far? † That Is where Ethics falls in, our man-made balance of whether or not, In the most basic sense, what we do Is right or wrong. Ethics has long been a question of how much more we can do to these once â€Å"all natural† things and make them â€Å"artificially enhanced. When can we truly say that we, the â€Å"masters† have abused our power? One cannot mistake, however, that human alteration of natural things Is only a recent occurrence. Like I said, since the earliest ages of man we already tampered with nature as we sought. We turned once vlclous and wild wolves, through our process of selectively breeding the weaker ones, Into the loyal and lovable K9 friends we have today minus the genes of aggression. Pavlov strapped down dogs to make psychological breakthroughs In condltlonlng. World War 2 scientists strapped bombs to dogs, dolphins, and even bats to assist them In fighting the enemy. Indeed, this tinkering of human hands has always been there. It now falls onto us people of today to see If things can still be set as Is. How much more can we do for our species’ own satisfaction? The Ethical question must always be present whenever we trod upon something as sensltlve as the condltlon of llvlng things. Animals, Ilke any other llvlng being, have xtremes in straining those rights to our needs. The uncertainty of Science itself shows that we cannot always control what happens to them come experiment time. The fear of abusing these innocent creatures is always on the minds of the very ethical/moral such as Animal Rights groups and such. Modern Genetics and Technology have sometimes crossed lines for the sake of advancement, such as taking away a creature’s autonomy to turn them into â€Å"natural robots. † If this is truly how far Advancement has gone into sacrificing Life’s basic rules, then these righteous† people really do have a reason to riot and protest.

Inventory Accounting Essay

1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inventory costs: The use of LIFO for determining inventory costs under International Accounting Standards is prohibited, while it is permitted under US GAAP. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reversal of inventory write downs: Under IAS, it is required if certain criteria are met whereas US GAAP strictly prohibits it. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Basis of Inventory valuation: Under IAS, the inventory is carried at the lower of cost or net realizable value (NRV). Under US GAAP, Carried at the lower of cost and market (market is the lower of replacement cost and NRV minus normal profit margin). 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whether the costs of idle capacity and spoilage can be included in inventory Under IAS, it is prohibited. Under US GAAP, it is permitted. The change to IAS will avoid the biggest disadvantage of US GAAP that is; it permits LIFO to be used for inventory valuation where the oldest inventory costs are assigned to the inventory account which, when prices are changing can result in an inventory value that does not reflect the true current value. Also, in case of shift to IAS, US companies will not be able to show lower profits by using LIFO when prices are rising. US GAAP helped the companies to reduce their payment of taxes. Under US GAAP, extraordinary items are permitted but restricted to infrequent, unusual and rare items that affect profit and loss. However, it is prohibited under IAS. Thus, extraordinary items give companies somewhat of a â€Å"hall pass† with the markets, allowing them to sometimes report lower earnings but get credit for higher earnings. Obviously, it is tempting for companies to try to report every bad thing that happens as an extraordinary item. This can be avoided once IAS is in place. IAS is more comprehensive and clear. It would avoid misinterpretation by the companies.