Abstract This paper discusses the novella "Apt Pupil" by Stephen King, noting how the author explores different aspects of unnatural desire and relates these to themes of corruption and parasitic behavior. It explains that the young man, Todd, is drawn to his neighbor, the old man Dussander, and for the boy there is a mixture of desire and curiosity in this attraction. The paper contends that the boy wants to know more about the old man's past, and their relationship becomes one of mutual parasitism only possible because of the underlying desire that motivates both.
From the Paper "In the novella "Apt Pupil," Stephen King explores different aspects of unnatural desire and relates these to themes of corruption and parasitic behavior. The young man Todd is drawn to his neighbor, the old man Dussander, and for the boy there is a mixture of desire and curiosity in this attraction. The boy wants to know more about the old man's past, and their relationship becomes one of mutual parasitism only possible because of the underlying desire that motivates both. The boy himself is presented first as the all-American boy peddling his bicycle down the street of an average American town, and this normality contrasts with the events to follow and with the odd attraction Denker (a name used by Dussander) has for him. The man the ..."
Abstract This paper examines how King represents the theme of childhood in his fiction as a platform of discovery for growth and how this growth, in turn, shapes the child's character profoundly. The writer discusses the journey of similar aged characters in "Apt Pupil" and "The Body". In the conclusion, the paper shows that, for Stephen King, the theme of childhood is important not so much as a value itself but as a platform for growth to another stage of maturity.
From the Paper "One of the most common themes in literature is the growth of an individual from youth and innocence to maturity. Thus, when the theme of childhood is depicted in famous works such as Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the focus is often not so much on childhood itself but on the discoveries and experiences the main characters make that point the way towards maturity. This essay will argue that this approach to the theme of childhood can be seen in two texts from Stephen King's collection: Different Seasons. As will be seen, while in "The Body" the story focuses on a journey - told in retrospect - that symbolizes growth and an end of innocence in the primary character, in "Apt Pupil" the progress is not healthy growth but a movement towards evil and corruption."
Abstract This paper explains that the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and the arbitrage pricing theory (APT) both depend on the identification and quantification of risk vis-a-vis a given financial device or product and thereby a financial product's volatility. The author points out that the primary assumption of the CAPM is that there exists a relationship between risk and the expected rate of return (ERR) and this relationship is then factored into the pricing structure of financial securities. The paper relates that APT is a model that relies on the integration of several factors at once rather than bundling all factors into a single beta. The paper concludes that the APT is the model of preference because the APT is the only valuation model, which can account for the full spectrum of market and asset-specific factors that can affect price and risk determination within the context of the global economy.
Table of Contents:
Overview
The Capital Asset Pricing Model
The Arbitrage Pricing Theory
From the Paper "There are several weaknesses with the CAPM, which has limited its effectiveness in the financial services industry. The most prominent of these weaknesses is that it is primarily a single-factor risk assessment method which relies on a single covariance to the overall financial market the security is traded in. This single covariance is the CAPM's beta which is effective in ideal market conditions but when extra-market factors affect change in the market or to the industry in which the security functions, this single-factor aspect becomes less accurate because it cannot accommodate such variance."
Tags: identification quantification risk, rate of return, integration
This paper reviews the treatment of the American Indian, or Native American, in revisionist Western films: Kevin Costner's "Dances with Wolves" (1990) and Michael Apted's "Thunderheart" (1992).
Abstract This paper discusses revisionist Westerns Kevin Costner's "Dances with Wolves" (1990), a film sensitivity to cultural differences and to the importance of Native American culture and Thunderheart (Michael Apted, 1992), which enters a more modern Indian community. The author points out that Costner still made major errors in depicting the history and culture of the Lakota Sioux tribe portrayed in the film. The paper continues that "Thunderheart" tried hard to elevate the Native American but a stereotype emerged in this film that the Native American is in some way a mystic more in touch with supernatural and spiritual forces than the non-Native population would be.
From the Paper "The film did more than revive old stereotypes in new forms, though, and it fails in terms of its accuracy on a number of counts. One problem faced was to recreate the language of the Lakota dialect spoken by the Sioux tribes in the 1860s. The film producers hired Doris Leader Charge, a 60-year-old teacher at South Dakota's Sinte Gleska College and one of only a few thousand Sioux still fluent in Lakota. Leader Charge translated the script and served as a dialogue coach during production. She also played a small part in the film. However, as Seals points out, the men in the film generally speak Lakota in the feminine form, a result of having the script translated by a woman who did not make allowances for the differences. Seals states that a number of Indian leaders were angry about this error and found it maddening in a film that claimed to be authentic. Seals does note, though, that the film managed authenticity in other ways, such as the way the ruling elders' council was handled. The film was correct in its use of the Pipe, which is the sacred Canupa of White Buffalo Calf Maiden, who founded the buffalo culture nineteen generations ago. The Pipe Keeper and others asked that the film not depict the smoking of the pipe, but it does so just the same."
Abstract This paper studies how a hypothetical stock broker managing a diverse stock portfolio would evaluate the risks and return on his clients' various investments. The paper provides a valuation and analysis of individual securities and a valuation of CAPM and APT models to estimate the value of securities; discusses possible problems related to the models; explores diversification and selection of a portfolio of securities; and details the risks and returns of the portfolio.
Development of a Basic Model
Some Problems
Diversification
Portfolio Selection
Risks and Returns
From the Paper "What does a reliable fund manager have to do today to ensure that his clients will obtain a realistic picture of the risks and returns of investing in his portfolio? The first part of the investment decision process involves the valuation and analysis of individual securities, which is referred to as security analysis. The valuation of securities is a time consuming and a difficult job. First of all, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the various securities ad the factors that affect them. Secondly a valuation model is applied to these securities to estimate their price or value. Value is a function of the expected future returns on a security and the risk attached. Both of these parameters must be estimated and brought together in a model. For bonds, the valuation process is relatively easy, because the returns are known and the risk can be approximated from currently available data. Interest rates are primary factor affecting bond prices, but no one can consistently forecast changes in these rates. The valuation process is much more difficult for common stocks than for bonds because the investor must deal with the overall economy, the industry, and the individual company; both the expected return and the risk of common stocks must be estimated. The secondary major component of decision process is portfolio management. After securities have been evaluated, a portfolio should be selected. Having built a portfolio, the astute investor must consider how and when revising it. If the investor pursues an active strategy, the issue of market efficiency must be considerated; if prices reflect information quickly and fully, investors should consider how this will affect their buy and sell decisions. Even if investors follow a passive strategy, questions to be considered include taxes, transaction costs,and maintenance of the desired risk level, and so on."
Abstract This paper discusses the application of advanced information technologies in urban transit in the United States. It discusses the establishment of the Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) Program to promote these applications. The paper then describes the purpose of these systems and how they will improve urban transportation services.
From the Paper "Public transportation planners and operators face increasing pressures to stimulate patronage by providing efficient and user-friendly service. Within the context of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) are designed to collect, process, and broadcast real-time information to transit users via emerging navigation and communication technologies (Mishalani et al., 2006)."
"One of the key elements and requirements of APTS/ATIS is the ability to estimate transit vehicle arrival and/or departure times. With quickly expanding APTS-related technologies (e.g., Global Position Systems [GPS], Automatic Vehicle Location Systems [AVLS] and Automatic Passenger Counting [APC] systems), ATIS could provide timely vehicle arrival and/or departure information to en-route and pre-trip passengers for managing their journeys (Brown et al., 2001)."
This paper is a personal essay comparing two versions of the film, "Cape Fear", a first film in 1962 directed by J. Lee Thompson in the style of Hitchcock, and the second in 1991, directed by Martin Scorsese.
895 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 0 sources, 2004, $ 31.95
Abstract This paper relates that the first "Cape Fear"s? technical uses of camera angles caused many film critics to call it "Hitchcockian", but this broad designation neglects another: Hitchcock's use of suspense and his simultaneous embrace of the grotesque. The author believes that American director, Martin Scorsese, shares Hitchcock's use of humor; but technically, Scorsese is less apt than Hitchcock to use sharp camera angles. Scorsese's camera is more apt to linger, as well as to jump-cut. The author contends that the second "Cape Fear" is more horrific than the first film because the modern viewer of the 1990s and beyond is so much more apt to identify with the difficulties and complexities exhibited by the characters, as opposed to the more 'perfect' setting that is intruded upon in the first film.
From the Paper "This is not to deny the impact of J. Lee Thompson's unique style. Scorsese and J. Lee Thompson differ from each other in that the earlier filmmaker was always apt to cast a mythological tone to his use of narrative. In contrast to both Hitchcock's suspenseful humor and Scorsese's suspenseful characterization and brutal view of common humanity, Thompson prefers to view the world as a morality play. Thus, the starkness of good and evil in the film is not due to the filmmaker's naivet?, but the way he reads "Beauty and the Beast"s? influence on the modern day justice system. "
Abstract This paper examines the poet's writing styles and shows how we are so accustomed to thinking of William Wordsworth as the quintessential Romantic poet ? a man in love with the idea of a simple life lived close to nature ? that we are apt to overlook the fact that his relationship with nature is in fact a somewhat ambivalent one, or at least a complex one.
From the Paper "While Wordsworth will always be known for the clarity and undiluted Romanticism of "Tintern Abbey", to assume that his stance vis-?-vis nature in this poem constitutes an adequate description of all of his connections to and understandings of the external world does him a disservice. To do so would be to equate his passion for the natural world and the necessity of direct human connection to nature for a simple-minded sort of tendency to ramble on about beauty. Rather, if we look beyond "Tintern Abbey" to the whole body of his work, we came to a fuller understanding of the ways in which he embraced the human as well as the natural world around him. "St. Paul"s?, a poem that Wordsworth penned in 1808 but never published, is an excellent instrument to use through which to discover the complex worldview of this poet."
This paper analyzes the concept of paradise on earth as portrayed by Louise Erdrich in "The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" and Toni Morrison in "Paradise".
Abstract The present era is an age of conflicting attitudes towards religious beliefs and mundane pursuits. This paper discusses how this conflict in attitudes is aptly reflected in the works of two female authors namely, ?Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" written by Louise Erdrich and "Paradise" written by Toni Morrison. Both conclude that religion alone cannot lead to salvation, but both spiritual and mundane satisfaction can be found on this earth.
From the Paper "The basic tenets of Christianity are the hope of redemption and resurrection both, which figure prominently in Louise Erdrich's work. In "Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" Erdrich tells the story of Father Damien who has been assigned the task of civilizing people of Little No Horse Reservation whose beliefs are rooted in paganism. Father Damien has been assigned the task of converting these people to Catholicism to save their soul. As time passes it is revealed that the strict rules of Catholicism do not mesh easily with the native spirituality. As a consequence, Father Damien begins to ponder whether his goal of conversion is the "right thing"."
Abstract This paper discusses the philosophies of Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, David Hume and John Stuart Mill, all acclaimed philosophers who each claim that their respective approch to ethics is dependent on the proper exercise of practical judgment. It shows how Aristotle's thoughts are more of a generalization without any guiding principles for the practical decision making process while Hume's theory is more cogitative and lies centered on a cognitive reasoning in the role of a detached observer. It examines how Kant's reasoning on ethics seems more apt, simplistic but practical applications may result in unacceptable results, while Mill's philosophy seems to be the best particularly his definition of a good action as being good not for oneself alone but to a lot of people augurs well for the society as a whole.
From the Paper "Immanuel Kant is a philosopher of the eighteenth century. His greatness was reflected in his first published work "Critique of pure reasoning"(1781). The central theme of Kant's approach to ethics is that he considers human beings as having "dual consciousness". Herein he differs from Aristotle who did not consider the concept of duality. Kant views humans as both intelligent and at the same time not devoid of non-rational impulses. Hence he argues that there is a need for moral principles to guide in our decision making. Kant's argument is based on the point that Humans endowed with the reasoning are also prone to succumb to non-rational impulses. So Kant proposes that moral actions result when reason prevails over these Non rational impulses."
Abstract This essay is about the novel "Things Fall Apart" by the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It contains information about Achebe and his background and looks at where the author got his inspiration for the title of the book. It examines why this is an apt title in terms of summarizing the themes of the novel.
From the Paper "Chinua Achebe was born on November 16, 1930 in an Igbo village in Eastern Nigeria under British rule. His parents were devout Christians, and his father taught at the missionary school. This meant that Achebe witnessed the effect that the Christian religion had on the Igbo people. Chinua was taught by his parents to disregard his fellow tribe members who practiced the traditional faith, however Chinua was fascinated with their customs and traditions and attended their ceremonies against his parents' will."
Tags: african, center, culture, igbo, periphery, title, tribe
Abstract The writer examines Eliot's poem and discusses how it would be more aptly described as a lust song, as an aging aristocrat leaves his familiar surroundings of wealth, pomp, and in the descending evening finds escape in the narrow street the red light district. It explains how the man's purpose is not love, but to engage a woman of pleasure for the evening.
From the Paper "The poet is escaping. He says "Let us go . . . don"t ask questions, but we will slip through the streets of cheap one night hotels, taverns with sawdust and oyster shells on the floors, and find our escape. The poet and his miss will ?make our visit.? As they walk through the poorer section of town, the images he describes are not those of the aristocracy with which they are familiar, but those of the bowery. The night air is filled with yellow smoke form single roof top pipes. The smoke is pushed back down into the streets by the incoming cool of the evening, and thermo cline that slips in from the Thames river. It licks the inside of the tavern windows, leaving them smoky, and more translucent than transparent. The smoke licks the outside of the windows as well, as it is forced down by the denser humid night air."
Abstract We are so accustomed to thinking of William Wordsworth as the quintessential Romantic poet -- a man in love with the idea of a simple life lived close to nature -- that we are apt to overlook the fact that he is in fact sometimes somewhat ambivalent about his relationship to nature. The paper shows that Wordsworth's vision of his relationship to the world beyond his own experiences is throughout his life a shaping element of his poetic voice and, as this vision changes so does his style. This paper focuses on "Excursion", a relatively early poem, and "The Prelude", which is a twice-expanded version of a poem of the same name that he wrote in 1799. In 1805 he would expand "Prelude" to an epic-length 13 books and in 1850 he would expand it again to 14 books. The paper shows that in both these poems, we see a different stage of Wordsworth's relationship to both self and nature.
From the Paper ""The Prelude? is, of course, in some measure autobiographical, but it is intended to be read more as a confessional than a restatement of the facts of his life in any simple way. Indeed, although the facts described in the poem did occur in his life, in the poem he has reordered them, recast them -- offered them to us in an interpretive framework that he has created for himself to understand the arc of his life. He is providing an instruction through example of the ways in which a person can rewrite his own history without being false to it; his is not an act of deception but of synthesis, an alchemical process that burns away everything that is unnecessary and leaves only the gold from the different eras of his life.
This paper discusses and analyzes the short stories "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, "Turned" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "A New England Nun" and "The Revolt of Mother" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.
Abstract This paper offers brief summaries of these stories and discusses how the roles of women are both subservient and equal to men in each. Each woman in these stories faces life her own way, and deals with the subservience that was so prevalent in her own way. The paper shows how these four stories aptly illustrate the intricate relationships between men and women at the turn of the century and how much women have grown since then.
From the Paper "Edna, the heroine of "The Awakening" is married to Leonce, and has two sons. Readers today see Edna as a woman struggling to find her own identity in a world defined by men. She becomes a "self-actualized" woman before it was fashionable, and it is too much to bear in Victorian society. As Edna begins on her journey of awakening, she begins to look inside herself, and discovers outwardly she seems content, but inwardly, she is far from happy. Some days she "was happy to be alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight. . . ." On such days, Edna "found it good to dream and to be alone and unmolested" (Chopin 58). Yet on other days, she is so despondent life "did not seem worthwhile . . . to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling toward inevitable annihilation" (Chopin 58)."
Abstract Sarah A. Binder's article on "The Dynamics of Legislative Gridlock, 1947-96" provides profound statistical and historical insight into how the dynamics of a legislative government system works in terms of the potential bipartisan establishment of alliances between elected individuals. The paper shows that Binder's central argument suggests that a sense of internal party cohesion creates less favorable conditions for passing legislation, rather than facilitates the passing of new laws. In other words, the more strongly allied different individuals within a political party are to particular party ideology and to themselves as "Democrats" or "Republicans", the less apt they are to make concessions to members of the opposing party. Rather than forming ties to the legislature as a governing body, representatives with strong party allegiances form ties to their party's governing structures instead.
From the Paper "Perhaps the most famous example that springs to mind during the period chronicled by Binder is Senator Jesse Helm's filibusters of civil rights legislation in the senate. The senator's allegiance to segregationist ideology enabled him to use the rules and protocols of the senate to almost "kill" historic civil rights laws. Helm's allegiance to segregationist and the Dixiecrat ideology ultimately made him wish to break away from the Democratic Party. But this was not a time of great unity within the Democratic Party. Thus, to Binder's approval and to prove Binder's point, because of this lack of party unity, a Democratic president, Lyndon Johnson, enabled the civil rights legislation of the 1960's to be passed, in opposition to members of his own party. This example shows how a lack of party allegiance can indeed enable the legislature to ?get things done.?"
Tags: Cold, War, Civil, Rights, Watergate, Jesse, Helm
