Is Globalisation A Good Thing For Development Politics Essay

Is Globalisation A Good Thing For Development Politics Essay Globalization: Developmental Boon or Bane? Years ago, globalization was the curious buzzword which was viewed with much optimism by much of the world, including the poor and underdeveloped nations. The merging of the worlds economies promised great opportunities for growth and development especially for Third World economies. Today, there are two prevailing sentiments on globalization: either that globalization has resulted to prosperity for the poor nations or that it has resulted to the prosperity of the rich at expense of the worlds poor (Irogbe, 2005). This paper posits that while globalization have provided a range of benefits for underdeveloped nations, the wheels of globalization has led to the deterioration of national economies, marginalization of the South, cultural homogenization, and intensified international migration. Main Features of Globalization Globalization is a complex process which has many facets: economic, political and cultural. To understand this more concretely, discussed are the main features of globalization from the perspective of the developing world and how it is concretely manifested. Looking at globalization from a Third World lens is crucial to our understanding of it (Yotopoulous Romano, 2007). This is because, when viewed from the perspective of the First World, it is easy to appreciate the obvious benefits of globalization. For instance, globalization has enabled Americans to get hold of a wide range of products and services from all over the world. The margining of the worlds economies have allowed us to enjoy goods previously inaccessible to us because of high cost: for instance, fruits such as pineapples, bananas, and mangoes that is not homegrown in the United States. We can listen to world music, Africa, Jamaican, Latin American, and Arabic rhythms through our iPod all day long. What is not clearly visible to us is how the wheels of globalization impact the farmer in Southeast Asia, the coffee growers in Latin America, and the agricultural workers in Africa. Economic integration While faster interconnected through advanced technology and transportation is the most popular idea about globalization, globalization is a fundamentally economic phenomenon. The economic promise of free trade and free competition was supposedly designed to help Third World economies to gain market access previously impossible to penetrate (Lechner Boli, 2004). This has been true. Underdeveloped countries have been able to export their local products to developed markets unlike in the past (Sen, 2000). However, the bigger picture suggests because of the inherent asymmetries of the worlds economies, globalization also leads to asymmetrical development benefitting the rich countries more than the poor (Yotopoulous Romano, 2007). Economic integration through the merging of the global economies takes on three primary forms: liberalization, privatization, and deregulation (Benyon Dunkerley, 2000). Liberalization is the downgrading of the social goals of national development, combined with the upgrading of participation in the world market (McMichael, 2004, p. 158). This is achieved by reducing and eventually removing the barriers to flow of goods, capital, and services among countries, e.g. the removal of tariffs on agricultural products such as corn, rice, or beef. Deregulation means the reduction of the reduction of the role of governments in regulating trade and production and in providing services (Yotopoulos Romano, 2007). It adheres to the belief that the market is the most efficient and effective determinant of what should be produced and what would be consumed. Privatization in its purest sense means divestiture of state-owned enterprises or SOEs (McMichael, 2004). What used to be an ideological battl e between big government/welfare states and more marketless state has moved into the mainstream economic development debate under the guise of sound economic management and good governance (Benyon Dunkerley, 2000, p. 45). A deregulated market freed from the visible hand of government is the most efficient, less burdensome system that will result in economic progress through foreign investments, so goes the argument. Economic pragmatism and expediency are the main motives for privatizing today, driven mainly by balance-of-payment imperatives and the need to shift the burden of development from the public to the private sector (Leeds, 1990). To drive these three key strategies of economic globalization, two main institutions are responsible: the worlds transnational corporations (TNCs) and the triumvirate of public international financial institutions (Buckman, 2004). The global TNCs hold tremendous influence in global trade because it has control over investment, employment, and trading decisions which surpass the decision-making power of most developing countries. The triumvirate of the the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) act as a global overseer of the processes of economic globalization (Benyon Dunkerley, 2000). In theory, the triumvirate could be held accountable by the worlds governments but in practice, it has become a major global bureaucracy wielding enormous, largely unaccountable influence (Buckman, 2004, p. 87). The global privatization network includes multilateral and bilateral lenders, large MNCs, merchant banks, stockbrokers, accounts and manageme nt consultants, legal firms, marketing, specialist consultants, and think tanks (Leeds, 1990). The TNCs control the lions share of the world trade. The strongest among them, act more cohesively, in close cooperation with their respective governments, to assault or defend markets (Bello, 1997, p. 5). Hence, globalization also means the most intense competition even among industrialized economies. For instance, the United Sates and the business interests it represents stands to gain the most from globalization, which is why it has tried to dominate both the GATT-WTO and the APEC (Benyon Dunkerley, 2000). While imposing unilateral measures to protect its own market, the US is trying to prevent other countries from acting in the same way by invoking the principles of free trade. On another plane, many Northern governments, despite the neoliberal ideology of reducing the role of the state in economic matters, still heavily subsidize their agricultural products. These then become very ch eap and when dumped into the markets of developing countries, local products cannot compete. This explains why farmers in Chile, Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia have experienced destruction of their local economies such as in textile, transport, and even agriculture (Bello, 1997; McMichael, 2004). Political marginalization Globalization has also resulted to the political asymmetries leading to the marginalization of the South. Globalization has proceeded under the premise that modernization is the key towards the genuine development of the Third World. However, the dependency theory of development suggests that modernization will only lead to increasing domination of the major world economic players to the detriment of the poor nations. The basic decisions in global trade are still influenced by the dominant countries, leaving dependent nations with few choices because the parameters have already been set by the former (Willis, 2005). It is in the South where globalization as a political process really reduces the role of the nation state in terms of deciding the direction of development through macro-economic policies. Parallel to this is the qualitative strengthening of the institutions of global economic governance (Bello, 1997, p. 8). The main mechanism for this has been the debt trap, whereby highly indebted countries are compelled to undergo structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in exchange for more loans. The SAPs comes in the benign form of development loans from the World Bank but with them come harsh conditions or impositions on the developing nations to abandon crucial social services and domestic programs that benefit their local population. SAPs include having governments abandon health services, education, and environmental programs which are not profitable and hence, cannot be used to replay World Bank and IMF loans and interest. Eventually, this leaves countries solely dependent on the market as we ll as pricing systems well beyond their control. Essentially, the political process of globalization renders countries powerless over the fate of their national economies (Bello, 1997). Cultural homogenization Globalization leads to a borderless world, one which erases political and geographical borders, essentially making countries operate and act similarly. As a consequence, culture is also gradually being erased as the development of a global culture emerges (Norberg, 2003). Because of globalization, local products, cultures, and services disappear into this global culture one that is shaped and defined by the worlds economic and political powers. Critics have referred to this phenomenon as the McDonaldization of the world (Buckman, 2004). Globalization has also penetrated the sphere of culture and ideology. Cultural influences from the North are transmitted through the media whose impact is intensified by the spread of television, the use of the World Wide Web, computer products, and other technologies (Cohen Kennedy, 2007). The process of cultural homogenization or the fashioning of one global culture is presently ongoing. Aside from creating an insipid culture, it has also forced people to redefine their lives to promote this global culture. In order to make Nike shoes, designer clothing, and computers, poor Filipino and Indonesia farmers are forced to abandon their way of life to provide these consumer goods (Irogbe, 2005). Moreover, the environment is being degraded in order to provide room for giant farms for TNCs and ancestral lands of the indigenous peoples of the world are being plundered by mining TNCs (Bello, 1997). While the Internet has provided wider democratic space and a venue for greater cultural exc hange, the increasing homogenization of culture through the Internet has also created greater insecurity (Cohen Kennedy, 2007). International migration Globalization also means the waves of migration in search of better earning opportunities. With the relative ease in transportation and communication, the number of international migrants has approached staggering levels (Lechner Boli, 2004). Aside from the migration of people, jobs have also been shipped off to Third World economies a contentious issue for First World nations because industries are slowly dying in the latter because business processes are outsources to countries like India, the Philippines, and China. This has created tensions among the workers of the First World countries (Bello, 1997). Moreover, an increasing concern of globalization is the globalization of the sex trade. Women and girls are being trafficked across national borders for the purpose of prostitution (Irogbe, 2005). Conclusion Globalization has several implications on the world and not all of them are negative. It has been an important engine of growth for many poor countries (Norberg, 2003; Sen, 2000). Access to trade and foreign markets, more democratic structures of communication through technology, are some of its benefits. Nonetheless, as a result of intense competition of the economies and the inherently asymmetrical political and economic conditions of countries, the economic development now rest on the decision-making powers of a few nations, leaving poor countries dependent.

Heart Felt Wedding Speech from the Father of the Bride -- Wedding Toas

Heart Felt Wedding Speech from the Father of the Bride Thank you Ralph for that introduction – I must say that you are looking a great deal better tonight than when I last saw you after Polly’s 21st in the morning at our home. That was not a pretty sight. GENERAL Ladies and Gentlemen I am delighted to welcome you here tonight to celebrate the Marriage of Polly and Justin. I know that many of you have travelled many thousands of Kilometres to be here with us, and I welcome you and thank you for being here. I know Polly and Justin greatly appreciate your presence and your sacrifice. As I look around the room I look and realize what dear friends we have, and I hope you have a really wonderful evening. Although this Marriage has brought us together tonight, I am reminded of what Billy Connelly said of Marriage: â€Å"Marriage is a wonderful invention, but then again so is a bicycle repair kit.† LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS Because this is my speech, I can say whatever I like, and I would like to reflect for a few moments on love and relationships. This day ushers in the beginning of a wonderful new phase in lives of this couple. Perhaps the wisest thing anyone has ever said to me about marriage and love is this: love is a decision. On the surface it sounds a fairly clinical and unromantic assessment, but if you think about it a little deeper you will realize that there is truth in these words. It’s ea... ...on which this whole day has been built. In my life she has made me very happy, and I must take this opportunity to thank her not only for her enduring and mostly patient love, but also for planning and executing such a wonderful day as today. TOAST When I look back over the many wonderful years of my marriage, I envy Polly and Justin as they embark on one of life’s most exciting, and â€Å"interesting† journeys. It is now my very great privilege to propose a toast to my daughter and new son-in-law. Could you all please stand and with all the very best wishes, raise your glasses to Polly and Justin, as we wish them the greatest health and happiness for their future life together. TO POLLY AND JUSTIN!

A more customer oriented business :: essays research papers

Silk & Soft Srl is a family-owned company whose field of activity is the catalog retail sales of silk textures including a home delivery service. Since it was found, in 2002, the company succeeded to form a network of devoted customers by constantly sending its product catalogues directly through mail and also offering highly qualitative materials imported mainly from Asian countries (China, India, Malaysia etc.). During the first year, the business has proved to be quite profitable because of the limited number of employees and the low level of competition on the silk textures market in Romania. Starting with the year 2003, it was noticed that the sales began to decline due mainly to the entrance on the market of powerful retail chains, better said, hypermarkets that were selling silk textures as well at a lower price. In the situation of the stores, the customer had the chance to see the product and buy it at once. Taking into account the above presented evolution of the market, our company decided to switch from its traditional marketing strategy to a more customer driven process. Due to this, the Marketing Coordinator thought at that moment a more customer-oriented activity was needed. Such an activity could be achieved through increasing the number of employees and their involvement in providing a superior service to the customers. Employee knowledge and involvement were considered an important component of our marketing strategy and included the following actions to be taken: †¢ Take more care of customers. Sending catalogues by mail proved not being enough to develop our business. Thus, now the employees have to constantly talk to our customers and visit them. All salaried employees at our firm, including top management, are required to take a minimum of 50 phone orders each year. They have the duty to make customers feel important and appreciated by using their name and finding ways to compliment them, and taking into consideration that it is important to be sincere. All employees have also to think about ways to generate good feelings knowing that the customers are very sensitive and know whether or not you really care about them. They also have to thank the customers every time they get a chance. †¢ Keep the loyal customers. The employees have to develop "loyalty" programs where customers are rewarded for their fidelity. Such a program can include price discounts or gifts consisting in free silk textures on special occasions, such as birthdays, season holidays, weddings etc.

Clan X :: Essays Papers

Clan X There's a new kid at school, his name is Leigh, he thinks he is such a big shot-know all. When he rocked up at school on his very first day, he tried to do a fancy bunny-hop on his crappie, smashed up old bike and stacked it. It was hilarious, especially when he tried to get back on. He just fell straight over it again and broke three of his spokes and started to cry. He walked around school the entire week, showing off in front of everyone, telling them how good he was, trying so hard to be everyone's friend, but we made sure nobody liked him. We were part of a Clan I started called Clan-X. My gang members were: Rene, Grant, Mark, Trent, Tim, Daimien and myself, Cameron. We basically just pushed people around for kicks. Usually people that were half our size and walked around by themselves. We liked to blow up people's letter boxes the most, usually just at random. Whenever any new kids came to our school, we used to tease and make fun of them, so they felt unwelcome and had no fri ends. Usually they left the school, we loved it when they did that. Anyway, back to the story... On Friday afternoon, just after school, we were all walking home talking about how much of a loser this new guy was. By the time we got to the end of the street, we had all agreed that we should do something totally outrageous to his cat because he had been bragging about it all week. On Saturday, we all met up at the local park and brought along little tools which we thought might come in handy for this sinister exercise. Grant and Rene brought some rope and a switch-blade. Trent and Mark brought a bottle of methylated spirits and some matches. Tim and Daimien brought a voice scrambler and a mobile phone and I brought some explosives, which I got from the local markets. We thought about what we were going to actually do. Finally, I stood up and said, "Okay, First, I will jump Leigh's back fence and grab the cat. I'll take Tim and Daimien with me just in case I can't find it. Grant and Rene can then tie it up to a tree and cut it's whiskers off. Then Trent and Mark can saturate it with methylated spirits, (making sure not to drown it, as we want it to burn alive).

Powerful Approach To Teaching Physics Education Essay

In most local schools, structured enquiry, a really controlled attack, is the most prevailing type of enquiry instruction. Guided enquiry on the other manus is a modified construction in which the elaborate stairss on how to look into are non provided. This helps pupils to explicate their ain solutions when work outing the job. Students get critical thought accomplishments during this procedure. Open enquiry may non be suited for secondary degree because of its non-structured attack. Making usage of incompatible events in natural philosophies enquiries, consequences in cognitive struggle that enhances pupils ‘ conceptual apprehension and their attitudes towards critical thought activities ( Fensham & A ; Kass, 1988 ) . Discrepant events are fun to utilize because it creates this cognitive struggle that motivates pupils to believe critically, discuss and seek to explicate the incompatible event. There are many more ways of bring forthing enquiry such as utilizing presentations, prosecuting in hypothesis testing, affecting pupils in making scientific discipline and weaving inquiry-based research lab probe into every lesson. I feel that the burden lies on instructors to assist pupils do advancement from structured to guided enquiry by scaffolding the lesson ab initio. As pupils get better and confident at utilizing enquiry, this aid can bit by bit be removed, taking to guided enquiry. By fiting pupils to understand their milieus, they will be able to use the scientific procedure accomplishments learned in the schoolroom to every country of their lives. Harmonizing to Gardner ( 1983 ) , people express their acquisition in eight different ways. Every pupil has a preferable manner of acquisition and showing themselves. Classs are really diverse, therefore differentiated direction is required to provide to the multiple intelligences of pupils. Teachers must be unambiguously cognizant of the pupils in their schoolrooms every bit good as the content they are presenting ( Tomlinson & A ; McTighe, 2006 ) . Since pupils think really otherwise and larn constructs with assorted grades of success, it is imperative for instructors to happen ways to ease acquisition for everyone. Effective instructional schemes meet the demands of multiple groups of scholars at the same clip. Teaching with assortment can assist relieve ennui, supply more chances to larn and let pupils to believe and larn in their ain ways. Concurrently, this allows chances for instructors to widen students ‘ thought and acquisition repertory. Amongst there may be loath sch olars of natural philosophies who may hold some ability but deficiency motive. This is where differentiated direction might pull their attending and focal point on the topic. I believe that the key to differentiated larning includes working collaboratively with pupils to be after learning attacks so that many different attacks are available, letting pupils select ways that fit them best ( Kottler & A ; Costa, 2009 ) . Everyone additions non merely new information but new ways of larning through different look of thoughts and sentiments. When discoursing hard subjects in natural philosophies, the category can be divided into assorted ability groups. A set of inquiries with different trouble degrees are given to each ability group and pupils are to discourse their solutions to the job. I will name upon weaker pupils to show replies to simpler inquiries and better pupils to show replies to more ambitious inquiries. By using differentiated direction as an instruction tool, everyone learns collaboratively, and assurance can be built when pupils are able to reply the inquiries. Overall, pupils will profit through peer-mediated acquisition. Learning can be thought as roll uping information and apprehension it. It is of class possible to hive away big sums of information in your caput and regurgitate as needed. However, understanding makes productive believing possible ( Moseley et al. , 2005 ) . In natural philosophies, there are many facts and expression to retrieve. Schools have become good at jaming in and proving this sort of information ( Kusukawa and Maclean, 2006 ) . Students are frequently encouraged to memorise facts and expression in order to salvage the fuss of understanding them to the full. However, being able to remember facts and supply the right reply is nil compared to the value of understanding. Teaching for understanding is non easy. Understanding is the procedure of doing mental connexions to fall in spots of cognition into larger units so they make sense to one ( Newton, 2008 ) . Even if a instructor explains natural philosophies good, pupils may non hold grasped the construct because he/she might non understand in the manner a instructor does. As a instructor, we provide them parts of a saber saw and at the same time assist fall in these spots to other saber saw they already possess ( Cerbin, 2000 ) . In my sentiment, developing apprehension of natural philosophies cognitions can be fulfilling and actuating to pupils as it can assist them foretell or explicate new state of affairss. Although some things have to be memorised, we as instructors should promote pupils to construct on their apprehension before memorising the construct. As get downing instructors, we have to bear in head that the twenty-first century demands novel ways of job resolution and critical thought. A bove that, we need to hold the ability to dismantle thoughts and reassemble them. Our present learning methods must be invariably re-evaluated and aligned to the complexnesss of our society by emphasizing â€Å" significance over memorizing, quality over measure and apprehension over consciousness † ( Mintzes, Wandersee and Novak, 1998 ) . Teaching of natural philosophies requires both information and counsel from instructors in order to assist pupils larn. I now realize that there is a profound difference between geting information and gaining true apprehension. As a beginning instructor, I feel that alternatively of merely conveying information through one-way communicating, the instructor should make bipartisan or multi-way exchange, to assist pupils come on on the way to greater understanding. To represent this, I believe that we can do usage of end-of-unit undertakings to measure pupils ‘ apprehension of a peculiar subject by using the relevant natural philosophies constructs to undertake real-world state of affairss or jobs posed to them. Harmonizing to Schon ( 1983 ) , the first measure in looking in front requires one to look back and reflect upon your ain acquisition. It is of import to recognize what learning methods or schemes did or did non work when I was a scholar and interpret this to the same degree when I become a instructor in the current twenty-first century context.

Books vs. Movies

Books remain among the oldest and the most valuable inventions of the humanity and have a long and dynamic history, which started in those times when people felt a necessity to create lasting and easily accessible records of some important information. The first books appeared in Ancient Egypt, soon after invention of papyrus technique. Even in the beginning of the 20th century books were the most popular sources of information and the only carriers of literary works of any genres. There were millions of booklovers around the world, who enjoyed reading and developing own personality by obtaining knowledge from the books.But in the first decade of the 20th century a lot of changes took place, and one of the reasons of those was a revolutionary invention of cinematography. The first motion picture films started appearing, the first studios in the Hollywood area were founded and world’s cinema industry started developing. Nowadays, movies of different genres, from comedies to doc umentaries, became a corporate part of our life. It is hard to find someone who does not like watching movies, but the opinions whether they are better than the books, differ.This work is an attempt to examine and contrast the differences between books and movies. The first and the most important difference is the opportunity to imagine and visualize the scenes of the plot. While reading a book, we can use the power of our own imagination to picture characters or the events in details. But when watching a movie, we have to accept the visualization of the events, which is offered by the director. Certainly, movies can be advantageous, because they are visually stimulating and loaded with numerous special effects.However, books usually have deeper influence and remain longer in our minds, because all the work on â€Å"visualization† of the events is done by us ourselves. Another significant difference between books and movies is being a source for one another. It is known that screenwriters and movie directors often create their masterpieces based on the plots of popular books, and the examples of this include a number of movies about Harry Potter and Hannibal Lecter, â€Å"The Lord of the Rings†, â€Å"The Da Vinci Code†, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, â€Å"The English Patient†, â€Å"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest†, â€Å"The Godfather† and hundreds of others.Nevertheless, there are few incidents, when books are written on the plots of popular movies, because in such cases it is really difficult for the writers to offer something new and appealing. There are more differences. As a rule, reading books requires more time, as well as more attention and concentration of the reader. At the same time, watching a movie does not take long (about 2-3 hours) and frequently does not require being totally focused on it. In addition, it is only a personality and previous achievements of the author, which can attract attention of potential readers to a new book.As to a new movie, there can be personalities (and previous achievements) of the director, the screenwriter, as well as the names of one or a number of actors, which can attract public attention and make more and more people watch it. Yet another difference is availability of books and movies. It is possible to read a book almost everywhere. Books are light, small and can be even placed in a pocket (so called pocket-books). That is why they are, undoubtedly, the best solution to fill the time in a queue or during a plane trip. However, not everyone can afford watching movies at any time and place.Only those, who have laptops or portable CD/DVD players with monitors, can play movies wherever they wish. The majority of people are still bounded to cinemas, TVs, home cinemas, home PC stations, etc. Undoubtedly, everyone has own opinion regarding the advantages of reading books and watching movies, and the comments like â€Å"Books are better because they are more descriptive and seem more real,† or â€Å"Movies are just easier sometimes. They take less time and less concentration,† perfectly reflect the opposite viewpoints of young Americans on these two concepts (Stratta & Broderick, n. d. ).Nevertheless, I suppose that it would be better and really fair to understand books and movies as two different genres of entertainment and learn to appreciate them both. Outline I. Books A. Historical information B. Being the only source of knowledge II. Movies A. Cinema history B. Becoming everyday entertainment III. Differences A. Opportunities to use imagination and visualize the scenes. B. Being a source for one another C. Necessary time and concentration D. Personalities, who can contribute in promotion. E. Availability IV.Different opinions A. Comments of people B. Suggestion to enjoy the benefits of both books and movies Bibliography: †¢ Stratta, E. & Broderick, M. (n. d. ). Movies Sink in the Battle vs. Books. In Depth Page. Marian High School Official Page. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from . †¢ The Book vs. The Movie. (2002, November 11). CBS News Online. Associated Press. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved Apri 19, 2007, from: .

Comparing the ways Edgar Allen Poe and Bram Stoker convey horror through writing Essay

Through this essay you will see how although the writing style of Edgar Allen Poe in ‘The Black Cat’ and the style of Bram stoker in ‘The Judges House’ is completely different, they both manage to achieve the same effect – leaving the reader anxious, excited, mystified and scared. Both these authors stories were written before the nineteen hundreds, a time when people were just understanding the ways the world works. In this time horror stories were very popular. The perspective of both Poems is different. In The black cat Poe writes in a first person perspective: â€Å"Today I die and tomorrow I would unburden my soul†. Where as Stoker writes in a third person perspective: â€Å"Malcolm Malcolmson made up his mind†. The use of third person in this story displays the feelings of more than one character and you can build up more fear than first person by using devices such as rhetorical questions by other characters for example when Mrs Cranford cries â€Å"not the Judges house!† it creates the feeling of horror and helplessness. First person perspective makes you feel sorrow for the character. If Edgar Allen Poe had written the black cat in Third person perspective You wouldn’t get the emphasis of his emotions, how he feels regret of what he has done, fear of this new animal and superstitious about the strange imprint on the wall. For example, when he writes â€Å"gradually, very gradually I came to look up on it with unutterable loathing†. This really emphasises the hated of the animal, an emotion that would not have been able to have been shown to that extent in third person. It is also more believable as it is through the eyes of the beholder. At the start of the black cat Poe starts off very secretively, he writes of something horrible that has happened to him, but he will not expand on what this occurrence is: These events have terrified, tortured and destroyed me†. This suspense adds to the mystery of the first scene. Poe writes, â€Å"tomorrow I die† showing something horrible has happened to him. The fact that this is not in chronological order keep you wondering throughout the story what is going to happen and keeps you in suspense. It also keeps you trying to link the current storyline to death, for example, when it says about the new cat: â€Å"It was a black cat – a very large cat-fully as large as Pluto and closely resembling him† you are thinking how this new cat could be linked to his death. Stoker, however has a very different approach to build up mystery. He uses setting whereas Poe does not. When he describes the lodgings he describes it as a gothic residence: â€Å"with heavy gables and small windows set higher than was customary in such houses†. Gothic residences have always been associated with death and fear in horror movies. He describes the village as empty: â€Å"desolation was the only term for conveying a suitable idea of its isolation† the idea of a desolate empty place is the perfect setting for a horror story. The fact that the house has been empty for so long indicates something dreadful has happened there. The locals all seem to know something dreadful about the house. It seems that Malcolm is the only person who doesn’t know what’s going on there. When Mrs Cranford cries at him â€Å"not the judges house!† it creates a feeling of dread for what is going to happen to Mr Malcolmson. Poe uses superstition to add to the mystery. The first little bit of superstition is when he reveals that his wife believes that all black cats are witches in disguise. This brief, initial introduction of superstition creates mystery in your head, and it makes you think, ‘what if black cats are really witches in disguise.’ When the cat imprint appears on the wall, the character tries to dismiss the supernatural happening with a far fetched logical explanation. He tries to say that someone tossed the hanging corpse of the cat in through the window to try and wake him up. He then tried to say that because the wall was freshly spread plaster, it did not fall down. He said that the ammonia from the carcass had made the impression on the wall. Edgar Allen Poe had purposely made this string of events unbelievable so that the reader would know that there was something strange going on. I think that the imprint was a symbol that the cat was not dead and that it was an omen that it was going to come back to haunt him. The new cat was very suspicious, the fact that it looked a lot like Pluto made you think that it was a demonic symbol of Pluto. The cat gets more and more attached to him but he is reluctant to interact with it because he feels the supernatural element of this situation. He begins to hate the cat and the fact that it is always around him: â€Å"Its evident fondness for myself rather disgusted and annoyed me† but he wont harm the cat for fear of what will happen and regret of his previous crime: â€Å"at times although I longed to destroy it with a blow I was withheld from doing so partly by memory of my former crime but chiefly – let me confess it at once – by absolute dread of the beast†. The fact that it wont leave him alone, and that drives him madder and more angry makes it seem like the new cat is testing his willpower to leave it alone. His fear grows as the cat follows his every step. The only difference between Pluto and the new cat was a white splodge on its belly. It turns out later that this splodge is actually a image of gallows. The image grows in size until the character can clearly make out the image. his realisation of what this means is clearly shown in this quote â€Å"Gallows! – oh mournful and terrible engine of horror and crime – of agony and of death.† He has realised his fate – death. He feels remorse for what he had done to Pluto. He knows that this ‘beast’ is an image of Pluto. A symbol of god: â€Å"a brute beast to work out for me-for me, a man fashioned in the image of the high god – oh insufferable woe! He believes its is god in disguise of a cat† Stoker also uses supernatural elements. Every night the rats come out and make a lot of noise. They run up and down the alarm bell. They all stop suddenly a run away as a giant rat comes down the alarm bell. The rats are scared of this larger rat indicating that this rat is evil. Stokers description of the rat makes it sound evil: It showed its great white teeth and its cruel eyes shone in the lamplight. When Malcolmson throws a book at the creature to try and scare it, but it does not flinch. But when he throws a bible at the rat it scampers away. This indication of good/evil shows that the rat is evil. It is well known that Satanic beings such as this rat fear holy objects such as a bible and a cross. When Malcolmson realises that the rats eyes are identical to the picture of the Judge the figure of the judge disappears. He then turns round and sees the judge. The judge smiled in a cruel way: With his baleful eyes glaring vindictively, and a smile of triumph on his face† The judge does not say much in this last scene, I think this is important. Stoker did this so his character was not totally revealed. He remained a mysterious character. The descriptions of horror in The Black cat are very in depth: â€Å"I grasped the poor beast by its throat and purposely cut out one of its eyes from its socket.†. He doesn’t linger on this for long. These shock tactics really build up the horror in this story by making you feel horrified and shocked. Another example of this is when he kills his wife: â€Å"I withdrew my arm from her grasp, and buried the axe in her brain.† This again shows the shock tactics used when describing the horror scenes. His violence gets gradually worse. All his violence is triggered by anger or drink: â€Å"Through the instrumentality of the fiend intemperance had (I blush to confess it)experiences a radical alteration for the worst. I grew day by day more moody, more irritable regardless for the feeling of others. First he verbally abuses his wife, this turns to physical violence towards his wife and animals – except Pluto: â€Å"I suffered myself to use intemperate language towards my wife. At length I even offered her personal violence. My pets of course were made to feel the change in my disposition. I not only neglected, but ill-used them.† Then he cut out Pluto’s eye when he scrammed him on the face. This again is due to him drinking. Poe writes â€Å"one night, returning home much intoxicated†. The guilt of doing this to Pluto and the sadness that it once had loved him got to him and he hung the cat in cold blood: â€Å"I hung it with tears streaming from my eyes† this shows his remorse when hanging him. The guilt of what he had done prevented him from hurting the new cat, until one day when the cat nearly tripped him up in the cellar he grabbed and axe, but his wife prevented him from killing by grabbing the axe. He then split her head open with the axe. The violence gradually gets worse and worse, building up the horror as it goes along. Stoker uses less graphic description, but instead uses reactions of characters to create the fear: â€Å"not the judges house†. This, I think is one of the main advantages of introducing characters into the plot. A disadvantage is that it can take the focus of the main character. They both use pattering to create fear in their stories. In the Judges house the same thing happens every night. He drinks too much tea, then out came the rats making all the noise and finally they all stopped when the large rat emerged. This also happens in the black cat. His violent acts are all triggered by alcohol. Pattering creates suspense, which in turn makes you wonder how does this link with what is happening in the story. The two writers both use logical explanations to try and explain why these things are happening. In the black cat, The character makes up a ludicrous explanation to explain why there was an imprint on the wall. He tries to say that someone must have thrown the cat through the window in an attempt to wake him up. He says that the wall didn’t fall down because it had just been plastered and that the ammonia from the carcass has made the imprint on the wall. In The Judges house Malcolmson’s explanation for all the events that are happening is that he was drinking too much tea and it was making him delusional. Both of these are deliberately far fetched so that the reader knows that something super natural is going on. Stoker uses a more descriptive style in his writing. He describes the scene, the weather and the people in far more depth than Poe: â€Å"The carving of the oak on the panels of the wainscot was fine, and on and round the windows and doors it was beautiful and of rare merit†. I prefer the descriptive writing of Stoker because it creates an image in your mind. Especially with the weather. Stoker uses the weather to great effect. When the thunder was lashing down toy could tell something bad was going to happen. This effect is used in a lot of horror stories. In my opinion, I prefer Stokers method of creating horror. I think the introduction of characters brings in a new element to the story. It creates an atmosphere of bewilderment and isolation. I say isolation because everyone seemed to know what was going on but Mr Malcolmson. However, as a whole I think I preferred The Black cat by Edgar Allen Poe. I think this is because I am used to modern stories, and this storyline is a bit more advanced and modernised than The Judges House. As I am used to modern horror stories I can relate to this story better. I think that the plot has some realism to it, more so that Stoker’s story. I don’t think Stokers story was linked together very well and it all seemed a bit distant.