The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Hughes - Free Essay Example

The Negro Speaks of Rivers was written by Hughes when he was only seventeen while traveling by train to see his father in Mexico. Arnold Rampersad says that the sense of beauty and death, of hope and despair, fused in his imagination inspired him to write this poem(Rampersad). In the poem, Hughes ties himself to his ancestors, placing them in critical historical, religious, and cultural placed all over the world(GradeSaver). It starts with the speaking of his coalition to ancient rivers around the world that existed long before humankind, which in turn made his soul grow deep like rivers. Back then, white people viewed black people as inferior and here, Hughes shows historical equality. He continues to mention four famous rivers, beginning with the Euphrates river, which historians often call the birthplace of human civilization. Next with the Congo River which was home to many flourishing African Kingdoms. Then the narrator mentions the Nile River and Egyptian pyramids. There, he sees the creation of these structures which are deemed one of mans greatest venture of architecture(GradeSaver). Finally, he goes on the write about the Mississippi River, which he connects American Slavery to Abraham Lincoln. Hughes uses the imagery of roots, veins, rivers as a statement for African American history. Many African civilizations prospered amidst rivers and, according to Nicole Smith, gave life and allowed human veins and firm historical roots. The narrator associates African continuity with the rivers because, like roots and the veins, the rivers gave nutrients essential to their civilization growth and endurance. An essential line in this poem is, My soul has grown deep like the rivers (Hughes). This line is important because alludes that rivers are not only like the actual roots of a bush or a tree, or even the veins in human body, but are like the soul. In another stanza, the narrator states hes known rivers, an innuendo to roots of knowledge. Even as a biblical reference, trees have been affiliated with knowledge. This knowledge he refers to is similar to preeminent cultural identity and knowledge and roots. These are supported and continued by generations of bloodlines. In America, being any other race besides white, makes being successful and respected a lot harder. To be a minority in America is to be seen as inferior and incapable of being anything more than the stereotypes upon your race. To be white in America is to be seen as regular and normal, because they are the majority. Black men usually have to put on a facade when they get around white men. This is because throughout history, black men have always been seen as inferior to the white man. Back then, a black mans mood would change around a white man. Being a white man meant you had a power over whoever you felt was under you so in many cases, a white man could walk in a restaurant and demand that a black man gives up his seat for the white man. I, Too was written by Hughes in 1932 and he also uses free verse. This poem was meant to show that not only white people are American, but African American people are too and should be treated the same. Hughes uses I multiple times throughout this poem to show his personal feelings to the matter of how black people were being treated unequal. In the second stanza, he says, I am the darker brother meaning that just because he is African American doesnt mean he isnt an American. In the next five meters he says They send me to eat in the kitchen. When company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong. Here, Hughes is stating that African Americans dont worry about what is being done, but how they are growing diligent and stronger as segregation continues, knowing that equality should come soon. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans werent allowed to eat in the same place as white people. African Americans couldnt use the same entrances or exits, bathrooms, or the same room to eat food in. This is why he mentions that they sent him to the kitchen to eat. In the third stanza, a preview of the future will be like. Hughes uses tomorrow as a metaphor for the future. Tomorrow, Ill be at the table when the company comes. Nobodyll dare say to me, Eat in the kitchen, then. Hughess use of I is used to show how soon African Americans will rise and be one with the rest of America. In the fourth stanza commences in a way which says African Americans are not genetically bad, but genetically good. The stanza reads Besides, theyll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed, I too, am America. Hughes says here that once African Americans are views as equal, everyone will see they are not bad but beautiful just like America. Mother to Son was published in 1922. The poem is a conversation between mother and son and the mother is encouraging her son to keep pushing for what he wants regardless of how hard the journey may be. She says her life has not been a crystal stair, meaning her life hasnt been simple. She uses splinters and broken stairs to symbolize how her journey up her stairs of life hasnt been easy but regardless, she is still travelling. Mother knows her sons life isnt going to be easy, so she is trying to prepare him for what is to come. This poem is meant to give encouragement to continue to move in life, no matter how hard or difficult life may seem. It is also a great representation of the love a Mother will always have her son. Since she is older, she knows what challenges life could have for her son, so she motivates her son to be gallant and courageous in the midst of the future problems. The reader gathers that the Mother wasnt raised in the best of conditions, but she needed to go through these experiences in order to become the person she is today. Mother also mentions times in darkness, which alludes that there were times she didnt know where she was headed and had many low times in her life, but still, she continued on her journey of life. So just like she has do ne, she encourages her son to continue on his journey of life, regardless of the hardships

Methodology of the Offshore Sector in Mauritius - Free Essay Example

This section comprises of the data sources, the specific variables used and the statistical tools for analysis. The following shows the broken down into sub-sections of the analysis carried out in the process of evaluating the offshore sector of Mauritius: Econometric analysis: Evaluating the significance of tax incentives in attracting FDI and PINV through Mauritius offshore sector. Double treaty taxation (DTT) and Mauritius Types of companies operating in the offshore sector of Mauritius Comparison with other offshore jurisdictions Contribution of the offshore sector in the local economy DTT and relationship between India and Mauritius Evaluation of the current situation Proposed solutions Evaluation of the proposed solutions Case study Vodafone Indian Premier League (IPL) Future prospects: Mauritius offers gateway to Africa Asia Trade To facilitate the description of the methodology used, we will separate the explanation used fo r the econometric analysis from the rest of the analysis. 3.2 Methodology of Econometric Analysis: 3.2.1 Data Collection The quantitative data employed were obtained from the annual reports of the world regulatory bodies, namely World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund and World Development Indicators from the World Bank. Both institutions are functioning to promote international monetary collaboration, safe financial stability and encouraging the vision of ongoing globalization. Further data used were extracted from the Mauritius Revenue Authority and Central Statistics Office. The vital aspects of those data sources are reliability and quality. The time frame used has been assembled from 1981 to 2007 due to availability of the data. All data utilized were used annually. 3.2.2 Theoretical justification for the use of selected variables: In order to run the right methodology, the choice of the appropriate variables is imperative. The variables are identified as follows; The concepts of FDI and PINV have already been discussed in the literature review. The definitions of the tax incentives given below are largely inspired by the income tax act 1995. Reduced Corporate Income Tax (CIT) This type of incentive is quite simple to administer. To be able to attract investment in some specific regions and sections, the government generally amends the legislation and offers a lower CIT rate as an exception to the general tax regime. This implies that the firms will be able to keep a higher percentage of their profit. Theory suggests that there is a negative relationship between investment and after tax return cost of capital. Investment allowance These are deductions from taxable income based on some percentage of a new investment. Such allowances are attractive in the sense that they tend to lower the effe ctive price of acquiring capital. Investment tends to move in the same direction as investment allowances. Inflation One key variable in determining the investment is the inflationary rate. Inflation ambiguity in the host nation is damagingly linked with capital inflows. A high rate of inflation has a tendency to illustrate a rise in risk, indicating inner economic unsteadiness. Openness This variable plays an important key role in the contribution of capital inflows and acts as an approximate for volatility as well as an engine for growth. It permits transfer of capital, knowledge and enhancing better competition. A greater degree of openness tends to improve the investment movement. Market size Emerging countries per capita income growth rates are generally high, and they are frequently expected to keep on growing. This encourages market seeking investors. Gross domestic product will be used as a proxy for market size. GDP growth tends to have an optimistic influ ence on inflows mainly based on effective resource management and successful use of economies of scale. Worldwide Growth Worldwide growth entails the overall performance of developed, developing and under-developed countries across the globe. The worldwide growth indicator used is the global GDP. The investment profile of the host country is greatly influenced by the foreign investors financial health. It should be noted that other variables such as Literacy, Labour Force, International Tourism Receipt, Manufacturing value added (as a % of growth) and ICT goods exports (as a % of total exports) were initially computed in the regression but were removed when they were found very insignificant to attract FDI or PINV. Moreover, the Double taxation Treaty has not been used in this econometric model and will be evaluated separately in more depth as the econometric model is analysing the FDI and private investment of Mauritius as a whole (all countries altogether, not individu ally) to have a broad overview of the incentives affecting investment of Mauritius. 3.2.3 Model Specification In order to consider the impact of the diverse variables on different capital inflows, the following models are developed. The models are tailored to the Mauritian economy. Our first model will be based on FDI, which is the most important investment inflow in Mauritius. FDI= ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²0+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 FDI t-1 + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 CIT + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 InvAll +ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 INFL + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 OPEN+ ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²6 GDPt+ ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²7 WldGth +u t Where, FDI = Foreign direct investment inflows (percentage of GDP) FDI t-1 = Past foreign direct investment inflows (percentage of GDP) CIT = Corporate Income Tax InvAll = Investment Allowance INFL = Inflation rate GDPt = Gross Domestic Product growth rate operates as a proxy for market size. OPEN = Openness, defined as the sum of imports and exports divided by GDP WldGth = Worldwide Growth rate Ut = Random error term Another model is designed in order to demonstrate the extent to which tax incentives affect PINV. PINV = ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²0+ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1 PINVt-1 + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2 CIT + ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3 InvAll +ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 INFL +ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5 OPEN+ ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²6GDPt+ ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²7 WldGth +u t Where, PINV = Private investment [Private Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation] (percentage of GDP) PINV t-1= Past private investment (percentage of GDP) As discussed above, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²1, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²3, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²5, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²6 and ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²7 are positive coefficients where as ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²2, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ²4 tend to be negative ones. 3.2.4 Analysis Techniques. The technique of analysis used will be based on an Ordinary Least Squares regression where various tests will be carried out. OLS is often used as an optimal estimator for estimating the unknown parameters in a linear regression model. With this technique we can draw reliable conclusions about the relationship that exists between the variables in the model. Linked to the OLS analysis, the underlying time series will face the subsequent tests namely, the tests of stationarity, multicollinearity, autocorrelation, cointegration and Error Correction Model which will be later explained in detail. 3.3 Methodology of the rest of the analysis 3.3.1 Description of the analysis This analysis is not only limited to the use of the econometric method but also to a wide range of different techniques. Moreover, there has the use of formative and summative evaluation. Formative evaluations fortify or enhance the point being examined they evaluate the whole system, the qualitative aspect of the implementation, perform complete evaluation of the factor inputs, procedures and managerial aspect of the product. Summative evaluations, on the other hand, evaluate the impact or the result of some objects they review the whole system by analysing whether the object may have caused this result, finding out the net impact of the underlying factor not only for the short-run target outcomes, and calculating the relative costs arising from the object. Formative evaluation consists of numerous evaluation types: Requires assessment examining the current system, estimating the level of the needs and what can be carried out to overcome the need Assessment evaluation the feasibility of an evaluation and how its usefulness can be enhanced. Concept Structure- defining step by step process of the program and the possible outcomes Functioning Assessment supervise the reliability of the program delivered. Process evaluation inspect the development of the program, together with substitute delivery procedures. Summative Evaluation consists of the following: Result assessment Check if the program demonstrated significant effects on the particular defined target results Impact assessment Broad assessment of the overall or net effects of the program as a whole. Cost-Efficiency and Cost-Benefit analysis measures efficiency by linking outcomes to the dollar costs and values. Secondary evaluation reassessment of the current data to solve new questions or using techniques not utilize before. Meta-analysis combines the results from various studies to come to a final overall summary conclusion on an evaluation query. In work ing out this project, data has mainly been collected from reports from different institutions, pieces of legislations, case studies, official statistics, surveys and interviews. We have made use of various techniques to evaluate the offshore sector of Mauritius namely econometric regression, charts, tables, cross-section analysis and cost-benefit analysis. Methodology of the analysis is explained as follows: DTT and Mauritius: In this section, based on the researches carried out, which were mentioned in the literature review, Mauritius offshore sector was evaluated to see whether it was in line with the theoretical study. A thorough evaluation of the FDI is made by examining the effect of pre and post DTT on FDI classified according to country of origin and examining the major investments by these countries in Mauritius. Contribution of the offshore sector in the local economy The link that exists between the offshore sector and the economy can be studied by considering the contribution of the financial services to GDP. Data was collected from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and was evaluated throughout the period. Types of companies operating in the offshore sector of Mauritius Each type of company operating in the offshore sector of Mauritius has different specification and is being used in a distinct way to a particular purpose. A study was carried out to point out the importance and difference of the Global Business category 1 (GBC1) and Global Business category 2 (GBC2), which are the two most important types of offshore sector companies in Mauritius. A comparison with other offshore jurisdictions such as Seychelles, Hong Kong and Dubai is carried out. DTT and relationship between India and Mauritius First, an assessment of the current situation was carried out to identify all the issues involved in the Indo-Mauritian double taxation treaty. Second, the reasons why Mauritius has become the preferred route to invest in India were explored. Third, India has passed the Direct Tax Code (DTC) bill, an attempt to remedy this situation. An evaluation of the proposed remedy was carried out pointing out the impact and the loopholes it has. Fourth, the case study of Vodafone and Indian Premier League was carried out to show how the double tax treaty works in real life situation. Mauritius offers gateway to Africa Asia Trade In this section, the rising interest of India and China to invest massively in Africa is highlighted and how Mauritius can be used to act as a middleman in helping the investment to take place smoothly is being evaluated. The evaluation illustrates how Mauritius is quickly transforming into a key centre for offshore banking mostly in Africa. Conclusion This chapter is an important step in assessing the impact of the tax regime on the Mauritian investments. The findings derived from the above OLS regressions will help to determine the significant factors attracting investment in Mauritius. Moreover, the offshore sector has been evaluated in every aspect particularly its current position to act as a gateway to Asia Africa trade and also as the jurisdiction that provides the route to Indian Investors to evade capital gains tax.