Thursday, November 28, 2019

Corrections Essays - Government Of Canada, Penology,

Corrections The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is a federal agency responsible for incarcerating and rehabilitating most criminal offenders in Canada . The Commissioner of the CSC is appointed by the Prime Minister and answers directly to the Minister of Public Safety. The Penitentiary Act of 1868 brought prison a number of prisons under federal control. However, the provincial governments (there are ten provinces and two territories) generally have the responsibility for administering the criminal justice system, including most police services, courts, and some correctional facilities (Roberts, 1998). The province s have sole control of facilities housing offenders sentenced under two years. The federal facilities house the more seri ous offenders, sentenced to two years or more . The Canadian penal system lies between two correctional traditions: the British and the American . It is strongly influenced by the Aub urn system in New York and the Philadelphia system in Pennsylvania. Canada has about 234 prison facilities between the federal and the provincial systems. Even though a number of correctional facilities are under the federal government control, the province s staff and administer the day to day services. They work together in both a cost sharing and manpower sharing relationship. The Federal Level When an offender is sentenced to two or more years, they automatically go under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada. The CSC is divided into five regions: Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie and Pacific. The CSC has a total of 57 institutions broken down in each of the five regions. Those institutions are then broken down in minimum, medium and maximum security institutions for both men and women as well as community correctional centers. The average population of maximum and medium security institution in Canada is considerably smaller than their counterparts in the United States, never exceeding 500 inmates and generally averaging around 300-400 prisoners, depending on the type of the institution ( Griffiths et al., 1980 ). The minimum security institutions have even smaller population, usually around 20 offenders. As of 2013 , 14,761 inmates are under the control of the CSC ( International Centre for Prison Studies , 2013). The Prov i n ci al Level When an offender is sentenced to less than two years, which includ es fines and community services , they are under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. Pretrial services and remand facilities for offenders confined until their trial or who could not meet bail conditions imposed by the court are provincial responsibilities (Griffiths et al., 1980). All youthful offenders not serving over two years in prison are also under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. Each province operates their own facilit ies except in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, which are under the direction of the federal government. There are currently 177 provincial correction al facilities stretched across the ten Canadian province s and territories. As of 201 3 , 23,843 inmates are under the supervision of the provincial governments (ICPS, 2013) . There are a wide variety of physical facilities operated by the provinces: ma ny of the institution are old and there is often little segregation of offenders awaiting trial , from those who have been convicted (Griffiths et al., 1980) . Some provinces, even use police holding cells to house sentenced inmates. Recent Trends Canadian prisons are becoming overcrowded, which is placing enormous pressure on the whole system. According to ICPS, 2013, the provincial prison system is sitting at 100.1% capacity. The Canadian prison system can house a total of 38,604 inmates, which means they are well over capacity. Many inmates have reported that they had to share a cell with one or more inmates. There has also been a decline in government spending on corrections, which is also putting a strain on the prison system. Reducing the prison population has emerged as a gove rnment priority since c orrect ions , account for one-quarter of the total criminal justice budget (Roberts, 1998). As a result, judges are expected to impr ison less offenders or adapt a go "soft " approach. Many of these softer approaches being developed are through community-based sanctions. The offender will remain at liberty provided that he abides by certain mandatory and optional c onditions

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Free Essays on LEE Electronics

Executive Summary Objectives & Results  · The Purpose of this project was to establish a foundation by which Leading Edge Electronics can evaluate the overall profitability for each account number and model number.  · Results show that approximately 3% of the total accounts represent over 75% of the total profit margin. It was also found that less then 6% of the total models accounted for over 95% of the total profit margin. Supporting Reasoning & Methodology  · The original data was cleaned (Exhibit 1) to provide more accurate data for analysis.  · The data was organized into the seven different business classes of products and further analyzed based on volume, revenues and profits (Exhibit 2). Upon further inspection, it was concluded that CEG, with 49% of total revenues and 34% of profits, would be the most appropriate business class to develop the framework for future analysis.  · The CEG data was isolated and segmented, based on profit margins, into ABC classes for both account numbers and model numbers. The â€Å"A† class consisted of customers and models that accounted for 75% of total profits in their respective classes. The â€Å"B† class consisted of the next 20% of total profits while the â€Å"C† class made up the remaining 5%. The breakdown is as follows: Customer Breakdown ABC Class Number of Accounts % of Total Accounts Total Margin % of Total Margin A 87 3.07% 73,028,058.37 75.07% B 184 6.49% 19,453,205.12 20.00% C 2564 90.44% 4,802,088.65 4.94% Totals 2835 100.00% 97,283,352.14 100.00% Model Breakdown ABC Class Number of Models % of Total Accounts Total Margin % of Total Margin A 24 2.56% 73,415,950.13 75.47% B 30 3.21% 19,592,776.25 20.14% C 882 94.23% 4,274,625.76 4.39% Totals 936 100.00% 97,283,352.14 100.00%  · Once the breakdown was established, a matrix was derived based on the ABC analysis for both the customers and model numbers ... Free Essays on LEE Electronics Free Essays on LEE Electronics Executive Summary Objectives & Results  · The Purpose of this project was to establish a foundation by which Leading Edge Electronics can evaluate the overall profitability for each account number and model number.  · Results show that approximately 3% of the total accounts represent over 75% of the total profit margin. It was also found that less then 6% of the total models accounted for over 95% of the total profit margin. Supporting Reasoning & Methodology  · The original data was cleaned (Exhibit 1) to provide more accurate data for analysis.  · The data was organized into the seven different business classes of products and further analyzed based on volume, revenues and profits (Exhibit 2). Upon further inspection, it was concluded that CEG, with 49% of total revenues and 34% of profits, would be the most appropriate business class to develop the framework for future analysis.  · The CEG data was isolated and segmented, based on profit margins, into ABC classes for both account numbers and model numbers. The â€Å"A† class consisted of customers and models that accounted for 75% of total profits in their respective classes. The â€Å"B† class consisted of the next 20% of total profits while the â€Å"C† class made up the remaining 5%. The breakdown is as follows: Customer Breakdown ABC Class Number of Accounts % of Total Accounts Total Margin % of Total Margin A 87 3.07% 73,028,058.37 75.07% B 184 6.49% 19,453,205.12 20.00% C 2564 90.44% 4,802,088.65 4.94% Totals 2835 100.00% 97,283,352.14 100.00% Model Breakdown ABC Class Number of Models % of Total Accounts Total Margin % of Total Margin A 24 2.56% 73,415,950.13 75.47% B 30 3.21% 19,592,776.25 20.14% C 882 94.23% 4,274,625.76 4.39% Totals 936 100.00% 97,283,352.14 100.00%  · Once the breakdown was established, a matrix was derived based on the ABC analysis for both the customers and model numbers ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Evolution of a Firm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Evolution of a Firm - Essay Example The evolution of GE starts with the greatest inventor every produced by America, i.e., Thomas Edison who is widely known for having created the light bulb that can be credited for America becoming a country which operates round the clock. In 1876, Edison started work in his lab in New Jersey and after his patents and inventions had given him enough capital, he was able to start a company called the Edison General Electric Company. While Edison had some competition from rival firms, a merger which was arbitrated by none other than J.P. Morgan led to the creation of the General Electric Company which was then headquartered in Schenectady in New York (Welch, 2005). This phase in the evolution of a firm can be understood as a phase of growth since the time of family-owned companies was on its way out due to the tremendous need for capital to obtain the real economies of scale required for big business (Griffiths & Wall, 2004). By 1986, GE became one of the 12 companies that were used by the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) to measure the stock index and after more than 112 years, it is the only company which remains on that index while all others have been replaced, acquired by other companies or simply been driven out of business. The historic value of the company can also be marked by the fact that its original headquarters has been noted as a historic place by the American government. GE did not stop at making light bulbs and continued to diversify its business interests through investments in Radio and modern electronics which were considered upcoming technologies at the time. After the world wars, GE found that it was heavily invested in defense since it had been used to help in producing aircraft and other equipment required by America (Welch, 2005). However, this also placed the company amongst the leaders of American business.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

How Pa Chin's novel Family reflects the tensions withtin chinese Term Paper

How Pa Chin's novel Family reflects the tensions withtin chinese society and within the chinese family - Term Paper Example This book will be of interest to all who are interested in the society and history of modern China. Family is the story of the Kao family which consists of four generations. The story takes place in Chengtu, a large city in the province of Szechwan. The novel’s principal characters are the three brothers, Chueh-hsin, Chueh-min and Chueh-hui. The brothers live with their uncles and aunts, cousins and their grandfather, the Venerable Master Kao, in their family estate. It is the Venerable Master Kao who is the autocrat in the family, in control of all family affairs, unable and unwilling to admit that his country and his family are changing with time. Chueh-hsin, the eldest and the meekest of the three brothers, takes over the responsibility of his younger brothers after the death of their father. Chueh-hsin is supposedly responsible for his brothers, but as the novel progresses we come to know how much or rather how little control he has over them. He is married against his wishes to a woman chosen by his family. He is doing a job he hates, this too being chosen by his famil y. He is shown navigating through life using his "compliant bow" philosophy which to him means that he should not oppose the elders of the family under any circumstance. Chueh-min, the second brother, is determined to marry the girl he loves in spite of his familys opposition. The youngest brother, Chueh-hui, hates everything the family represents and is trying hard to break the fetters and live life according to his wishes. Each brother is facing challenges at home, a home characterized by archaic morality and hierarchical dependence that was typical of those days. The brothers are caught in between the old system and their desire for a new system. The book records the daily lives of the Kao family. The situations that are described, unique as they may be to that time, are similar to many circumstances of todays world, such as the

Monday, November 18, 2019

Organization as a Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization as a Machine - Essay Example It also adopts British Telecom as the case study. Overall functioning structure of traditional organization using machine metaphor Evidently, machine metaphor concept has immensely contributed to growth prospects of various institutions due to its noble ideals and synergies. Morgan (2007) asserted that, it has in stilled basic elements and ideals, which organizations should embrace. He further stated that, organizations are all about effective interaction, predictability, reliability and controllability at various points of activity through structured systems, which instills sanity. In particular, machine metaphor concept is a system, which provides a comprehensive view of institutions through detailed interaction of various elements, which facilitates predictability, and control of events (Odubiyi, 2012). Clearly, organizations must adopt predictable and reliable business practices including market positioning to ensure sound performance, which is a critical aspect for most institut ions. Mechanistic view is a noble concept, which considers institutions as holistic entities, which operate under strong combination of manageable components. As indicated by Odubiyi (2012), major components, which requires effective management includes organizational chart, job description, policies, operational plans and people. Critically, machine metaphor concept facilitated growth in various traditional institutions due to its effective management and control ideals, which ensured delivery of services based on quality policies. Consequently, the concept enhanced organizations competitive capacity through development of superior production and business techniques, which were accurately coordinated in similar form as machine operation. Functional structure is also a vital pillar, which influences growth in various in situations. As noted by McCrimmon (2012), functional structures enhances decision making process in institutions hence should be effective and operate within set gui delines. He stated that poor functionality of various organizational components through inferior guidelines have contributed to liquidation of many institutions globally. As such, corporations should adopt viable and well structured operating levels with comprehensive job delegation to enhance quality in choice making. Clearly, machine metaphor provides requisite incentives through its structured network system, which enhances management and control at various levels towards formulation of quality decisions (Morgan & Rotunda, 2006). Ideally, modern institutions require credible systems, which ensure business accountability and structured way of executing duties at various levels of operation. Evaluation of organizational functional departments

Friday, November 15, 2019

Capitalist society

Capitalist society What are the defining characteristics of a capitalist society? Which characteristics have held constant, and which been transformed, in the period since the 1970s? In this essay I am going to examine the six main characteristics of capitalism, as outlined by Adam Smith in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). To aid me in this I shall include references from a broad range of Sociologists in order to elaborate on Smiths points and provide elucidated examples. I then plan to discuss how these characteristics have been transformed since the end of the rapid economic growth post World War Two in the 1970s and the catalysts for these transformations. Prior to this I am going to give an overview of the definition and inception of capitalism. Edmund Burke (1795) defines a capitalist society as one in which even labour is seen as a commodity; the means of production are privately owned by the bourgeoisie whom pay the proletariat a wage in exchange for their labour. Good are produced in accordance with what will make the greatest profit for the bourgeoisie rather than to comply with the needs of the consumer base. The history of capitalism can be traced back as early as the 8th century, in his book Capitalism in Medieval Islam, The Journal of Economic History Sabhi Labib refers to this as, ‘Islamic Capitalism; the stability and relatively high value of the dinar currency led to the establishment of one of the first economies were money was traded in exchange for goods or services. However capitalism didnt become dominant in the ‘West until the 18th century, the catalyst for this was the French revolution of 1789. During this time social stress built due partially to an excessive population, which led to food shortages and disease epidemics. Despite the recent growth of capitalism due to increases in overseas trade and thus the continued growth of the economy the majority of French citizens (especially in rural areas) continued to live at or below the poverty level. Furthermore the stratification system of dividing the population into a hierarchy of social orders at birth caused social unrest. People wanted social change but were unwilling to act, until the fall of Bastille. The storming of the French prison by a group of middle class demonstrators protesting the dismissal of Jacques Necker effectively acted as a catalyst for the revolution; people began to realise that drastic action could bring about social change. Violence dominated the French Revolution; King Louis XVI was dethroned and beheaded and in 1793/1794 thousands more also met this fate, executed because they were thought to be anti-revolution. The French Revolutionary government, who had seized power during the political instability that followed the abolishment of the monarchy, entered war with most of the major powers in Europe, a war that outlasted the revolution. Throughout the bloodshed a number of important changes took place, the most radical of these being the abolition of feudalism and the establishment of a new order. A massive shifting of power from the Roman Catholic Church to the state took place; property was taken from the Church and members of the clergy were forced to sign an oath swearing loyalty to the state. The French revolution was swiftly followed by the Industrial Revolution in Britain, which in turn led to the spread of revolution across Europe. The Industrial Revolution brought an end to feudal society in Britain and a capitalist economic system began to develop through the growth of free labour which liberated industries such as the textile industry. E.A Wrigley wrote that industrialisation was the product of a steady increase in per capita income (1972). Though it should be noted that the economic changes were not the only factors to contribute to the rise in capitalism, the process also involves a wider set of social changes (Kumar 1978) for example Max Weber believed the Protestant ethic was a driving force in the development of capitalism. Now I have given an overview in to the development of capitalist societies I am going to discuss the characteristics associated with them. As previously stated Adam Smith outlined six characteristics of the capitalist society, the foundation of these characteristics was the notion of freedom; Smith believed that capitalism was characterised by individuals having both freedom of enterprise, that is the freedom and right to own property and/or a business and the freedom to dictate their own labour and consumer habits (freedom of economic choice). This freedom is however restricted by human need for sustenance and the means of production, ‘He is not forced to live according to the plan of a planning authority enforcing its unique plan by the police, i.e., the social apparatus of compulsion and coercion. What restricts the individuals freedom is not other peoples violence or threat of violence, but the physiological structure of his body and the inescapable nature-given scarcity of the factors of production. (Mises, L. The Anti-capitalistic Mentality, 1956 CH.1) A further characteristic put forward by Smith was the division of labour; for humans to carry out this production of materials they have to form what are known as, ‘relations of production, and divisions of labour must be made which are determined by the means of production at the time and whom owns them. According to Geoff Pilling (1980) for these relations of production take on the form of classes, as they have done present day, the productive forces must reach a certain level of growth (he further noted that if productive forces continued to increase to a higher level society may return to being class-less). . To illustrate Adam Smiths theory that within in a capitalist society there are high levels of self interest it is useful to look at the work of Marx. Marx used the model of a modern capitalist society as an example of how we can look at how the unequal distribution of the means of production leads to class development and thus class conflict. The bourgeoisie (ruling class) own the means of production, which means that for the proletariat (working class) to gain the materials they need to sustain life they must exchange their labour for a wage. According to Marx, capitalism is driven by an innate greed, especially within the ruling class; capitalists try to find ways to increase workers efficiency and force them to work longer hours. Caporaso and Levine (1992) noted, . ‘As a result profit increases, real wage (subsistence) remains the same the worker works harder, and longer whilst his share of the product declines. . This sets the interests of the two classes in opposition each acting in accordance with their own desires, as the working class are trying to limit the amount of exploitation they suffer. In order to control excesses of both individual and collective self interest capitalist societies require a competitive market, ‘As it is the power of exchanging that gives occasion to the division of labour, so the extent of this division must always be limited by the extent of that power, or, in other words, by the extent of the market. (Smith, A The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter III, 1845) To ensure this competitive market there must be a large population of buyers and sellers, this is to ensure that no one person or group of peoples can dictate the price of a good or service by manipulating the supply or demand. One recent example of a company attempting to manipulate the supply/demand chain is that of Apple. The corporation is one of the main buyers of NAND flash memory chips, they are accused of indicating to their suppliers that they require larger volumes of stock than they actually intend to purchase. In order to meet this demand the suppliers increase production and as a result are left with a surplus amount of stock which they are forced to sell at a reduced rate. Moreover a competitive market must allow everyone free entrance and exit from the marketplace and must not restrict knowledge; both buyers and sellers must be aware of the markets that exist and the range of prices. The final characteristic of a capitalist society given by Adam Smith is that of limited government or laissez-faire, however it is a theory that only works if the aforementioned five characteristics are fulfilling their role. Smith believed that the government should not intervene in the marketplace as that would ruin its chances of operating efficiently and to its full potential. He saw it as the governments role to police the marketplace by creating and enforcing laws to ensure fair practice as well as helping to settle disputes. Now I have provided insight in to the characteristics of a capitalist society I am going to discuss how economic events, including two global recessions, over the past forty years have affected the characteristics and policies of the capitalist system. World War Two was the catalyst for the beginning of mass production of goods, this was known as Fordism. The process was named after Henry Ford, whom helped develop the first car that was economically viable for the working class through the use of assembly lines. Not only did this method of mass production lower the price of the end product, it also enabled Ford to hire unskilled workers which helped reduce unemployment at the time. Wages in his factory were high, at five dollars a day which enabled his employees to become consumers through this Ford managed to boost the economy. The practice of Fordism helped overcome the economic depression that occurred during the 1930s as it decreased the numbers of unemployed and increased the efficiency of workers meaning that profits rose. However the Fordist work structure was abandoned in the 1970s when economic crisis put an end to the post-war boom. The causes of this economic downturn were the oil crisis of 1973, the 1973-74 stock marke t crash, a period of slow economic growth (stagnation) and inflation. Gamble and Walton (1976) used statistics to show that it was no longer realistic for ‘Western societies to practice Fordism; they found that by 1975 3.5% of the UK was unemployed (which went against the Fordist ideal of full employment) and that inflation had increased by 27%. The aforementioned factors combined led to a massive decrease in consumerism. This economic crisis caused dramatic changes within the capitalist system and the development of a new system of economic production post-1970 that is often called Post-Fordism. It should however be noted that although the economic downturn was the main driving force for the introduction of Post-Fordism, globalisation and advances in technology also aided the transformation. Flexible production defines Post-Fordism; producers began to look more closely at the individual needs of their consumer base and produce small amounts of specialised goods rather than mass producing standardised products. One example of this is that of ‘Third Italy, this was the name given to regions of Italy such as Tuscany and Veneto that were encouraged by the Italian government to produce small quantities of high quality products. The goods were produced in small workshops with a workforce of fewer than fifty people and workshops from different regions often pooled their resources in order to purchase machinery. Despite the fact that these unique products were highly desirable to consumers and thus enabled these small companies to charge more advances in technology during the 1990s led to many corporations once again succumbing to mass production. Writing of Benetton, whom started as a small family business in Veneto (Third Italy) before becoming a large corporation, Castells stated, ‘New technologies allow for the transformation of assembly lines characteristic of the large corporation into easy-to-program production units that can be sensitive to variations in the market (product flexibility) and in the changes of technological inputs (process flexibility). (2000: 167) This product and process flexibility has enabled Benetton to maintain their individuality and the exclusive feel of their products regardless of their current status as a global fashion brand with over 6,000 retail outlets. Another such change is the deregulation of markets. Reich (2007) wrote that post Second World War capitalist society was dominated by ogliopolies whom controlled the industry; they were aided by government regulation that allowed them to keep out competition. Changes in the seventies however reduced the power of these large conglomerates as the government simplified laws regarding the market place, this led to a massive increase in competition as it became easier to start up businesses. Competition was further increased by the globalisation of the capitalist economy as corporations began increasing their consumer base by seeking larger international markets. The deregulation of markets is a product of the theory of Neoliberalism, which aims to increase the efficiency of governments and improve economies by transferring some economic control from the public sector to the private sector (Cohen 2007). This policy complies with Smiths theory of laissez-faire as it reduces government intervention. Margret Thatcher, whom served as prime minister of the UK for eleven years was an advocate of this policy; between 1979 and 1990 she oversaw the privatisation most of the United Kingdoms utilities including British Telecom, British Railways and bus services throughout London. And although the current government has yet to privatise any public services there does not appear to be any intention of reversing the work done by Thatcher in reforming the economy. There is no doubt that the capitalist system has undergone many transformations over the last few decades; the changes to economic policy caused by the current global recession serve to reinforce this. However the foundation of capitalism and the core values of the system remain intact; the essence of capitalism is still profit. The proletariat are still exploited by the bourgeoisie and the rich-poor divide increases each passing year (particularly in less economically developed countries for example in 2007 the amount of billionaires in India almost doubled). Adam Smiths vision of a competitive market that could not be dictated by any one corporation now seems too idealistic; the ‘free market is controlled by those who own large conglomerates, their wealth ensuring that nothing stands in their way. References Books Burke, E. Thoughts and Details on Scarcity, Edition 3, 1800, Oxford University: F. and C. Rivington and J. Hatchard. Caporaso, J. A and Levine, D.P Theories of Political Economy; 1992, Cambridge University Press Castells, M. The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture Vol. I; 2000, Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell Cohen, Joseph Nathan The Impact of Neoliberalism, Political Institutions and Financial Autonomy on Economic Development, 1980-2003; 2007, Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Princeton University. Defended June 2007 Gamble, A and Walton, P. Capitalism in Crisis; 1976, Macmillan Kumar, K. Prophecy and Progress The Sociology of Industrial and Post-Industrial Society; 1978, Viking Labib, S. Capitalism in Medieval Islam, The Journal of Economic History; 1969 pp. 79-96 Mises, L. The Anti-capitalistic Mentality; 1956, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006. Pilling, G. Marxs Capital, Philosophy and Political Economy; 1980, Routledge Keagan Paul Reich, R B. Supercapitalism. The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life; 2007 Knopf; illustrated edition Smith, A. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1845, Nelson Wrigley, E.A The Process of Modernization and the Industrial Revolution in England, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 3, No. 2, Economics, Society, and History 1972, pp. 225-259 1972, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the editors of The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Websites http://www.marxists.org/archive/pilling/works/capital/index.htm http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxtstaticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1889chapter=109993layout=htmlItemid=27 http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/apple-using-dodgy-tactics-to-get-better-nand-flash-prices.ars

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essay on Literacy in Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon essays

Literacy in Song of Solomon    Through literacy will come emancipation. But emancipation comes in many forms, as does literacy. The various aspects of academic literacy are rather obvious in relation to emancipation, especially when one is confronted with exclusion from membership in the dominant culture. Most, but not all, of Toni Morrison's characters in Song of Solomon appear to have attained at least a modicum of literacy. But what part does literacy play in the advancement of the individual, and to what lengths will one go to achieve it?    "But if the future did not arrive, the present did extend itself, and the uncomfortable little boy in the Packard went to school and at twelve met the boy who [...] could liberate him [...]" (Song of Solomon 35-36). So says Toni Morrison of Milkman Dead, the boy in the Packard, in Song of Solomon. The other boy of whom she speaks is Guitar Bains, Milkman's mentor-of-the-street. Morrison tells us little more of Milkman's formal education, but we can assume that he goes on to high school because Guitar is in high school when she introduces him. We do learn that Milkman's sisters attend and graduate from college, but their education isolates them from the rest of the community. In fact, at age forty-four, Corinthians eventually goes to work as a maid and enters into a relationship with Porter, one of her father's tenants, much to her father's dismay. Within the class structure of "haves" and "have-nots," Corinthians finds the "haves" side abhorrent, the "have-nots" side attractive, but she can not cross the socioeconomic line that her father has drawn. She must remain within the paradigm that separates her from the lower, uneducated portion of their society.    Milkman's mor... ...ith the earth and at the conclusion of the novel when he finds he is able to fly. Is the state of super-metacognition he enters during these episodes a metaphor for an inherent attachment to the past? something akin to a shared history? something ingrained and transferred with roots deeply embedded in African traditions? Morrison leaves the answers to these questions (and many others) up to her readers, but it is obvious that Milkman finds more in historical literacy than he ever received from his formal education.    Milkman sees hope for the future through a connection with the past. In a certain sense, he finds emancipation through his relationships with literacy.    Works Cited Middleton, David. Toni Morrison's Fiction: Contemporary Criticism. New York: Garland, 1997. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1987.