US Economy Essays - Economy Of Asia, Oregon, Pacific Northwest

US Economy The U.S. economy has been slowly growing since the spring of 1991, growth increased in 1997 when real gross domestic product rose 3.9 percent from an increase of 2.8 percent in 1996. At the same time inflation in 1997 fell to 2.3 percent decreasing the cost of living. Payroll jobs rose from 121.14 million in January to 124.29 million in December and the national unemployment rate declined over the year by .7%. This combination of events was good news for the businesses and the general public because it increased wealth and lowered prices. On July 2,1997 Thailand started a crisis in Asia which effected U.S. exports to the region. U.S. exports to Asia represent 30% of total exports but were cut in half to 13.4% in 1997. The interest declines offset some of the drag on the American economy from the reduced exports by concentration on construction and real estate. Asia crisis was a threat to the U.S. economy but a strong dollar and the reduced commodity demand helped to keep the low inflation period. In 1998 the economy experienced further acceleration growth, unemployment decreased faster to lows not seen in 20 years and the price index stayed the same. Falling interest rates and oil prices encouraged consumers. Economists still kept a close eye on the unfolding events in Asia. In 1999 U.S. economy will slow due to weak markets around the world consumer spending will decrease and businesses will slow down their investing. Although inflation has not changed the decline in oil prices and the rising dollar will fade. Nations GDP is excepted to slow growth near 2% and the world economy possibly will stabilize. Oregon's Economy Just like the rest of the county Oregon has been booming since early 90's but came to a moderate pace in 1997. Oregon only experienced dramatic declines in lumber and wood products production and employment. In 1997 turmoil in Asia started which brought concern to the state due to its great exports to that region. Nike experienced lost sales in Asia and laid of workers in Oregon. Other big companies like Intel, Mitsubishi Silicon, Hewlett Packard, Tektronix, and Sequent saw weakened sales and reduced employment. The number of people moving to Oregon declined and request for residential construction permits were down 2.9%. Oregon's overall tax burden has declined with capped property taxes and rapid increases in personal income. In1999 economy will continue to grow but increments will diminish. Employment growth in 1998 was 2.4% and will fall in 1999 to 1.5%. Oregon and the Western Region Oregon along with Idaho and Utah experienced a decline in the total amount of people coming to their state. In the region all states saw job gains that were above the national average. Nevada, Idaho, California, Washington saw the fastest growth while Oregon and Utah eased. Employment in services the region did better when the nation except in Nevada, Utah and Oregon which slowed down from 1996. Only mining, military, and agricultural sectors saw earnings growth below the national figures in Oregon. Dividends, interest, and rental income rose above the national average of 4.3% in all the states while transfer payments rose more slowly than the nation in Oregon, Washington, and California. Residential permits declined in Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Idaho but increased by 15.3 % in the "Northern 34" and 4 % increase in Washington. The Asian crisis has not effected other states in the region as much as Oregon that's why it is experiencing some economy growth difficulties.

In Its Now or Never Essays

In Its Now or Never Essays In Its Now or Never Paper In Its Now or Never Paper The 17th century poets, Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick, in their poems To His Coy Mistress and To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time offer extraordinary insight into the feelings and emotions connected with love. With twenty-eight definitions for the word love in the dictionary and therefore with no surprise we find this broadly defined word contributing to a diverse array of poems, which can all claim to be centered around love.Two such poems are, To His Coy Mistress and To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time both of which are obviously dealing with the subject of love, despite being written thirty-three years apart they still share a commonality. Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick both use vivid figurative language and ardent rhyme devices in similar ways in their respective poems to communicate a common theme: that beyond the obvious amorous and passionate nature of love, love is ultimately ephemeral and therefore we must seize it and fully experience it, before love, true to its t ransient character, passes us by.Both Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick use dramatic and vibrant figurative language not only to create visual effects that complement and enliven their shared theme but they also use it to convey abstract ideas and concepts that would have been very difficult or even impossible to express in literal terms, such as the transient spirit of love and necessity of seizing love while it lasts. Andrew Marvell in his To His Coy Mistress romantically describes a young man persuading his coy lady (2) to release herself to live in the present. Marvell brilliantly illustrates the temporary character of love as well as the need to live life to its fullest as shown in the three different stanzas, each overflowing with powerful and moving imagery.In the 17th century England was just beginning its exploration and discovery of the exotic east, and as such we find Marvell evoking images of places such as mysterious Indian Ganges (5) as he carefully describes the great feelings of love apparent throughout the poem. Marvell continues by evoking images of the grand and growing British Empire by claiming that his, love [would] grow / Vaster than empires, and more slow (11-12). At a time where colonialism and empire building were like epidemics raging throughout Europe, such vivid imagery as evoked by Marvell would have allowed 17th century readers to easily understand the strength and enormity of the love depicted in his poem.He also developed the idea of the importance time earlier in his poem but does not further it fully. Andrew Marvell similarly alluded to the flood (8) and the conversion of the Jews (10), which are two religious allusions taken from the Old and New Testaments, respectively. The flood (8) alludes to the story of Noah and the great flood which occurred around the time of Creation while the conversion of the Jews (10) according to the book of Revelations in the Bible, would occur near Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. Ma rvell was writing in a deeply religious time period and therefore such allusions would have been perfectly understood by 17th century readers to indicate the immensity and power of love. As he progresses in the second and third stanzas of his poem, Andrew Marvell begins to show how love is ultimately ephemeral and how it must be enjoyed because it is short-lived.Marvell along these lines evokes powerful images of beauty [that] shall no more be found (25), the grave (21), time devour[ing] (39) the lovers and the vast eternity (24) of death to depict how love is not truly eternal and most do not have two hundred years to adore (15) each other. Marvell here is making a statement about how all of us (regardless of gender or involvement in relationships) should savor the pleasures of the present. For the poet, there are two kinds of attitudes toward the present: activities in the present are judged by their impact on the future, and there is thus no future state all activities occur in the present and can only be enjoyed or evaluated by their impact at that moment.Correspondingly, Robert Herrick in his poem To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, uses imagery to brilliantly illustrate his shared theme: he feels it is necessary to immerse oneself in love before love passes one by. In each of the four stanzas, Herrick uses a new image to give the impression of the time fleeting by and he highlights the need for us to seize the love literally meaning to strike iron when its hot. Herrick establishes that Old time is still a-flying (2) and this is the overtone for the entire poem. In the first stanza, he compares the flower that smiles today (3) to the ones that will be dying (4) tomorrow (4) and this comparison creates a mold for all the imagery he uses that follows.The flower (3) like love is initially good and beautiful but its life yet is ephemeral and short-lived. The same is true for the lamp of heaven, the sun (5) and age (9). The sun(5) is glorious (5) when it is rising but in the end its grace and power is momentary, as it eventually has to set. The same principle holds true with age (9), which is best (9) at first (9) but gets worse (11) as time drags on. These three images all contribute to a poetic restatement on Herricks part of that the ephemeral nature of things and the necessity for us to seize the opportunity while it lasts, as there will be no point to cry over split milk.Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick similarly use rhyme devices in diverse ways to emphasize different facets of their poems while ultimately continuing to uphold a shared theme. Both of them both employ very regular rhyme schemes in To His Coy Mistress and To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time for similar ends. Robert Herricks rhyme scheme in one of alternating lines (i.e. ABAB) and this rhyme scheme allows him to make rhyming lines complement each other. In the opening stanza, flying (2) rhymes with dying (4) and this rhyme highlights the points the poet is trying to make. The regular rhyme pattern forces the reader to become accustomed to it very easily and therefore we often anticipate the rhyming word and this allows Herrick to create a union between the rhyming sentences.This is clearly observable in lines two and four: old time is still a-flying (2) and tomorrow will be dying. The union caused by rhyming allows Herrick to highlight a critical element of theme that time and love is not forever and that we should live fully in the present because tomorrow may never come. This union caused by rhyming is present throughout the poem and these unions supplement not only the overall theme but also the figurative language employed by Robert Herrick. In a like manner, Alexander Marvell also utilizes a very regular rhyme scheme where every two lines rhyme (i.e. AABB). This regular rhyme scheme is primarily used by Marvell to make To His Coy Mistress smooth and flowing. With such long stanzas, such as the twenty-line long first stanza, it was nece ssary for the poet to use a regular rhyme scheme to add continuity and regularity to his poem.The continuity due to rhyming is particularly seen in lines twenty-three to twenty-eight, where Marvell abruptly breaks with his regular rhyme scheme. He rhymes lie (23) with try (27) and eternity (24) with virginity (28) and this sudden break forces the reader to pay closer attention and consequently Marvell introduces key ideas and concepts that relate directly with the theme. It is in these lines that Alexander Marvell shows how time is rapidly progressing in ways such as the fading of beauty and death. Marvell also highlights certain lines by employing slant rhyme, which is the case in lines six through ten. Here he attempts to rhyme would (6) with flood (7) and refuse (8) with Jews (9) and by doing so brings more focus onto this allusion. The use of rhyme is therefore clearly used by both Alexander Marvell and Robert Herrick to embellish their respective poems.The Latin phrase carpe di em means, to seize the day, and this has been utilized very effectively as a rally to ask us to immerse ourselves in life before life passes us by. To Virgins, to Make Much of Time, by Robert Herrick and To His Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell are both poetic restatements of carpe diem. Both these poets emphasize the ephemeral character of love, which ultimately overshadows its amorous and passionate nature.They accentuate through their shared theme the necessity for seizing the opportunity and experiencing the joys of love while it was possible. This theme, which was shared between two poets who were not contemporaries of each other, shows the importance of it especially in a time period where the average life span was so short. But Marvell and Herricks theme however has proved timeless, and thus continues to be applicable even today in the 21st century.

ELL Families and Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ELL Families and Schools - Essay Example Some ELLs are introduced to English in some sort of way at home and at an early age. Oftentimes, however, this is in a decontextualized fashion and children who have had not had sufficient outside interaction with precise language practice do not function properly when they are placed in a regular classroom. "Educators should not categorize these children as having language disabilities; rather they should recognize that a sociocultural factor has influenced the children's verbal performance and has pinpointed the area that must be addressed by oral language instruction in the classroom" (Ruiz, 2008, pg. 1). Knowledge about print is another area of interest in this particular category. This is particularly important because a child's reading abilities are derived from their knowledge of print and related areas. Knowledge of print begins before a child even begins school. At that time, they also start to learn how to associate letters with sounds (Ruiz, 2008). Background knowledge is another sociocultural influence on ELLs. ... anguage learners with limited English proficiency can do as well as more proficient students on reading comprehension tasks when they do prereading activities that activate and extend the background knowledge pertinent to the tasks" (Ruiz, 2008, pg. 1). The last sociocultural component that has been identified for ELLs is sense of story. "That is, an internal sense of the usual components of a story: setting, main character(s), problem, attempts to resolve the problem, character reactions to the attempts, and resolution" (Ruiz, 2008, pg. 1). Bilingualism and Home Language Use There is much controversy surrounding whether or not learning more than one language at a young age will confuse a child and hinder his or her progress and school. However, research shows that there are many benefits for bilingual children and the sooner they start utilizing a second language, the better. According to IRC (2008, pg. 1), "A large number of research studies show very clearly that bilingualism can increase children's language abilities and help their progress in school. However, for children to experience these beneficial effects of bilingualism, it is important that both their home and school languages continue to develop. Children who can read and write as well as speak two languages have a major advantage not just in school but also in finding jobs after school." The problem with bilingualism in schools occurs when children do not have a solid first-language foundation and then are not taught or encouraged to use their initial language (IRC, 2008). Parental and Community Resources for English Acquisition There are federal and state programs readily available to ELLs, but many individuals do not take advantage of them or do not know how to gain access to them. There are