Cash Cropping in Nepal Essay Example for Free

Cash Cropping in Nepal Essay On an individual crop basis, tomatoes and potatoes were the most increasing, sensitivity analysis and scenarios suggest high variability and limited short-term impact on poverty alleviation. Profitable. On a per farm basis, 50% of the households with positive farm gross margins grew at least one vegetable crop, while only 25% of households with negative farm gross margins included vegetable crops in their rotation. Farmers have been hesitant to produce primarily for the market given the rudimentary infrastructure and high variability in prices. Farmers reported selling more crops, but when corrected for inflation, gross revenues declined over time. The costs and benefits of developing markets have been unevenly distributed with small holders unable to capitalize on market opportunities and wealthier farmers engaging in input intensive cash cropping. Farms growing vegetables had an average gross margin of US$137 per year compared to US$12 per year for farms growing only staple crops. However, the area under production is small and, while vegetable production is likely to continue Key words: Agriculture, Cash crops, Gross margin, Household economics, Market inequity, Poverty Introduction Cash cropping has been promoted by development specialists as a mechanism to alleviate rural poverty in countries such as Nepal. Programs have capitalized on existing transportation networks, the proximity to urban centers or niche markets (Panday, 1992). But there are concerns that agricultural commercialization by-passes the poor. The cash and land quality requirements of capital intensive farming may limit the capacity of poorer farmers to invest, while the risks associated with yield and price variability may limit their willingness to participate in commercial production Both the Agricultural Perspective Plan (APROSC, 1995) and the ninth National Plan (GON, 1998) of Nepal promote the intensification of agriculture and increased cash crop production. In the Mid-hills of Nepal near Kathmandu, potato and tomato production have increased dramatically in the last 10 years (Brown and Shrestha, 2000). But, vegetable production is demanding of soil, water, and human resources. A systematic assessment of cash cropping is required to determine the impact on household well-being. The aims of this paper are five-fold: 1) to determine the relative profitability of vegetable production in the Mid- hills of Nepal; 2) to assess the economic impact of incorporating vegetables into the dominant cropping patterns; 3) to analyze the variability between households; 4) to assess the impact of fluctuations in price; and 5) to evaluate temporal changes in household well-being with the incorporation of vegetable production. Methods The relative profitability of agricultural production between farms provides a mechanism to compare the economic status of farming households with diversified cropping systems. An indication of the profitability of each farm can be obtained by computing gross margins, defined as total returns less total variable costs. Total returns are equal to the value of all crops produced (including crop residues), irrespective of whether the crop is sold. Total variable costs include: the purchase of seed, fertilizer, and pesticides; hiring oxen; and all labor involved in cultivation activities. Labor includes the time spent in planting, irrigation, fertilizing, spraying, weeding, harvesting and transportation and selling and includes the opportunity cost of family labor. The gross margin can thus be viewed as the return to fixed costs (land and livestock) and management. Gross margin analysis, in this context, focuses on production or income with respect to agriculture. As it does not take into account the time value of money, gross margins are not sensitive to interest rates, and are a good first approximation of financial feasibility.

Essay on the Illusion of Escape in The Glass Menagerie -- Glass Menage

The Illusion of Escape in The Glass Menagerie       In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the characters exhibit a state of delusion that originates from their dissatisfaction with their lives. Tom seeks adventure in the movies. Amanda reminisces often about her days as a Southern Belle. Laura sits in a dream world with her glass collection, and Jim basks in the praises of his high school glory. In their respective ways, they demonstrate their restlessness. The quotation from Thoreau, "The mass of men lead lives of the quiet desperation," applies to the characters in that they are all unhappy, but take no action to improve their situation in any significant way.    Tom, as the narrator, explains to the audience the progression of the play and allots this with "the pleasant guise of illusion." When he speaks to the audience, the events he relates are in the past, and he has realized how distanced his family had been from real life. Through the play, he is angry and bitter because of his duty to his sister and mother. His father absconded, leaving Tom as the sole provider, a title neither wanted. Tom is not prepared to settle down and feels as though he "makes a slave of himself." Whether or not he had the ability to create a separate life for himself, Tom feels placed in a "nailed up coffin." He is tortured by boredom in the warehouse and aches for his own vision of life. He remarked to Laura that he did not know how anyone could "[get] himself out of a coffin without removing one nail." A primary source of his desperation is the fact that he know that if he leaves he will destroy Laura, and he does not want that. He is inactive on his own behal f for a long time, feeling enclosed by a life he cannot stand. He is... ... They scurry around trying to end their suffering, but they impede each other's efforts through their individual ones. These people seem doomed to their fates: to run away, to live in the past, or to exist continually in a intangible world.    Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Tennessee Williams. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. 1-8. King, Thomas L. "Irony and Distance in The Glass Menagerie." In Tennessee Williams. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. 85-94. Levy, Eric P. "'Through Soundproof Glass': The Prison of Self Consciousness in The Glass Menagerie." Modern Drama, 36. December 1993. 529-537. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568. Essay on the Illusion of Escape in The Glass Menagerie -- Glass Menage The Illusion of Escape in The Glass Menagerie       In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the characters exhibit a state of delusion that originates from their dissatisfaction with their lives. Tom seeks adventure in the movies. Amanda reminisces often about her days as a Southern Belle. Laura sits in a dream world with her glass collection, and Jim basks in the praises of his high school glory. In their respective ways, they demonstrate their restlessness. The quotation from Thoreau, "The mass of men lead lives of the quiet desperation," applies to the characters in that they are all unhappy, but take no action to improve their situation in any significant way.    Tom, as the narrator, explains to the audience the progression of the play and allots this with "the pleasant guise of illusion." When he speaks to the audience, the events he relates are in the past, and he has realized how distanced his family had been from real life. Through the play, he is angry and bitter because of his duty to his sister and mother. His father absconded, leaving Tom as the sole provider, a title neither wanted. Tom is not prepared to settle down and feels as though he "makes a slave of himself." Whether or not he had the ability to create a separate life for himself, Tom feels placed in a "nailed up coffin." He is tortured by boredom in the warehouse and aches for his own vision of life. He remarked to Laura that he did not know how anyone could "[get] himself out of a coffin without removing one nail." A primary source of his desperation is the fact that he know that if he leaves he will destroy Laura, and he does not want that. He is inactive on his own behal f for a long time, feeling enclosed by a life he cannot stand. He is... ... They scurry around trying to end their suffering, but they impede each other's efforts through their individual ones. These people seem doomed to their fates: to run away, to live in the past, or to exist continually in a intangible world.    Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Tennessee Williams. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. 1-8. King, Thomas L. "Irony and Distance in The Glass Menagerie." In Tennessee Williams. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. 85-94. Levy, Eric P. "'Through Soundproof Glass': The Prison of Self Consciousness in The Glass Menagerie." Modern Drama, 36. December 1993. 529-537. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568.

Globalization and the Effect of Conflicts & Terrorism Throughout the World After 1500 Essay

â€Å"We live in a world that is simultaneously shrinking and expanding, growing closer and farther apart†¦. National borders are increasingly irrelevant. And yet globalism is by no means triumphant. Tribalism of all kinds flourish. Irredentism abounds†. (Attali, 1991: 117) The rate of global change is a remarkably fast process. Even people trained and focused on recording such changes remain at a loss due to the difficult task at hand. However, trends and patterns are often noted and rapidly transcend to topics of discussion in the media, classrooms, and the corresponding governments. One example of such terms is globalization. Although it is quite vague, the paradox is used to describe widespread diversity. Globalization displays a disposition that carries over to the lives of every person who walks the Earth by pointing out that our lives are progressively influenced by forces which have surpassed borders and are changing, forever life on this planet. The process of globalization is reshaping all levels of society. From an individual level, a person may experience a threat or boost to their livelihood due to events that are happening far from their region, such as a drought in a distant country where certain vegetables are domestically exported. However, on a larger scale, governments may succumb to threats from other powers and consequently experience a loss in their nations’ freedom. Both are examples of the concept that the world is more interconnected than ever before. The globe is essentially border-less in the twenty-first century. The origins of global interdependence can be largely contributed to the wars and battles fought throughout history for various reasons. Dating back to the American Revolution, the colonists saw a brighter future for their growing nation and took the necessary steps to ensure their freedom. This desire for freedom ultimately led to the revolution that we now know as the â€Å"American Revolution†. Another similarly brutal conflict prior to the 1800s was the French Revolution. The revolution was set forth to bring an end to the French monarchy, but was unfortunately followed by a comparably bad reign of terror. The reign brought a spell where rival sectors dueled for control of power, resulting in the executions of nearly 40,000 people. However, out of the resulting destruction and rubble emerged the infamous Napoleon. The French and Americans were not singled out in their strive for freedom, power struggles in Latin America erupted into wars for independence as well as the Russian Revolution in 1917. What we currently brand as globalization can be traced back to the post-Civil War era, when the world was just greeting the dawn of internationalization. Up until 1914 an international economy was in place, under the control of the transatlantic trade. This trade system was managed by Great Britain and relied on open markets and developing lands as resource bases and consumers in underdeveloped nations. It was in the midst of this international industrial economy that the U. S. became a world power due to the potential noticed by the European trading authorities. This period did not undergo the radical form of globalization that characterized the post-Cold War era, with their highly efficient worldwide communications, means of transportation and technological advancements. Prior to this time, less production was outsourced. The people affected by globalization were most likely the wealthy, rather than the common people, in the early twentieth century. Likewise, prior to the world wars, it was very distinctively clear which nation was in control of the corresponding aspects of the market (production, marketing, culture, etc. . However, as the turn of the century approached, so too did an upheaval of the old ways in which the world divided its economy. In the pre- World Wars (I and II), there was a much more clear divide on the nations and their role in the world market. But, as the turn of the century approached and soldiers returned home from serving in World War II, there was a paradigm shift and the sense of ownership sort of dissipated. Concurrently, as the market changed so too did the rate of globalization. The twentieth century brought a new, irrevocable change to this world as it allowed people from every nation to communicate and trade unlike ever before. Another aspect of great importance in the talk on conflict and terrorism in the world is the role of religion. Religious values and views play a prominent role in the lives of people as they deal with issues affecting their communities. It provides its followers’ lives with a core vision, which in turn colors their behaviors, choices, and aspirations. For this exact reason, any large issue must be addressed in a sensitive manner. The attacks on the world trade centers in 2001 bring to mind this concept of religion and the diverse ways in which it can lead people to respond to a tragedy. Henry Wilson poetically stated his view on the importance of coexistence in, â€Å"Whether the future of humanity will be shaped by the ‘clash of civilizations,’ the ‘clash of ignorance,’ the clash of religions and ethnicities, or confrontations between the ‘West and the rest’ is hard to predict. It may be a combination of several of the above as they are all intricately interlinked. It may also be caused by the emergence of hitherto unclear issues of polarization†. As touched on in the presentation, conflict and terrorism have played a key factor in the revolution of the world. It has ramifications that affect nearly everyone on the planet from the individual level all the way up to entire nation-states. The economy too transforms during times of war and people must compensate for the portion of the population that is off in battle. This adaptation described is a fairly perfect example of globalization. It adequately displays how times of conflict in one region of the world can strongly influence the rest of the world due to the interconnectedness of our planet.

AP English Language and Composition Exam Key Terms

On this page, youll find brief definitions of grammatical, literary, and rhetorical terms that have appeared on the multiple-choice and essay portions of the AP* English Language and Composition exam. For examples and more detailed explanations of the terms, follow the links to expanded articles. *AP is a registered trademark of the College Board, which neither sponsors nor endorses this glossary. Ad Hominem:  An argument based on the failings of an adversary rather than on the merits of the case; a logical fallacy that involves a personal attack.Adjective:  The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun.Adverb:  The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.Allegory:  Extending a metaphor so that objects, persons, and actions in a text are equated with meanings that lie outside the text.Alliteration:  The repetition of an initial consonant sound.Allusion:  A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event—real or fictional.Ambiguity:  The presence of two or more possible meanings in any passage.Analogy:  Reasoning or arguing from parallel cases.Anaphora:  The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.Antecedent:  The noun or noun phrase referred to by a pronoun.Antithesis:  The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phr ases.Aphorism:  (1) A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion. (2) A brief statement of a principle.Apostrophe:  A rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing.Appeal to Authority:  A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a famous person or institution.Appeal to Ignorance:  A fallacy that uses an opponents inability to disprove a conclusion as proof of the conclusions correctness.Argument:  A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood.Assonance:  The identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.Asyndeton:  The omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (opposite of polysyndeton).Character:  An individual (usually a person) in a narrative (usually a work of fiction or creative nonfiction).Chiasmus:  A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.Circular Argument:  An argument that commits the logical fallacy of assuming what it is attempting to prove.Claim:  An arguable statement, which may be a claim of fact, value, or policy.Clause:  A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.Climax:  Mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events.Colloquial:  Characteristic of writing that seeks the effect of informal spoken language as distinct from formal or literary English.Comparison:  A rhetorical strategy in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or objects.Complement:  A word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence.Concession:  An argumentative strategy by which a speaker or writer acknowledges the validity of an opponents point.Confirmation:  The main part of a te xt in which logical arguments in support of a position are elaborated.Conjunction:  The part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.Connotation:  The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry.Coordination:  The grammatical connection of two or more ideas to give them equal emphasis and importance. Contrast with subordination.Deduction:  A method of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises.Denotation:  The direct or dictionary meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.Dialect:  A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, and/or vocabulary.Diction:  (1) The choice and use of words in speech or writing. (2) A way of speaking  usually assessed in terms of prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution.Didactic:  Intended or inclined to teach or instruct, often excessively.Encomium:  A tribut e or eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, or events.Epiphora:  The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses. (Also known as epistrophe.)Epitaph:  (1) A short inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument. (2) A statement or speech commemorating someone who has died: a funeral oration.Ethos:  A persuasive appeal based on the projected character of the speaker or narrator.Eulogy:  A formal expression of praise for someone who has recently died.Euphemism:  The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.Exposition:  A statement or type of composition intended to give information about (or an explanation of) an issue, subject, method, or idea.Extended Metaphor:  A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.Fallacy:  An error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.False Dilemma:  A fallacy of oversimplif ication that offers a limited number of options (usually two) when, in fact, more options are available.Figurative Language:  Language in which figures of speech (such as metaphors, similes, and hyperbole) freely occur.Figures of Speech:  The various uses of language that depart from customary construction, order, or significance.Flashback:  A shift in a narrative to an earlier event that interrupts the normal chronological development of a story.Genre:  A category of artistic composition, as in film or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.Hasty Generalization:  A fallacy in which a conclusion is not logically justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence.Hyperbole:  A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement.Imagery:  Vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses.Induction:  A method of reasoning by which a rhetor collects a number of instances and forms a generalizat ion that is meant to apply to all instances.Invective:  Denunciatory or abusive language;  discourse  that casts blame on somebody or something.Irony:  The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.Isocolon:  A succession of phrases of approximately equal length and corresponding structure.Jargon:  The specialized language of a professional, occupational, or other group, often meaningless to outsiders.Litotes:  A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.Loose Sentence:  A sentence structure in which a main clause is followed by subordinate phrases and clauses. Contrast with  periodic  sentence.Metaphor:  A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between  two  unlike things that actually have something important in common.Metonymy:  A figur e of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as crown for royalty).Mode of Discourse:  The way in which information is presented in a text. The four traditional modes are narration, description, exposition, and argument.Mood:  (1) The quality of a verb that conveys the writers attitude toward a subject. (2) The emotion evoked by a text.Narrative:  A rhetorical strategy that recounts a sequence of events, usually in chronological order.Noun:  The part of speech (or word class) that is used to name a person, place, thing, quality, or action.Onomatopoeia:  The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.Oxymoron:  A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.Paradox:  A statement that appears to contradict itself.Parallelism:  The similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. Parody:  A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.Pathos:  The means of persuasion that appeals to the audiences emotions.Periodic Sentence:  A long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the sense is not completed until the final word--usually with an emphatic climax.Personification:  A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.Point of View:  The perspective from which a speaker or writer tells a story or presents information.Predicate:  One of the two main parts of a sentence or clause, modifying the subject and including the verb, objects, or phrases governed by the verb.Pronoun:  A word (a part of speech or word class) that takes the place of a noun.Prose:  Ordinary writing (both fiction and nonfiction) as distinguished from  verse.Refutation:  The part of an argument wherein a speaker o r writer anticipates and counters opposing points of view.Repetition:  An instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage--dwelling on a point.Rhetoric:  The study and practice of effective communication.Rhetorical Question:  A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.Running Style:  Sentence style that appears to follow the mind as it worries a problem through, mimicking the rambling, associative syntax of conversation—the opposite of periodic sentence style.Sarcasm:  A mocking, often ironic or satirical remark.Satire:  A text or performance that uses irony, derision, or wit to expose or attack human vice, foolishness, or stupidity.Simile:  A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by like or asStyle:  Narrowly interpreted as those figures that ornament speech or writing; broadly, as representing a manifestation of the person speaking or wri ting.Subject:  The part of a sentence or clause that indicates what it is about.Syllogism:  A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.Subordination:  Words, phrases, and clauses that make one element of a sentence dependent on (or  subordinate  to) another. Contrast with coordination.Symbol:  A person, place, action, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself.Synecdoche:  A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole or the whole for a part.Syntax:  (1) The study of the rules that govern the way words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. (2) The arrangement of words in a sentence.Thesis:  The main idea of an essay or report, often written as a single declarative sentence.Tone:  A writers attitude toward the subject and audience. Tone is primarily conveyed through diction,  point  of view, syntax, and level of formality.Tr ansition:  The connection between two parts of a piece of writing, contributing to coherence.Understatement:  A figure of speech in which a writer deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.Verb:  The part of speech (or word class) that describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being.Voice:  (1) The quality of a verb that indicates whether its subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice). (2) The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or narrator.Zeugma:  The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words, although its use may be grammatically or logically correct with only one.