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Student debt
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Student debt is a form of debt that is owed by an attending, withdrawn, or graduated student to a lending institution. The lending is often of a student loan, but debts may be owed to the school if the student has dropped classes and withdrawn from the school. Withdrawing from a school, especially if a low- or no-income student has withdrawn with a failing grade, could deprive the student of the ability of further attendance by disqualifying the student of necessary financial aid. Student loans also differ in many countries in the strict laws regulating renegotiating and bankruptcy. Due payments may be a retroactive penalty for services rendered by the school to the individual, including room and board.
As with most other types of debt, student debt may be considered defaulted after a given period of non-response to requests by the school or the lender for information, payment or negotiation. At that point, the debt is turned over to a Student Loan Guarantor or a collection agency.
In the United States of America, the “Congress created a rule called the ‘Cohort Default rate’. Annually the Department of Education evaluates the proportions of students who have received student loans and have withdrawn from a college, and have a defaulted on their federal government backed loans.”[citation needed] If that nonpayment (default) rate is too high, the college will be refused the privilege of having government financial aid available to their students. According to Adam Looney, and Constantine Yannelis with the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, in 2011, “borrowers at for-profit and 2-year institutions represented almost half of student-loan borrowers leaving school and starting to repay loans, and accounted for 70 percent of student loan defaults." [1] This rule was an instantaneous achievement, ‘there were more than fifteen hundred for profit colleges were pushed out of the system’. Colleges have to change their funding habits to get in line with the government guidelines. Many colleges are continuously forced to lower their nonpayment rates, down.” The number of defaulters has not changed, it is just the way the government tracks them.[2]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Statistics
2.1 United States
2.2 Canada
2.3 United Kingdom
2.4 Germany
2.5 France
2.6 Pakistan
3 Social and political reactions
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
History[edit]
Many factors are accountable for student debt. The growing problem of student debt has become more prominent in the future decade, inspiring numerous documentaries that examine the causes and effects. One huge factor is amount of interest on the loans. Another factor is due to the new guidelines developed by the federal government. There are now new rules deciding who can borrow, as well as how much debt they can take on.[3] Colleges and universities have been increasing the costs for students to attend their schools subsequently increasing the amount of debt these students take on as student loans. Reports have shown that borrowers who finished college in the early 1990s were able to maintain managing their student loans without an enormous burden.[3] The average debt has increased 58% since over the past seven years. The debt for students in the United States has risen from $17,233 in 2005 to $27,253 in 2012.[4] Some blame the economy for the debt increases, but in the same 7-year period credit card debt and auto debt have decreased.[4] According to the Student Debt Crisis, within the past three decades the cost of attaining a college degree has drastically increased by more than 1,000 percent.[5] If student debt had stayed constant with inflation since 1992, graduates would not be facing such burdens by student loans.[3]
Statistics[edit]
United States[edit]
Student loan debt rose from $480.1 billion (3.5% GDP) in aQ1 2006 to $1,397.3 billion (7.5% GDP) in Q3 2016.
Distribution of student loan debt in the U.S.
See also: Student loans in the United States
There are two types of loans student borrow in the US: Federal loans or Private loans. Federal loans have a fixed interest rate, usually lower than private loans' interest, set annually by the congress. The direct subsidized loan with the maximum amount of $5,500 has an interest rate of 4.45%, while the direct plus loan with the maximum amount of $20,500 has an interest rate of 7%.[6] As for private loans, there are more options like fixed interest rate, variable interest rate, and income based monthly plans whose interest rates vary depending on the lender, credit history and cosigners. The average interest rate for a private loan in 2017 was 9.66%.[7] The Economist reported in June 2014 that U.S. student loan debt exceeded $1.2 trillion with over 7 million debtors in default. In 2014, there was approximately $1.3 trillion of outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. that affected 44 million borrowers who had an average outstanding loan balance of $37,172.[7]
The interest rates are a major factor in the alarming debt numbers, however, the booming of prices of college is another major factor for US tremendous student debt. The Public universities increased their fees by a total of 27% over the five years ending in 2012, or 20% adjusted for inflation. Public university students paid an average of almost $8,400 annually for in-state tuition, with out-of-state students paying more than $19,000. For two decades ending in 2012, college costs rose 1.6% more than inflation each year. Government funding per student fell 27% between 2007 and 2012. Student enrollments rose from 15.2 million in 1999 to 20.4 million in 2011, but fell 2% in 2012.[8][9] Bloomberg reported in July 2014 that: "The biggest growth in the program came in the past decade, as student debt rose an average of 14 percent a year, to $966 billion in 2012 from $364 billion in 2004, according to New York Fed data."[10]
There were around 37 million student loan borrowers with outstanding student loans in 2013. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, outstanding student loan debt in the United States lies between $902 Billion and $1 Trillion with around $864 Billion in Federal student loan debt.[11] As of Quarter 1 in 2012, the average student loan balance for all age groups is $24,301.[11] About one-quarter of borrowers owe more than $28,000; 10% of borrowers owe more than $54,000; 3% owe more than $100,000; and less than 1%, or 167,000 people, owe more than $200,000.[11] Of the 37 million borrowers who have outstanding student loan balances, 14%, or about 5.4 million borrowers, have at least one past due student loan account.[11] For every student loan borrower who defaults, at least two more borrowers become delinquent without default.[11] In 2010 for the first time ever, student loan debt exceeded credit card debt and in 2011 student debt surpassed auto loans (both of which were decreasing).[12] According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org, student loan debt is growing by $3,000 per second.[12] According to a report by The Institute for College Access and Success the average debt from those who graduated in 2013 topped $30,000 in six states and was only below $20,000 in one state.[13] Data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that in the fourth quarter of 2014 delinquency rates for students dipped to the point where approximately one in nine student loans is past due.[14] As of 2015 over half of outstanding student loans are in deferral, delinquency or default.[15] Rising student loan debt is exacerbating wealth inequality.[16]
Student loan borrowers that attended a for profit, and two year community colleges, in comparison, earn low annual salaries; an average of $22,000 for people withdrawing from schools as of 2010. This means that these people have troubles paying back their loans. The new evidence is reliable with the previous data. For example, the statistics presenting that default rates are essentially lower within the demographic of borrowers with large loans than within borrowers with small loans. However, the new evidence which goes back twenty years, shows how much the scenery of borrowing has changed. Currently, most borrowers are older and attended a for profit or two year community college. About ten years ago, the standard borrower was an established student at a four-year university.[17]
In recent years, tuition has been rising due to the cuts of government funding in education. As an example, more specifically, the University of Pittsburgh has had an increase in tuition of 3.9 percent for the academic school year of 2014-15. In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Education ranked Pitt as the most expensive public university for tuition and fees, just ahead of Penn State University, which this past year totaled $16,240 in the arts and science school.[18]
In 2005, the difference in median annual income between those with a bachelor's degree vs. those with a high school diploma was $16,638, though this varies considerably by field of study.[19]
Canada[edit]
Canada ranks second in the world behind Korea for the percentage of people in the age group of 25-34 with a bachelor's degree.[20] But Canadians are not prone to the rapid accumulation of student loans. As of September 2012, the average debt for a Canadian leaving University was 28,000 Canadian dollars, and that accumulated debt takes an average of 14 years to fully repay based on an average starting salary of $39,523.[21] To temporarily help their low income struggling citizens with student debt, Canada has a program called interest relief. It grants 6 months free of mandatory payments, for a maximum of 30 months. The Canadian government pays for the interest on those loans during the grace period, so the loan amount is the same at the end of the grace period.[22] Also, students are relieved of their debt after 15 years.[23] As a nation, Canadians have accumulated more than $15 billion of student loan debt as they continue to fight tuition rates from further skyrocketing.[24]
United Kingdom[edit]
There is concern about the level of student debt in the United Kingdom. There is also concern about possible changes in government policy forcing graduates to pay back more.[25] Andrew Adonis claims most student loans will never be repaid, Adonis also maintains university leaders have failed to improve teaching standards but rewarded themselves handsomely with high salaries. The Institute for Fiscal Studies maintains three quarters of graduates will never repay all their debts. Andrew McGettigan, loans system expert said, “Until the government removes their right to retrospectively change terms, then you as a borrower appear to be on the hook to future policy changes.[26] Sebastian Burnside NatWest economist, said student debt was rising faster than all other types of debt, he said, “These latest figures show student debt is becoming of greater priority with every passing year. Student debt is the fastest growing type of borrowing and is rapidly becoming economically significant.”[27]
Germany[edit]
With student debt being one of the most prominent issues in the world, it seems Germany has found a solution to avoid tremendous student debt that many first world countries face. Germany has both private and public universities with the majority being public universities. For undergraduate studies, public universities are free but have an enrollment fee of no more than €250 per year which is roughly 305 USD. [28]Their private universities cost an average of €10,000 a semester which is about 12,000 USD.[28] Private universities account for 7.1% enrollment with the rest attending the public universities.[29] The private universities have a smaller teacher to student ratio and tend to offer more specialized programs which is why Germany is experiencing a boom in private universities enrollment in recent years for majors like law and medicine. [29]However, most students still prefer public universities due to the drastic difference in tuition cost. The only expense students take out loans for in public universities is the living cost which ranges from €3600 to €8,200 a year depending on the university location.[30] However, the repayment of this loan is interest free and no borrower pays more than €10,000 regardless of the borrowed amount. [30]The average debt at graduation is €5,600 which is 6,680 USD.[31] The chance to gain a bachelor's through well respected universities at a reasonable price without interest packed loans attracts many foreign students as seen through increased enrollment of students from all around the world.
France[edit]
France is another country known for its reasonable price for college. The average tuition for a bachelor’s degree is around 190 euros a year, around 620 euros a year for engineering degrees, around 260 euros a year for a master's degree and around 400 euros a year for a PhD.[32] These prices are similar to its neighboring country, Germany. And, the only expense that’s difficult to pay for is the cost of living which is an average of 500 to 1250 euros a month depending on the city.[33] Students can borrow money to pay for these expenses. Only less than 2% students take out loans as there is financial assistance to pay for the full tuition or half of the tuition for low income families depending on their needs.[34]
Pakistan[edit]
Student loans are an unknown concept in Pakistan, like most third world countries. Students attend college through the help of their parents who spend majority of their income on their children’s education and some students work to help out with the tuition. The top universities in Pakistan are mostly located in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. There are 177 universities in the country. [35]To better understand this number, let’s consider the US which is twelve times the size of Pakistan and has 5900 colleges. That means the US has about 477 universities in an area as big as Pakistan.
Pakistan has universities ranking in the top 250 and top 700 in the world.[36] The average tuition cost for these universities is around 402,000 Pakistani Rupees ($3500). But this is not the only expense citizens have to pay for; most people pay for books, food, bus or van to get to their university and a tuition center for help with the tough curriculum which adds up to about 130,000 Rupees ($1147).[36] Even though this seems like a small total to someone from the first world, this is very expensive for Pakistanis as the average salary is about $7,800 a year.[37] The majority of parents cannot afford college education for their children which is why only 12% of all 18-24 years olds are attending college.[38]
Even though students in Pakistan do not carry the burden of student loans, Pakistan has their own problem of making college education more accessible and affordable for their citizens.
Social and political reactions[edit]
The growing problem of student debt has caused many reactions from young people throughout the United States. As a result, the Occupy Colleges and Occupy Student Debt movements merged in 2012 in an effort to gain support from students around the country.[39] There have been significant efforts made via social media for the Occupy Student Debt campaign. In particular, students all over the United States have posted their personal student debt testimonies.[40] While some success stories of students eliminating debt have been reported on,[41] they are met with heavy skepticism. Since last October, Occupy Student Debt has provided a platform for over 800 students to share their horror stories.[39] Because of this, other organizations such as, Rebuild the Dream, Education Trust, and the Young Invincibles, have joined in the effort and started similar platforms. The Occupy College movement itself has staged over 10 direct actions.[39][42] They have also gathered over 31,000 signatures on the White House’s petition site, “We the People”. As a result, President Obama announced the Pay as you Earn initiative. Another petition, titled 'Support the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012' on MoveOn.org, which seeks similar relief for student borrowers, has gotten over one million signatures.[43][44][45] HR 4170: “The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012” would give relief to borrowers with both federal and private student loans.[46] HR 4170 also includes the “10-10” programs, which allows borrowers to pay 10% of their discretionary income for ten years with the remaining balance forgiven afterwards.[46]
In April 2012, student loan debt reached US$1 trillion.[47] Severity of the student debt burden represents such a threat to the middle class that some have demanded a general bailout.[48][49] Anthropologist David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5000 Years, argues that student debt is "destroying the imagination of youth":
If there’s a way of a society committing mass suicide, what better way than to take all the youngest, most energetic, creative, joyous people in your society and saddle them with, like $50,000 of debt so they have to be slaves? There goes your music. There goes your culture. There goes everything new that would pop out. And in a way, this is what’s happened to our society. We’re a society that has lost any ability to incorporate the interesting, creative and eccentric people.[50]
In 2014, a Chilean activist, artist Francisco Tapia, known as "Papas Fritas" (French Fries) "burned $500 million worth of debt papers" from Viña del Mar University, and displayed the ashes in a van as an art project. "The University was being shut down due to financial irregularities. 'It is a concrete fact that the papers were burned. They are gone, burned completely, and there’s no debt,' said Papas Fritas in his first U.S. broadcast interview. 'Since these papers don’t exist anymore, there’s no way to charge the students.'[51]
On November 12, 2015, students organized rallies at more than 100 college campuses across the United States to protest crippling student loan debt and to advocate for tuition-free higher education at public colleges and universities. The demonstrations took place just days after fast food workers went on strike for a minimum wage of $15 an hour and union rights.[52]
In 2015, Central Saint Martins student Brooke Purvis announced that he would burn his student loan as a form of protest art, raising awareness about student debt. It is argued the art work addresses the subject matter of the materialism of money and brings to light the political issues of the U.K student loan system.[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]
Leon Botstein, president of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., contends that the next president elected in 2016 should push for all outstanding student loan debt to be forgiven.[61]
A February 2018 research paper from the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College argues that government cancellation student debt in the United States would result in rising consumer demand, along with economic growth and increased employment. Over the following decade, the GDP would increase by between $86 billion and $108 billion annually, which would result in an increase of between 1.2 and 1.5 million jobs and a decreased unemployment rate of 0.22 to 0.36 percent.[62]
See also[edit]
College admissions in the United States
College tuition in the United States
EdFund
Free education
Higher education bubble in the United States
Higher Education Price Index
Post-secondary education
Private university
Student benefit
Student loan
Student loans in the United States
Tuition
Tuition agency
Tuition center
Tuition fees
Tuition freeze
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "A crisis in student loans? How changes in the characteristics of borrowers and in the institutions they attended contributed to rising loan defaults". The Brookings Institution. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
Jump up ^ Carey, Kevin (2015-10-07). "Student Debt Is Worse Than You Think". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/07/06/debt
^ Jump up to: a b Touryalai, Halah. "Student Loan Increase". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
Jump up ^ http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/higher-education/report/2012/10/25/42905/the-student-debt-crisis/
Jump up ^ "Federal Student Aid at a Glance" (PDF).
^ Jump up to: a b "Student loan interest rates edge higher and higher".
Jump up ^ The Economist-Creative destruction-June 28, 2014
Jump up ^ The Economist-The digital degree-June 28, 2014
Jump up ^ Bloomberg-Student Debt-July 2014
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Student Loan Debt Statistics". American Student Assistance. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b "Student Loans: Debt for Life". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
Jump up ^ The Institute for College Access and Success http://ticas.org/content/pub/average-debt-2013-grads-tops-30k-6-states-only-1-below-20k-0
Jump up ^ Federal Reserve Bank of New York http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2015/rp150217.html
Jump up ^ Chuck Collins (March 13, 2015). The Student Debt Time Bomb. Moyers & Company. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
Jump up ^ Carolyn Thompson (March 27, 2014). $1 trillion student loan debt widens US wealth gap. Associated Press. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
Jump up ^ Dynarski, Susan (2015-09-10). "New Data Gives Clearer Picture of Student Debt". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
Jump up ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2014/07/18/University-of-Pittsburgh-spproves-3-9-percent-tuition-increase/stories/201407180160
Jump up ^ Source: US Census Bureau. See charts at Income in the United States.
Jump up ^ "Education attainment - Population with tertiary education - OECD Data". theOECD. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Jump up ^ "Student debt: Average payback takes 14 years". Financial Post. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
Jump up ^ "Interest Relief for Canada Student Loans". 2007-06-17. Archived from the original on 2007-06-17. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Jump up ^ Canada, Employment and Social Development. "Repayment Assistance Plan - Canada.ca". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
Jump up ^ "Canadian Federation of Students". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
Jump up ^ Could tuition fees really cost £54,000? BBC
Jump up ^ Tuition fees should be scrapped, says 'architect' of fees Andrew Adonis The Guardian
Jump up ^ UK student loan debt soars to more than £100bn The Guardian
^ Jump up to: a b Playdon, Jane (2018-04-24). "How Much Does it Cost to Study in Germany". Top Universities.
^ Jump up to: a b Trines, Stefan. "Education in Germany".
^ Jump up to: a b "Around 850 a Month for Living Expenses".
Jump up ^ Usher, Alex. Global Debt Patterns.
Jump up ^ "Low university tuition fees in France". www.campusfrance.org. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
Jump up ^ "Costs of Attending College in France - Study in France". Study in France. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Jump up ^ "Les bourses de l'enseignement supérieur" (in French). Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Jump up ^ "Analysis: The rising cost of higher education in Pakistan - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
^ Jump up to: a b "Study in Pakistan". Top Universities. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Jump up ^ "Pakistan Annual Household Income per Capita | Economic Indicators". www.ceicdata.com. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Jump up ^ "Safety in numbers: higher education in Pakistan". Times Higher Education (THE). 2016-04-21. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
^ Jump up to: a b c Abrams, Natalia. "Occupy Colleges and Occupy Student Debt Join Forces". Retrieved 20 February 2013.
Jump up ^ "Occupy Student Debt".
Jump up ^ Martin, Emmie (8 March 2017). "How one 31-year-old paid off $220,000 in student loans in 3 years". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
Jump up ^ Goodman, Amy (2011-11-29). "Occupy Student Debt: Students Urged to Refuse to Pay Off Loans as Schools Hike Tuition". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
Jump up ^ Kristof, Gregory (15 June 2012). "Hansen Clarke's Student Loan Forgiveness Act Finds Big Support Online". Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
Jump up ^ Hopkins, Katy. "1 Million People Show Support for Student Loan Forgiveness Act". Retrieved 25 June 2013.
Jump up ^ Park, Minjae. "Fix the Economy, Forgive Student Debt". Retrieved 25 June 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b Applebaum, Robert. "HR 4170 : The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012". Retrieved 20 February 2013.
Jump up ^ Goodman, Amy (2012-04-25). "1T Day: As U.S. Student Debt Hits $1 Trillion, Occupy Protests Planned for Campuses Nationwide". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
Jump up ^ Hickman, John. "Writing off a Generation". Retrieved 21 April 2014.
Jump up ^ Goodman, Amy (2013-07-03). "Failure to Stop Doubling of Student Loan Rates Sparks Call to Tackle "Systemic" Debt Crisis". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
Jump up ^ David Graeber: ‘There Has Been a War on the Human Imagination’. Truthdig. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
Jump up ^ Goodman, Amy (2014-05-23). "Exclusive: Chilean Robin Hood? Artist Known as "Papas Fritas" on Burning $500M Worth of Student Debt". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
Jump up ^ Students across US march over debt, free public college. Al Jazeera America. November 12, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Meet Student Brooke Purvis, Who's Burning His Student Loan In Protest Against Capitalism".
Jump up ^ Aftab Ali (30 October 2015). "Central Saint Martins artist, Brooke Purvis, to set fire to his student loan in protest against capitalism". The Independent.
Jump up ^ "This British art student is burning his student loan to make a valuable point about money".
Jump up ^ "Artist Brooke Purvis is burning his student loan in a protest against money - Metro News". Metro.
Jump up ^ Kirstie McCrum (3 November 2015). "Man to burn his entire student loan as a protest in the name of art". Mirror.
Jump up ^ Cait Munro (28 October 2015). "Art Student Burns Student Loan - artnet News". artnet News.
Jump up ^ "Meeting the Man Who Plans to Set His Entire Student Loan On Fire". VICE.
Jump up ^ "The guy burning his entire student loan doesn't deserve your attention".
Jump up ^ Why the Next President Should Forgive All Student Loans. Time. Aug. 12, 2016.
Jump up ^ Levitz, Eric (February 9, 2018). "We Must Cancel Everyone's Student Debt, for the Economy's Sake". New York. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
External links[edit]
Federal Student Aid (US)
Canada Student Loans
Student finance (UK)
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Elite theory
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In political science and sociology, elite theory is a theory of the state that seeks to describe and explain power relationships in contemporary society. The theory posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power—and this power is independent of democratic elections.[1] Through positions in corporations or on corporate boards, and influence over policy-planning networks through financial support of foundations or positions with think tanks or policy-discussion groups, members of the "elite" exert significant power over corporate and government decisions. An example of this belief is in the Forbes magazine article (published in December 2009) entitled The World's Most Powerful People, in which Forbes purported to list the 67 most powerful people in the world (assigning one "slot" for each 100,000,000 of human population).[2] The basic characteristics of this theory are that power is concentrated, the elites are unified, the non-elites are diverse and powerless, elites' interests are unified due to common backgrounds and positions and the defining characteristic of power is institutional position.[3]
Even when entire groups are ostensibly completely excluded from the state's traditional networks of power (historically, on the basis of arbitrary criteria such as nobility, race, gender, or religion), elite theory recognizes that "counter-elites" frequently develop within such excluded groups. Negotiations between such disenfranchised groups and the state can be analyzed as negotiations between elites and counter-elites. A major problem, in turn, is the ability of elites to co-opt counter-elites.
Elite theory opposes pluralism, a tradition that assumes that all individuals, or at least the multitude of social groups, have equal power and balance each other out in contributing to democratic political outcomes representing the emergent, aggregate will of society. Elite theory argues either that democracy is a utopian folly, as it is traditionally viewed in the conservative Italian tradition, or that democracy is not realizable within capitalism, as is the view of the more Marxist-compatible contemporary elite theory permutation.
Contents
1 Classical elite theory
2 Classical elite theorists
2.1 Vilfredo Pareto
2.2 Gaetano Mosca
2.3 Robert Michels
3 Modern elite theorists
3.1 Elmer Eric Schattschneider
3.2 C. Wright Mills
3.3 Floyd Hunter
3.4 G. William Domhoff
3.5 James Burnham
3.6 Robert D. Putnam
3.7 Thomas R. Dye
3.8 George A. Gonzalez
3.9 Ralf Dahrendorf
3.10 Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page
3.11 Thomas Ferguson
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Classical elite theory[edit]
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The aristocratic version of this theory is the classical elite theory, which is based on two ideas:
Power lies in position of authority in key economic and political institutions.
The psychological difference that sets elites apart is that they have personal resources, for instance intelligence and skills, and a vested interest in the government; while the rest are incompetent and do not have the capabilities of governing themselves, the elite are resourceful and strive to make the government work. For in reality, the elite would have the most to lose in a failed state.
Classical elite theorists[edit]
Vilfredo Pareto[edit]
Pareto emphasized the psychological and intellectual superiority of elites, believing that they were the highest accomplishers in any field. He discussed the existence of two types of elites:
Governing elites
Non-governing elites
He also extended the idea that a whole elite can be replaced by a new one and how one can circulate from being elite to non-elite.
Gaetano Mosca[edit]
Mosca emphasized the sociological and personal characteristics of elites. He said elites are an organized minority and that the masses are an unorganized majority. The ruling class is composed of the ruling elite and the sub-elites. He divides the world into two groups:
Ruling class
Class that is ruled
Mosca asserts that elites have intellectual, moral, and material superiority that is highly esteemed and influential.
Robert Michels[edit]
Sociologist Michels developed the iron law of oligarchy where, he asserts, social and political organizations are run by few individuals, and social organization and labor division are key. He believed that all organizations were elitist and that elites have three basic principles that help in the bureaucratic structure of political organization:
Need for leaders, specialized staff and facilities
Utilization of facilities by leaders within their organization
The importance of the psychological attributes of the leaders
Modern elite theorists[edit]
Elmer Eric Schattschneider[edit]
Elmer Eric Schattschneider offered a strong critique of the American political theory of pluralism: Rather than an essentially democratic system in which the many competing interests of citizens are amply represented, if not advanced, by equally many competing interest groups, Schattschneider argued the pressure system is biased in favor of "the most educated and highest-income members of society", and showed that "the difference between those who participate in interest group activity and those who stand at the sidelines is much greater than between voters and nonvoters".[4]
In The Semisovereign People, Schattschneider argued the scope of the pressure system is really quite small: The "range of organized, identifiable, known groups is amazingly narrow; there is nothing remotely universal about it" and the "business or upper-class bias of the pressure system shows up everywhere". He says the "notion that the pressure system is automatically representative of the whole community is a myth" and, instead, the "system is skewed, loaded and unbalanced in favor of a fraction of a minority".[5]
C. Wright Mills[edit]
Mills published his book The Power Elite in 1956, claiming a new sociological perspective on systems of power in the United States. He identified a triumvirate of power groups—political, economic and military—which form a distinguishable, although not unified, power-wielding body in the United States.
Mills proposed that this group had been generated through a process of rationalization at work in all advanced industrial societies whereby the mechanisms of power became concentrated, funneling overall control into the hands of a limited, somewhat corrupt group.[6] This reflected a decline in politics as an arena for debate and relegation to a merely formal level of discourse.[7] This macro-scale analysis sought to point out the degradation of democracy in "advanced" societies and the fact that power generally lies outside the boundaries of elected representatives.
A main influence for the study was Franz Leopold Neumann's book, Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933–1944, a study of how Nazism came to power in the German democratic state. It provided the tools to analyze the structure of a political system and served as a warning of what could happen in a modern capitalistic democracy.
Floyd Hunter[edit]
The elite theory analysis of power was also applied on the micro scale in community power studies such as that by Floyd Hunter (1953). Hunter examined in detail the power of relationships evident in his "Regional City" looking for the "real" holders of power rather than those in obvious official positions. He posited a structural-functional approach that mapped hierarchies and webs of interconnection within the city—mapping relationships of power between businessmen, politicians, clergy etc. The study was promoted to debunk current concepts of any "democracy" present within urban politics and reaffirm the arguments for a true representative democracy.[8] This type of analysis was also used in later, larger scale, studies such as that carried out by M. Schwartz examining the power structures within the sphere of the corporate elite in the United States.[9]
G. William Domhoff[edit]
In his controversial book Who Rules America?, G. William Domhoff researched local and national decision making process networks seeking to illustrate the power structure in the United States. He asserts, much like Hunter, that an elite class that owns and manages large income-producing properties (like banks and corporations) dominate the American power structure politically and economically.[10]
James Burnham[edit]
Burnham’s early work The Managerial Revolution sought to express the movement of all functional power into the hands of managers rather than politicians or businessmen—separating ownership and control.[11] Many of these ideas were adapted by paleoconservatives Samuel T. Francis and Paul Gottfried in their theories of the managerial state. Burnham described his thoughts on elite theory more specifically in his book, The Machiavellians, which discusses, among others, Pareto, Mosca, and Michels. Burnham attempts a scientific analysis of both elites and politics generally.
Robert D. Putnam[edit]
Putnam saw the development of technical and exclusive knowledge among administrators and other specialist groups as a mechanism that strips power from the democratic process and slips it to the advisors and specialists who influence the decision process.[12]
"If the dominant figures of the past hundred years have been the entrepreneur, the businessman, and the industrial executive, the ‘new men’ are the scientists, the mathematicians, the economists, and the engineers of the new intellectual technology."[13]
Thomas R. Dye[edit]
Dye in his book Top Down Policymaking, argues that U.S. public policy does not result from the "demands of the people", but rather from elite consensus found in Washington, D.C.-based non-profit foundations, think tanks, special-interest groups, and prominent lobbying and law firms. Dye's thesis is further expanded upon in his works: The Irony of Democracy, Politics in America, Understanding Public Policy, and Who's Running America?.
George A. Gonzalez[edit]
In his book Corporate Power and the Environment, George A. Gonzalez writes on the power of U.S. economic elites to shape environmental policy for their own advantage. In The Politics of Air Pollution: Urban Growth, Ecological Modernization and Symbolic Inclusion and also in Urban Sprawl, Global Warming, and the Empire of Capital Gonzalez employs elite theory to explain the interrelationship between environmental policy and urban sprawl in America. His most recent work, Energy and Empire: The Politics of Nuclear and Solar Power in the United States demonstrates that economic elites tied their advocacy of the nuclear energy option to post-1945 American foreign policy goals, while at the same time these elites opposed government support for other forms of energy, such as solar, that cannot be dominated by one nation.
See also: global warming, urban growth, and corporate power
Ralf Dahrendorf[edit]
In his book Reflections on the Revolution in Europe,[14] Ralf Dahrendorf asserts that, due to advanced level of competence required for political activity, a political party tends to become, actually, a provider of "political services", that is, the administration of local and governmental public offices. During the electoral campaign, each party tries to convince voters it is the most suitable for managing the state business. The logical consequence would be to acknowledge this character and openly register the parties as service providing companies. In this way, the ruling class would include the members and associates of legally acknowledged companies and the "class that is ruled" would select by election the state administration company that best fits its interests.
Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page[edit]
In their statistical analysis of 1,779 policy issues professors Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page found that "economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."[15]
Thomas Ferguson[edit]
The political scientist Thomas Ferguson's Investment Theory of Party Competition can be thought of as an elite theory. Set out most extensively in his 1995 book Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-driven Political Systems, the theory begins by noting that in modern political systems the cost of acquiring political awareness is so great that no citizen can afford it.[16] As a consequence, these systems tend be dominated by those who can, most typically elites and corporations. These elites then seek to influence politics by 'investing' in the parties or policies they support through political contributions and other means such as endorsements in the media.
See also[edit]
Elitism
Iron law of oligarchy
Mass society
Positive political theory
The Power Elite
Ruling class
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Theories of American Democracy"
Jump up ^ "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes. 2009-11-11. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
Jump up ^ Deric., Shannon, (2011-01-01). Political sociology : oppression, resistance, and the state. Pine Forge Press. ISBN 9781412980401. OCLC 746832550.
Jump up ^ Woolley and Papa 1998, 165
Jump up ^ Schattschneider 1960, 30-36
Jump up ^ Bottomore, T. (1993). Elites and Society (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 25.
Jump up ^ Mills, C. Wright (1956). The Power Elite. p. 274. ISBN 0-19-541759-3.
Jump up ^ Hunter, Floyd (1953). Community Power Structure: A Study of Decision Makers. p. 6. ISBN 0-8078-0639-0.
Jump up ^ Schwartz, M. (ed.) (1987). The Structure of Power in America: The Corporate Elite as a Ruling Class. New York: Holmes & Meier. ISBN 0-8419-0764-1. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
Jump up ^ Domhoff, G. William (1967). Who Rules America?. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-7674-1637-6.
Jump up ^ Bottomore, T. (1993). Elites and Society (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 59.
Jump up ^ Putnam, Robert D. (1977). "Elite Transformation in Advance Industrial Societies: An Empirical Assessment of the Theory of Technocracy". Comparative Political Studies. 10 (3): 383–411 (p.385). doi:10.1177/001041407701000305.
Jump up ^ Putnam, Robert D. (1976). The Comparative Study of Political Elites. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. p. 384. ISBN 0-13-154195-1.
Jump up ^ Dahrendorf, Ralf (1990) Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: In a letter intended to have been sent to a gentleman in Warsaw. New York: Random House
Jump up ^ Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens (Fall 2014)
Jump up ^ Ferguson, Thomas (1995). Golden Rule : The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226243176.
Bibliography[edit]
Amsden, Alice (2012) The Role of Elites in Economic Development, Oxford University Press, 2012. with Alisa Di Caprio and James A. Robinson.
Bottomore, T. (1993) Elites and Society (2nd Edition). London: Routledge.
Burnham, J. (1960) The Managerial Revolution. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Domhoff. G. William (1967–2009) Who Rules America? McGraw-Hill.
Dye, T. R. (2000) Top Down Policymaking New York: Chatham House Publishers.
Gonzalez, G. A. (2012) Energy and Empire: The Politics of Nuclear and Solar Power in the United States. Albany: State University of New York Press
Gonzalez, G. A. (2009) Urban Sprawl, Global Warming, and the Empire of Capital. Albany: State University of New York Press
Gonzalez, G. A. (2006) The Politics of Air Pollution: Urban Growth, Ecological Modernization, And Symbolic Inclusion. Albany: State University of New York Press
Gonzalez, G. A. (2001) Corporate Power and the Environment. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Hunter, Floyd (1953) Community Power Structure: A Study of Decision Makers.
Lerner, R., A. K. Nagai, S. Rothman (1996) American Elites. New Haven CT: Yale University Press
Mills, C. Wright (1956) The Power Elite.
Neumann, Franz Leopold (1944). Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933 - 1944. Harper.
Putnam, R. D. (1976) The Comparative Study of Political Elites. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Putnam, R. D. (1977) ‘Elite Transformation in Advance Industrial Societies: An Empirical Assessment of the Theory of Technocracy’ in Comparative Political Studies Vol. 10, No. 3, pp383–411.
Schwartz, M. (ed.) (1987) The Structure of Power in America: The Corporate Elite as a Ruling Class. New York: Holmes & Meier.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Elite theory
"Who Rules America?" website
Forbes Magazine list of the 67 'most powerful people in the world.'
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elite_theory&oldid=856788326"
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The Pardoner's Tale
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For the 2002 television episode, see The Pardoner's Tale (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode).
The Pardoner, as depicted by William Blake in The Canterbury Pilgrims (1810)
The Pardoner's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the order of the Tales, it comes after The Physician's Tale and before The Shipman's Tale; it is prompted by the Host's desire to hear something positive after that depressing tale. The Pardoner initiates his Prologue—briefly accounting his methods of conning people—and then proceeds to tell a moral tale.
The tale itself is an extended exemplum. Setting out to kill Death, three young men encounter an Old Man who says they will find him under a nearby tree. When they arrive they discover a hoard of treasure and decide to stay with it until nightfall and carry it away under cover of darkness. Out of greed, they murder each other. The tale and prologue are primarily concerned with what the Pardoner says is his "theme": Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of [all] evils").
Contents
1 Frame
2 Synopsis
2.1 Prologue
2.2 Tale
3 Sources and composition
4 Analysis
5 Character of the teller
6 General themes
7 Adaptations
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links
Frame[edit]
In the order of The Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner's Prologue and Tale are preceded by The Physician's Tale. The Physician's Tale is a harrowing tale about a judge who plots with a "churl [low fellow]" to abduct a beautiful young woman; rather than allow her to be raped, her father beheads her. The invitation for the Pardoner to tell a tale comes after the Host declares his dissatisfaction with the depressing tale, and declares:
… but [unless] I have triacle [medicine],
Or elles a draughte of morste [fresh] and corny [strong] ale,
Or but I heere anon a myrie tale,
Myn herte is lost for pitee of this mayde. (lines 314–17)[1]
The Host then asks the Pardoner to "telle us som mrythe or japes [joke, jest] right anon".[2] However, the pilgrims—aware of pardoners' notoriety for telling lewd tales and in anticipation of hearing something objectionable[3]—voice their desire for no ribaldry, but instead want a moral tale.
Synopsis[edit]
Prologue[edit]
The prologue takes the form of a literary confession in the same manner as The Wife of Bath's Prologue.[4] However, rather than an apology for his vices, the Pardoner boasts of his duping of his victims, for whom he has nothing but contempt.[4] He says that his "theme"—biblical text for a sermon—is Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of [all] evils" 1 Timothy 6.10).[1] He explains that his false credentials consist of official letters from high-ranking church officials and a superficial use of a few Latin words;[5] then he will produce some "relics", and claim that among them is a bone which has miraculous powers when dipped into a well and a mitten for which:
He that his hand wol putte in this mitayn,
He shal have multipliyng of his greyn, (lines 373–374)
But he will warn that any person that "hath doon synne horrible" will not be able to benefit from these relics.[6] The Pardoner says to the pilgrims that by these tricks he has acquired a considerable sum of money. He goes on to relate how he stands like a clergy at the pulpit, and preaches against avarice but to gain the congregation's money; he doesn't care for the correction of sin or for their souls.[7] Against anyone that offends either him or other pardoners, he will "stynge hym with my tonge smerte". Although he is guilty of avarice himself, he reiterates that his theme is always Radix malorum ... and that he can nonetheless preach so that others turn away from the vice and repent—though his "principal entente" is for personal gain. The Pardoner explains that he then offers many anecdotes to the "lewed [ignorant, unlearned] people".[8] He scorns the thought of living in poverty while he preaches; he desires "moneie, wolle [wool], chese, and whete"[9] and doesn't care whether it were from the poorest widow in the village, even should her children starve for famine. Yet, he concludes to the pilgrims, though he may be a "ful vicious man", he can tell a moral tale and proceeds.
Tale[edit]
The tale is set in Flanders at an indeterminate time, and opens with three young men drinking, gambling and blaspheming in a tavern. The Pardoner condemns each of these "tavern sins" in turn—gluttony, drinking, gambling, and swearing—with support from the Christian scriptures, before proceeding with the tale. The rioters hear a bell signalling a burial; their friend has been killed by a "privee theef" known as Death, who has also killed a thousand others. The men set out to avenge them and kill Death. An old man they brusquely query tells them that he has asked Death to take him but has failed. He then says they can find death at the foot of an oak tree. When the men arrive at the tree, they find a large amount of gold coins and forget about their quest to kill Death. They decide to sleep at the oak tree overnight, so they can take the coins in the morning. The three men draw straws to see who among them should fetch wine and food while the other two wait under the tree. The youngest of the three men draws the shortest straw and departs; while he is away, the remaining two plot to overpower and stab him upon his return. However, the one who leaves for town plots to kill the other two: he purchases rat poison and laces the wine. When he returns with the food and drink, the other two kill him and then consume the poisoned wine, dying slow and painful deaths.
Sources and composition[edit]
The prologue—taking the form of a literary confession—was most probably modelled on that of "Faus Semblaunt" in the medieval French poem Roman de la Rose.[10] The tale of the three rioters is a version of a folk tale with a "remarkably wide range"[11] and has numerous analogues: ancient Buddhist, Persian,[12] and African.[13][11]
Analysis[edit]
The relationship between tellers and tale is distinctly significant in "The Pardoner's Tale". The Pardoner is an enigmatic character, portrayed as grotesque in the General Prologue. He is seemingly aware of his sin—it is not clear why he tells the pilgrims about his sin in the prologue before his tale commences. His preaching is correct and the results of his methods, despite their corruption, are good. Chaucer describes him as a "draughte of corny strong ale", which arguably suggests that the character candidly speaks thanks in part to intoxication. The Pardoner's confession is similar in that there is a revelation of details buried within the prologue by "The Wife of Bath Tale". The Wife of Bath gives away details about herself in the prologue to her particular tale.
Chaucer describes The Pardoner as an excellent speaker in his portrait of the character in the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, which inherently reflects the quality of the narrative attributed to him.
The old man who appears before the rioters has been the subject of considerable debate. Many persons and scholars reference him as "death in person", "the Wandering Jew", "Old Age itself", and "Death's messenger".[14] W. J. B. Owen refutes these views as he points out that "He is seeking Death; and that Death or his agent should find death is contrary to all the logic of allegory." Owen argues that a character is merely an old man and not a symbol of mortality.[14]
The Old Man in The Pardoner's Tale is oftentimes written off as one who does not provide any sort of substance to the play. However, critic, Alfred David, refutes such claims and asserts the possibility that the Old Man in "The Pardoner's Tale" is meant to symbolise more than unambiguous death, "the old man's identity does not admit a simple, unambiguous, and definitive answer such as Death or Death's Messenger".[14] David goes on to assert that the Old Man may actually symbolise the "Wandering Jew" as defined to be a symbol of death that will supposedly roam the Earth until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. One may compare this notion to the symbol and character of the Old Man in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
"The Pardoner's Tale" finds itself widely debated among those in the literary world. The question of Chaucer's motivation in writing the tale, as well as potential social comments made within it, have been the subject of controversy concerning The Canterbury Tales. Gregory W. Gross, as dictated in Modern Language Studies, concludes that The Pardoner finds himself publicly shamed by the Host's reprimand at the end of the tale. There is an "undertone" of exclusion at this point in the work that, perhaps, leads to the question of the sexuality of The Pardoner and the social boundaries at hand. To reaffirm his claim, Gross points out the ridicule and "laughter" on behalf of the other pilgrims. Perhaps Chaucer is looking upon the Pardoner with a "compassionate eye", as the Host offers a kiss at the end of the tale. According to Gross, this could simply be the poet's way of easing the tension in the room, thus a sign of "compassion" towards the embarrassment of the Pardoner on behalf of the poet. Ultimately, it is plausible that Chaucer makes a societal statement long before his time that serves as a literary teaching moment in modern time as one further examines The Canterbury Tales.
In further analysis, psychological patterns of the character of the Pardoner is frequently analysed by readers and critics alike. In 1961, critic Eric W. Stockton defined the psychology-based research of the character, "The psychology of the Pardoner has perhaps gotten in the way of the task of interpreting the stories' meaning. This is indeed an age of psychology."[15] As Stockton states, the character has largely been overanalysed, especially amidst mid-century advances in psychoanalysis in the 1960s and 1970s.
Character of the teller[edit]
The religious climate at the time that Chaucer wrote this piece was pre-Reformation. Therefore, the Sacraments were still largely considered, as explained by St. Augustine, "outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible grace". The suggestion that outward appearances are reliable indicators of internal character was not considered radical or improper among contemporary audiences. Indeed, the vivid depiction of the Pardoner's hair, those locks "yellow as wax But smoothe as a strike (hank) of flex (flax)", does little to improve the reader's opinion of his moral character.[16]
Chaucer develops his description and analysis of the Pardoner throughout the Pardoner's Tale using suggestive analogies that provide the reader with the perception of a man of extreme sexual and spiritual poverty, willingly admitting that he abuses his authority and sells fake relics. The Pardoner's tale matches the unctuous nature of the Pardoner in many ways. Eugene Vance illustrates one parallel effectively fostered by Chaucer's sexual innuendoes. He writes: "The kneeling posture to which the Pardoner summons the pilgrims would place their noses right before his deficient crotch."[16]
In addition, Vance expands upon this comparison, identifying a sexual innuendo implicit in the Pardoner's many relics. "The pardoner conspires to set himself up as a moveable shrine endowed with relics unsurpassed by those of anyone else in England." Yet, of course, the relics are all fakes, creating a suggestion of both the Pardoner's impotence and his spiritual ill-worth.[16]
General themes[edit]
Though the Pardoner preaches against greed, the irony of the character is based in the Pardoner's hypocritical actions. He admits extortion of the poor, pocketing of indulgences, and failure to abide by teachings against jealousy and avarice. He also admits quite openly that he tricks the most guilty sinners into buying his spurious relics and does not really care what happens to the souls of those he has swindled.
The Pardoner is also deceptive in how he carries out his job. Instead of selling genuine relics, the bones he carries belong to pigs, not departed saints. The cross he carries appears to be studded with precious stones that are, in fact, bits of common metal. This irony could be an indication to Chaucer's dislike for religious profit—a pervasive late medieval theme hinging on anti-clericalism. Chaucer's use of subtle literary techniques, such as satire, seem to convey this message.
However, the Pardoner might also be seen as a reinforcement of the Apostolic Authority of the priesthood, which, according to the Catholic Church, functions fully even when the one possessing that authority is in a state of mortal sin, which in this case is supported by how the corrupt Pardoner is able to tell a morally intact tale and turn others from his same sin. Thomas Aquinas, an influential theologian of the late medieval period, had a philosophy concerning how God was able to work through evil people and deeds to accomplish good ends. Chaucer may have also been referencing a doctrine of St. Augustine of Hippo concerning the Donatist heresy of fourth and fifth century Northern Africa in which Augustine argued that a priest's ability to perform valid sacraments was not invalidated by his own sin. Thus, it is possible that with the Pardoner, Chaucer was criticising the administrative and economic practices of the Church while simultaneously affirming his support for its religious authority and dogma.
In the General Prologue of the Tales, the Pardoner is introduced with these lines:
With hym ther rood a gentil Pardoner
Of Rouncivale, his freend and his compeer,
That streight was comen fro the court of Rome.
Ful loude he soong "Com hider, love, to me!"
This Somonour bar to hym a stif burdoun ...
A voys he hadde as smal as hath a goot.
No berd hadde he, ne nevere sholde have;
As smothe it was as it were late shave.
I trowe he were a geldyng or a mare.
The last three lines indicate that the narrator thought the Pardoner to be either a eunuch ("geldyng") or a homosexual.
Adaptations[edit]
The Road to Canterbury: A Game of Pilgrims, Pardoners and the Seven Deadly Sins[17] is a board game in which players play as the Pardoner from The Canterbury Tales.
The 1927 novel The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a novelisation of this tale, which was later made into the 1948 film of the same name.[18]
Rudyard Kipling in "The King's Ankus", a story in The Second Jungle Book.
The Tale of the Three Brothers, a story featured in the Harry Potter universe, is partially based on The Pardoner's Tale.
See also[edit]
English words first attested in Chaucer
Notes[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Benson 2008, p. 194.
Jump up ^ Benson 2008, pp. 208, 1260.
Jump up ^ Murphy n.d., p. 5.
^ Jump up to: a b Benson 2008, p. 15.
Jump up ^ Murphy n.d., p. 9.
Jump up ^ Murphy n.d., p. 10.
Jump up ^ Murphy n.d., p. 11.
Jump up ^ Benson 2008, p. 195.
Jump up ^ Benson 2008, p. 196.
Jump up ^ Benson 2008, p. 905.
^ Jump up to: a b Hamel & Merrill 1991.
Jump up ^ Furnivall et al.
Jump up ^ Hamer 1969.
^ Jump up to: a b c David 40
Jump up ^ Stockton 118
^ Jump up to: a b c Vance 1989.
Jump up ^ Eagle Games n.d.
Jump up ^ Murphy n.d., p. 6.
References[edit]
Benson, Larry D., ed. (2008). The Riverside Chaucer (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-955209-2.
"The Road to Canterbury". Eagle Games. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
Furnivall, Frederick James; Brock, Edmund; Clouston, W. A. (eds.). Originals and Analogues of some of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. London: N. Trübner.
Gross, Gregory W. "Trade Secrets: Chaucer, the Pardoner, the Critics". Modern Language Studies. 25 (4): 1–36. doi:10.2307/3195486.
Hamel, Mary; Merrill, Charles (1991). "The Analogues of the 'Pardoner's Tale' and a New African Version". The Chaucer Review. Penn State University Press. 26 (2): 175–83. doi:10.2307/25094193. ISSN 1528-4204. JSTOR 25094193 – via JSTOR. (Registration required (help)).
Hamer, Douglas (1969). "'The Pardoner's Tale': A West-African Analogue". Notes and Queries. Oxford University Press. 16 (9): 335–6. doi:10.1093/nq/16.9.335. ISSN 0029-3970.
Hatcher, Elizabeth R. (1975). "Life without Death: The Old Man in Chaucer's 'Pardoner's Tale'". The Chaucer Review. 9 (3): 246–52. doi:10.2307/25093311. ISSN 1528-4204. JSTOR 25093311 – via JSTOR. (Registration required (help)).
Murphy, Michael. "The Pardoner, his Prologue, and his Tale" (PDF). The Canterbury Tales: A Reader-friendly Edition of the General Prologue and sixteen tales. Brooklyn College.
Vance, Eugene (1989). "Chaucer's Pardoner: Relics, Discourse, and Frames of Propriety". New Literary History. Johns Hopkins University Press. 20 (3): 335–6. doi:10.2307/469364. ISSN 1080-661X. JSTOR 469364 – via JSTOR. (Registration required (help)).
Stockton, Eric W. "The Deadliest Sin in the Pardoner's Tale". Tennessee Studies in Literature. 17: 116–124.
Hamilton, Marie P. (1939). "Death and the 'Old Man' in The Pardoner's Tale". Studies in Philology. 36 (4): 571–576.
David, Alfred. "Criticism and the Old Man in Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale". College English. 27 (1): 39–44. doi:10.2307/373708.
External links[edit]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Canterbury Tales/The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale
Modern Translation of the Pardoner's Tale and Other Resources at eChaucer
The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale e-text for reading, searching, and study – texts.crossref-it.info
"The Pardoner's Tale" – a plain-English retelling for non-scholars.
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A Mango-Shaped Space
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A Mango-Shaped Space
1st edition copy
Author
Wendy Mass
Cover artist
Alison Impey
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Realistic Fiction
Publisher
Little, Brown Young Readers
Publication date
April 16, 2003
Media type
Print (hardcover) & Paperback), audiobook
Pages
221 pp
ISBN
0-316-52388-7
OCLC
50803170
LC Class
PZ7.M42355 Man 2003
A Mango-Shaped Space is a 2003 young adult novel by Wendy Mass. The book received the American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award in 2004.[1] It has since been nominated for, and received, a number of other awards.[2] The hand lettering for the cover is by Billy Kelly. The book is recommended for grades 5-8. A 7 hours long audiobook version, narrated by Danielle Ferland, has been produced.
The plot centers around Mia Winchell, a thirteen-year-old girl living with synesthesia, a jumbling of the senses: Words and sounds have color for her. The novel is about her experiences with synesthesia and the problems it causes her in school, with friends, and her ultimately winning the understanding of her family and peers.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Awards and Achievements
3 Reception
4 Publication details
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
As long as she can remember, Mia Winchell has seen words and numbers as colors, but has kept this a secret from everyone. In the year since her grandfather's death, she has depended for comfort on Mango, a sickly cat she has persuaded her family to adopt. When Mia enters the eighth grade and her strange experiences of color begin to cause her problems at school, she finally tells her family her secret. After seeing a few doctors, she has a diagnosis. She is a synesthete, a person with synesthesia, someone whose neural wiring is "crossed," creating the sensation of colors in association with letters, numbers, and sounds.
As she educates herself about her condition, Mia begins to explore the world of synesthesia and finds it increasingly difficult to keep up in school, maintain her friendships, and stay close to her family and little Mango. Then, when Mango dies, Mia has to learn to regain her colors and reconcile with her best friend.
Awards and Achievements[edit]
nominated for a 2008 Audie Award (for the audiobook version)
received the 2004 Schneider Family Book Award in the middle-grade category by the American Library Association.
received the 2005 Great Lakes Great Book Award from the state of Michigan
named in the 2004 YA Top 40 by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association
nominated for the 2005 New Hampshire’s Great Stone Face Award
nominated for the Iowa Teen Award for
nominated for the 2006 Virginia’s Young Reader Award
nominated for the Nevada Young Readers’ Award
nominated for the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award
nominated for the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award 2006-2007
VOYA Top Shelf selection 2003
autumn 2003 Children’s BookSense 76 pick
listed as a 2004 & 2005 New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teen Age
Bank Street Books top 35 children’s books of the last 35 years[2]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception has been mixed. A Mango-Shaped Space has received reviews from Kirkus Reviews Reviews, Booklist, School Library Journal, VOYA, Washington Post, Kliatt, and Publishers Weekly. Booklist praised that "the...narration lends immediacy and impact to Mia's color perceptions...a quietly unusual and promising offering".[3] Publishers Weekly commented that the book has "well-defined characterizations, natural-sounding dialogue, and concrete imagery".[4] The School Library Journal wrote "not all of the many characters are necessary to the story, and some of the plot elements go unresolved", and "Mia's parents are almost too perfect". Kirkus Reviews criticized that "the narrative...is rather overfull of details-a crazily built house, highly idiosyncratic family members, two boy interests, a beloved sick cat-which tend to compete for the reader's attention in much the same way as Mia's colors", and stated that this "flaw" is "not unusual with first novels".[5] Kliatt criticized the plot, saying it isn't "half as interesting" as the "information on this rare condition". Kliatt also commented on Mia's "ups and downs", saying they are "fairly ordinary". VOYA pointed out that this book is "probably not one that teens will pick up without coaxing".[6]
The audiobook was criticized by School Library Journal, who states that "narrator Danielle Ferland moves from character to character effortlessly, but without much deviation in voice inflections for the secondary players". On the other hand, AudioFile praised the work, saying it "brings alive a unique young person and her rare gift".[7]
A Mango-Shaped Space has been praised by several authors, including Paula Danziger, Karen Cushman, and Meg Cabot.
Publication details[edit]
2003, USA, Little, Brown, and Company (ISBN 978-0-316-52388-2), Pub date April 2003, hardback (first edition)
2005, USA, Little, Brown, and Company (ISBN 978-0-316-05825-4), Pub date October 2005, paperback
References[edit]
Jump up ^ American Library Association (2011). Schneider Family Book Award. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?template=/CFApps/awards_info/award_detail_home.cfm&FilePublishTitle=Award%20DB&uid=A839B3A9DB37CD78&syear=2004&LP=Yes[permanent dead link]
^ Jump up to: a b Mass, W. A Mango-Shaped Space: About the Book. Retrieved from http://wendymass.com/mass-mango.htm Archived July 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ "Booklist: A Mango-Shaped Space". 2014 Booklist Publications. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
Jump up ^ "Publishers Weekly: A Mango-Shaped Space". PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
Jump up ^ "Kirkus Review: A Mango-Shaped Space". 1 March 2003. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
Jump up ^ "Barnes & Noble: A Mango-Shaped Space". 1997-2014 Barnesandnoble.com llc. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
Jump up ^ "AudioFile review: A MANGO SHAPED SPACE". Portland, Maine: AudioFile Publications, Inc. October 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
External links[edit]
Memo from Sean A. Day, Ph.D. A short review of the book by Sean A. Day, PhD, President of the American Synesthesia Association.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Mango-Shaped_Space&oldid=864083020"
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2003 American novels
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