Ugandan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)

Ugandan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) A social analysis of the current Ugandan poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), known as the poverty eradication action plan (PEAP, 2004/5-2007/8) Introduction Uganda, with the help of a number of international organisations, has created a poverty reduction plan known as the PEAP. This project began in 1995, but came intro fruition around 1997. The goal of the PEAP is to reduce poverty from 44% in 1997 to 10% in 2017 (World Bank Group, 2008). This policy was created in order for Uganda to be eligible for financial aid from the World Bank and IMF under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative (Gariyo, 2001, p. 2). The aim of this essay is to critically examine the recent progress of the PEAP from the relevant documents. This includes examining the PEAP itself from 2004/5-2007/8 as well as look at the poverty assessment projects that have been taking place. The three main issues in this subject are how the plan deals with the concept of poverty, how the poverty assessments are reflected in the PEAP, and the way in which the PEAP has addressed gender issues amongst the poor in Uganda. The objective is to provide a critical analysis of the current situation within Uganda with regards to PEAP, and how effective this plan has been at reducing poverty. Concept of Poverty in the PEAP The concept of poverty within the PEAP has changed since its initial introduction. The original drafts of the plan were focused upon state-led rural development. The plan was then revised and it was decided to concentrate more on social issues. The PEAP plan looks at poverty as primarily being about the issues of economic development, business competitiveness and market growth (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005, p. 16). The main measures of poverty within the PEAP are household expenditure and income, and when this falls below a certain level a person or family is considered poor. This poverty line is quite simplistic, but also absolute, as it represents the level needed to secure basic food and other needs. The gap between incomes is also measured to look at inequality within society (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005, p. 38). The poor in Uganda are also identified as those who have problems of regional inequality, with those in the North and rural areas being worse off than those in the Central and urban areas. The study also identified that female-head households of widowed or absent husband families are poorer. The issue is whether or not this definition of poverty is accurate or correct for the region, as this will obviously affect the success of the policies. Targeting the wrong groups of people or introducing measures that do not really address the issues of poverty in Uganda will not reduce real poverty. There are those that argue just taking into account consumption and income is not enough to determine poverty and that basic needs and rights need to be taken into account (Kingdon and Knight, 2004, pp. 1-3). However, the situation in Uganda means that the issue of consumption equates to the provision of basic needs. There is a definite cut off between consumption and being able to afford basic food and other amenities. In this case, the measure of income and consumption is adequate. However, the factor that is not taken into account as much within the PEAP seems to security. This is often more of a subjective view than something that can be identified with quantitative data. The security of people within society and their feelings about their situations are crucial to their ability to move out of poverty and improve their lives. The problem with the PEAP view of poverty is that it is perhaps too narrow with regards to the full view of poverty. Whilst it includes issues of consumptio n and income and indeed social functionality, it leaves out some of the elements of security. It could be argued that the appeal to empowerment for women and other people is to do with feelings and security, but perhaps it is not enough (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005, p. 55). The results of the study seem to suggest as such. Whilst economic growth has improved and poverty head count has been reduced since 1997, the factors of inequality have risen since 2003. In the North the affects of the PEAP policy have been limited because of a lack of security regarding land and the ability for people to move into new industries easily. Therefore, it can be said that whilst the income and consumption indicators of poverty have improved, it is not certain whether this has actually alleviated poverty because the issues of security and the opinions of the poor seemingly have not been taken into account fully. However, more about this will be discussed in the next section – looking at how the poverty analysis is involved within the PEAP. The ana lysis PPA will be crucial as to whether or not the lack of emphasis on well-being has altered the effectiveness of the PEAP. There is some evidence however to support this less complex and subjective analysis of the status of poverty in Uganda. McGee (2004, pp. 517-521) showed that contradictions and arguments with regards to what is exactly happening to poverty in Uganda is unhelpful. Instead, a less oppositional approach is better, with a focus on the income and consumption of those in Uganda. This may not be the most accurate measure of poverty, but it is an effective and productive way to produce policies that will have a positive impact on the economy and therefore alleviate poverty. However, poverty assessments carried out as part of the World Bank strategy have shown that many of these assessments, including those of Uganda, put too much emphasis on increasing income and investment. These policies are weak in addressing the real causes of poverty such as social inequality, and ignore issues of politics and history. Therefore, it must be said that whilst Uganda is one of the more thorough nations with regards to its assessments, it still lacks a subjective view and focuses too much on income issues rather than looking at the root causes of poverty (Hammer, Pyatt and White, 1999, pp. 819-821). Despite this and the concerns that too much emphasis on investment and improved income will not result in a reduction in poverty, the results initially seem good. A study by Nkusu (2004) shows that an emphasis on investment, aid and income factors has led to a much healthier economy and structural reforms that have reduced poverty overall. However, it is still unclear as to weather these policies are taking into account the results shown in the participatory poverty analysis. The next section will examine how the PEAP uses these analyses within its policies, and how effective this usage is. Participatory poverty analysis in the PEAP It seems that whilst the original PEAP was endorsed and approved by the IMS for its effectiveness at sticking to the principles of participation, in recent years the plan has somewhat moved away from the original focus (Canagarajah and van Diesen, 2006, pp. 663-666). The World Bank and IMF understand the need to listen to the poor and their needs in order to solve problems of poverty. Without this, the root causes of poverty will not be found and despite economic growth the average poor person will not be better off as the rich will gain. The problem is not so much with the Ugandan policies but the limits put upon them by the World Bank and IMF. In order for these poor countries to receive the financial aid they need to progress, they must meet certain criteria for economic reforms set out by the IMF and World Bank. However, this essentially means the countries like Uganda have little say in the policies that need to be created in order for them to improve their economy. Therefore, the suggestion by the IMF and World Bank to listen to the poor is misleading. They have suggested this method in order to deflect attention from their conditions imposed on financial aid. This means that the participation of people in Uganda in the forming of policies is reduced, because the government must limit the information they are exposed to in order to make sure the policies are put in place to get aid and promote growth. This makes it harder for Uganda to listen to its people regarding policies that they would like to see to improve their living conditions (Rowden and Irama, 2004). The problem with these policies as outlined in the household surveys is that economic growth is not being shared amongst the people who need it, and instead poverty is increasing. The poverty rate is increasing because the economic growth in Uganda at this point favours the richer people and international community, thanks to the biased policies needed to get funding from the IMF and World Bank (Economic Policy Research Centre – Makerere University, 2003). There are some indications that the people within Uganda are being listened to when possible. Findings looking at groups of poor children in Uganda found that measures looking at just income and consumption were not enough, and so other methods were taken into consideration by asking those who were poor (UNESCO., 2005). The poverty assessment reports however show that despite the focus of the PEAP on economic growth, this is not the reason for increase poverty in Uganda. The poverty status report in 2003 shows that despite economic growth, people still remain below the poverty line. The main reasons for this are unequal economic growth, and a lack of security in areas such as Northern Uganda (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 2003a, pp. 147-149). Whilst these issues are identified in the PEAP, the main focus of policy is still on economic growth, because this is the only way the economy can be improved through financial aid. However, there are areas within the poverty assessment reports that are being utilised by the PEAP. One of these areas is healthcare, which in the assessment reports is identified as a key area that leads to poverty, and that the more people that are poor the more that will need to be spent to maintain people’s health (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 2002, pp. 101-105). The original poverty assessment report identified similar problems including issues of district divide, and the obstacles for people trying to improving their own lives (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 2000). The PEAP looks at some of these issues and puts policies in place to address, particularly with regards to health. The PEAP has made an effort to focus on preventive measures of health care so that the poorest members of society have greater access to services so that they can be more productive (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2005, pp. 163-165). Despite this, the conclusions of the PEAP stick mainly to issues of economic growth rather than social problems. It is true that during the 1990s high economic growth resulted in a reduction in the amount of people under the poverty line. However, as the country has improved its services, the further economic growth has been hampered by the limits of policies demanded by the IMF and World Bank in order to meet aid conditions. This means the economic growth has been a means towards an end of gaining aid to increase growth rather than simply looking at the social factors affecting the poor (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2005, pp. 211.213). Gender Analysis in the PEAP Another issue that needs to be addressed is whether or not the PEAP is addressing issues of gender effectively. Gender is clearly a big issue in a country where female-run families are worse off than male-led families due to lack of opportunities and rights for women to improve their economic status. Initial findings suggest that although the poverty participation process involves looking at those who are marginalised within society due to gender or other issues, the analyses do not effectively discuss gender issues (Wordofa, 2004, pp. 68-71). A study by Zuckerman and Garrett (2003) found that many of these poverty assessment reports in various developing countries only addressed gender issues in a superficial manner. Uganda in fact would not use gendered participation within its original report research but would then try to aggregate gender back into the policies later on. This tactic results in policies that do not accurately address the true concerns and issues associated with gender in Uganda in terms of poverty (Zuckerman, and Garrett, 2003, pp. 6, 12). Common examples of this are looking at different households in terms of age, but not reflecting differences in consumption levels according to gender. This is particularly damaging for a country like Uganda where some of the poorest members of society are women. This means despite good economic growth, the needs of many of the poorest are not being dealt with. As Whitehead and Lockwood (1999, p. 14) show, the way in which the Uganda PEAP deals with women’s issues is very superficial. There is a section regarding women, but it is not linked into the rest of the policies in general making it an isolated and superfluous section of the document. However, this study was conducted in 1999 and since then the reports have been looked at more closely, with more emphasis on gender issues. Despite this, there still remains a level of isolation between these findings and the policies as a whole. Zuckerman (2002) shows that there is some progress being made with regards to this, and those early failings have been dealt with in some ways. The reports now have women actively participating in order to form policies that will help get them out of poverty. However, it is still shown that despite this participation, the gendered participation has not filtered through to the policies in the PEAP as a whole. The problem is that these views from different genders are then generalised when added to policy, and therefore have little effect on gender differences. If this participation is to work then there needs to be a greater effort to make distinct policies to address gender differences rather than re-aggregating into a generalised whole. Conclusion The Ugandan PEAP has certainly been one of the most successful of these types of poverty reduction scheme in terms of reducing the poverty indicators of poor income and high levels of consumption to income. This has meant that overall the economy is doing better in Uganda, and people have higher incomes than before. This however is too simple a definition of poverty, and other factors such as the feelings and well-being of the poor, security issues and social structures need to be taken into account. The PEAP has improved since its inception in the 1990’s in terms of recognising these issues, but the core policies have changed very little. The main focus of the PEAP is still to improve economic growth, for two main reasons. Firstly because this was a successful policy throughout the 1990’s in helping to reduce overall poverty, and secondly because such economic policies are required by the IMF and World Bank in order to Uganda to receive the aid it needs to progress. The improvements in participation have meant that PEAP documents now address issues of gender and empowerment. However, these issues are addressed in a superficial way and the voices of marginalised are not affecting policy change. This means that despite continued economic growth, the wealth divide has increased and the percentage of people in poverty has increased in recent years. The policies are helping those who are better off to increase their wealth rather than improving the opportunities for the poorest members of society. As pointed out in reports, the country is reaching its targets with regards to alleviating poverty in economic growth terms and structural reforms (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2003b). However, these targets are not reducing overall poverty because they are allowing the participation in policy making of marginalised groups. The chronically poor who need the most help most likely to stay poor, supporting the claim that these policies of economic growth are not helping reduce poverty in Uganda (Okidi, and Mugambe, 2002, pp. 2-4). Bibliography Canagarajah, S., and van Diesen, A., 2006. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Approach Six Years On: An Examination of Principles and Practice in Uganda. Development Policy Review, 24(6), pp. 647-667. Economic Policy Research Centre – Makerere University., 2003. Reports on Socio Economics and Labour Force. Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Available at: http://www.ubos.org/onlinefiles/uploads/ubos/survey%20documentation/unhsii/survey0/outputInformation/reports.html Gariyo, Z., 2001. Civil Society and Global Finance in Africa: The PRSP Process in Uganda. In Civil Society and Global Finance edited by Jan Scholte et al, 2001. Kingdon, G.G., and Knight, J., 2004. Subjective well-being poverty versus income poverty and capabilities poverty?. Global Policy Research Group. Available at: http://www.gprg.org/pubs/workingpapers/pdfs/gprg-wps-003.pdf Nakamatte, N., et al., 2002. UPPAP – Kimwanyi Site Report. Available at: http://www.finance.go.ug/docs/Kimwanyi%20site%20report%20Final%20Draft.pdf Nkusu, M., 2004. Financing Ugandas Poverty Reduction Strategy: Is Aid Causing More Pain Than Gain?. IMF Working Papers, 04/170. Okidi, J.A., and Mugambe, G.K., 2002. An Overview of Chronic Poverty and Development Policy in Uganda. Economic Policy Research Centre, Uganda. Available at: http://www.chronicpoverty.org/pdfs/11Okidi_Mugambe.pdf Rowden, R., and Irama, J.O., 2004. Rethinking Participation: Questions for Civil Society about the Limits of Participation in PRSPs. Civil Society Observer, 1(2), April 2004. Available at: http://www.actionaidusa.org/images/rethinking_participation_april04.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2000. Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process. Available at: http://www.w1.co.ug/uppap/docs/National%20Report%20New%20Edition.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2002. Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process – Deepening the Understanding of Poverty. Available at: http://www.w1.co.ug/uppap/docs/NationalRpt.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2003a. Uganda Poverty Status Report. Available at: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2003/cr03301.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2003b. Uganda’s Progress in Attaining the PEAP Targets in the Context of the Millennium Development Goals Background Paper for The Consultative Group Meeting. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/UGANDAEXTN/Resources/CG_2003_GoU_PEAP_targets.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005. Uganda: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Poverty Eradication Action Plan (2004/5-2007/8). International Monetary Fund, August 2005. Available at: http://www.finance.go.ug/docs/PEAP%202005%20Apr.pdf UNESCO., 2005. Children in abject poverty in Uganda: A study of criteria and status of those in and out of school in selected districts in Uganda. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001414/141482e.pdf Whitehead, A., and Lockwood, M., 1999. Gender in the World Bank’s Poverty Assessments: Six Case Studies from Sub-Saharan Africa. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Discussion Paper, 99 (June 1999). Wordofa, D., 2004. Poverty-reduction policy responses to gender and social diversity in Uganda. Gender and Development, 12(1), pp. 68-74. World Bank Group., 2008. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). (Online). Available at: http://go.worldbank.org/KG9Q84BQE0 (Accessed 30th June 2008). Zuckerman, E., 2002. ‘Engendering’ Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs): the issues and the challenges. Gender and Development, 10(3). Available at: http://www.genderaction.org/images/Oxfam%20GenderDevt%20Journal%20Article-EZ%20PRSPs.pdf Zuckerman, E., and Garrett, A., 2003. Do Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) address gender? A gender audit of 2002 PRSPs The relative success of PRSPs to address gender. Southern African Regional Poverty Network, 2002. Available at: http://www.eldis.org/go/display/?id=13395type=Document

E-Tailing Persuasive Message

E-Tailing Many retailers have expanded their retail market to an online market. Using the internet to sell their goods is known as e commerce. â€Å"Ecommerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no barriers of time or distance† (Network Solutions, n. d. ). E commerce has expanded rapidly in recent years due to its convenience for the consumer and the increase in businesses that use electronic retailing (e-tailing). Businesses use different marketing methods in order to reach their customers and attract new ones. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is when businesses sell a product or service directly to the consumer (B2C). With direct marketing, businesses have several options in marketing to their consumers. Businesses can use direct mail, television ads, and internet marketing just to name a few. There has been a rise in direct marketing in recent years. The use of direct marketing can be more costs effective for a business without having the additional cost of the overhead of a traditional store. Amazon. com took book stores to the next level when they began their website selling books via the internet in the mid 1990s. Some companies such as skin care products Proactiv and Skin ID advertise on television and direct you to their websites to purchase their products. Businesses can reach customers directly through email when they sign up for mailing lists. Emails Businesses will contact customers directly through email. This happens often with existing customers. Wells Fargo bank will contact their customers with special offers of products and services with occasional emails. Other businesses will email their customers coupons to draw them into their stores. Baskin Robins ice cream lure their customers in their stores with email coupons promising them free ice cream on their birthday. Email marketing that offers customers special savings and free products can be a very effective marketing tool. Websites Internet consumers can find great deals on travel when they go to travel websites such as Expedia and Travelocity where customers can purchase airfare, rental cars and hotels. Many of these sites offer price matching and other incentive when consumers book their travel plans with their company. They also allow the customer to comparison shop different travel deals in order to eliminate confusion for the consumer. Click-and-Mortar A popular trend in e tailing has been click-and-mortar retailers. Click-and-mortar is typically when e-tailers have an existing store and have branched out into selling their products online (Turban, et al, 2008). Many retailers have expanded their stores to an online market with their stores websites. Stores such as Walmart and Best Buy have tapped into this market. Some of these retailers have some products that are only available for purchase online. Best Buy for example, will sell products that were available at one time in their retail stores but are now only available online. There has also been a shift with e-tailers have moved from internet only to physical brick-and-mortar stores. They have taken a popular, successful way of shopping and brought it to consumers in a traditional way. These e-tailers turned brick-and-mortar as well as those who rely solely on direct marketing can target their consumers with emails, banner ads on popular websites such as social networking sites, and with internet mailing lists. Some businesses do not have enough of a market for their goods to convert to a click-and-mortar retailer â€Å"because they would not have enough consumers† (Turban, et al, 2008). When e-tailers are trying to attract potential customers, no matter what medium they use all messages must follow a similar model. The sender must make clear the purpose of the message, choose the best media for their message, and the technology they will use to deliver the message. When a business chooses the right forum they can be very effective in e tailing. Persuasive Message Member of the Community, Your local City Animal Shelter is making the move into becoming a no kill shelter by the year 2012. We are asking the residents of this city to assist us in meeting this goal by participating in our upcoming low cost spay and neutering clinics. We are also asking for your donations in order to get our new training program up and running so that we may train some of our older dogs to assist the elderly and disabled members of our community. Although the number of animals that are being euthanized is on the decline, any animal put to death is a precious life lost. Countless numbers of animals are being senselessly euthanized as a matter of population control. In order to reach our goals, the shelter plans to begin training as many of the older animals as service dogs because these animals are the least likely to be adopted out and the most likely to be euthanized. Hosting a low cost vaccination clinic will help reduce the number of strays and unwanted animals in the community. Euthanizing animals can no longer be used as a method of population control. We must begin to use our cities unwanted animals in order to help our neighbors in the community that need our help. Please help us by participating in our spay and neutering clinics or with a contribution to get our program off and running. Together we can make this a no kill city and improve the quality of life for our cities elderly and disabled. Sincerely, Your City Animal Shelter References Network Solutions. (n. d. ). What is Ecommerce? Retrieved, May 10, 2010, from http://www. networksolutions. com/education/what-is-ecommerce/ Turban, E. , King, D. , McKay, J. , Marshall, P. , Lee, J. , & Viehland, D. (2008). Electronic commerce 2008: A managerial perspective (5th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Pediatric Palliative Care

Pediatric Palliative Care Ana M. Gehan Thomas Edison State College Pediatric Palliative Care In modern society, children are expected to outlive their parents. However, for children living with life threatening illnesses, palliative care is an approach to care that enhances quality of life for both the child and the grieving parents. In the article, â€Å"Pediatric Palliative Care: The Time is Now! † the authors stress how important it is to start and/or continue pediatric palliative care programs. Worldwide, an estimated 7 million children and their families could benefit from hospice care (Rushton, January-February 2002, p. 7). In the United States alone, 1 million children are very serious ill (Rushton, January-February 2002, p. 57). Pediatric palliative care has become an increasing discussion in the health care world. Palliative care was first introduced in 1990 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is currently defined as â€Å"an approach to care which improves qu ality of life of patients and their families facing life-threatening illness through prevention, assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychological, and spiritual problems â€Å"(Morgan, March-April, p. 7). Pediatric palliative care is an area of the patient care that can be one of the most emotionally challenging areas of practice. In the article, â€Å"Caring for Dying Children: Assessing the Needs of the Pediatric Palliative Care Nurse† the author outlines how stressful the job of taking care of a dying child can be on the nurse. Health care workers may experience emotions such as helplessness, anger, sadness, and anxiety while providing care to dying children (Morgan, March-April, p. 86). These emotions may quickly lead to â€Å"nurse burnout† and increase nurse burnout in hospital settings. It is not uncommon for health care workers to perceive the death of a child as a â€Å"triple† failure: first, because they did not have the means, skills or abilities to save a life; second, because in their social role as adults, they were unable to protect the child from harm; and, third, because they â€Å"betrayed† parents who trusted them with the most valuable being in their life (Morgan, March-April, p. 87). The nurse’s role in caring and supporting children and their families require special coping skills which are essential to providing the most positive outcome for all that are involved in the palliative process. The aim of pediatric palliative care is to keep the child comfortable while supporting the parents in caring for their child according to their wishes and beliefs. From the diagnosis, parents are already grieving the loss of their child. Grieving not only affects the family but has a huge emotional impact on health care providers as well. When a child’s life ends, families need intense and long-term psychosocial and bereavement services (Rushton, January-February 2002, p. 57). Psychosocial and bereavement resources and support for health care professionals who care for these children are virtually nonexistent or minimally supported in the current cost constrained health care environment (Rushton, January-February 2002, p. 57). The medical world and Congress have taken an important first step to support the need for pediatric palliative care services. In 1999, CHI successfully advocated for bipartisan congressional appropriations for demonstration model program to address the unique needs of children with life threatening conditions (Rushton, January-February 2002, p. 59). There is so much to that nursing has to do in the future to make sure that pediatric palliative is out there in every hospital, institute and every setting that a child is at. We all must increase the awareness of pediatric palliative care programs and the special needs of the nurses who care for these dying children. A child’s death may seem like a long, scary pathway. Nurses have the power to create a brighter journey for these patients and their families, as well as for themselves. References Morgan, D. (March-April). Caring for Dying Children: Assessing the Needs of the Pediatric Palliative Care Nurse. Pediatric Nursing, 35(2), 86-90. Rushton, C. H. (January-February 2002). Pediatric Palliative Care: The Time is Now! Pediatric Nursing, 28(1), 57-70.

Quoting Out of Context Fallacy (Changing Meaning)

The fallacy of quoting something out of context is often included in the Fallacy of Accent, and it is true that there are strong parallels. However, Aristotles original Fallacy of Accent referred solely to shifting the accent on syllables within words, and it is already stretched in modern discussions of fallacies to include shifting the accent between words within a sentence. To expand it further to include shifting emphasis on entire passages is, perhaps, going a bit far. For that reason, the concept of quoting out of context gets its own section. What does it mean to quote someone out of context? After all, every quotation necessarily excludes large sections of the original material and is thus an out of context quotation. What makes this a fallacy is to take a selective quotation which distorts, alters, or even reverses the originally intended meaning. This can be done accidentally or deliberately. Examples and Discussion Quoting out of Context A good example is already hinted at in the discussion of the Fallacy of Accent: irony. A statement meant ironically can be taken wrong when in written form because much irony is communicated through the emphasis when spoken. Sometimes, however, that irony is communicated more clearly through the addition of more material. For example: 1. This has been the best play Ive seen all year! Of course, it is the only play Ive seen all year.2. This was a fantastic movie, as long as you arent looking for plot or character development. In both of these reviews, you start out with an ironic observation which is followed by an explanation which communicates that the foregoing was meant to be taken ironically rather than literally. This can be a dangerous tactic for reviewers to employ because unscrupulous promoters can do this: 3. John Smith calls this the best play Ive seen all year!4. ...a fantastic movie... - Sandy Jones, Daily Herald. In both cases, a passage of the original material has been taken out of context and thereby given a meaning that is exactly the opposite of what was intended. Because these passages are being used in the implicit argument that others should come see the play or movie, they qualify as fallacies, in addition to just being unethical. What you see above is also part of another fallacy, the Appeal to Authority, which attempts to convince you of the truth of the proposition by appealing to the opinion of some authority figure — usually, though, it appeals to their actual opinion rather than a distorted version of it. It is not uncommon for the Quoting Out Of Context fallacy to be combined with an Appeal to Authority, and it is frequently found in creationist arguments. For example, here is a passage from Charles Darwin, often quoted by creationists: 5. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory. The Origin of Species (1859), Chapter 10 Obviously, the implication here is that Darwin doubted his own theory and had encountered a problem he could not solve. But lets look at the quote in the context of the two sentences following it: 6. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory.The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record. In the first place, it should always be borne in mind what sort of intermediate forms must, on the theory, have formerly existed... It is now obvious that instead of raising doubts, Darwin was simply using a rhetorical device to introduce his own explanations. The exact same tactic has been used with quotations from Darwin about the development of the eye. Of course, such methods are not limited to just creationists. Here is a quote from Thomas Henry Huxley used on alt.atheism by Rooster, a.k.a Skeptic: 7. This is ... all that is essential to Agnosticism. That which Agnostics deny and repudiate, as immoral, is the contrary doctrine, that there are propositions which men ought to believe, without logically satisfactory evidence; and that reprobation ought to attach to the profession of disbelief in such inadequately supported propositions.The justification of the Agnostic principle lies in the success which follows upon its application, whether in the field of natural, or in that of civil, history; and in the fact that, so far as these topics are concerned, no sane man thinks of denying its validity. The point of this quote is to try and argue that, according to Huxley, all that is essential to agnosticism is to deny that there are propositions which we should believe even though we do not have logically satisfactory evidence. However, this quote misrepresents the original passage: 8. I further say that Agnosticism is not properly described as a negative creed, nor indeed as a creed of any kind, except in so far as it expresses absolute faith in the validity of a principle, which is as much ethical as intellectual. This principle may be stated in various ways, but they all amount to this: that it is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.This is what Agnosticism asserts; and, in my opinion, it is all that is essential to Agnosticism. That which Agnostics deny and repudiate, as immoral, is the contrary doctrine, that there are propositions which men ought to believe, without logically satisfactory evidence; and that reprobation ought to attach to the profession of disbelief in such inadequately supported propositions.The justification of the Agnostic principle lies in the success which follows upon its application, whether in the field of natural, or in that of civil, history; and in the fact that, so far as these topics are concerned, no sane man thinks of denying its validity. [emphasis added] If you notice, the phrase it is all that is essential to Agnosticism actually refers to the preceding passage. Thus, what is essential to Huxleys agnosticism is that people should not claim to be certain of ideas when they do not have the evidence which logically justifies such certainty. The consequence of adopting this essential principle, then, leads agnostics to repudiate the idea that we ought to believe things when we lack satisfactory evidence. Combining the Out of Context Fallacy with Other Fallacies Another common way to use the fallacy of quoting out of context is to combine with a Straw Man argument. In this, someone is quoted out of context so that their position appears weaker or more extreme than it is. When this false position is refuted, the author pretends that they have refuted the real position of the original person. Of course, most of the examples above are do not by themselves qualify as arguments. But it would not be unusual to see them as premises in arguments, either explicit or implicit. When this happens, then a fallacy has been committed. Until then, all we have is simply an error.