Free Candide Essays: Successful Writing Techniques :: Candide essays

The Successful Writing Techniques in Candide In Candide, Voltaire uses many writing techniques that can also be found in the works of Cervantes, Alighieri, Rabelais and Moliere. The use of the various styles and conventions shows that, despite the passage of centuries and the language differences, certain writing techniques will always be effective. One common literary technique is the author's use of one or more of his characters as his 'voice' to speak out the authors views on a certain subject. For instance, in Moliere's Tartuffe, the author uses the character of Cleante to speak out against religious hypocrites (page 1419, lines 99-102): Nothing that I more cherish and admire Than honest zeal and true religious fire. So there is nothing that I find more base Than specious piety's dishonest face. In Candide, Voltaire makes use of several characters to voice his opinion mocking philosophical optimism. On page 1594, Candide is asking a gentleman about whether everything is for the best in the physical world as well as the moral universe. The man replies: ...I believe nothing of the sort. I find that everything goes wrong in our world; that nobody knows his place in society or his duty, what he's doing or what he ought to be doing, and that outside of mealtimes...the rest of the day is spent in useless quarrels...-it's one unend ing warfare. By having this character take on such a pessimistic tone, he directly contradicts the obviously over-optimistic tone of Candide. In the conclusion (page 1617) an old turk instructs Candide in the futility of needless philosophizing by saying that "...the work keeps us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty." In each of these examples, the character chosen by the author comes across as a reasonable and respectable person, making the author's point of view seem just as reasonable and respectable. Another technique Voltaire uses in Candide is that of taking actual people and events and weaving into his work of fiction. He often does this to mock or ridicule his political and literary adversaries, as shown in the conversation between the abbe' and the Parisian supper guests (page 1593). The abbe' mentions two critics who in Voltaires time have criticized his work. The critics are referred to as boring and impudent by the supper guests. In much the same manner Alighieri, in The Divine Comedy, has placed many of his enemies in various circles of Hell.

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 14

They walked back to the gas station quickly, their shoulders almost touching. Mary-Lynnette found comfort in Rowan's nearness, in her levelheadedness.She'd never had a friend before who was completelyher equal, who found it as easy to take care of people as to be taken care of. As they reached the gas station, they could see thatthe little group was now clustered around Mary Lynnette's car. Jeremy was peering under the hood.Mark and Jade were back, hand in hand, but there was no sign of Tiggy. Kestrel was leaning against a gas pump, and Ash was talking to Jeremy. â€Å"So the werewolf walks into the second doctor's office and he says, ‘Doc, I think I have rabies.' And the doctor says †¦Ã¢â‚¬  So much for bluffing him, Mary-Lynnette thought. Rowan, eyes shut and shoulders tensed, said, â€Å"Ash,that isn't funny.† She opened her eyes. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she said to Jeremy. â€Å"He doesn't mean it.† â€Å"He does, but it doesn't matter. I've heard worse.† Jeremy bent over the engine again. He replaced a cap with careful, even twists. Then he looked up at Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette didn't know what to say. What's the etiquette when you've just discovered that somebody's a werewolf? And that it may be their duty to eat you? Her eyes filled. She was completely out of control today. Jeremy looked away. He shook his head slightly. His mouth was bitter. â€Å"That's what I figured. I thought you'd react this way. Or I'd have told you myself a long time ago.† â€Å"You would?† Mary-Lynnette's vision cleared.†But-then you would have gotten in trouble. Right?† Jeremy smiled faintly. â€Å"Well, we're not really sticklers for Night World law around here.† He said it in a normal tone of voice. Ash and the sisters looked around reflexively. Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"‘We'?† â€Å"My family. They first settled here because it was so far out of the way. A place where they wouldn't bother anybody, and nobody would bother them. Of course, they're all gone now. There's only me left.† He said it without self-pity, but Mary-Lynnette moved closer. â€Å"I'm sorry.† Jade moved in on the other side, silvery-green eyeswide. â€Å"But that's why we came here, too! So nobody would bother us. We don't like the Night World,either.† Jeremy gave another faint smile-that smile thatshowed mostly in his eyes. â€Å"I know,† he said to Jade. â€Å"You're related to Mrs. Burdock, aren't you?† â€Å"She was our aunt,† Kestrel said, her golden gaze fixed unwaveringly on him. Jeremy's expression changed slightly. He turned around to look at Kestrel directly. â€Å"‘Was'?† â€Å"Yes, shemet with a slight accident involving astake,† Ash said. â€Å"Funny how that happens some times†¦.† Jeremy's expression changed again. He looked as if he were leaning against the car for support. â€Å"Who did it?† Then he glanced back at Ash, and Mary-Lynnette saw a gleam of teeth. â€Å"Wait you think I did. Don't you?† â€Å"It did cross our minds at one point,† Ash said. â€Å"Actually, it seemed to keep crossing them. Back and forth. Maybe we should put in a crosswalk.† Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"Ash, stop it.† â€Å"So you're saying you didn't do it,† Mark said to Jeremy, at the same time as Rowan said, â€Å"Actually, Kestrel thinks it was a vampire hunter.† Her voice was soft, but once again, everybody looked around. The street was still deserted. â€Å"There's no vampire hunter around here,† Jeremy said flatly. â€Å"Then there's a vampire,† Jade said in an excited whisper. â€Å"There has to be, because of the way Aunt Opal was killed. And the goat.† â€Å"The goat . . . ? No, don't even tell me. I don't wanttoknow.† Jeremy swung Mary-Lynnette's hood shut. He looked at her and said quickly, â€Å"Everything's fine in there. You should get the oilchanged sometime.† Then he turned to Rowan. â€Å"I'm sorry about your aunt. But if thereis a vampirearound here, it's somebody staying hidden. Really hidden. Same if it's a vampire hunter.† â€Å"We already figured that out,† Kestrel said. MaryLynnette expected Ash to chime in, but Ash was staring across the street broodingly, his hands in hispockets, apparently having given up on the conversation for the moment. â€Å"You haven't seen anything that could give you a due?† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"We were going to lookaround town.† He met her eyes directly. â€Å"If I knew, I'd tell you.† There was just the slightest emphasis on the last word. â€Å"If I could help you, I would.† â€Å"Well, come along for the ride. You can put your head out of the window,† Ash said, returning to life. That did it. Mary-Lynnette marched over, grabbedhim by the arm, and said to the others, â€Å"Excuse us.† She hauled him in a series of tugs to the back of the gas station. â€Å"You jerk!† â€Å"Oh, look†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â€Å"Shut upl†She jabbed a finger at his throat. It didn't matter that touching him set off electrical explosions. It just gave her another reason to want to kill him. She found that the pink haze was a lot like anger when you kept shouting through it. â€Å"You have to be the center of every drama, don't you? You have to be the center of attention, and act smart, and mouth off l† â€Å"Ow,† Ash said. â€Å"Even if it means hurting other people. Even if itmeans hurting somebody who's only had rotten breaks all his life. Well, not this time.† â€Å"Ow â€Å"Rowan said you guys think all werewolves are low class. And you know what that is? Where I come from, they call that prejudice. And humans have it, too, andit is not a pretty picture. It's about the most hateful thing in the world. I'm ashamed to even stand there while you spout it off.† Mary-Lynnette realized she was crying. She also realized that Mark and Jade were peering around the edge of the gas station. Ash was flat against the boarded-up window, armsup in a gesture of surrender. He looked at a loss for words and ashamed. Good, Mary-Lynnette thought. â€Å"Should you keep poking him that way?† Mark said tentatively. Mary-Lynnette could see Rowan andKestrel behind him and Jade. They all looked alarmed. â€Å"I can't be friends with anybody who's a bigot,†she said to all of them. She gave Ash a jab for emphasis. â€Å"We're not,† Jade said virtuously.†Wedon't be lieve that stupid stuff.† â€Å"We really don't,† Rowan said. â€Å"And Mary-Lynnette-our father is alwaysyellingat Ash for visiting the wrong kind of people on the Outside. Belonging to a dub that admits werewolves, havingwerewolves for friends. The Elders all say he's too liberal about that.† Oh. â€Å"Well, he's got a funny way of showing it,† Mary-Lynnette said, deflating slightly. â€Å"I just thought I'd mention that,† Rowan said.†Now we'll leave you alone.† She herded the others back toward the front of the station. When they were gone, Ash said, â€Å"Can I move now, please?† He looked as if he was in a very bad mood. Mary-Lynnette gave up. She felt tired, suddenlytired and emotionally drained. Too much had happened in the last few days. And it kept happening, it never let up, and †¦ well, she was tired, that's all. â€Å"If you'd go away soon, it would be easier,† shesaid, moving away from Ash. She could feel her headsag slightly. â€Å"Mary-Lynnette . . .† There was something inAsh's voice that she'd never heard before. â€Å"Look it's not exactly a matter of me wanting to go away.There's somebody else from the Night World coming on Monday. His name is Quinn. And if my sistersand I don't go back with him, the whole town is in trouble. If he thinks anything irregular is going onhere †¦ You don't know what the Night Peoplecan do.† Mary-Lynnette could hear her heart beating distinctly. She didn't turn back to look at Ash. â€Å"They could wipe Briar Creek out. I mean it. They've done things like that, to preserve the secret. It's the only protection they have from your kind.† Mary-Lynnette said-not defiantly, but with simpleconviction, â€Å"Your sisters aren't going to leave.† â€Å"Then the whole town's in trouble. There's a roguewerewolf, three renegade lamia, and a secret vampirekiller wandering around somewhere-not to mention twohumans who know about the Night World. This is a paranormal disaster area.† A long silence. Mary-Lynnette was trying very hard not to see â€Å"things from Ash's point of view. Atlast she said, â€Å"So what do you want me to do?† â€Å"Oh, I don't know, why don't we all have a pizza party and watch TV?† Ash sounded savage. â€Å"I haveno idea what to do,† he added in more normal tones.†And you'd better believe I've been thinking about it. The only thing I can come up with is that the girlshave to go back with me, and we all have to lie through our teeth to Quinn.† Mary-Lynnette tried to think, but her head was throbbing. â€Å"There is one other possibility,† Ash said. He saidit under his breath, as if he wouldn't mind if she pretended not to hear him. Mary-Lynnette eased a crick in her neck, watchingblue-and-yellow images of the sun on her shut eyelids. â€Å"What?† â€Å"I know you and the girls did a blood-tie ceremony. It was illegal, but that's beside the point. You're part of the reason they don't want to leavehere.† Mary-Lynnette opened her mouth to point out thatthey didn't want to leave because life had been unbearable for them in the Night World, but Ash hurried on. â€Å"But maybe if you were-like us, we could work something out. I could take the girls back to the island, and then in a few months I could get them out again. We'd go someplace where nobodywould know us. Nobody would suspect there was anything irregular about you. The girls would be free,and you'd be there, so there's no reason they shouldn't be happy. Your brother could come, too.† Mary-Lynnette turned around slowly. She examined Ash. The sun brought out hidden warm tonesin his hair, making it a shimmering blond somewherebetween Jade's and Kestrel's. His eyes were shadowed, some dark color. He stood lanky and elegantas ever, but with one hand in his pocket and a pained expression on his face. â€Å"Don't frown; you'll spoil your looks,† she said. â€Å"For God's sake, don't patronize mel† he yelled. Mary-Lynnette was startled. Well. Okay. â€Å"I think,† she said, more cautiously but with emphasis to let him know that she was the one with a right to be upset, â€Å"that you are suggesting changing me into a vampire.† The corner of Ash's mouth jerked. He put his other hand in his pocket and looked away. â€Å"That was the general idea, yes.† â€Å"So that your sisters can be happy.† â€Å"So that you don't get killed by some vigilante like Quinn.† â€Å"But aren't the Night People going to kill me just the same if you change me?† â€Å"Only if they findyou,† Ash said savagely. â€Å"And if we can get away from here clean, they wouldn't.Anyway, as a vampire you'd have a better chance of fighting them.† â€Å"So I'm supposed to become a vampire and leave everything I love here so your sisters can be happy.† Ash just stared angrily at the roof of the building across the street. â€Å"Forget it.† â€Å"Believe me, I wasn't even thinking about it in the first place.† â€Å"Fine.† He continued to stare. All at once Mary-Lynnette had the horrible feeling that his eyes were wet. And I've cried I don't know how many times inthe last two days-and I only used to cry when thestars were so beautiful it hurt. There's somethingwrongwith me now. I don't even know who I am anymore. There seemed to be something wrong with Ash, too. â€Å"Ash †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't look at her. His jaw was tight. The problem is that there isn't any tidy answer, Mary-Lynnette thought. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she said huskily, trying to shake off the strange feelings that hadsuddenly descended on her. â€Å"It's just that everything's turned out so †¦ weird.I never asked for any of this.† She swallowed. â€Å"I guess you never askedfor it, either. First your sisters running away †¦and then me. Some joke, yeah?† â€Å"Yeah.† He wasn't staring off into the distance anymore. â€Å"Look †¦ I might as well tell you.I didn't ask for this, and if somebody had said last week that I'd be in †¦ involved †¦with a,human, I'd have knocked his head off. I mean, after howls of derisive laughter. But.† He stopped. That seemed to be the end of his confession:but.Of course, he didn't really need to say more. Mary-Lynnette, arms folded over her chest, stared at a curved piece of glass on the ground and tried to think of other phrases that started with in.Besides the obvious. She couldn't come up with any. She resisted the impulse to nudge the glass with her foot. â€Å"I'm a bad influence on your sisters.† â€Å"I said that to protect you. To try and protect you.†Ã¢â‚¬ I can protect myself.† â€Å"So I've noticed,† -he said dryly. â€Å"Does that help?† â€Å"You noticing? No, because you don't really believe it. You'll always think I'm weaker than you, softer †¦even if you didn't say it, I'd know you were thinking it.† Ash suddenly looked crafty. His eyes were as greenas hellebore flowers. â€Å"If you were a vampire, you wouldn't be weaker,† he said. â€Å"Also, you'd know what I was really thinking.† He held out his hand. â€Å"Want a sample?† Mary-Lynnette said abruptly, â€Å"We'd better get back. They're going to think we've killed each other.† â€Å"Let them,† Ash said, his hand still held out, but Mary-Lynnette just shook her head and walked away. She was scared. Wherever she'd been going with Ash, she'd been getting in too deep. And she wondered how much of their conversation had been audible around front. When she rounded the corner, her eyes immediately went to Jeremy. He was standing with Kestrel by the gas pump. They were dose together, and forjust an instant Mary-Lynnette felt something like startled dismay. Then her inner voice asked, Are you insane? You can't be jealous over him while you're worrying whether he's jealous over you, and meanwhile worrying about what to do with your soulmate†¦. It's good if he and Kestrel like each other. â€Å"I don't care; I can't wait anymore,† Jade was saying to Rowan on the sidewalk. â€Å"I've got to find him.† â€Å"She thinks Tiggy's gone home,† Rowan said, seeing Mary-Lynnette. Ash went toward Rowan. Kestrel did, too. Somehow Mary-Lynnette was left beside Jeremy. Once again, she didn't know the etiquette. Sheglanced at him-and stopped feeling awkward. He was watching her in his quiet, level way. But then he startled her. He threw a look at thesidewalk and said, â€Å"Mary-Lynnette, be careful.† â€Å"What?† † Be careful. â€Å"It was the same tone he'd used whenwarning her about Todd and Vic. Mary-Lynnette followed his gaze †¦ to Ash. â€Å"It's all right,† Mary-Lynnette said. She didn't know how to explain. Even his own sisters hadn't believed Ash wouldn't hurt her. Jeremy looked bleak. â€Å"I know guys like that.Sometimes they bring human girls to their clubsand you don't want to know why. So just just watch yourself, all right?† It was a nasty shock. Rowan and the girls had saidsimilar things, but coming from Jeremy it sank in, somehow. Ash had undoubtedly done things in his life that †¦ well, that would make her want to kill him if she knew. Things you couldn't just forget about. â€Å"I'll be careful,† she said. She realized her fists were clenched, and she said with a glimmer of humor, â€Å"I can handle him.† Jeremy still looked bleak. His brown eyes were dark and his jaw was tight as he looked at Ash. Underhis quietness, Mary-Lynnette could sense leashed power. Cold anger. Protectiveness. And the fact that he didn't like Ash at all . The others were coming back. â€Å"I'll be all right,† Mary-Lynnette whispered quickly. Aloud, Jeremy said, â€Å"I'll keep thinking about the people around town. I'll tell you if I come up with something.† Mary-Lynnette nodded. â€Å"Thanks, Jeremy.† She tried to give him a reassuring look as everybody got into the car. He stood watching as she pulled out of the gas station. He didn't wave. â€Å"Okay, so we go home,† Mark said. â€Å"And then what?† Nobody answered. Mary-Lynnette realized that she had no idea what. â€Å"I guess we'd better figure out if we still have anysuspects,† she said at last. â€Å"There's something else we've got to do, first,† Rowan said softly. â€Å"We vampires, I mean.† Mary-Lynnette could tell just by the way she said it. But Mark asked, â€Å"What?† â€Å"We need to feed,† Kestrel said with her most radiant smile. They got back to Burdock Farm. There was no sign of the cat. The four vampires headed for the woods, Jadecalling for Tiggy, and Mary-Lynnette headed for Mrs. B.'s rolltop desk. She got engraved stationery only slightly mildewed at the edges-and a silver pen with a fussy Victorian pattern on it. â€Å"Now,† she said to Mark as she sat at the kitchen table. â€Å"We're going to play List the Suspects.† â€Å"There's nothing in this house to eat, you know,† Mark said. He had all the cupboards open. â€Å"Just things like instant coffee and green Jujyfruits. The ones everybody leaves.† â€Å"What can I say, your girlfriend is undead. Come on. Sit down and concentrate.† Mark sat down and sighed. â€Å"Who have we got?† â€Å"We should have gone to find out what the dealwas with that horse,† Mark said. Mary-Lynnette stopped with her pen poised overthe stationery. â€Å"You're right, that must be connected. I forgot about it.† Which just goes to show you, detective work doesn't mix with 1-with idle dawdling. â€Å"All right,† she said grimly. â€Å"So let's assume that whoever killed the horse was the same person who killed Aunt Opal and the goat. And maybe the sameperson who broke the gas station window-that hap pened last night, too. Where does that get us?† â€Å"I think it was Todd and Vic,† Mark said. â€Å"You're not being helpful.† â€Å"I'm serious. You know how Todd is always chewing on that toothpick. And there were toothpicks stuck in the goat.† Toothpicks†¦ now, what did that remind her of? No, not toothpicks, the bigger stakes. Why couldn't she remember ? She rubbed her forehead, giving up. â€Å"Okay†¦I'llput Todd and Vic, vampire hunters, with a question mark. Unless you think they're vampires themselves.† â€Å"Nope,† Mark said, undeterred by her sarcasm. â€Å"I think Jade would've noticed that when she drank their blood.† He eyed her thoughtfully. â€Å"You're the smart one. Who doyou think did it?† â€Å"I have no idea.† Mark made a face at her, andshe doodled a stake on the stationery. The doodle changed into a very small stake, more like a pencil,held by a feminine hand. She never could draw hands†¦. â€Å"Oh, my God. Bunny.† â€Å"Bunny did it?† Mark asked ingenuously, preparedto be straight man for a joke. But Mary-Lynnette said,†Yes.I mean-no, I don't know. But those stakes in the goat-the big ones I've seen herusingthem. She uses them on her nails. They're cuticle sticks.† â€Å"Well †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mark looked dismayed. â€Å"But I mean †¦ Bunny . C'mon. She can't kill a mosquito.† Mary-Lynnette shook her head, agitated. â€Å"Rowan said she had a lamia name. And she said something strange to me-Bunny-the day I was looking for Todd and Vic.† It was all coming back now, a flood of memories that she didn't particularly want. â€Å"She said, ‘Good hunting.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ â€Å"Mare, it's from The Jungle Book .† â€Å"I know. It was still weird for her to say. And she's almosttoosweet and scared-what if it's all an act?† When Mark didn't answer, she said, â€Å"Is it any more unlikelythan Todd and Vic being vampire hunters?† â€Å"So put her down, too.† Mary-Lynnette did. Then she said, â€Å"You know, there's something I keep meaning to ask Rowanabout how they wrote to Mrs. B. from thatisland-† She broke off and tensed as the back door banged. â€Å"Am I the first one back?† It was Rowan, windblown and glowing, slightlybreathless. Her hair was a tumbling chestnut loud around her. â€Å"Where's everybody else?† Mary-Lynnette asked. â€Å"We separated early on. It's the only way, you know, with four of us in this small of an area.† â€Å"Small!† Mark looked offended. â€Å"If Briar Creekhas one good thing-and I'm not saying it does it's space.† Rowan smiled. â€Å"For a hunting range, it is small,†she said. â€Å"No offense. It's fine for us-we never got to hunt at -all on the island. They brought our mealsto us, tranquilized and completely passive.† Mary-Lynnette pushed away the image this evoked. â€Å"Urn, you want to register a guess on Whodunit?† 0Rowan sat down in a kitchen chair, smoothing a wisp of brown hair off her forehead. â€Å"I don't know. I wonder if it's somebody we haven't even thought of yet.† Mary-Lynnette remembered what she'd been talking about when the door banged. â€Å"Rowan, I always meant to ask you-you said that only Ash could havefigured out where you were going when you ran away. But what about the guy who helped yousmuggle letters off the island? He would know where your aunt lived, right? He could see the address on the letters.† â€Å"Crane Linden.† Rowan smiled, a sad little smile. â€Å"No, he wouldn't know. He's †¦Ã¢â‚¬  She touched her temple lightly. â€Å"I don't know what you call it. His mind never developed completely. He can't read. But he's very kind.† There were illiterate vampires? Well, why not?Aloud Mary-Lynnette said, â€Å"Oh. Well, I guess it's one more person we can eliminate.† â€Å"Look, can we just brainstorm a minute?† Mark said. â€Å"This is probably crazy, but what if Jeremy'suncle isn't really dead? And what if-† At that moment, there was a crash from the front porch. No, a tap-tap-crash, Mary-Lynnette thought. Then she thought, Oh, God . . . Tiggy.

A Study of the Microfinance Institutions Essay

One factor inhibiting the attainment of development goals in less developed countries is the populace’s general inability to access factors of production, especially finance. This limits the entrepreneurial ability of the people, especially the poor. Consequently, potential employment opportunities and household prospects for creating wealth and improving income are lost. Microcredit has been one framework adopted to address this problem. Its evolution reflects acknowledgement of credit market failures especially in the formal financial sector. There has been, therefore, a shift from the formal financial sector to microfinance Micro finance practice has had a long history in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, long before economist and world financial analyst recognized it as weapon against poverty. The practice of micro finance in Nigeria is as old as man; it has been a long-term practice in our context. It is mostly practiced in less developed countries, where per capita income is very low. In the mid twentieth, theorists were concerned over the poverty and process of development with specific attention on â€Å"under developed nations† as developing countries were then tagged. According to the World Bank’s World Development Report 1999/2000: Entering the 21st century, in 1998, about 1.2 billion people 24 percent of the population in developing and transition economies lived on less than $1 a day. In 1999, 4.5 billion people of 75 percent of the world’s population lived in low-and-lower-middle income economies. Of these, 2.4 billion were from low income economies with an average annual Gross National Product (GNP) per capita of $410, while 2.1 billion lived in lower middle income economies with an average annual GNP per capital of $1,200 (World Bank, 2000/2001). W.W. Rostows, a leading proponent on state of progression or growth, noted that the critical â€Å"take off stage† recognize certain minimal rate of investment to take place, to foster development and better the standard of living of individuals. In an attempt to improve the live of the poor and to raise the standard of living in the country, the United states Agency and Implementation Development (USAID), 1995), recognizes while Government are involved in different programs because most government want to encourage the development of  business, to supplement general, policy goals that apply to business, with specific policies and programs aimed at micro and small enterprises. More also, policies that minimize the costs of licensing and registering a business, provide easy access to information about laws and regulations, and facilitates commercial codes, which establish rules to minimize the cost of doing business by defining the rights and responsibilities of all parties to a transaction. Hence the involvement of Federal Government, and other international agencies in the program of reducing the poverty level amongst Nigerians. Such programs as Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DEFRRI), Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative Bank (NACB) and Peoples Bank of Nigeria e.t.c. The aim of the program was to assist and deliver financial services and development to rural communities. The purpose of this paper is to take a cursory look at microfinance institutions and their effects on funding of small scale enterprises in Edo State. Concept of Micro Finance Micro finance can be defined as a development tool used to create access for the economically active poor to financial services at a sustainably affordable price (CBN, 2005). Eluhaiwe (2005) opined that micro finance is the provision of thrift, credit and other financial services and products in very small amounts to the poor to enable them to raise their income levels and improve their standard of living. Micro finance has also been defined as the provision of very small loans that are repaid within short period of time and is essentially used by low income individuals and households who have few assets that can be used as collateral (Ukeje, 2005). Micro finance is basically a tool designed to improve the capacities of the economically active poor to participate in the larger economy. The economically active poor are either micro entrepreneurs who operate in the informal sector (trading, farming, food catering, craftsmanship and artisanship) or people earning wages. Such poor people earn their living in either rural or urban areas; and the financial services for which access is sought are mainly savings and loans (Idolor, 2007). Micro finance is about providing financial services to the poor who are traditionally not served by the conventional financial institutions. Many features distinguish micro finance from other formal financial products. Five of these are: the smallness of loans advanced or savings collected, the absence of asset-based collateral, and simplicity of operations (Kimotha, 2005). Others are its targets as the marginalized group of borrowers, and its general employment of a group lending approach (Igbinedion and Igbatayo, 2004). The group lending approach has implication for the pressure that the members of the group bring to bear on one another to ensure loan repayment, so that the group can continue to enjoy borrowing or loan facilities. In developing countries, a majority of the population do not have access to financial services and thus constitute the group that micro finance tries to reach. Nigeria, like any other developing country, is saddled with the problem of rural urban migration, mass illiteracy, poor infrastructures, poverty and low access to formal financial services. Hence the need for the government’s micro finance policy, aimed at expanding the financial infrastructure of the country to meet the financial requirements of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as the rural and urban poor. The policy has created a platform for the establishment of Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) geared towards enhancing the provision of diversified micro finance services on a short-term or long-term and sustainable basis for the poor and low-income groups. It would also help create a vibrant micro finance sub-sector that would be adequately integrated into the mainstream of the national financial system and provide the stimulus for poverty reduction, economic growth and development (CBN, 2005). It also has the potential of not only urban–rural but rural–rural migration as Nyberg and Rozelle (1999) noted with respect to China. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Small and Medium Scale Enterprises are sub-sectors of the industrial sector which play crucial roles in industrial development (Ahmed S. 2006). Following the adoption of Economic reform programme in Nigeria in 1981, there have been several decisions to switch from capital intensive and large scale industrial projects which was based on the philosophy of import development to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises which have better prospects for developing domestic economy, thereby generating the required goods and services that will propel the economy of Nigeria towards development. It is base on this premise that Ojo .O. (2009), argued that one of the responses to the challenges of development in developing countries particularly, in Nigeria, is the encouragement of entrepreneurial development scheme. Despite the abundant natural resources, the country still finds it very difficult to discover her developmental bearing since independence. Quality and adequate infrastructural provision has remained a night-mare, the real sector among others have witnessed downward performance while unemployment rate is on the increase. Most of the poor and unemployed Nigerians in order to better their lots have resorted to the establishment of their own businesses. Consequently, Entrepreneurship is fast becoming a household name in Nigeria. This is as a result of the fact that the so called white collar jobs that people clamour for are no longer there. Even, the touted sectors (Banks and companies) known to be the largest employer of labour are on the down-turn following the consolidation crisis and fraudulent practices of the high and mighty in the banking sector. The companies of course are folding up as a result of erratic power supply, insecurity and persistent increase in interest rate which has lead to high cost of production and undermines profit making potentials of companies operating in Nigeria. As a result of banking sector practices and continuous folding up of companies, a lot of Nigerians are thrown into unemployment which inevitably detriment the economic situation of the country. Since the office jobs that people desire are no longer there for the teeming population, and the few ones that succeeded in getting the jobs are thrown out as a result of the factors identified above, the need for the government and the people to have a rethink on the way-out of this mess became imperative. Hence, the need for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) became a reality as a means of ensuring self independent, employment creation, import  substitution, effective and efficient utilization of local raw materials and contribution to the economic development of our dear nation (Nigeria). All the aforestated benefits of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises cannot be achieved without the direct intervention of the government and financial  institutions. Over the years a number of policies have been formulated by the government with a view to developing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. The Nigerian government under the then leadership of Chief Olusegun Obasajo promulgated micro-finance policy and other regulatory and supervisory frame work in 2005. Funding of Small Scale Enterprises Through the Microfinance Institutions in Edo State Among the economically active population of Edo State, there is a strong demand for small scale financial services. Micro finance institutions try to bridge the gap by accessing credit to low income people to improve household and enterprise management, increase productivity, smooth income flows and  consumption costs, enlarge and diversify their micro businesses, and increase their incomes. Using LAPO Microfinance Bank as a reference point, the challenges hitherto faced by most small scale business owners in accessing finance in the state have reduced drastically. Before, most small scale business found it extremely difficult to expand principally due to the lack of access to loans from financial institutions. This inability is mainly as a result of the stringent conditions attached to such loans. One of the conditions demanded by financial institutions before loans are granted is the provision of the necessary collaterals. The inability of small investment owners to provide such collaterals has often led to the nonexpansion of their businesses. With the establishment of microfinance institutions in the state, all that challenges in accessing needed funds for businesses have been reduced to the bearest minimum. This is so because these various microfinance institutions in the state have been able to provide small and medium scale entrepreneurs with more funds for their business ventures. METHODOLOGY In writing this paper the researchers principally used existing literatures and record relevant to the subject matter of this paper. Using deductive approach, the researchers were able to draw conclusion having critically reviewed salient issues in existing literatures and records. This method was adopted because time would not permit the use of questionnaire which ordinarily has to be administered to a sizeable number of small and medium scale Enterprises, as well as micro finance banks across the state. However, reviewing related works by other researchers gave a deeper insight to the researchers which  enabled us to draw reasonable conclusion. CONCLUSION There is absolutely no doubt that small and medium scale Enterprises contribute tremendously to the nation’s economic development. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises constitute essential ingredients in the lubrication and development of any economy. In Edo State, the story makes  no remarkable difference as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises dominate the economy. Though access to funds by small business owners in the state is still poor, the various microfinance institutions, vis-à  -vis, microfinance banks have been able to provide easy access to the needed funds to small scale enterprises. The mainstream Banks which are suppose to complement and  implement government policies on the development of small scale enterprises also clamour for huge collaterals which prospective poor borrowers usually do not have even borrowers who could afford to provide benefiting collateral are further discouraged by continuous increase in interest rate which make borrowers vulnerable to the risk of continuous indebtedness to rich lenders. REFERENCES CBN (2005), Micro Finance Policy, Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Nigeria. Abuja: Central Bank of Nigeria. Eluhaiwe, P. N. (2005), â€Å"Poverty Reduction Through Micro Financing: The Case of India†. CBN Bullion, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 42-51. Idolor, E. J. (2007), â€Å"Micro Financing in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects†. Nigerian Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 9, No. l&2, pp. 134144. Igbinedion, O. J. and A. S. Igbatayo (2004), â€Å"Micro Credit and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Policy Framework in Nigeria†. Nigeria Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 15-35. Kimotha, M. (2005), National Micro Finance Policy Framework and its Expected Impact on the Micro Finance Market in Nigeria. CBN Seminar to Mark the International Year of Micro Credit in Nigeria, 15-16 December, Abuja. Nyberg, A. and S. Rozelle (1999), Accelerating China’s Rural Transformation. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Ukeje, E. U. (2 005), â€Å"Poverty Reduction Through Micro Financing: The Case of Uganda†. CBN Bullion, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 52-63. Ahmed S. A.(2006), the role of SMEs in developing economy, Abuja, Omotayo and co. ltd. Ojo O. (2009), Impact of Micro Finance on Entrepreneurial Development: A case of Nigeria. A paper presented at the International Conference on economic and administration, organized by the faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, Romania, 14th 15th November, 2009. 2000, World Development Report 1999/2000; Entering the 21st Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, World Development Report 2000/2001; Attacking poverty. New York; Oxford University Press.

Power of One essays

Power of One essays There are many things that could effect the lives of millions, but there is one thing that really stands out from the others, The Power of One. The important thing about the power of one person is that we need to look at what that one person is doing that is making a difference. One person can make a difference in someone else's life. If someone changes your entire life or your outlook on it, you can definitely agree to the power of one. Someone that can reach out to just one person's life is just as important as someone who can change the lives of millions. A person goes through many difficult times. Sometimes with others and sometimes on their own. Every person can change someone elses life just by giving them a simple smile. Life is tough and everyone must learn how to live on his or her own, otherwise it will be difficult to survive. In the movie, it shows that one person can change the world. That one person may not be able to do a whole lot physically to change the world, but one person has the power to inspire others to help that person change the world. It also shows very firmly that one person can set an example for others that may affect the outcome of any situation. One is very meaningful and significant. P.K. becomes a symbol of Christ by trying to make all the people respect each other. To not make people respect each other by their culture or color of skin, but by their content of their character. P.K. wants everyone to get along with each other. He tries to make the white people get along with the black people so there will not be any more prejudices. He tries to stop all the violence that is going on. P.K. thinks that the black community should be allowed in the white community as partners and friends. When he has to box to solve a myth, he fights his nanny's son who was born and raised at the same time. When he wins the fight, he decides to start a school for the African tribes, which is lat...

Definition and Examples of Derivational Morphemes

Definition and Examples of Derivational Morphemes When youre talking about biology, morphology is defined as the branch of study that deals with the form and structure of organisms and their unique structural features. Linguists often think of language as a living thing because, like a biological life form, it is reshaped by external forces acting on its structure and also changes over time. Linguistic morphology, then, is the study of how words are formed and how they relate to other words in a common language. Much the same way a biologist might study the phenomenon of metamorphosis, a linguist might study a word and its component parts to learn how its structure and meaning have evolved. In grammar, a derivational morpheme is an  affix- a group of letters added before the beginning (prefix) or after the end (suffix)- of a root or base word to create a new word or a new form of an existing word. Adding Derivational Morphemes Adding a derivational morpheme often changes the grammatical category or part of speech of the root word to which it is added. For example, adding ful to the noun beauty changes the word into an adjective (beautiful), while  replacing the e with er at the end of the verb merge changes it into a noun (merger). The form of a word that results from adding a derivational morpheme is known as a derived word or a derivative. You can add derivational morphemes to free morphemes, which are those words that cant be divided into smaller component parts and retain meaning. Most one-syllable words in the English language are free morphemes. For instance, in the sentence: I hit the man on his head, each of the words is a free morpheme that cant be broken down into smaller parts. To give the sentence a more precise meaning, I could toss in a derivational morpheme. By adding the prefix fore to the word head the reader now knows which part of the head the man was hit on. Not only does it give the precise location of the injury, it indicates a greater potential for harm since the forehead is a very sensitive part of the human anatomy. You can also add more than one derivational morpheme to a root word to create several different meanings. For example, the verb transform consists of the root word form and a derivational morpheme, the prefix trans. By adding the derivational morpheme ation as a suffix, transform becomes the noun transformation. But you dont have to stop there. By adding another derivational morpheme suffix al after ation, you can create the adjective transformational. Inflectional Morphemes vs. Derivational Morphemes Inflectional morphemes  define certain aspects pertaining to the grammatical function of a word. There are only eight inflectional morphemes in the English language- and they’re all suffixes. The two inflectional morphemes that can be added to nouns are -’s (apostrophe s) to indicate the possessive case and -es to indicate the plural case. The four inflections that can be added to verbs are -(e)d to indicate past tense, -ing to indicate the present participle, -en, to represent the past participle, and –s, for the third person singular. The two inflections can be added to adjectives are: -er, for the comparative and -est, for the superlative. Unlike inflectional affixes, the potential number of derivational affixes in the English language is limited only by the scope of the vocabulary of a given speaker or writer. As a result, it would impossible to create a comprehensive list of derivational morphemes but we can look at a few representative examples. In American English when suffixes such as -ize or -ful are added to a noun, the noun becomes the corresponding verb, as in cannibalize, vaporize, mesmerize, helpful, playful, thoughtful, and so on. When the suffix -ize is added to an adjective, the words are transformed into verbs: realize, finalize, vitalize, etc. Some Morphemes are Both Inflectional and Derivational Meanwhile, some inflectional morphemes, specifically -ed, -en, -er, -ing, and -ly, can take on on characteristics of derivational morphemes. For example, the suffix -er can function as both an inflectional and a derivational morpheme. In its inflectional capacity, -er is added to adjectives to indicate the comparative as in thicker, describing something that has additional mass. As a derivational morpheme, -er gets a lot of use in the production of forming new nouns. Such morphemes when attached to root verbs form nouns such as farmer to describe someone who performs the action indicated by the verb. When -er is added to a root adjective, a noun is formed: as in homesteader, which describes someone in terms of the quality denoted by the adjective. When -er is added to a nominal root noun, the meaning of the resulting noun is incorporated in the modified word. Take the word freighter for example. The root word freight has been modified, however, the definition of the new noun freighter- a type of vessel used to transport freight- retains the quality denoted by the original noun. Sources Hamawand, Zeki. Morphology in English: Word Formation in Cognitive Grammar. Continuum, 2011Remson, Lynne Hebert. Oral Language from Literacy for the New Millennium, ed. by Barbara J. Guzzetti. Praeger, 2007Parker, Frank and Riley, Kathryn. Linguistics for Non-Linguists, 2nd ed. Allyn and Bacon, 1994

Creating your own monetary policy Research Paper

Creating your own monetary policy - Research Paper Example The discount rate refers to the amount of interest that the Federal Reserve charges to commercial banks and other financial depository institutions for the various loans that they acquire from the discount window of the Federal Reserve. The reserve requirements can also be referred to as the reserve cash ratio. This is a requirement that banking institutions need to deposit a certain amount of money to the Federal Reserve against the various deposits that is made by their respective customers. Open markets operations on the other hand involve the processes of the country’s central bank to sale and buy government bonds in an open market (Orphanides and Volker, 27). The main aim of using this tool as a monetary policy is to manipulate the supply base of money within an economy, and the short term interest rates, for purposes of controlling the nature and level of money supply within an economy. This paper develops a monetary policy that differs from the last policy statement iss ue by the FOMC. The last policy statement by FOMC was released on 30th of October 2013. Under this policy statement, FOMC denotes that it will continue with its asset purchasing programs. This is because the committee had noted that the policy gained efficiency in improving the economic activities of the United States of America. The committee also has plans to adjust the pace of its asset purchases, but it is still waiting for a report on the levels of progress that the current pace in asset purchasing has an influence in the American economy (Press Releas, 2). According to this policy statement, FOMC made a decision to continue with the purchase of additional mortgages that are backed with securities. This is at a price of $ 40 billion every month. The FOMC also decided to buy long term financial securities at an amount of $ 45 billion every month. Under this policy statement, the FOMC decided to maintain its policies of re-investing principal payments (Press Release, nd. 3). Thes e principal payments emanate from its various holdings of the agency debts and mortgage backed securities. The FOMC also decided to sale matured treasury securities through an auction method. By implementing these policies, the FOMC believes that they would manage to maintain and achieve a down ward pressure on long-term interest rates. The FOMC also believes that they will manage to support the mortgage market, helping to create a broad financial condition that is more accommodative to the various economic and financial interests within an economy. On this note therefore, the FOMC decided to continue with its purchases of mortgage backed securities. This will in turn lead to the growth and development of the economy under consideration. For effective implementation of these policies, the FOMC decided to closely monitor all information concerning the financial and economic development of the country. The monetary policies identified by FOMC do not solve the problem of liquidity. Liq uidity is a Macro economics issue that refers to the extent in which a security or an asset can be sold or bought without having an effect on the price of the particular asset. One major characteristic of liquidity is the high number of trading that the asset under consideration attracts. Examples of assets which are highly liquid include securities of money market. During the 2007 credit crunch, it was very difficult for people to access funds such as loans (Orphanides and Volker, 33). Due to the difficulties of accessing credit, then

Child temperaments and parenting styles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Child temperaments and parenting styles - Essay Example e to act as friends to their children and the children with the flexible temperament work with the parent developing a plethora of room for the development and growth of the kids. The children consider their parents as warm and low in control to indicate high levels of trust, and the child is able to confide in the parent (Richters 22). On the other hand, children of the highly permissive parenting style may end up lacking the necessary self-control since the parents expect nothing from them. The flexible children with permissive parents become impulsive and may live life with no definite direction. Children with flexible temperaments and with permissive parents develop into domineering and stubborn adults who do anything to achieve what they desire. The behavior gets developed due to the parent’s understanding nature. However, parents with permissive parenting styles with children with flexible temperament give more attention to their children’s activity while maintaining a distance not to control most aspects (Richters 22-23). Richters, Kayla S. Child Temperament, Parenting Styles, and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors as part of a Comprehensive Assessment Tool. University of Wisconsin-Stout, 2010. May 31,