Literature Contrast Essay Example for Free

Literature Contrast Essay Compare between A Clear Well-lighted Place and A Rose for Emily Abstract: Hemingway and Faulkner both were winners of the Nobel Prize in literature, and had world-wide fame. Although they were close friends, they created rather distinct literary world for their readers. A Clear Well-lighted Place and A Rose for Emily are rather typical of their works. This essay aims to reveal the differences and uncover their unique appeal through analyzing these two novels from four perspectives: theme; character; characterization; writing style. Key Words:Hemingway;Faulkner; theme; character; characterization; writing style. Introduction: A Clear Well-lighted Place expresses an old man’s loneliness and despairs for life. The old man wanted to stay up in the bar and kept drinking, while the young waiter complained a lot and drove him away, but the older waiter showed more sympathy. A Rose for Emily is also a sad story about a girl named Emily who was raised by her father and forbidden to contact with outsides. she poisoned her boyfriend and kept his corpus beside her till death. . Theme The theme of a novel is its controlling idea or its central insight. Being an idea or an insight, the theme should be capable of unifying the whole novel. A Clear Well-lighted Place is the one of early works of Hemingway. The depression and hopelessness left by the world war were not easy to be erased. People may be rich, like the millionaire, but when night dawned, his loneliness and despair for this world force him to find a clear well-lighted place, for light symbolized hope. Faulkner’s work mainly depicted life in Southern slavery-based society, and try desperately to reproduce a south town around the civil war and focused on people’s stubbornness: they refused to admit the original south was gone. This story spanned about 74 years telling a life being restricted and isolated and in return try to isolate others. Character The old man’s character is complex, being depressed and wearisome, but still kept his dignity; rich, but unhappy; mature, but lost his belief. For example, â€Å"It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. †(A Clear Well-lighted Place. Ernest Hemingway) This paragraph is at the beginning. He would rather spend the time sipping alone. Besides, he chooses to sit under the shadow instead of the light, and the shadow symbolize the gloom and despair. However, in the William Faulkner’s novel, A Rose for Emily , arrogance, mental confusion, stubbornness and a nature passion for love have all together shaped Emily, and have eventually led to her doom. Her loneliness accompanied her for her whole life. I want some poison, she said. Yes, Miss Emily. What kind? For rats and such? Id recom I want the best you have. I dont care what kind. The druggist named several. Theyll kill anything up to an elephant. But what you want is Arsenic, Miss Emily said. Is that a good one? Is . . . arsenic? Yes, maam. But what you want I want arsenic. (A Rose for Emily. William Faulkner) This is a conversation about Miss Emily. From the dialog between Miss Emily and druggist . when the druggist did not finish, Emily interrupted in and say she did not care. We can see her arrogance. When the druggist asked many times about her want, Emily pay no attention and repeated the word arsenic again and again. It showed her stubbornness. Characterization In the dramatic Characterization method the author form our opinion of the characters from what they do and say, from their environment, and from what other characters think of them. Just like the story in A Clear Well-lighted Place, Through the monologue of the older waiter, we know the old man’s loneliness and desire for light and hope. Through the old man’s own behaviour, like staying up under the shadow, we know his despairs and gloominess. In the analytic method the author comments upon the characters, explaining their motives, their appearance, and their thought. The narrator of A Rose for Emily is called first person . The author uses much comments upon the characters. For Emily, he shows more sympathy than blame, and he owe her tragedy to the unjust doings of her father. Writing Style Their images in A Clear Well-lighted Place are shown vividly with concise and plain words, and refined rhetorical skills. Ernest Hemingway advocates using the simplest and fewest words, direct description and short sentence. For example,In the daytime the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. (A Clear Well-lighted Place. Ernest Hemingway) In this excerpt, few adjectives and no difficult words are used. Also there are no long sentences and compound sentences. While Ernest Hemingway pursues the beauty of simplicity, his friend William Faulkner become a master of a rhetoric, highly symbolic style . which will employ many long complex sentences. For example, When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument , the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant—a combined gardener and cook—had seen in at least ten years. (A Rose for Emily. William Faulkner) Notice the dash, commas and the clauses. In fact, clauses found in the sentence are in opposition of each other, and so Faulkner successfully depicts a sound scene within one sentence. Conclusion We have studied two classical novels from the four perspectives: theme; character; characteristics; writing style. Both novels told sad stories, but their theme are distinct. The first story lasted for one night while the second one spanned for 74 years and covered much more content. The old man and Emily shared the loneliness, but the other features varied a lot. The first story was short, simple and full of philosophical meanings, nevertheless, Faulkner’s lengthy and obscure. Despite of all these differences, they made good impression on reader. One is like the sharp mountain, clear, simple, but not easily to climb, while the other is a lengthy river, twisted, obscure, and need you to dive in to feel it. References: [1]  ·. [M]. : ,1983: 32. [2] ,. â€Å" †[J]. ( ) ,2010,( 7) : 105 107. [3] . [M]. : ,2002: 6. [4] Justus,James H. Hemingway and Faulkner: Vision and Repudiation [J]. The Kenyon Review,New Series,1985,7( 49) : 1 14. [5] Philip M. Weinstein. ———  · [M]. : ,2000. [6]  ·. [M]. : ?,2006.

Impact of Instagram on Social Networks

Impact of Instagram on Social Networks How Instagram makes us sociable Introduction The world has really transformed in terms of technology. Technology is the only thing that changes at a very fast rate. Every day we wake up to a new innovation of technology and ideas. Technology through internet has managed to bring the world together in terms of communication. Despite the varying time zones in different parts of the world, Internet has paved way for Social networks that are turning be a vital field for advertising and creating awareness among people. The internet is a branch of technology where there is loads of traffic. Internet has now become a necessity and has managed to globalize the universe and make it as a small village where people interact freely despite the location and time of the specific region. It has as well given rise to several social networks that allow people to stay connected and in touch at any time of their convenience. Some of the well-known social networks include Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. These social platforms have allowed busines s people to advertise their companies as well as the products being marketed. This research paper will focus on how Instagram has managed to make people more sociable. The previous notion was that social networks are responsible of making people lonely and create an ambience of loneliness. It will shade more light on how Instagram brings people’s social life into one stage where each and every individual is required to register an account with so as to be given the unique credentials for logging in and interact with other subscribers. Businesses are now turning to social Medias to advertise and promote their sales. This is because of the ever increasing social traffic which is always present regardless of the time or the place of business. Instagram has remarkable improved social exposure and this research paper will conclude on its importance based on purely facts and figures. Thesis The Research topic that this paper is going to investigate in detail is whether Instagram as a Social network has managed to make people more sociable rather than lonely. My stand on the above argument is that I personally believe and completely agree to the fact that Instagram has truly managed to make people more social as compared to before the beginning of social networks. In order to second my stand in opinion, we will use a demonstrative example trying to campaign for an election contestant who is vying for an elective sit. This will put us in a position able to compare the different forms of campaign and establish the one which managed to reach the most number of people. For my research, I will employ Instagram as one of the trending social networks to establish whether it is making people to be more social rather than lonely. Before putting keen emphasize to the example above we can simply ask ourselves as to why businesses are also targeting the social population as a potential field for advertisement. This is just a way of proving that Instagram (one of the social networks) has made people more sociable and has improved communications. Loneliness on the other hand can be defined as being isolated from the other members of the population and still not in a position to keep in touch with them. A lonely person is one who cannot keep in touch and communicate with others at free will. How can Instagram promote loneliness from our definition of the word itself? Instagram has managed to allow people keep in touch hence my support for the Research topic. Literature Review Social network has been essential in changing the internet from a space widely known for broadcast of information or transmission to a place where users are involved in creating and generating their own personal content. This ranges from short films on You Tube to Facebook updates. This is then followed by the process of signposting their networks to the other contents created by other users (Beer, 2008: Thelwell, 2009). For literature purposes, there is a very clear attention on the extent to which social media has become transformative through the way that users keep in touch with one another. Evidences from several sources around that could be found with less difficulty show that campaigning and influencing is the most effectively done activity through people’s already existing social relationships (Alinsky, 1971; Freire, 1970). Despite the fact that all social media platforms play a major role in this, there is a general sense in which social networks have increasingly bec ome powerful. The masses that can be reached within a given short period of time via social networks are overwhelming. One post with no duplicate of exactly the same information can be viewed and followed by thousands if not millions at a blink of a second. Most of the already existing social networks were initially established on the basis of a more tailored proposition rather than merely creating an online space where people with common interest could interact freely. My space, for instance, is a social network which was initially started with the sole purpose of enabling aspiring music artistes to share and publicize their own piece of work with other likeminded people among the society. (Pace, 2006). Facebook started as a mere service for students in a U.S university which gradually broadened their service to other non U.S universities and this is even before making the platform accessible to everybody (Kirkpatrick, 2010). This is how social networks simply start and end up being a populated platform with millions of users all over the world. Social network sites provide new audience for civic engagement and for political participation. This facilitates information sharing and brings together networks through actions such as utilizing email, networking practices and user generated content (Montgomery 2007;Vromen 2007;2008). Research studies in Saudi Arabia have shown that 38% of 17-19 year olds employ Social networks (Instagram) for both political and civic engagement (Smith et al. 2009). Political leaders are using Instagram to post images of peace that advocate for peaceful coexistence. The many followers the politician has in Instagram media platform will be able to see what their leader is promoting and even leave a comment if they wish to. Moreover, the followers can get the images from the Politician’s profile and put it as their own so as to spread the message. This is just a simple example of how Instagram has enabled leaders in Saudi Arabia to campaign within a short period of time. For the young generation who do not think through their participation in either civic or issue-based functions as â€Å"political† in the institution or traditional sense, Social networks are used to connect the individuals who have similar interests about their own projects (Collin, 2010). Young people are coming up with new participatory communities which are by and for their peers. (Harris 2008:489; Boyd 2007:13-14). In addition, services and organizations are increasingly observing social networking practices as the succeeding step towards youth participation in community and government decision making (Collin 2010). Despite the fact that there are still queries as to the extent to which social networks function as virtual public spheres, fostering deliberation and enabling direct participation (Vromen.2008). However, the network for communicating information and numerous point of view â€Å"Public sphere† permits the recognition of creative digital expression through the social networks as civic engagement (Burgess, et. al,2006).There is a vast body of academic work on social networks and technology at large which take into consideration the creative, performativity and participatory dimensions of the current digital practices. The general usage of social media can simply be described as the collective media creation and sharing on a legitimately large scale. This includes social network services as well as other participatory activities like news blogs. The rapid up take of both social media and social network services by the young people indicate a very important shift in young generation’s use if internet mainly for information and entertainment as one way of communication. The young generation is made of â€Å"producers† who actively produce as well as consume media (Bruns 2008). The participatory media ambience enables the young to take part in creative content production. This also empowers them with brand new means of creating as well as sustaining connections among themselves. As a result, Social network platforms have resulted into new discussions on how to conceptualize and advocate for what has come to be termed as cyber citizenship (Bennett, 1998, 2003: Coleman, 2005). Research Methodology As mentioned earlier on in this research paper, I will use a politician social network campaign program via Instagram to establish the power of the social platform in terms of moving masses within a short period of time. I will visit colleges and higher institutions of learning and promote students to register accounts with Instagram. This on the other hand will simplify my work because I expect only few students if any who will not be having accounts with Instagram. I will then advise all the students to follow the Politian’s account so that they can be able to be informed about the Politian updates in his process of campaigning. I will collect my data for analysis by counting the number of likes and dislikes for each and every update the politician makes. The number of likes will give me a rough idea before the actual data analysis whether the social platform is in support with the campaign trend or not. Reading through the comments left behind by the followers will help me to conclude the factual side of support or critic from the public. The advantage of this methodology is that it comes at no extra cost to the students since opening an Instagram account is predominantly free and there is free access to internet services in campuses. I will collect all the data throughout the campaign period and code it statistically and appropriately while observing all the statistical hypotheses. In collaboration with the election contestant, I will pose some questions that call for discussions among the respondents (students on Instagram). This will create a thread of comments and opinions from the online traffic generated. I will then read through each individual comment and take it as the opinion from the respective person. Depending on the number of opinions and comments that I will get, I will decide on picking a representative sample of the entire online Instagram traffic. This sample will be free from biasness and will be selected using a statistical formula called â€Å"Fishers et. al†. I will base on factors such as age, gender and level of education to ensure that I come up with a good representative sample of the entire school Instagram accounts. . (Raatma, L. 2010) I will employ systematic random sampling technique to allocate my sample. This will be because of some factors that I find necessary to be observed. These factors will ensure that the selected sample is a true representation of the population at large and inferences drawn from it will be descriptive and informative about the population. I will ensure accuracy of the data by designing self-explanatory research questions that can be easily answered by the online Instagram users. (Raatma, L. 2010) I will analyze the data using one of the statistical software’s namely S.P.S.S. (Statistical Package for Social Scientists). I will compare the levels of campaign awareness from different Medias of communication with the sample data I will get. These other Medias of communications can be via bill boards advertising, television news and radio. To get information on previous voting exercises, I will go through secondary data and reports that are available in file. I will analyze the data through diagrams such as pie charts, bar graphs and line graphs. References Andrews, L. B. (2012). I know who you are and I saw what you did: social networks and the death of privacy. New York: Free Press. Barnes, J. A. (1972). Social networks. Reading, Mass.: [Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.]. Barnett, G. A. (2011). Encyclopedia of social networks. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. Buskens, V. W. (2002). Social networks and trust. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Gottlieb, B. H. (1981). Social networks and social support. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications. Kilduff, M., Tsai, W. (2003). Social networks and organizations. London: SAGE. Lin, N. (2001). Social capital a theory of social structure and action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Maguire, L. (1983). Understanding social networks. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. Raatma, L. (2010). Social networks. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Cherry Lake Pub..

An Exposition of Amos 5

An Exposition of Amos 5 With a view to an audience within a stated contemporary ministry setting, provide an exposition of Amos 5 As I engage to expound the book of Amos I would want to do an exposition of Amos 5 which with a view of a mixed Audience of men and women between the ages of 20 to 50 years of age and also young people who most of them are under the age of 20 years. The audience is a mixture of different nationalities that have different cultural background. According to Hasting (1963:28) writing in the dictionary of the bible, he says that Amos was one of the earliest prophets who prophesied in the 8th century B.C. Amos is known to have come from Tekoa and according to the dictionary of the bible, he prophesied when Israel and Judah were strong and prosperous. Though there was prosperity in Judah and Israel the book of Amos portrayed a lot of injustice taking place during that period. In (chapter 4) of Amos and verse (1) it talks of how the poor are oppressed and they are crushed. (Amos 1:1) The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa-the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] was king of Israel. According to this verse, it makes us understand that Amos was a shepherd, and also understand that Amos may not be the one who wrote the book;(Thorogood 1992:10) cites that, the book of Amos is a collection of the Prophets words. We cannot be certain who actually wrote it, or when it was written. When we come to chapter 5 of Amos it can be hard trying to understand what specifically he is trying to address when he talks of a virgin Israel in verses 2. It is hard to interpret the book without first having understood some of the things that Amos is saying, for example, where he says, This is what the Lord says to Israel: Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing (vs. 4-5). Not knowing what Bethel, Gilgal and also Beersheba means one can not interpret what he was implying. Patte (2004:282) makes us understand that Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba were sacred places because they were memorials connected to the ancestors and history of the conquest of the land without having this knowledge it is a hard one to understand. The writings of Amos are regarded as Oracles, this is highlighted by Heaton(1977:73 ) Amos cultivate d the practice of embodying in his oracles quotations of his opponents claims. So this is to affirm that Amos was writing oracles. Wolff (1977) in his book of Joel and Amos cites that the literary tradition hardly allows us to recognize more than two dozen short individual oracles, so he is implying that Amoss writing was literal and he cites three basic type of speech found in the book of Amos (i) The messenger speech which he says that it is tied to what Amos was told to say by God. (ii) The free speech witness speech, this he says promotes relationship with the listener. (iii) Vision report, that one he says that it cannot be said with certainty whether is rhetorical or literary in Origin. When Amos is starting to speak the oracles he is using within and in front the text where he is addressing the children of Israel and tells them in verses 1-7 to hear what the Lord is saying and what will happen to them. As Amos is speaking in chapter 5:1-3, he regards the children of Israel as people who are already dead, and is lamenting over their state and seems there no hope for them when he says, Fallen and no more to rise. He compares them to a virgin woman engaged but now she has been forsaken. So he uses metaphor when he is addressing them. This may mean that Israel is glorious but their glory is gone. In verse 4-10 it is a call for them to call God even in their crisis, it is surprising that in the beginning, he speaks to them; It portrays them as people who have been utterly destroyed and no hope to rise again. In verses 4 he tells them to seek the Lord and live. On the other hand, he tells them, what not to seek Bethel and not to enter Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba fo r there are consequences when they do that. Marsh (1959:53) gives the meaning of the word seek and he says the word translated seek originally meant to ask for an oracle from some diviner, and then to offer worship and obedience to God. Applying this few verses as I address my audience bearing in mind the state of the nation that we are in where there have been a crisis in the economy and a lot of cuts in so many sectors that some services that the government used to offer are not longer there, I would bring to their attention to how the nation has declined and probably try to mention, maybe is because of the evil that is done in the nation. I would also encourage them to seek the Lord and not to put their trust in the systems, as Amos was encouraging the children of Israel to seek God and not seek the sacred places. When Amos is warning the people not to seek Bethel or go to Gilgal and having now understood that Gilgal was a sacred place as cited by Patte(2004:282), he is encourag ing them to worship the true God rather than go and worship those sacred places whereby even if they are sacred places they are not God themselves. I would, therefore, encourage my audience to worship the true God rather than men, bearing in mind that most of my audience are from African background where there is a tendency of worshiping the men of God. In verses (10 Amos talks of people hating correction or rather discipline and hate he who tells the truth. So I as address my audience I would encourage them to speak the truth and allow themselves to be corrected by the word of the Lord. Since my audience is a mixture of young people who most of them are under the care of their parents I encouraged them to adhere to discipline and obey their parents.[G1] In (verses 11-12) Amos talks of how the poor are oppressed, and he tells them because they have done these things and even extracted wheat unjustly from them even the house they have built they will not live in them. Amos was pronouncing judgment. As I bring this to my audience I would speak to them, warning them not to oppress each other and especially the old oppressing the young even on those who are married, men not to oppress women. I would speak to men oppressing women with confidence having some background knowledge how African women at times are regarded as not equal to their men and they tend to be oppressed. Amos changes his tone in verses 14 and he gives the people hope that if they seek the Lord they will live. What I see when I look at the previous (verses 12 and 13) he is telling them to stop oppressing the poor and they will live. So I would tell the audience that, when we are doing injustice to one another we are not seeking God, and God is not with us because after A mos telling the Israelite how they have oppressed the poor he tells them to seek the Lord in order for them to live. Amos here was like implying that God was not with the Israelite because they were oppressing the poor. Amos follows verses 14 with verse 15 by saying that they should hate evil, and my understanding I will interpret that not rendering injustice and oppressing the poor is what God hates. As a result of them hating evil, they will escape the calamity that Amos is speaking in (verses 16) which he says there will be wailing as the Lord passes across the land. The Israelite will understand the in a better way when they remember what happened while they were escaping Egypt when there was wailing in the camp of the Egyptians. Amos is saying that the wailing will be so great that, they will even call for people to help them to wail. As I would address my audience I would focus them on treating each other well and not oppressing others, this is because loving God is loving and treating other people justly, we cant say we love God and yet you treat others badly and oppress them. According to Patte(2004:282) in the commentary, he says that The horizontal relationship to neighbors is inseparably bound to the vertical relationship with God. To avoid punishment from God we have to love God and treat people well. Though God had sworn of bringing destruction we see in (verses 15) that he will leave some from the remnant of Joseph may be the ones who will carry on his purpose on the earth. This reminds me the day of Noah where he had to destroy everything apart from Noahs family. Amos in verse 17 is using literal language that he is going to pass through them and their vineyard will be wailing. This may not mean that God is the one who is going to pass the land himself; but may be the adversary. As I share this verse I may bring to the attention of my audience that the Lord may not necessary come to punish our wrong doing but things might happen when we dont live according to what the Lord has expected of us. In Verses 18 he is warning those who have been waiting for the day of the lord, may be expecting a reward, and instead he is telling them it will be darkness instead of lights. In other words, things will be so bad instead of being good and this is as a result of their actions. Most Probably they Children of Israel have been expecting God to come and reward them and have victory among their enemies. Thorogood(1992) in his book a guide to Amos commented that Amos did not share hope with the Israelites instead he predicted a day of darkness instead of light. Even in our day, we might be expecting great things from God because we believe in him, and instead, we find ourselves going through difficult times. Therefore it is important to check our ways and see whether there are people we are oppressing or doing things that cannot please God. Maybe the children of Israel thought because they have a covenant relationship with God, they can do anything and God turns a blind eye. Amos portraye d the day of the Lord they have been expecting a very gloomy day, in that they will be running from one problem thinking they have escaped they find themselves in another major problem. Amos uses allegory a lot; as he writes when he is talking about a lion, a bear, and even a serpent. Maybe he using this because for him being a shepherd has had encountered all these animals. If I were to use allegory I would use things that my audience would understand. In verses, 21-24 Amos is narrating how the Lord is not pleased by the sacrifices that they offer unto him and even their worship unto God. He said if justice and righteousness are not found in them, their rituals are in vain. Maybe they thought by observing the rituals and offering sacrifices they will please God even if they oppress the poor and put heavy taxes on them. I would also address the same issue to my audience that it is not by how much we do for God, or how much money we give to the Him; is about acting according to what he requires. Marsh (1959:57) as he comments on verses 21-24 cites that Israel had all externals of true religion-fine churches and cathedrals, great festivals popularly observed (everyone went to church on such days, moving rituals solemnly impressive sacrifices, beautiful music, and well-trained choirs. But such externals do not, of themselves, beget communion with God. In other words, outward rituals and appearance do not appeal to God. We must go beyond rituals and do what God want us to do. In verses, 25 Amos is like narrating what God is asking Israelites that they never offered him any sacrifices and that they carried idols with them. It is like he is saying that while they were not established they didnt offer any sacrifice to God and yet he took care of them. But now that God has established them the wont honor him, instead, he is saying they carried idols with them. Having an audience who some of them have come from hardship I would bring to their attention to remember wher e God has brought them from, some from great hardship and yet God has established them. I would encourage them to honor God and keep his commands. Amos has mentioned two things they carried which are sikkuth their king, and chiun their idols which according to Wintle (2015:1146) commenting in South Asia Bible commentary refers to these idols that the Israelites carried as Assyrian deities. This shows as if the Israelites regarded other gods more than the true God. They were holding unto what they may be; thought is the righteous way than do what God had instructed them to do. As we read these verses today we would also ask ourselves as Christians are we exalting things in our lives more than we exalt the Lord, and this can be true even in the audience I am addressing, in that some many have valued their jobs, families children or as a people we regard rituals more than we regard God. In conclusion, as I have looked at the book of Amos chapter 5 I can conclude and say that this chapter can speak to us as the church of today that we need to deal with injustices in our society and live righteous lives, and that will be a true worship unto God. Amos has reminded us the need of humility in our worship. Thorogood 1992:66) says that the closer our worship is linked with the rest of-of our life the more helpful it is likely to be, This means that we need to be conscious every time, that we have a relationship with God; and we can worship him anytime not only when we are gathered together. As Amos highlighted the injustices and oppression done to the poor by the children of Israel we also need to learn as Christians to treat each other well even when we are in different social status. Bibliography D.D, J. H. (1963). Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T.and T Clark. Heaton, E. W. (1977). The Old Testament Prophets. London: Anchor Brendon Ltd. Marsh, J. (1959). The Torch Bible Commentary series: Amos And Micah. Great Britain: Northumberland Press Limited. Patte, D. (2004). Global Bible Commentary. Nashville: Abingdon Press. Thorogood, B. (1992). A Guide to Amos. London: Spck. Wintle, B. (2015). South Asia Bible Commentary, One Volume Commentary on the whole Bible. Michigan: Grand Rapids, Michigan. Wolf, H. W. (1977). Hermancia, Joel, and Amos. United Kingdom: Fortress Press [G1]Deleted:h

Non-masculine Roles in Othello Essay -- Othello essays

Non-masculine Roles in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚   In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello the three women characters have interesting roles. Through the dialogue and action other roles are stated or implied as applying to women.    In â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello† Valerie Wayne presents Desdemona’s reaction to Iago’s verbal expressions concerning women’s role as sexual objects:    Iago instead claims that four different kinds of women are sexually wanton: either their beauty or intelligence help them to bed, or their ugliness or foolishness get them there anyway. Fair or foul, wise or foolish, women are all whores to him. Desdemona dismisses this ‘miserable praise’ as ‘old fond paradoxes to make fools laugh i’ th’ alehouse’ (136-7), but it is a particularly rank form of such mockery that dilates in every instance upon women as objects for sexual use and then blames them, as whores, for a use constructed by that discourse. (163)    At the outset of the play Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two awaken the senator with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. This is the initial reference to the role of women in the play – the role of wife. In response to the noise and Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed. Iago’s bawdy references to the senator’s daughter present a second role of women – that of illicit lover. With Roderigo’s help, he gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona and bring her home. The father’s attitude is that life without his Desdemona will be much worse than before:... ...er own husband as the evil mastermind behind the murder results in Iago’s killing her. Despondent Othello, grief-stricken by remorse for the tragic mistake he has made, stabs himself and dies on the bed next to his wife.    Thus it is seen that the roles of women are many and varied – and are key to the successful development of the story.       WORKS CITED    Bevington, David, ed. William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies. New York: Bantam Books, 1980.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wayne, Valerie. â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.† The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991. e implicates

Eating Disorders and Image Essay -- Anorexia Bulimia Health Weight Los

Eating Disorders and Image As humans on this planet we often think about what others think about our appearance. We often, in this society, look at a person through their characteristics such as: looks, height, clarity of skin, and by how fat or thin one appears to be. In the article, The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place, by Natascha Pocek, she states the fact that, in this society, we put a lot of emphasis on diets and appearing thin. From when we are children we tend to change our views according to the ways of man, and find ways to stay fit or to lose weight. With this constant loss of weight we tend to get into a hole of wanting to be thinner, and in my opinion that want leads to the attempts of so many girls developing some sort of eating disorder. That fact has struck America hard, and Americans try harder to be what the image of the world is telling them to be. This image is to be thinner and prettier than you could possibly imagine. Dieting is a good thing to a point, but when one crosses the line of going to eating disorders, then dieting is not just a way to lose a few pounds. This way of dieting is a death trap. In Pocek’s discussion, she describes her story about the fad diets that she has tried and how they ended up not working for her. Pocek went through period where she would try a diet and either would not be able to follow through with it or the diet would not work for her. When her diets did not work out she would get really upset and try another diet. This method of dieting is common among most Americans today because commercialization is telling people that they will never be good enough unless they are slim. This is seen through the television and many ads that are placed in magazines. Sinc... ...as you keep it under control, dieting is not a bad thing. Pocek says in paragraph 7 of her essay that â€Å"losing weight lies in the power of our minds, not in the power of chemicals† (Pocek 167). Therefore, we have the power to keep our dieting under control. I am for dieting but when it comes to eating more when it says diet, or eating less to lose those numbers on that scale than the line of dieting has been crossed. Sometimes we are blind to seeing that line though, and cross over it daily because of the way America views people as always needing to be thinner. That image is causing thousands of people to feel they will never be good enough. Work Cited Pocek, Natascha. â€Å"The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place.† Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments. Ed. Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 164-167. Eating Disorders and Image Essay -- Anorexia Bulimia Health Weight Los Eating Disorders and Image As humans on this planet we often think about what others think about our appearance. We often, in this society, look at a person through their characteristics such as: looks, height, clarity of skin, and by how fat or thin one appears to be. In the article, The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place, by Natascha Pocek, she states the fact that, in this society, we put a lot of emphasis on diets and appearing thin. From when we are children we tend to change our views according to the ways of man, and find ways to stay fit or to lose weight. With this constant loss of weight we tend to get into a hole of wanting to be thinner, and in my opinion that want leads to the attempts of so many girls developing some sort of eating disorder. That fact has struck America hard, and Americans try harder to be what the image of the world is telling them to be. This image is to be thinner and prettier than you could possibly imagine. Dieting is a good thing to a point, but when one crosses the line of going to eating disorders, then dieting is not just a way to lose a few pounds. This way of dieting is a death trap. In Pocek’s discussion, she describes her story about the fad diets that she has tried and how they ended up not working for her. Pocek went through period where she would try a diet and either would not be able to follow through with it or the diet would not work for her. When her diets did not work out she would get really upset and try another diet. This method of dieting is common among most Americans today because commercialization is telling people that they will never be good enough unless they are slim. This is seen through the television and many ads that are placed in magazines. Sinc... ...as you keep it under control, dieting is not a bad thing. Pocek says in paragraph 7 of her essay that â€Å"losing weight lies in the power of our minds, not in the power of chemicals† (Pocek 167). Therefore, we have the power to keep our dieting under control. I am for dieting but when it comes to eating more when it says diet, or eating less to lose those numbers on that scale than the line of dieting has been crossed. Sometimes we are blind to seeing that line though, and cross over it daily because of the way America views people as always needing to be thinner. That image is causing thousands of people to feel they will never be good enough. Work Cited Pocek, Natascha. â€Å"The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place.† Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments. Ed. Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 164-167.

Educating Rita Essay

Discuss the Success of this Introduction to the Play’s Characters and themes. Do you think Willy Russell has successfully made his opening Dramatic and Entertaining? I think that Willy Russell has made the introduction of the play, Educating Rita, dramatic and entertaining because he uses techniques such as: Just two characters Set in just one room Humour Similarities between Rita and Frank – both read books, and smoke etc. Similarities between Rita and Willy Russell – both from Liverpool, both hairdressers and from working class backgrounds. Educating Rita is a stage comedy written by Willy Russell which premià ¨red at The Warehouse, London, in 1980. The two characters are: Frank – an unsuccessful, upper class man who is in his fifties, writes poems and is a university lecturer. He is tired and jaded and has not looked out of his large bay window or looked at his nude, religious picture for about ten years. Frank is an alchoholic who pulls out a book at the beginning of the play and behind it appears a bottle of whisky. He then pours a large slug into a mug. He only works so he can buy more drink. Rita – A young 26 year old, working-class hairdresser, who is loud, inquisitive and uses lots of slang – â€Å"I’m comin’ in, aren’t I? It’s that stupid bleedin’ handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed!† This is the first time Rita speaks and she doesn’t appear to be very formal. Rita lives with her husband Denny but when he finds out that Rita is still on the pill he rips up all her papers and books and burns them and tells Rita that she either gives up her education or she will be forced out of her home and marriage. Rita wanted to get an education first and then look at her options so then she can decide whether or not she wants a baby so, therefore, she decides to have an education. The scene is a room on the first floor of a Victorian-built university in the north of England. Frank decides he needs to earn some extra money, so he agrees to tutor an Open University student who is Rita who has just decided to get an education. Rita’s entrance to the room is not a normal one; she struggles to get into the room and then the door swings open. As soon as the play starts, we find out that Frank is an alcoholic. He has a bottle of whisky hidden behind some books which he takes a large slug of and before Rita enters he is on the phone. Whilst he is on the phone he mentions the word ‘pub’ four times. Then Frank asks Rita who she is and instantly Frank knows how much work he is going to have to put in to get Rita an education Frank: â€Å"You are?† Rita: â€Å"What am I?† Frank: â€Å"Pardon?† Rita: â€Å"What?† Frank: â€Å"Now you are?† Rita: â€Å"I’m a what?† Later on Frank asks Rita what her name is. She says it is Rita even though her real name is Susan. Frank says that on her admission paper it says Mrs S White. Then Rita tells him that her real name is Susan but she changed it after reading the book ‘Rubyfruit Jungle’ which was written by Rita Mae Brown. Rita wanders around the room a lot noticing the large bay window and the nude picture. She shows that she is inquisitive by asking lots of questions about the nude, religious picture. In this bit Willy Russell adds a bit of humour: â€Å"Y’ don’t paint pictures like that just so that people can admire the brush strokes, do y’? â€Å" A bit later on Rita shows her slang language â€Å"He gets pissed an’ stands in the street shoutin’ an’ challengin’ death to come out an’ fight. It’s dead good. This is totally different from the way Frank speaks for example he says â€Å"It’s supposed to embrace a more comprehensive studentship, yes.† Before this Rita asks if she can smoke and then when Frank asks her if she wants a drink of Scotch she says: â€Å"Y’ wanna be careful with that stuff, it kills y’ brain cells.† Like if you smoke you won’t be killing your brain cells. Rita is not very optimistic. Whilst she is looking around the room inquisitively, she picks up a book called Howard’s End which she thinks is filthy so she borrows it off Frank and says that if she decides to pack the course in she will post it back to him. â€Å"If I pack the course in I’ll post it to y’.† Frank seems shocked when she says this and starts asking her why she had decided to enrol onto the course in the first place. She thinks the book is written by E.M. Foster when it is really written by E.M. Forster. This is because she sees the brand of lager Fosters so often she assumes that’s who the book is by. Rita appears to be very lively and confident but when Frank says that she is asking lots of questions she says that she does when she gets nervous. Rita shows her drink addiction and lack of knowledge again when Frank says: Frank: â€Å"Do you know Yeats? Rita: â€Å"The wine lodge?† As soon she hears Yeats mentioned, she immediately thinks of drink again. There is a clash of cultures when Rita was trying to think of someone Frank could have been named after, she says a name that Frank had never heard of – Elliot Ness the police man who caught Al Capone but Frank would not no anything him as he is totally oblivious to the world around him. Frank assumed she meant T.S. Eliot and Rita would not know anything about poets. Rita then shows that she is a quick thinker as she says that she try’s to sell her customers a wig when she messes up people’s hair. Rita presumes that Frank is the kind of man that would watch documentaries whereas Rita watches light-hearted programs such as ITV. However of course, Frank wouldn’t watch TV. Towards the end of the scene Rita seems to be very determined to keep Frank as her tutor. This is different to earlier in the play when she was saying that she would post the books back to Frank. In conclusion, I believe Willy Russell has made Act 1 Scene 1 dramatic and entertaining by the use of humour, comparisons and the similarities between himself and Rita.

Factors Influencing Decisions to Study Overseas Essay

Introduction Past few decades have witnessed massive inflow and outflow of students in order to acquire foreign higher education. International education and the international mobility of students can be traced back to ancient times, as early as 600 BC in India (Chen, 2007). Since the late 1990s the higher  education market is growing by 7 percent a year. (Kaul, 2006).The trend is not only common in Western world but Asian students also constitute a major proportion of international students in foreign universities. This Asian market continues to be a major one (Gatfield & Hyde, 2005). The existence of world class institutes in UK and USA make them most preferred destinations for students. The prominent education exporting countries (those which sell education to international student) include USA, UK, Canada and Australia while the education importing countries (those which buy education from foreign universities) include East Asian Tigers, China, India and Pakistan. Due to increasing trend of foreign education, the competition amongst the education exporting countries is also becoming intense and thus they pursue better marketing efforts in order to attract foreign students. Pakistan’s service sector has grown substantially in past decade and requires major human capital in order to sustain efficient growth. A skilled workforce is a key to successful operations of any business. The development of sectors like information technology, financial sector and the establishment of multinational corporations require educated personnel. Therefore an educated and highly skilled human capital is a prerequisite for a developing country like Pakistan to enable economic growth. In Pakistan, there are a handful of universities offering post-graduate programs. The disciplines offered are not much diverse and the numbers of seats are also limited. Research facilities for doctoral studies are also not as advanced as in world class institutes abroad. Beside these already established facts, my research would revolve around the influence of personal factors, the â€Å"external push-pull factors† and the influence of family, peers, sponsors and employers. (Chen, 2007) Literature Review There have been several studies conducted on this topic. The ones I have gone through while doing literature review were carried out in India, China, Australia, Portugal, Canada, Malaysia, United Kingdom and South Africa. A research suggested that in order to attract international graduate students, focus should be concentrated on investing in research and ensuring the standards of education by the institutions, while efforts should be devoted to â€Å"the internationalization of graduate education†, as well as devising a national marketing strategy to portray a better image of their higher education institutions and programs. (Chen, 2007). This research suggested that pull factors of host institutions in terms of cost, academic excellence and Canada’s good reputation for cultural tolerance are more significant as compared to other personal factors. It further stated that the quality of education was more important to students as compared to financial concerns. ‘Internationalization of higher education’ related activities are significant to impact the decision of PhD students’ choice of foreign university whereas marketing activities directly influence students’ choice in taught degree programs. (Chen, 2007) A study by World Bank stated that foreign education is no different than trade. It is trade of a service where one country’s resident buys education from the country which is selling it. This study made an in-depth analysis of the negative push factors associated with the home country. The demand for foreign education increases when there is excess demand for domestic education and seats are limited. Also, the changing business dynamics and work practices require a more qualified taskforce which make international degree more valuable. Countries like India have started a collaboration program with foreign institutes to so that their domestic education system is improved. The study revealed that education trade has adverse impacts on domestic education system of home countries especially the developing ones. â€Å"Nonetheless, this trade is bound to increase and diversify due to the growing demand for foreign qualifications and increasing competition among industrialized nations in the higher education market and also due to the entry of more higher education institutions from developing countries, which can compete on both price and quality.† (Bashir, 2007) Greater economic benefits are achieved if natives have acquired higher education. Education export is a business for which the administrators need to devise marketing strategies in order to stay at par with competitors. In this Malaysian  study, international students have also been termed as customers as they are paying for the service. This study analysed 48 factors and their relative strengths which influenced the international students’ decisions to select appropriate universities for their post graduate studies. This study identified 6 major factors which attracted foreign students, with quality of education and impact of influencers being the most important ones. Importance of each factor was determined using ANOVA and MANOVA. The research suggested that students from different regions had different preferences and ‘needs and wants’. However, all these students demanded a better ‘customer focus’ as they were paying heavily. All international students evaluated factors like ‘qualification of instructors, medium of communication, learning environment, socialization and location’. Quality education, cost, and facilities are directly related to services provided by the HEIs (higher education institutes) are the key determinants of decision-making process by the international students therefore these factors should be addressed by the HEIs (Padlee, Kamaruddin, & Baharun, 2010) A study carried out in UK revealed that the students have a desire to attend a world class institute which motivates them to go abroad. It was also revealed that US is the most popular destination for UK students. Students with good academic capabilities were mainly the ones who applied to foreign universities. The social class and parental educational background also influenced the decision-making and the upper class and highly educated parent’s children were most likely to go abroad. However it was analysed that family influence mattered least while decision-making. A few students opted to study in Australia because they were interested in permanent emigration. It is predictable that the factor of a desire to attend a world class university will become more influential in upcoming decades as there has been an exponential rise in globally emerging world class institutes. (Findlay & King, 2010) International post graduate students studying in Malaysia ranked the programs offered as the most important criteria while selecting a particular university, followed by fees, facilities and academic staff performance. The paper stated that Malaysia is amongst the most preferred countries for educational purposes these days. The academic excellence of visiting and  permanent faculty is noted to be major influencer to attract students. International publications by the professors or university also impact the university reputation. Scholarships offered and ‘environment built’ were least important factors. However it was observed that there lays a difference in priorities of students from West and Asia. A multi criteria decision making issues were evaluated using AHP technique. This technique ranked the importance of each factor. Marketing implications for Malaysian universities is that they should offer a wide range of programs along with scholarships and reasonable fee structure. (Dahari & Abduh, 2011) The benefits of acquiring foreign education are evident in form of a highly skilled and productive labour force. The experience of foreign culture adds to learning experience and a more diversified labour force is produced. Owing to these benefits, competition amongst the education exporters has become intense. A South African study found out that the pull factors associated with host country are more influential in decision making rather that the negative push factors associated with the home country. Students purse foreign education primarily for career development and to experience a foreign culture. 14 factors were examined individually and the most influential factor was found to be â€Å"seeking qualifications with worldwide recognition† through rank order analysis. Other major factors include limited course availability in home country, better employment prospect with a foreign degree, experiencing foreign culture and higher quality education abroad. The two least important factors were strict entry requirements criteria in domestic institutions and non-acceptance by domestic university for preferred course. There was not much variation in responses of students from different countries. As the competition amongst the education exporting countries is increasing, greater marketing efforts are needed by these countries in order to be a lucrative market for foreign student. Internet could prove to be a beneficial tool in terms of advertising. It must be ensured that the quality of education is excellent so that there is cross border recognition of higher education institutes. (Mpinganjira, 2009) Today, higher education is a central factor in order to match pace with the rapidly advancing technological world. A study conducted in Australia  investigated the choice patterns of Singaporean students. Australia is favoured for higher education by international students due to its relatively lower cost of education and accommodation as compared to other Western countries. This study explored the demographic profiles of students in detail through in-depth interviews and found out how the socio-economic background, cultural influence and psychological factors of student influence their decision making. The students wanted to have an independent living experience. The decision making process is a highly complex one which requires high involvement where social, personal and behavioural aspects come into play. Cultural, colonial, political and regional interest similarities between Australia and Singapore are favourable factors which allow for educational exchange between two countries. The natural physical endowments such as oceans, beaches and vast land were also one of the attractions for international students to opt for Australia. The study concluded with a recommendation to Australian institutes to attract foreign students through advertising. (Gatfield & Hyde, 2005) An Indian research highlighted the need for higher educational institutes in their domestic market as there is a need for skilled labour force for their emerging industries. Not only there is a boom in industrial sector, but financial, medical, biotechnical and information technology sectors are also developing rapidly along with advent of multinational corporations. These sectors require human capital which is a product of quality higher education. That paper has termed international higher education as a business with students being its clients. It proposes that foreign campus of international universities should be established in India so that students who do not afford foreign education abroad may earn the fruits of this joint venture between Indian public institutes and foreign universities. (Kaul, 2006) Decision making process is a multi step process influenced by various factors at each stage. A paper by Pimpa primarily focuses on family, peers and agents influence on decision making of Thai students for foreign education. The family factor is further dissected into factors like finance, persuasion, competition and expectations while peers and agents may  influence through information and competition. The study also developed a relation between age and family influence, the older the students the lesser the influence of family on their decision. Thai students enrolled in Australian institutes were taken as sample through convenience sampling. The results depicted that finance factor of family influence had a major impact followed by information provided by agents and peers whereas competition amongst the family members and persuasion from family members were least important criteria. This study added the agents influence in detail to already existing theories of external push and pull factors. (Pimpa, 2003) Apart from the role played by external push and pull factors, the impact of personal psychographics and behavioural factors along with socio-economic background were studied by Boey, Smith and Cuthbert. Gender difference has often been sidelined in this area of research however this study also incorporated that how the relative importance of each factor vary with respect to gender difference making this research unique from all the previous works done. The demographic profiles of each respondent were made to determine their social class and standing. The main importers of Australian education are Asian students. 50% of students belonged to single income families while other 50% belonged to double income families thus being capable to afford education in Australia. Fathers of respondents were more qualified than mothers but the influence of parents’ education level was very minute. Results depicted that sons were sent to UK or US for higher education while daughters were sent to Australia due to relative lesser cost of education than in US or UK. The reputation and academic standing of the institute were prime factors which influenced the selection of university followed by ‘campus environment’, facilities and location. Also, females opted for foreign education as an opportunity to experience life abroad in independent manner. The results depicted that gender have different approaches and further research may be carried to highlight these differences. (Smit, Boey, & Cuthbert) A Portuguese study analysed the factors which led to departure of graduates for doing scientific PhD from abroad. These factors included better employment opportunities after acquiring foreign degree, better research  facilities abroad and lack of competitive scientific environment at home. The reputation of the institution, scientific motivations, such as the resource availability and the composition of the research were pull factors stated in sequence of their importance. (Delicado, 2010) Since the emergence of world as a global village, higher foreign education has become an essential part of the globalisation process. The demand for highly qualified professionals has lead to increased flow of students to international markets for acquiring foreign degrees. The prime objective of foreign education is ‘self development’ but it eventually adds up to national interest. The most beneficial outcome of the international education is that students become well equipped with the required tools to understand the concept of ‘social equity and justice’ with respect to international issues. The term ‘internationalization’ has several meanings attached to it but with respect to education it could be referred to as the process of adopting a set of activities to make domestic education system well integrated with foreign education system in order to meet the challenges of globalisation. There could be four possible rationales for internationalization process namely; political, social/cultural, economic and academic. Different stakeholders assign varying level of significance to these rationales. The differences in interest of various stakeholders usually give rise to conflicts which may hinder the internationalization process. The internationalization of education could be done though elements such as: joint research projects, international conferences and seminars, visiting faculty, distant learning, international students, cross cultural training, intercultural campus events, student exchange programs and foreign language education etc. (Qiang, 2003) Globalisation and internationalization are two phenomena which are distinct in nature but are inter-related. In past decades there has been a phenomenal shift to service based industries which has resulted into creation of a ‘knowledge society’. Trained personnel are thus required in knowledge based industries in modern times. These elements constitute the process of globalisation. Internationalization too is a part of globalisation where academic institutions indulge in activities such as student exchange  programs, designing international standard curriculum, foreign language programs and branch campuses etc. The main education selling countries are UK and US and earn handsome profits through international students from Asian and Latin American countries. Some institutions from UK and US have opened up branch campuses in Qatar, Singapore and Spain along with some other countries which facilitate provision of international standard education in middle income countries. The factors which hinder the international student mobility include terrorism acts, cultural intolerance, greater cost of foreign education, government regulations, language barriers, government regulations and policies, distant learning programs and the emergence of private sector educational institutes. Provision of international education should not be aimed at earning profits; rather it should have a vision to benefit public on a mass scale. (Altbach & Knight, 2007) Chinese students compose the major chunk of world pie of international students and Australia is one of the biggest known for education export. It is a preferred destination for Chinese students because of security and friendly environment for foreigners. In the earlier times, Chinese government used to fund foreign studies of its students however now the Chinese family’s major expense second to food is their child’s education expense. Chinese push factors include inadequate number of institutions in domestic market, increasing trend of foreign education in society, increased ability for self funded foreign education due to rapid economic growth and the need for highly skilled labour. Parents are more aware of the potential benefits of foreign degree thus are willing to invest in their child’s future. While selecting the host country, Chinese students consider factors like the reputation of host country, the recognition of the institute, cost of living and tuition fee, the influence of family, friends and peers, the proximity of host country to Mainland China and the host countries’ laws and regulations. Chinese students surprisingly do not have an urge to live in West and experience their lifestyle and culture. Research proved that Australia was preferred over US, UK and Canada. The most important factor which influences their decision to study abroad is the better quality of education abroad as compared to that in their home country. Australia  attracts students because of its appealing immigration policy, lower crime rate, English-speaking country, cultural tolerance, lower cost of tuition and living and quick visa application processing. (Yang, 2007) Push factors are associated with the social and economic factors of the home country which propel the students to pursue foreign education. The selection of the host country is relied on pull factors which attract foreign students. In developing countries of Asia and Africa there are not enough opportunities in domestic market to acquire higher education therefore students direct themselves to foreign journey. The historical and colonial link of the host and home countries is one of the major factors which influence the decision of students in terms of selection of host country. Other factors include the language similarity, geographical proximity to home country and the technological advancement of the host country. The push factors of home country include the economic stability, its contribution to world economy, emphasis on education importance by the government and access to higher education at home. The pull model stated that the attraction to a particular country is influenced by the kind of economic and political ties which persist between the home and host country. The common model states the first step is to decide whether to study abroad or in home country, second is the choice of host country and the last decision is to select the host institution. Through each stage of the process, several independent factors influence the decision which includes the immigration intentions, barriers to entry in domestic institutes, limited courses offered at home, to experience foreign culture and better quality of education abroad. Major concerns are cost of living, travelling, tuition fees and career prospects. (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002) Research Questions and Objectives The central research question is: What are the major factors which influence Pakistani students’ decisions to pursue post graduate studies in a foreign country? While attempting to address the central question, this study also incorporates following questions: 1. What are the characteristics of Pakistani students who acquired foreign degrees? 2. Why did students  prefer to study abroad? 3. How has their socioeconomic background and family setup influenced their decision? The basic purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence the decision to study abroad. It would explore the extent to which various factors influence the decision to study abroad and how different student’s preferences vary based on personal factors and their socioeconomic backgrounds. Finally this study would provide implications for Pakistani universities as to how they could improve their education system in order to attract native students. It would also be beneficial for education exporting countries as they could formulate their marketing strategies based on the findings of this paper.. Theoretical Framework It’s a three staged process where students first decide whether to go abroad for higher education or to study at a local institute. Once they have chosen to study abroad, they select a host country. This second stage is a critical decision to make where students have to weigh the positives and negatives of various options available. The last stage is the selection of the institute. This three staged process is commonly adapted by every student who considers studying abroad but sometimes students skip the second stage, the selection of host country, and finally pick up the institution for them. E.g. getting enrolled at Ivy League or Oxford is the aim of some students so they do not consider applying to any other country thereby skipping the second stage. The first stage is to take the decision whether to study in Pakistan or abroad. At this stage, personal motivation factors to study abroad and the influence of family and peers along with the external push and pull factors influence the decision. Once the student has decided to go abroad, the second stage comes into play which is selection of destination. Several factors come into consideration while selecting the host country. Major factors are proximity to home country, cultural similarity, language and ease of visa process. After the selection of host country, third stage is selection of host institution. While selecting the university, factors such  as programs offered, facilities, fee structure, international reputation and academic quality are evaluated. Throughout the three ages, following independent variables influence the students’ decisions. * â€Å"Personal characteristics & motivation† Personal characteristics include socioeconomic background, preferences, academic ability, social capital, and creative capital. (Chen, 2007) * â€Å"External push & pull factors† (Internationalization & Globalisation: Prospects of better employment, esteemed foreign degrees, opportunity to experience foreign culture, desired education not available, home country lacks research facilities, limited career prospects at home, financial support from home government or agency). — include positive and negative forces from the home and host countries, personal driving forces due to external influences, and institutional characteristics. (Chen, 2007) * â€Å"Friends and Family influence†. It includes encouragement from family / spouse, relatives, professors, sponsors, or employers. (Chen, 2007) The dependant variable is the decision to go abroad for post graduate studies. By the end of the search stage for institutions, students will derive a choice set of institutions from which to make applications. The final stage of the school choice is to select one school from the set of offers of admission. Students will make trade-offs among the factors considered in the search stage, and reach a final choice. Literature review covered factors like characteristics of graduate international students — as well as studies on college choice factors, such as location characteristics, economics of international graduate education, visa, and education / immigration / mobility. The push – pull model was also reviewed to understand the strengths of and relationships among various factors that influence the choice of a country, institution, program, and city. A push – pull model was originally used in the theory of migration (E. S. Lee, 1966) to explain the factors influencing the movement of people. The model has been used to understand the international students’ choice of a country (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). The push factors are the factors associated  with the home country. Some push factors are positive and some are negative in nature, while pull factors are in general positive to attract international students to the destination. In essence, the decision, motivations, and flow of international students are a function of the combined ‘pull’ factors and ‘push’ factors as influenced by intervening obstacles. The push factors had strength in the initial reasons for studying abroad, while the pull factors dominated the choices, especially the appeal of program availability. Hypotheses Ho: Family and Friends influence does not impact the decision to go abroad for post graduation. HA: Family and Friends influence does impact the decision to go abroad for post graduation. Ho: Personal motivation does not influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. HA: Personal motivation does influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. Ho: External push and pull factors do not influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. HA: External factors push and pull factors do influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. Methodology The methodology that has been adopted is a combination of qualitative and quantitative research to analyse the factors which are most influential during the process. Quantitative data from a survey questionnaire have been collected to determine the relative strength of each factor influencing the decision to purse foreign education. The impact of push and pull factors, personal motivation, family and peers influence and their relative importance in taking the final decision have been studied using regression and cross tabulations. The survey questionnaire used for this research purpose is taken from a study of English Alumni, administered by the University of Dundee (Professor Findlay) and University of Sussex (Professor King) in UK in 2010. The used for analysis is collected using survey questionnaires sent to international graduates who have returned to Pakistan after acquiring post graduate degrees from abroad or are currently enrolled in foreign universities. The survey comprised a structured, detailed and comprehensive questionnaire examining various factors related to international study. Targeted sample size was minimum 50 surveys to be obtained from the international postgraduate Pakistani students however only  45 were returned. Judgemental sampling was done. Diversity in age, gender and socio economic background were considered while selecting respondents. It was preferred to have a balance between male and female respondents. The data collected has been used to develop a framework which best describes the decision making process of Pakistani students when they decide to pursue foreign education. Instrumentation The questionnaire was designed and piloted in such a way as to ensure that maximum relevant information could be collected with minimal imposition on respondents. It takes 10 minutes to complete on average, with a range between 5 and 15 minutes. The questionnaire was designed to provide useful data to answer, or at least shed light on, the research aims. The questionnaire mainly involves closed questions, simple to tick or write a one-word response, with a few spaces for elaborations where it is thought necessary or useful. First three questions are basics about age, gender and the course of study that was completed abroad. Next question asks about the discipline that was chosen for study abroad. This question would help me figure the preferred courses which students pursue abroad. This would also help me explore that the decision to study abroad might was taken because that particular courses were not offered here in Pakistan. The question about financing of study program would help profile the students, which would in turn help me to analyse how financing issue impacted student’s choices to study abroad. The next question about guidance from school staff is related to the independent variable of the impact of significant others. This would help me analyse the importance and impact of information from school about opportunity to study abroad and whether this facilitated the decision to study abroad or it had no impact. The objective of the question which asks to mention preferred Pakistani universities is to identify the top preferred post-grad institutes where these students had considered to study in home country. The following question would explore that what was the impact of rejection or acceptance by domestic institutes on students’ decision to go abroad. Next question would help determine that whether the restrictions on number of places to study the preferred discipline in Pakistani u niversities a factor in encouraging students to consider studying abroad. Under the head of ‘impact of significant others’ there are questions  about the contact with acquaintances who were already present at the foreign university. Following is the question about whether there was any information given about scholarships/bursaries by the schools and was that important for those students in making a decision about foreign education. The next question is about the next two independent variables, ‘students’ characteristics & motivation’ and ‘ external push and pull factors of home and host country’. There are seven factors which are being analysed and have been assigned a scale ranging from very important to slightly important to not important and finally not applicable. It includes factors like family pressure to study abroad, personal motivation to attend a world class university, desire for a better career, limited courses available in Pakistan, opportunity to experience foreign culture, increasing trend of acquiring foreign degrees and finally the institutions’ ranking. The responses by respondents would help me identify how important was each of the stated factors. The next question is open ended which ask students to mention the key factors which influenced their choice of one country over other and the factors which led to selection of a particular institute. This would help me identify the pull factors which attract students to foreign universities. Next question is about the qualification level of the respondents’ parents. The level of education which they have might influence the decision of students for foreign post grad study. Last question is about the hindrances or the factors which might have concerned students about studying outside Pakistan. Again the degree of importance ranges from very important to not important. The purpose of these factors is to analyse how each factor affected their decision process. These factors include: problem with the foreign language, difficult to leave parental family or spouse/partner, cultural shock, financial constraints to bear expenses and concerns about obtaining visa.