Atmosphere and suspense Essay Example

Atmosphere and suspense Paper This conveys richly with the spirit and meaning of Christmas that Dickens is attempting to put forward in his moral message, through the use of this atmosphere. He is expressing that Christmas time is a time for sharing and spending time with your family and friends, which is reflected in Scrooges youth, but contrasts with Scrooges life at present. Therefore, this makes Scrooge, due to the Ghost of Christmas Past, think more about how he is acting at the present, where he is anti-social and refuses to acknowledge that he has to be sharing and caring during Christmas time. As well as successfully creating, building, and developing atmospheres to develop a moral message in chapter two, Dickens uses suspense in chapter 4 to try and make the effect of the moral message more powerful to the reader by using a darker theme. Dickens creates a spookier and sinister atmosphere straight away at the start of chapter four, and he does this so the reader can then appreciate the suspense. Dickens does this because he intends the reader to get gripped into the darker theme and storyline, and as said above, this makes the moral message more influential to the reader. For instance, he does this at the start of chapter four, when Dickens describes the entrance of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come as he writes: The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. The very air through which this Spirit moved seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. This creates sudden suspense and it also creates a dark theme to lay the foundations for this chapter. Then, Dickens creates more suspense by not making the ghost/phantom talk. By doing this, Dickens is deliberately developing suspense by leaving the reader in the unknown, and is equally implying by this that everyone is going to die at some point, due to the dark theme and the places this ghost takes Scrooge to. In addition, making the ghost just use its hands to guide the way for Scrooge makes him as a result become more timorous and this adds to the suspense and atmosphere. Dickens uses even more clever techniques to draw the readers attention and make them even more aware of the moral message. We will write a custom essay sample on Atmosphere and suspense specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Atmosphere and suspense specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Atmosphere and suspense specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer He writes: `Its likely to be a very cheap funeral, said the same speaker; for upon my life I dont know of anybody to go to it. Suppose we make up a party and volunteer. `I dont mind going if a lunch is provided, observed the gentleman with the excrescence on his nose. `But I must be fed, if I make one. The mans attitude here is that he does not take Scrooges death seriously and is using it as an opportunity to make a joke out of. Dickens uses powerful dramatic irony as the reader knows that those people were talking about Scrooge, however, Scrooge is not aware of this until later. Dickens does this appropriately in the light of the darker theme, because he intends to again powerfully convey his moral message to the reader, and because he portrays those people to be talking carelessly about Scrooge, and approaching his death with a considerable amount of blasi , he hopes to indirectly tell the reader that if you spend your life keeping all your riches to yourself and not being generous and kind-hearted, nobody will care about you and show respect for you when you are dead. Scrooge is used as an example to what the fate is of those who do not follow Dickens moral message. Another example of suspense and atmosphere revealing this moral message is when old Joe and Mrs Dilber are pictured having stolen a bundle of Scrooges possessions and are looking through them. Dickens builds on the uncanny atmosphere and theme he has created in chapter four, and writes about more people talking indifferently about Scrooges death: `If he wanted to keep them after he was dead, a wicked old screw, pursued the woman, why wasnt he natural in his lifetime. If he had been, hed have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with Death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself. This later extract ceases to be dramatic irony once Scrooge has found out that these people had been talking about his death, and therefore it plays an important part in the development of Scrooges characterisation, because after having seen the consequences of his unkind and selfish behaviour with all three ghosts, his reactions to this dialogue suggest that he wants to change his character, and this is confirmed soon after when he wakes up in chapter five, and greets everyone a Merry Christmas in the street.. In conclusion, it would be fair and accurate to say that this novel was written solely for the purpose of getting the people of Victorian Britain to change their attitudes towards the deserving and the undeserving poor, through the use of haunting and ghosts. It was intended to deliver its moral message through the use of atmosphere and suspense, and to convey this message through varying themes. On the whole I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, especially chapter two whilst looking through Scrooges past, as it reveals a lot of what his true inner personality is, regardless of what his spiteful character is described as in chapter one. I also like this novel as it has a fitting end regarding the moral message, which is, in this case, we all have the possibility to change our personality for the good. My opinion is that Dickens without a doubt achieves all his intentions with the successful use of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come being the key in Scrooges characterisation and Dickens utter proficiency in the art of the English language enables us to depict his novel as a fine one. And, as for Scrooges journey, it is a lesson to be learnt from by all of us, in any era.

Crude Oil and US Gasoline Market

Crude Oil and US Gasoline Market Introduction Crude oil is a mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons. Found under the earth’s surface, crude oil is extracted and separated into its simple components. The components of crude oil include kerosene, jet fuel and gasoline. As a product of crude oil, gasoline is used as engine fuel in automobiles.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Crude Oil and US Gasoline Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the United States, crude oil is majorly imported from foreign markets. After its importation, the crude oil is then separated into its components in refinery processes of fractional distillation. It is after this process that gasoline, like paraffin and jet fuel, is supplied to distributers and finally, to consumers. This paper seeks to discuss the opinion that the â€Å"gasoline market in the United States and the market for crude oil are significantly independent†. The paper will look at facto rs that determine the supply, demand and the price of gasoline in the United States as well as the determinants of the demand, supply and prices of crude oil. The paper will then analyze the correlation between the two markets with the aim of identifying whether or not, there exists a relationship between the two markets. Market of Gasoline in the United States The gasoline prices in the United States’ economy are dependent on a lot of factors. Among these factors is the â€Å"unanticipated disruption of U.S. refinery output† (Killian 100). Events like fire that abruptly halts the operations of the refineries have been characterized with â€Å"significant increase in the real price of gasoline† (Killian 100). These particular disruptions however have less significant effects in the prices of the imported crude oil. The phenomenon is expected to have the reverse effect of reducing the price of crude oil as a result of reduced demand which is insignificant in the world market. The factors determining the demand for crude oil and the price of gasoline in the United States such as disruptions results in specified shocks in supply and demand are not easily predictable. It was also noted that the price of gasoline in the United States has some relation to the global market of crude oil. The prices of the two commodities remained high during the period of time ranging from 2002 up to 2008. However, the prices fell in the period of 2008 while the global supply for oil remained the same. A study of the global economic recession that was experienced during the period beginning in 2008 explained the cause of price changes. It was realized that before the recession, there was a high global demand for crude oil over the supply of the same. This pushed the prices up with respect to the laws of demand and supply. The fall of global demand following the recession therefore led to the reduced prices experienced since the year 2008 (Killian 92).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The market of gasoline in the United States is also determined by a number of internal factors which are independent from the market of crude oil. One of such occurrences was the â€Å"damage to the gulf coast drilling wells and refineries† (Gas, 3). The damages for example would translate to the shortage of gasoline leading to subsequent increased prices. The high prices of the gasoline can also be attributed to the government policies that have over time been oriented to only one aspect of controlling the price. The â€Å"chimney plan: to perpetuate the nation’s addition to cheap petroleum† (Gas 3) has been criticized as a profit oriented move rather than price control. It is however viewed that steps to reduce the consumption of gasoline would rather reduce the price as opposed to increasing its supply (Gas 3). The Marke t of Crude Oil In the earlier decades, the rises in oil prices in the United States were attributed to political aspects like the wars in the Middle East and embargoes by the Arab states as retaliation to the United States’ support for Israel, which limited supply of crude oil into the United States from the Middle East countries. The major determinant in the oil sector is still recognized to be its supply relative to its demand. The industrialization of countries like the people’s republic of China and India has put pressure on the global supply of oil due to the relatively increased demand. The threat of the United States’ supply of oil has been worsened by the move of oil supplying countries in the Middle East to reserve their oil for domestic use. The increased consumption by the two giant countries, China and India, has led to increased global oil prices due the increased demand. There is therefore need for â€Å"international effort to reduce demand for o il† (Katel 7). With this respect, no solution has been identified to help control the prices downwards. This factor is beyond the control of the United States according to professionals in the energy sector. According to Medlock, â€Å"it is going to be difficult for the energy supply to expand production at a significant enough pace to drive down prices† (Katel 7). The external drivers of the international oil price is passed to the price of crude oil in the United States and subsequently the prices of the separated components of the crude oil of which gasoline is part (Katel 24). Volatility Relationship between Crude Oil and Petroleum Products The prices of crude oil also depend on a number of features in the oil producing countries. A research study by Lee and Zyren indicated that stability in these countries significantly determines the prices of crude oil. According to the research, wars such as the â€Å"invasion of Kuwait and gulf war 1† caused instability in the market of crude oil.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Crude Oil and US Gasoline Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was also reported that political environments in the crude oil producing countries such as â€Å"transitional regimes† also affect the international market of crude oil (Lee and Zyren 101). In the same study, it was realized that â€Å"the petroleum price variance is greater than crude oil variances† (Lee and Zyren 101). The volatility in the prices of crude oil and those of petroleum products was significantly realized across all periods of the research. The volatility between the prices in the markets for gasoline and that of crude oil is closely related, with an inverse response, to the revenues of the two commodities. The volatility can therefore be viewed as a conditional variable being dependent on the turn over rate of the two products. From the research, Lee and Zyre n noted that the price volatility between crude oil and the gasoline in the United States was greatly caused by the regulations in the crude oil market. It was also noted that the volatility in the prices was not significantly dependent on previous markets of either crude oil or gasoline. Similarly, price volatility doesn’t have significant effects on the future markets of the two products. The research generally represented the view that price volatility between crude oil and gasoline in the United States is an independent significant element (Lee and Zyren 111). Pump Prices and Oil Prices Apart from the asymmetry in volatility in the United States market for gasoline and the crude oil market, it has been established that a further asymmetry occurs between prices of the two commodities. Contrary to the business conception that reduced costs of production yields reduced selling price of a particular product, the oligopolistic market of gasoline gives the oil companies an adva ntage to temporarily dictate the retail gasoline price. A disparity is then significantly realized when the price of crude oil falls. When this happens, individual oil companies are always reluctant to lower retail prices as they try to optimize profits before any competing oil company lowers its price as a market strategy. The fall in crude oil prices does not therefore always result to fall in gasoline price (Adilov and Samavati 62). However, Adilov and Samavati still expressed the view that there could be factors that have changed with time to level a direct relationship between the gasoline retail price and the price of crude oil.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They argue that the asymmetry in the price of the two commodities is not concrete due to the fact that gasoline market is currently invested by increased number of companies. Marketing strategies, according to the two authors is expected to cause price reduction among competing oil companies when crude oil prices fall in a bid to â€Å"undercut competitors† in the oil market (Adilov and Samavati 62). This argument therefore suggests that the prices of the two commodities exhibit some dependence as a result of the competitiveness of the United States oil retail (Adilov and Samavati 63). General opinion has also been expressed that the gasoline prices in the United States are always a factor of the prices of crude oil. The reduction of gasoline prices in the United States during the global recession in 2008 in a way indicated the dependence of the American gasoline prices on the global demand for crude oil. The concept was developed from the observation that gasoline prices wer e high before the period but fell on the onset of the global recession. The reduction of gasoline price was then attributed to the change in demand of the crude oil market as countries reduced their demand for the product (Killian 92). Conclusion There is significant support for the opinion that the price of gasoline in the United States depends more on the internal factors in the United States such as the production facilities and policies among others. It has also been illustrated that there are a number of economic factors that leads to the asymmetry of prices in the two markets. The arguments in view of the dependence of the two markets lack the support of many significant drivers in the gasoline market in the United States. They are isolated arguments that can be easily challenged by the consideration of the internal drivers in the United States. It can therefore be concluded, contrary to other opinions, that to a significant level, the market of gasoline in the United States i s dictated by other factors that are different from the market of crude oil. The gasoline market is actually occasionally asymmetric to the market of crude oil. Adilov, Nodir and Samavati, Hedayeh. â€Å"Pump Prices and Oil Prices: A Tale of Two Directions.† Atlantic Economic Journal 37 (2009): 51-64. Gas. Nation. EBSCO, n.d. Web. www.ejournals.ebsco.com Katel, Peter. Oil Jitters. CQ Researcher, 2008. Web. www.cqpress.com/docs/AffiliationsPDFs/oil.pdf Killian, Lutz. Explaining Fluctuations in Gasoline Prices. A Joint Model of the Global Crude, 2010. Web. www.ideas.repec.org/a/aen/journl/2010v31-02-a04.html Lee, Thomas and Zyren, John. Volatility Relationship between Crude Oil and Petroleum Products. Atlantic Economic Journal 35 (2007): 97-112.