Economics Supply and Demand of Gasoline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economics Supply and Demand of Gasoline - Essay Example The paper tells that the gasoline price has ostensibly undergone extensive fluctuations mainly because of the product nature and the industry which supplies the world with oil. Note that a bulk of the aggregate oil output is produced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This influential group is organized as a cartel and composed of nations in the Middle East including United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait among others. The main produce of these countries is oil and other petroleum products. Other countries, including the United States, are largely dependent on these countries for their oil supply. With their rich oil resources, these nations created the cartel which has the ability to control member countries' oil production capacity and output quotas enabled them to collude to raise the oil price by. Given its mandate, a supply of oil including gasoline is significantly affected by political unrest arising between these oil-exporting countries and o ther countries as well. To illustrate this point, a supply of petroleum products was adversely affected by the war between Iran and Iraq in 1979. This tumultuous battle between two of the largest oil producers had caused a global oil supply shock and resulted in a dramatic increase in the price of oil. The limited oil supply then was further aggravated by the restricted means of transporting oil products to the rest of the world. Similarly, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait that spawned the Gulf War also caused a leftward shift in the supply curve during early 1990's. Aside from wars, OPEC also has the power to impose sanctions by restricting the supply of oil production to other countries in light of political reasons. For instance, the cartel initiated an embargo on export oil and cut down supply as an indication their protest for western nations' support of Israel. This caused a sharp leftward shift in oil supply curve and ultimately resulted in the severe escalation in the price of oil in 1973. In terms of domestic supply, the United States recently encountered supply shortages brought about by Hurricane Katrina. It is reported that the calamity has adversely impacted the supply chain from the off-shore rigs in the Gulf Coast, which is the largest source of oil for the domestic market. The short-term shutdowns due to power outages during the peak of the hurricane-affected two major on-shore pipelines. Furthermore, it was reported that at least 10% of the country's refining capacity was not operational in the wake of the storm. Apart from these, Louisiana, the epicenter of the hurricane and heavily devastated, also houses one of the main ports that serves as one of the most important inlets for oil imports. This means that supply is not only affected by the factors affecting actual production but also by the transportation of oil products.

Flexability creativity and communication in nursing Essay

Flexability creativity and communication in nursing - Essay Example Additionally there are several responsibilities that they have to specialize. In general, nurses work in hospitals, clinics, schools, wellness centers, long-term care facilities, hospices, physician offices, home settings, and temporary help agencies. They can specialize in a number of roles including: Neonatal Nursing, Labor and Delivery Nursing, Intensive Care Nursing, Operating Room Nursing, Cardiac Care Nursing, Geriatric Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, Oncology Nursing, Rehabilitation Nursing, Occupational Health Nursing, Pulmonary Nursing, Diabetes Nursing, and others. With the increasing demand for nursing staff all over the world, it is important that more and more people get trained and get into this noble profession. Nursing is a profession focused on assisting individuals, families and communities in attaining, re-attaining and maintaining optimal health and functioning. Modern definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life (Wikipedia, 2008). Nursing is based on the ideal of service to humanity. Ever since its origin it has been about wholeness, holistic in practice and theory. Today, with the sophisticated technology, nurses need to be trained and experienced in various aspects such as Evidence – Based Nursing and Nursing Informatics. While there are various fields that have been developing, the basic qualities of flexibility, creativity and communication has remained a constant need for success in this profession. This paper discusses the importance of flexibility, creativity and communication in nursing profession. While a fall in the number of nursing leaders may be attributed to the current nursing shortage, studies have noted that there is also a significant deficiency in the number of nursing leaders who are able to bring in flexibility in the profession. Even at major

The Economic Reality of Hybrid Vehicles Essay Example for Free

The Economic Reality of Hybrid Vehicles Essay The high price of gas at the pump has many Americans looking for alternates to their gas powered vehicles. One of the most popular option right now is a hybrid vehicle. The question that comes to mind is, are hybrid vehicles worth it? With record high gas prices due to the price of oil, most car owners out there have major concerns over their gas usage. Over the past ten years, the cost of gasoline has grown 250%! The price of oil has doubled since January of this year. The high prices of oil and gas is the driving factor for most of the people to trade their gas powered vehicles for hybrid vehicles. These vehicles promise to give consumers more mileage per gallon, the truth is that only a few vehicles currently in the market actually make any sort of financial sense. There are quite a few issues with buying hybrid vehicles, even with gas prices at more than $4 a gallon. First, these vehicles are much higher in price than their gas powered counter part so, the premiums attached to their price tags do not justify extra mileage that you get. In some cases car dealers are selling popular vehicles at much higher prices than MSRP. Second, there are no laws and regulations controlling the technology, price, and the mileage per gallon required out of these vehicles. Currently, there are hybrid vehicles in the market that offer an improvement of 3MPG to 18 MPG over their gas powered counterpart. This is a huge range that needs to be controlled. Third, the demand of these vehicles is driving the prices of the vehicles even higher, if people knew that it would take many years for fuel savings to pay back the hybrid premium on many models, the demand on these models would be much lower, driving the prices down. The solutions that I would like to propose is the government to work with auto manufacturers to develop a standard for hybrid vehicles. This standard should control the minimum mileage offered per gallon, and control the premium allowed to be charged by the manufacturers. There are vehicles in the market that offer only a marginal benefit over the gas powered vehicles and yet the manufacturers charge thousands of dollars premium. Background: Today people all around the world are facing unusually high oil price hikes. Oil has become so very expensive that people are trying all kinds of extreme measures to lower the price. The hike in price has affected every nation; the entire world is trying to find a way out of the soaring prices. Thanks to the oil prices, travel expenses have increased, not just flying being expensive, driving your own car is very expensive. The chart below shows a trend in oil prices since 1990 with some of the major events leading to this increase. Note that since January of 2007 the oil prices have increase by 162%. With high gas prices, hybrid cars are a more affordable option than ever in terms of gas mileage, but only a handful of hybrid cars make solid financial sense, and only for some consumers, according to a new study by NADAguides. com, a vehicle pricing and information website. Using current gas prices for ten major metropolitan areas, the company studied the number of miles needed to recoup the extra cost of buying a hybrid car over its gasoline-only counterpart. The study showed, for example, that a driver in Los Angeles, the city with the highest gas prices in the study, will break even about 18 percent faster than a driver in Houston, the city with the lowest gas prices, assuming both are driving the same miles. The study found that, even at todays high gas prices, only a handful of hybrid cars make financial sense for a consumer who buys a new car every five years or less and drives an average number of miles per year. Even at Los Angeles-area gas prices, there are only five hybrid cars that would allow consumers to recoup their additional investment before they sold the car, assuming they drive an average of 15,000 miles per year. In order of shortest time to break even, they are: 1. Toyota Camry Hybrid 2. Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid 3. Nissan Altima Hybrid 4. Toyota Prius 5. Honda Civic Hybrid Following is a chart of the top five hybrid cars with the greatest return on investment and the number of miles to break even in 10 major metropolitan areas at current gas prices. Issue: Even with gas prices at more than $4 per gallon, there are quite a few issues with buying hybrid vehicles. Issue 1: High Prices Hybrid vehicle prices are higher than their gas powered counterpart. The demand for these vehicles in the last year has increased a lot, increasing the prices even further. In some areas people are actually paying premium over MSRP and waiting for more than two years to get some vehicles. The price premium attached to the hybrid vehicles are just too great to be considered a cost savings relative to purchasing their gasoline counterpart. If people knew how long it would take them to pay off the increased premium the demand for the hybrid would be lower than what it is now, decreasing the prices. Issue 2: High Prices The second issue with the hybrid vehicles is that there are no laws and regulations controlling the technology, price, and the mileage per gallon required out of these vehicles. Currently, there are hybrid vehicles in the market that offer an improvement of just a few miles per gallon over their gas powered counterpart, yet the manufacturers are charging thousands more for the premium for a so called hybrid technology. The table shows the amount of time it would take a buyer to offset the hybrid premium by fuel savings. The table also shows the miles per gallon and annual gas savings. These numbers clearly show the need to have some regulations to control the miles per gallon offered and the amount of premium that is charged by the manufacturers. Let’s look at some vehicles: Starting with the worst of the bunch, the Lexus LS600H. The premium charges on this vehicle is about $19,000, yet it only offers about 20 to 22 miles per gallon. It would take almost a century to break even. The next worst seems to be the Saturn Aura which only offers an annual gas savings of $171. The best one seems to Toyota Prius, but this car is so popular these days that in some areas there is a wait list of two years. In areas where it’s available, the dealers are charging more than $5,000 over MSRP. Solution: ?Better education to customers about the ownership costs of a hybrid vehicle ? Government should offer incentives like tax break to buy hybrid vehicles ? Have a standard to develop hybrid vehicle to encourage mass production, bringing the vehicle prices to even less than current gas-powered vehicles ? Force auto makers to sell hybrid vehicles at no more than, about 10%, premium to the customers Conclusion: Reference: Web Site: Bespoke Investing Group http://bespokeinvest. typepad. com/bespoke/.

Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world

Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world This paper is going to answer the question Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world? and explain why I might be pessimistic about the prospects for global growth and development. In each issue, I support my opinions by firm arguments in real world as well as in academic The content 2.1 The concepts First of all, I would like to mentions about the main concepts that I am going to discuss about. Free trade is trade in which goods, services can move across countries without any barriers, i.e. tariffs, quotas or other restrictions. (Todaro Stephen, 2009). Or Free trade is a system in which goods, capital and labor flow freely between nations (What is free trade, WiseGeek [online], 2011). Free Trade has four main features: No taxes (tariffs) or other non-tariff barriers for producers to trade in goods and services Traders have free access to markets and market information The free movement of goods, services, labor and capital between and within countries No firms could distort the markets through relying on the monopoly power from the governments (Free trade, Wikipedia [online], 2011) Next, according to Nafziger (2006), Economic Growth refers to increases in production or incomes or income per capita in a country. And Economic development refers to economic growth accompanied by changes in output distribution and economic structure (Nafziger, 2006:15). Therefore, growth is a necessary factor but not sufficient for development 2.2 Free Trade is realistic and desirable In this section, I am going to argue for the view that free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world. First, about the view that free trade is realistic, I have six strong arguments to support that idea. The first argument is about the lost in tariff revenues. Free trade means no revenues in tariffs; however, the governments should reform their tax systems to make them become more efficiently and effectively through putting taxes on right objects with appropriate rates. That can compensate the lost in tariff revenues and even increase the tax revenues. The transportation and the communication are very convenient; people can travel faster, and they can communicate together from a distance. Thus, the workers are no longer afraid of traveling. Additionally, the developing countries are reducing regulations in labor market to attract specialists and high skilled labor from advanced nations. Thus, the mobility of labor markets is increasing. The decentralization is a current trend in the world, and it helps countries can reach free trade by eliminating the monopoly. That will increase the transparency in economies and trade regimes in countries, so no firms can rely on monopoly from the governments to distort the markets. In reality, decentralization is almost reached in countries such as: US, Germany; and it is progressing in developing countries such as, i.e. Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Eastern European countries. Next, there are many organizations that support and facilitate free trade such as World Trade Organization (WTO), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and European Union. In Vietnam in 2006, the leaders of the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) launched a process to negotiate and establish the largest single of trade liberalization in the world which is called Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). That free-trade zone will account for 44% of global trade, and more than a half of the global gross domestic product. (Bergsten, 2007) and ( Article Bliss [online], 2011) In developed countries, the protectionists assert that free trade will make the unemployment severe by moving jobs from their countries to developing nations. But the governments can solve that problem by improving the social safety and welfare to compensate displaced workers and help them have jobs in high advanced industries that the developed countries specialize in. Finally, the developing countries can produce assistance in technology, finance and information system to help them adapt free trade easier and help domestic firms compete with foreign ones more efficiently. Second, I can say that free trade is desirable because free trade produce many benefits and advantages in the real world. Thus, many countries really desire free trade. The first significant role of free trade is that it is an important stimulator of economic growth. The free trade has proved its role through the success in economic growth in East and South East Asia countries (Todaro Stephen, 2009). For instance, Taiwan, which have the export-focus strategy, has average economic growth rate about 8% over more than four decades and grew nearly 10% annually in the 1965-80 period. It also has achieved its goals in education, health care and poverty alleviation successfully (Smith, 2003). Next, the international trade has a significant role in GDP in developing countries. Figure 1: Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS, 15 March 2011 According to the figure, the exports accounts for about near a half of GDP in developing countries from 2005 to 2009. Free trade promotes the exports from developing countries, so it has a very important role in developing countries. Free trade increases the competitions in the world, because it helps foreign companies can trade as efficiently and effectively as domestic ones. Therefore, it will make the prices for goods and services cheaper through promoting competitions. Moreover, free trade also encourages innovation, since companies need to produce innovative products and solutions to obtain market share (Toye, 2004). Next, Free trade is an important means to achieve the development. Free trade increase national incomes and force nations to adjust and improve their infrastructure, policies, laws and society system to adapt free trade. Thus, free trade is powerful instrument to achieve the goals of development such as: stability, freedom, and quality of life (i.e. education, happiness and health). For example: based on the export of garment industry, Bangladeshs poverty reduction in 1990s was quite dramatic and it promote the process of achieving development goals in Bangladesh (Goldin Reinert, 2006) Next, there is the witness of the success of export promotion strategy and the limitation or failure of import substitution strategy in reality. Meanwhile, export-oriented countries such as: Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have got rapid rate of economic growth; Latin America promoted import substitution policies in the 1960s, but they were not successful, and such policies have been replaced by export-led strategies. Import substitution produces some disadvantages such as: inefficient domestic industries, the deficit in the balance of payment because the value of import inputs is higher than the value of export outputs. As the estimation, the import substitution waste about 10% of national income of developing countries. (Salvatore, 2011). Next, the benefits from free trade agreements such as WTO and NAFTA can explain why free trade is desirable in reality. First, WTO integrates countries in the world to the international system, and motivates them to protect and expand that system. WTO ensures that countries could not selectively open their market, and promotes economic relations between countries (Business Roundtabble [online], 2006, cited in 2011). Next, NAFTA help Mexico became attractive place for workers from Central America, where wages were only about an eighth as high as those in Mexico by 2002. That makes other Latin American countries seem eager to join in a free trade agreement as soon as possible (Smith, 2003). The classic academic theories support free trade such as absolute advantage theory, comparative advantage theory and relative factor endowments theory. These theory argue that the nations will increase welfare when they specialize in their advantages, endowment factors and conduct free trade together (Salvatore, 2011) The prospect for global growth and development is pessimistic As I mention above, free trade is realistic and desirable in the real world; however, I have seven firm arguments to support my pessimistic view about the prospects for global growth and development The first argument is that all resources in the world are fixed in quantity and they are being fully employed (Todaro Smith, 2009:606). The manufactures require a huge demand on raw material, fuels especially fossil fuels (e.g. coal, oil) which are non-renewable. When the quantity of these fuels decrease and become exhausted, their prices will increase so that the manufacture faces the stagnation. The price of oil (USD) increase constantly from 12.28 in 1998 to 100.12 in 201, and it is expected to increase more in the future (Source: Derived from OPEC, OPEC Basket Price, 2011), that will impact the global growth as well as the development. Next, the inequalities are increasing between and within countries (Todaro Smith, 2009:589). The disparity between rich countries and poor countries as well as the inequalities within countries is increasing. The inequalities will increase the conflict in economic, political and social benefits between people in different classes, religions and country. That will make the development and global growth more and more unsustainable. The environment problems become more severe; especially, the environmental degradation and global warming are increasing rapidly. It will affect all nations in the world, especially poor countries whose productions depend on climate and environment so much. However, the rich countries such us U.S, Japan, Russia and China have not acted sufficiently to prevent or reduce the global warming and environmental degradation because it will impact their productions. When the environmental life is degraded, the development as well the global growth will be hinder and maybe worse. Many countries are still in deep poverty and they are being depended on agricultural and primary-product export. There are more than 1 billion people live on less than 1$ per day and the number of people live in poverty has doubled in the last two decades in Africa. In addition, 70% people live in rural in developing countries depend on agricultural and primary product exports, whose incomes are very unstable and risky. That will make the growth and development in developing countries fluctuant (Todaro Smith, 2009) and (Salvatore, 2011) There is a trend of new protectionism in advanced nations (i.e. North America and Euro) against the exports from developing countries. They are trying to protect their domestic producers, workers and farmers from the lower cost products in developing countries. That will obstruct the free trade in the world as well as the welfare gain from exports in developing countries. For example, even though 8 liberalization round have occurred over 50 years, the trade barriers still remains in agricultural products and textile industry. Next, the population in the world is rising. That will impact and make the problems of poverty, environment and food more and more severe, especially in poor and developing countries. That is a significant factor, which will hinder and obstruct the global growth and development. Figure 2: Population Growth ( annual %) Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW, 20 March 2011 Finally, due to the World Financial and Economic Crisis in 2008 and 2009, the advanced nations faced deep recession and the developing countries face low rate of growth. Many countries such as U.S, U.K, Japan and Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ have to spend billions dollar to rescue their economies. The worlds GDP growth rate slows down by 2% for 2008 and 2009 (Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2011). In addition, the government will tighten their financial market through regulations. It will affect the manufacture, business and investment because they need money to expand and develop. The conclusion To sum up, the economies in the world can reach free trade; and because of free trades advantages and benefits, it is desired by countries in the world. I assert that fee trade is realistic and desirable in the real world. However, there are many serious problems that are impacting and will obstruct the global growth and development in the world. Thus, I have a pessimistic view about global growth and development.

Buddhist Doctrine Of Karma Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Buddhist doctrine of karma ("deeds", "actions"), and the closely related doctrine of rebirth, are perhaps the best known, and often the least understood, of Buddhist doctrines. The matter is complicated by the fact that the other Indian religious traditions of Hinduism and Jainism have their own theories of Karma and Reincarnation. It is in fact the Hindu versions that are better known in the West. The Buddhist theory of karma and rebirth are quite distinct from their other Indian counterparts. In Buddhism the law of karma is the moral law of causation - good actions give good results and vice versa. It is the quality of an act, which determines its consequences. But what determines the karmic quality of a deed? In Hinduism it is the correct performance of a person's "duty", especially his caste duties that counts. Early Buddhism, which recognized no caste distinctions, evaluates the karmic quality of an act in terms of moral and ethical criteria. In particular it is the mental factors, which accompany the commission of deed that determines its consequences or "fruits" (vipà ¢ka). All negative karma (i.e. those leading to bad consequences) arise from the three roots of unwholesomeness. These are greed (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha). Accordingly good karmic results follow from deeds that spring from generosity (caga), loving-kindness (mettà ¢) and wisdom (vijjà ¢). The Buddha emphasized that it is the mental factors involved rather than the deeds themselves that determine future consequences. Thus the same deed committed with different mental factors will have different consequences. Likewise purely accidental deeds may have neutral consequences, however if the accident occurred because insufficient mindfulness was exercised it could have adverse results for the person responsible for it. The theory of karma presupposes that individuals have "free will". Everything that happens to an individual is not the fruit of some past karma. In fact the experiences that involve an individual may be of three kinds: some are the result of past action, some are deliberately committed free acts; and the remainder could be due to chance factors operating in the environment. The doctrine of karma is not a theory of predestination of any kind. One common misunderstanding is not to distinguish between the action an... ...vana is a representation of someone becoming enlightened in this life. It seems as though Christians tend to emphasize too greatly the importance of acceptance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Buddhists believe it is not the deeds themselves, but the mental factors involved in making those decisions that determine later consequences. We, as Catholics, should at least try to follow that example. Because it seems that all too often Christians over look the fact that they should not overlook the fact that they only have a certain amount of time to do things right in this lifetime, because heaven is never ending. In order to live better lives; Christians should learn as much as possible about religions that are alien to them. They should adopt ideals that make sense to them in their daily lives. And finally, they should be proud that they share similar ideals as many of the worlds other great religions. Bibliography Berchol, Samuel The Buddha and his Teachings. New York: Barnes and Noble books, 1997 Gurasekara, Victor A. Basic Buddhism. London: Buddhist Monk Press, 1997 Kaufman, Walter Religions, in Four Dimensions .New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1976

The Good Life :: Essays Papers

The Good Life In The Good Earth, by Pearl S, Wang Lung the main character is a poor peasant who buys a wife and moves up in the social ladder during the peasants' revolution. This story displays many major ideas of ancient Chinese culture, such as the social order, the treatment of women, and the role of the family in everyday life. At the beginning of the movie the following quote appears on the screen "The soul of a great nation is expressed in the life of its humblest people. In this simple story of a Chinese farmer may be found something of the soul of China. Its humility, its courage, its deep heritage from the past and its vast promise for the future." This means that an empire's greatness can also be measured by the life of its poorest people, and from this you can tell its character and where the empire is going. The Good Earth is an accurate reproduction of China during the Song and Tang Dynasties. The role of the family was completely represented in both the film and the book. The oldest male in the family is always greatly respected with filial piety. Filial piety was the the idea that elders should be respected and the older you were the wiser you were. In the beginning, Wang Lung bought an ugly slave for a wife because his wise father told him to. Wang Lung's respect for his father somewhat diminishes as his wealth increases and because of this he buys a second wife for his own pleasure. This shows that the Chinese society was predisposed against women and they were a disgrace to the family. The Good Earth shows the treatment, or mistreatment, of women accurately. O-Lan was treated badly by today's standards, but Wang Lung was kind to her compared many other husbands back then. Women in China were treated as slaves, they often worked in the fields, kept the house, and cared for the children. If a couple had a girl as a first child then there was a good chance that she would be killed because only men could earn good money. Some women had their feet bound to keep them small, this was thought to be attractive. If a woman's feet were bound then she could not be a slave or even walk properly on retarded feet. Rich men sometimes had two wives, one they bought for slave work and the other for beauty.

Compare the ways in which crime is presented in Moll Flanders and Roxana?

The eponymous titles Roxana and Moll Flanders, are two of a collection of novels written by Daniel Defoe. Coleridge described these novels as one of ‘the few great novels, which we can call indisputably great'1. This ‘greatness' that Coleridge speaks of is displayed through the way Defoe presents crime in these novels. He explores the lives of women in the early 18th century and how crime was often a woman's key to survival. The novels are set and centred in different locations in the world of the 1720's. The geographical settings and mobility of the characters expresses their personal ambition to be known, respected and to have the finer things in life. First and foremost, before looking into the criminal lives Moll Flanders and Roxana both led, their reasons for engaging into crime have to be considered. Moll was born into poverty, and ironically she was ‘born into a jail cell' in Newgate prison. From this it seems as though Moll was born a criminal and a criminal career was destined for her. She is a street educated woman that thrived upon crime to escape the jagged teeth of poverty and also to live a lavish life. On the contrary Roxana is a well-educated and well-bred woman, however her life of crime begins when she is abandoned by her husband, who has also left her with a handful of children to care for. With the encouragement from her accomplice Amy, can it be argued that Roxana turns from a virtuous woman to an immoral whore? Well, firstly Roxana does sleep with numerous men, without marrying them, which was immoral in an 18th century society and Roxana's sexual behaviour may have been labelled as whoring, because she slept with men and receives payments in the form of fine clothes and ornaments and expensive jewellery. However Roxana does fall in love with every man she sleeps with, so she shouldn't be really referred as a whore. For example in the novel, Roxana admits she fell in love with her landlord ‘I grew to love him'; Roxana loves her landlord besides the comfortable lifestyle she lives. Roxana does commit adultery to an extent, her act as been described as a state of ‘innocent adultery'2: their liaison is as respectable as any marriage, supported as it is by affection and respect, and even by legal settlement. In an contemporary society Roxana's act wouldn't be describe as whoring or prostitution, and adultery wouldn't be a crime in the ‘eyes' of the English law. Also whoring or prostitution is based upon a direct exchange of money for sexual pleasure, no emotions, liking, or loving or relationships are supposed to be formed, whereas Roxana falls in love. Defoe sympathizes with woman in these times, as they were powerless in terms of marriage. Women were condemned if they had children, without being married and more to the point women were neglected and not protected by the government. Therefore it can be argued that women were more likely to engage in criminal activities as a way of escaping poverty, and to an extent improve their quality of living. However women were less likely to commit crime as there movements were isolated especially if they were married they were the property of their husbands they were to do domestic duties and had little time to explore the outdoors. However Moll and Roxana do not have these constraints. It could be inferred Defoe aims to make his two protagonists heroic figures as they manage to succeed against the odds, they're renegades that reject the norms and values of society and do not conform with stereotypical female roles, such as domestic duties, instead they distance themselves from the morals of society and beautify their lives by either using men or stealing valuable objects to fulfil their needs. The novels are written in an autobiographical format, where the protagonist gives a chronological sequence of events in their life. This presentation is highly effective; firstly it is continuous throughout both novels, more importantly a contemporary reader can easily engage with the novels as the lives of Roxana and Moll are often presented like a soap opera. In Roxana the protagonist notices her first husband in a dinner party she tries her best to conceal herself. If she were caught she would have faced public humiliation or possibly death- ‘He had just brushed against me, but didn't notice me'. The close encounter causes tension and the word ‘brush' expresses the danger of the situation. Roxana is an adulteress as; she is sexually involved with the Prince of France while still being legally married. In Moll Flanders, Moll steals a lady's gold watch, Moll is almost caught but she is not suspected of taking the watch. These soap opera like episodes create intimacy between the protagonist and the reader and they have a continuing appeal to a contemporary reader, as they cause excitement, tension and suspense, this again may support Coleridge's statement that these novels are ‘indisputably great'. In both novels, ‘Roxana and Moll Flanders look back on their life of sinfulness and opportunism. It is a life that they must both embrace; it is made them who they are'. However Defoe does make his presences felt in the novels where he expresses his own views towards issues such as marriage; Defoe used the term ‘Matrimonial Whoredom'3 to describe women who married men only for financial gain. From this we are given an insight of the character of Defoe through his protagonists. It can be argued that temptation is without a doubt the reason for Moll and Roxana indulging in crime. There temptations are centred on economic needs and a craving for social status. For example Roxana, with Amy's influence prostitutes herself to her landlord. In the novel Amy says to Roxana in one occasion ‘Dear madam says Amy if I will starve for your sake, I will be a whore'. Here the language is persuasive as Amy's use of reverse psychology persuades and makes Roxana feel guilty. Roxana is clearly tempted because if she gives up her chastity she could restore the comfortable life she once lived. Although Roxana eventually gives in, she still appears to have a little self-respect; this is evident where she says ‘A woman ought rather to die, than to prostitute herself' the tone of language is very bold and convincing that it may contradict my initial argument that Roxana is an immoral whore. However Roxana opposes her own statement as she lets temptation get the better of her. On the other hand Moll excuses herself for her crimes: ‘The silver tankard calls out to her'. A silver tankard would be a large drinking vessel made out of what would have been expensive metal, silver. Metaphorically it expresses pleasure and wealth, the ‘silver tankard' is a vivid use of pathetic fallacy, and it is as though the silver tankard is a person that tempted Moll to committing crimes in order to live well. Moll admits she became ‘more confounded with money', which could give an early indication that her love for money would ultimately lead her to her desperation and further temptations to commit crimes. This in fact is what happens to Moll, in one part of the novel she is in the position where she is so desperate, she contemplates killing a child, This is a turning point as Defoe reveals a dark side of Moll , the reader sees Moll in previous encounters as a thief and whore but contemplating murder shocks the modern day reader. Episodes such as this are intriguing and have continuing appeal because not only does Moll reveal a dark side the reader can easily sympathies with the villain rather than the victim, the phrase ‘the dreadful necessity of circumstances is the cause', express this, the word ‘dreadful' is emotive as the reader pity's Moll's well being, The ‘circumstances' Moll speaks of, are due to many factors such as the absences of any parental figures for example, since her mother is a criminal, the reader may not be surprised that Moll takes a criminal path for her career. In sociological terms a poor level of cultural reproduction, could explain why Moll follows her mothers footsteps. Crime is presented with the association of the devil's works. Firstly it has to be considered that crime in the 18th century was often seen either as the work or the influence of the devil, considering at this period people tended to be very superstitious. In Moll Flanders, Moll believes the crimes she commits are caused by the devil- ‘She had enough to work on but the devil sends her out unto the streets'. This use of imagery is effective because Moll personifies the devil as a person who forcefully dragged her onto the street to steal. Moll also refers to herself as a ‘busy devil'. The language used here is unusual as the word busy often refers to hard work or a dedication to work, whereas the word devil contradicts the word busy, as the devil is associated with evil or negative works, which causes an overall effect of irony. In Roxana, Roxana prostitutes Amy to her landlord; after Roxana realizes that what she did was immoral and indeed a sin she says she is the ‘instrument of the devil's works'. This has a continuing appeal because the reader shocked that Roxana, supposedly a woman of virtue forces Amy, her closest friend, and ‘pimps' her to her landlord. It questionable whether Roxana has an ounce of integrity in left her. Although she admits she was the instrument of the ‘devils works' one still has to be amazed at what people will do just to fulfil their own selfish needs. This is similar in Volpone by Ben Jonson, where the character of Corvino forgets all virtue and decided to pimp his own wife. However can it be argued that Moll and Roxana use notion of the ‘devil' as a way to elevate the blame that they feel is already upon them. Also the actual meaning of the devil has to put into consideration. In the period in which Defoe lived, the devil was often described as a hideous creature with horns and jagged teeth. However in the novels Roxana and Moll Flanders, could the devil represent the poverty that eats away in their society, which ultimately leads them to committing crime? Social pressures and personal circumstances is another way crime is presented. Defoe presents his whores as ordinary people who are normal products of their environment, victims of circumstances which anyone might have experienced. For Roxana the absences of her husband, who left her with the responsibility of caring for five children, leaves Roxana in a difficult situation, so whoring herself at first to her landlord seemed to be the only option for survival as she was on the verge of absolute poverty. In the early stages of the novel Amy presents a strong argument to Roxana. Roxana begins by saying to Amy ‘What consent to lye with him for bread? ‘ Amy replies ‘It would not be lawful for anything else but for bread, Madam, why nobody can starve'. The word ‘lawful' is interesting it may suggest that Roxana somehow has the right to sell her own body in order to survive, or maybe Amy is being ironic as prostitition was against the law. Again Amy's persuasive use of language leaves Roxana, completely convinced – ‘If he should give me an estate to live on, he should lye with me. Roxana thinks about the situation logically and rationally and decides to give up her chastity. It is upsetting that for woman in these times their, bodies were almost the only thing they could offer to a man in return for a stable standard of living, so one has to sympathies with Roxana due to the difficult situation she is in. The reader shouldn't look at her negatively especially when individuals such as Amy point out to her ‘why nobody can starve'. However the reader may view Roxana negatively in certain parts of the novel. For example after the brutal death of her lover, her landlord, Roxana attempts to sell the jewels that he had left with her, one has to question her integrity, but it shows the lengths that people would go to maintain the material goods they possess. Although Roxana is an intelligent woman, and arguably she was more than capable to improve her lifestyle by using legal means, Defoe expresses that women were at a disadvantage in terms of earning a decent living; Moll Flanders quotes ‘The market is against our sex'. Here Defoe expresses his feelings through Moll Flanders, as he was interested in women's oppression, as he believed that women were oppressed, especially in marriage. Roxana refuses to marry the Dutch Merchant on various occasions, as she believed women were at a disadvantage as marriage was more of a patriarchal institution. Like Roxana, Moll Flanders is a victim of society and circumstantial issue. Moll was born into poverty. From an early age, Moll is socially aware of her low status but she refers to herself as a ‘Gentlewoman', which expresses her ambitions to have the fine things in life and to be accepted by society. Here it could be argued that Moll wants the desired social status that Roxana also achieves. Moll Flanders, like Rastigmac and Julien Soreal, is a characteristic product of modern individualism in assuming that she owes it to herself to achieve the highest economic and social rewards and in using every available method to carry out her resolve. Even Moll admits that ‘the dreadful necessity of circumstances is cause', referring to the poverty she lives in is the cause of her thieving; Moll says in her defense ‘ give me poverty lest I steal'. In one occasion Moll begins sewing lace for a particular wealthy woman, however Moll is still relatively poor. The rich woman has two brothers that Moll acquaints herself with; she prostitutes herself to two of them. They both spoil her excessively with fine clothes and ornaments, she says in one occasion; ‘He had furnished me very sufficiently with money for extraordinary express of my lying in I had everything'. One may look down upon Moll as a whore, however ones has to consider she is not educated like Roxana and her ambition to be a ‘gentlewoman' is still at large, so it is either she took this opportunity or not, but Moll admits ‘she had enough to live on' however she still has the urge to commit crimes. To Moll's horror she commits another crime, she later finds out that the two brothers she sleeps with are too her own brothers. This has a continuing appeal to a modern day reader because it I hilarious that Moll prostitutes herself to two brothers who actually are her brothers it is a bizarre experience for Moll. It is engaging for a modern day reader, as incest tends to occur when both relations are aware they are related, whereas Moll isn't aware. Moll indulges in crime not just for survival but to have the fine clothes and ornaments. Moll says ‘ I needed to dress well in order to mingle'. Defoe makes it evident in both novels that society was beginning to be more capitalist, so as times changed Roxana and Moll, too had to modernize in order to be respected and accepted by society. Moll's fine clothes and ornaments and Roxana's expensive Turkish dress are symbolise of the pressure in society to live lavishly. However both Roxana and Moll reasons for indulging in crime are not strong sociological arguments, such as we might make today: they don't ask themselves why a certain percentage of the population is destitute, they just want to make sure they are not one of them. However their determination not to be destitute shows their survival instincts. Also Defoe shows the emergence of an individualistic society where people began to develop their own norms and values and tended not to look at traditional institutions such as the church for guidance and rather they'd take matters into their own hands. The relationship between crime and identity has to be explored. For example Moll is a common slang term in these times for a woman of low repute, often the girlfriend of a professional thief, ‘Flanders' was a term to describe women in prostitution. Roaxna Turkish dress reveals her criminal identity as a courtesan. It interesting as their names are clear indications of their true identities and purposes but none of the characters realize this. In Roxana where Roxana leaves her lavish life momentarily, she takes up Quaker dressing. This way of dressing is a drastic change from her lavish gorgeous dresses, which emphasis the change from her high life and erotic encounters to a simple way of living. Roxana and Moll Flanders hide away behind their names and costumes to protect their identity, their hidden identities explain that they are afraid and do not want to face up to who they and they're afraid of how people will react to them like the character Robinson Crusoe. Defoe creates characters similar to how he felt about himself as he even changed his name from Foe to Defoe, which suggests that Defoe feels the struggle and can sympathise with what his protagonists go through.