Estella Essay

Estella, with her long brown hair and her beautiful complex was admired by many. While she was perceived as a beautiful young woman by Pip, Estella, Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter in the novel Great Expectations, was cold hearted due to Miss Havisham’s broken heart, not of her choosing. Estella, Pip’s love interest, shows her cold- heartedness both as a young girl and young woman. Estella stated â€Å"You must know that I have no heart† (Dickens ) to Pip the first time they met, revealing her cruel nature. In many cases Estella manipulates boys’ minds leaving them confused and defenseless. For example when she kisses Pip on one of their first visits, Pip’s love towards her grows. However, Estella continues to be cruel towards him by acting as if the kiss was meaningless. As she grows older Estella’s cruelty continues towards Pip, and right when Pip thought he might have had a chance, Estella was already married. Estella’s wicked ways towards Pip proves she is cold-hearted, but instead of running away he continues to be utterly in love with her. This hard heart was not inborn but instead it was developed from a young age. Estella is cruel and she was raised to be this way. Prior to her wedding, broken-hearted Miss Havisham adopted Estella. And the older Estella grew, the more she was taught to despise those of the opposite gender. For example when Pip had come over to play cards with Estella, Miss Havisham whispered into Eestella’s ear to break his heart. As the same message to be cruel carried on throughout her childhood, it no longer was what she needed to act as, but it was what she had become. Estella’s appearances may fool people but her cruelness overpowers her beauty in many ways. Although she may not have chosen to be this way, her cold- hearted thoughts and comments still hurt the people that love her, especially Pip. Estella may be kind at times but overall she is cold-hearted and very cruel to most people, leaving her despised by most.

Quality and patient safety in USA Essay

The purpose of this article is to drive attention to rising issues of quality care and patient safety in United States. In spite of launching major initiatives and investing heavily in recourses to improve patient safety, there has been no significant improvement in health care quality in past decade1. One of the challenges in measuring quality are developing accurate data system. Avoiding surgical complications by implementing WHO checklist guidelines, effective use of computerized physician order entry and electronic health records can foster safer, high quality care. Current state of quality and patient safety in USA Americans too often do not receive care that they need, or they receive care that causes harm. Care can be delivered too late or without full consideration of a patient’s preferences and values. Providers frequently overuse therapies that are not known to be effective, underuse therapies that are clearly recommended, and misuse therapies. At best, overuse of care leads to inefficiency and waste. Overuse may also threaten patient safety. Underuse represents missed opportunities to prevent disease or treat it effectively, and misuse may threaten patient safety and lead to additional illness, injury, or even death. In December 1999, the institute of medicine reported that medical errors cause up to 98,000 deaths and more than 1 million injuries each year in the United States2. From 2001 to 2005, total annual health care expenditure increased at a rate of 4.6 times the rate of the increase in the summery measure of quality of care. Annual total health care expenditures rose 6.5% (in 2005 dollars). During this time same period, quality increased at a rate of 1.4%. For heart disease, cancer and diabetes individually, quality increased at a rate of 2.6%, 1.9% and 0.1% annually, respectively. Expenditures increased at an annual rate of 4.4%, 9.0% and 4.9%, respectively3. Many times, our system of health care  distributes services inefficiently and unevenly across populations. Some Americans receive worse care than other Americans. These disparities may be due to differences in access to care, provider biases, poor provider-patient communication, or poor health literacy4. Disparities in quality of care are common: Blacks received worse care than Whites for 41% of quality measures. Hispanics received worse care than non-Hispanic Whites for 39% of measures. Poor people received worse care than high-income people for 47% of measures4. Challenge in quality measurement Health care quality measurement has long been a troublesome issue. The first hurdle is deciding what to measure and how to measure it. Once performance measure topics and technical specifications are finally agreed on for a given healthcare setting, the next—and biggest—problem is getting accurate, complete data quickly enough to derive useful measurements. Primary review of medical records, which are still overwhelmingly paper-based records, is often the only way to collect data with the level of clinical detail needed to assess care. This is extraordinarily labor intensive. Data gaps represent an area of major concern to multiple stakeholders and encompass a diverse array of data elements. Some data elements necessary to assess and improve quality of care are simply not available to those responsible for quality measurement and improvement activities both within and outside payer and/or care delivery organizations5. These data gaps are attributed to a number of different factors, including the burden of data collection; technology barriers to data collection; legal and/or technical barriers to sharing data among multiple clinicians or organizations involved in delivering or managing the care of a patient; and differing priorities among suppliers and users of the data5. Another challenge to quality measurement is to ensure the accuracy of data used to provide information about quality. Inaccurate data may result from several sources including: random or inadvertent errors by data collectors, missing data, inconsistent use of definitions and criteria for inclusion, inappropriate aggregation of data, and systematic miscoding6. Improving Quality and patient safety Surgical care and its attendant complications represent a substantial burden of disease worthy of attention. Surgical complications are a considerable  cause of death and disability around the world7. Data suggest that at least half of all surgical complications are avoidable8. Previous efforts to implement practices designed to reduce surgical-site infections or anesthesia-related mishaps have been shown to reduce complications significantly8. A growing body of evidence also links teamwork in surgery to improved outcomes, with high-functioning teams achieving significantly reduced rates of adverse events8. Implementing the 19-item WHO safe-surgery checklist can significantly reduce surgical complications and morbidity. The checklist consists of an oral confirmation by surgical teams of the completion of the basic steps for ensuring safe delivery of anesthesia, prophylaxis against infection, effective teamwork, and other essential practices in surgery8. Information technology had consistently been identified as an important approach for health quality improvement. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) can improve medication safety, reduce adverse drug reactions, reduce unnecessary variation in care, and improving efficiency of care9. Widespread use of Electronic health records can transform health care. Benefits of E.H.R are: accurate, up-to date, and complete information about patients, quick access to patient records for more coordinated and efficient care, more effective diagnosis, reduction in medical errors, and secure sharing of information10. One of the studies on EHR, Beacon implementation, done at Mount Sinai hospital in New York was successful. Dr. Adelson Said â€Å"The major takeaway from our Beacon implementation is the opportunity to continuously improve and update treatment plans based on published research and guidelines for all practitioners to follow. Ultimately, it allows us to provide higher quality, more comprehensive care to individuals by identifying the most appropriate treatment course while minimizing side effects.† 11 Conclusion: Quality of care has become an important issue with rising health care costs over past decade. Checklist method of WHO can reduce surgical complications and morbidity and help improving quality care. Effective use of COPE and EHR can overcome challenges in measurement of quality of care. Although costs of  CPOE and EHR are substantial in terms of technology, organizational process analysis, and system implementation, they can yield many significant benefits and provide important platform for future changes in healthcare quality and patient safety. Citations: 1) Landrigan, Temporal Trends in Rates of Patient Harm Resulting from Medical Care, the new England journal of medicine. 2) Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS, eds. To err is human: building a safer Health system. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1999. 3)http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr08/Chap6.htm 4) http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr11/nhqr11.pdf 5) http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/040531rp.pdf 6) http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6418&page=19 7) Debas HT, Gosselin R, McCord C, Thind A. Surgery. In: Jamison DT, Breman JG, Measham AR, et al., eds. Disease control priorities in developing countries. 2nd ed. Disease Control Priorities Project. Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank, 2006:1245-60. 8) http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0810119#t=article 9) http://www.leapfroggroup.org/media/file/Leapfrog-AHA_FAH_CPOE_Report.pdf 10) http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/faqs/what-are-advantages-electronic-health-records 11) http://www.equities.com/news/headline-story?dt=2012-12-03&val=782522&cat=hcare

Exercises Essay

I think it is an appropriate metaphor. Brain has the faculty of talking, laughing, crying, thinking and so forth. Without brain, human cannot exist. In the similar way, engine performs all the functions in the vehicle. The car is consisted of more than 20,000 parts. Even though it is not small number, it is nothing when it compared to the human neuron system. Anyway, neuron system is controlled by brain, of course, car parts are controlled by engine. Therefore, when there is a little bit damage at any part of the brain, specific features cannot be operated. It is the same story about the vehicle. There are four evidences. First, if placing an object in the sprit brain patient’s hand, left-right asymmetry observed. Second, when showing an image in the sprit brain patient’s visual field, the asymmetry is observed. Third, dichotic listening test shows language is lateralized. Left hemisphere is superior for linguistic stimuli such as syllable however right hemisphere is superior for nonverbal stimuli such as environmental sounds. Finally, the corpus callosum makes the two halves become two different mental spheres. The answer is NO. The evidence is provided by the patterns of neuronal activity in people reading different kinds of writing. For instance, Japanese language has two systems of writing. One is kana which is based on the sound system of the language. The other system, kanji, is not based on that system. Japanese with left hemisphere damage are impaired in their ability to read kana, while people with right hemisphere damage are impaired in their ability to read kanji. Plus, experiments suggest that the right hemisphere is better and faster than the left hemisphere at reading kanji, and vice versa.

The influence of the neo-nazi party in modern america Essay

The influence of the neo-nazi party in modern america - Essay Example Today, numerous small Neo-Nazi parties are operating in America but majority of them carry out their functions in secrecy. The American Neo-Nazi groups target ethnic groups such as Asian Americans, Native Americans, Arab Americans, Jews, African American and hassle them. Homosexuals and Catholics are also targeted by the Neo-Nazis. In this paper, we will analyze the influence of Neo-Nazis parties in modern America. The Neo-Nazi parties, with their anti-Semitic and racist ideology, are threatening the harmonious existence of diverse cultures in America. American Neo-Nazis believe in the concept of nationalism based on racial or ethnic identities, and racial purity. They endeavor to prevent certain ethnic groups from residing in their country. They believe that a nation should consist of similar ethnic groups. So they discourage people belonging to other ethnic groups from assimilating into their national culture. In their attempt to restrict the immigration of these ethnic groups, some of these Neo-Nazi groups take to violent ways and spread hatred against these ethnic groups. As the American citizens are entitled to the freedom of speech, the American Neo-Nazi parties are allowed to express their ideology without any restraint. â€Å"In the USA, broad freedom of speech allows political organizations great latitude in expressing Nazi, racist or anti-Semitic ideology.†1. It is only after the members of Neo-Nazis turn violent or commit hate crimes that the government takes action against them. So the American Neo-Nazi parties express their hatred for people who do not belong to the ethnic group originated in their own country, and try to spread their message through demonstrations. The racist ideology that is spread among the people by the Neo-Nazi parties is resulting in hate crimes and racism. People are unwilling to accept persons belonging to other races as members of their society. They want to maintain their racial purity by avoiding

(Criminal Justice) Ethics, Justice, and Law Assignment

(Criminal Justice) Ethics, Justice, and Law - Assignment Example There are different ways in which such distribution can be conducted (Pollock, 2008). Egalitarian distribution calls for all participants to receive equal shares. Marxism, though, contends that the resources should be shared based on need. That means that those citizens with the greatest need will receive more with few needs. Libertarianism supports the notion that resources should be distributed on merit. This means that those who meet a pre-determined standard of values are the ones most likely to have the greatest number of resources. Lastly, utilitarianism supports the notion that resources should be distributed on the basis of a mixture of need and merit. In the criminal justice system, distributive justice can be realized by ensuring that all classes of prisoners, who commit the same crime, are handed the same sentence. For instance, the nephew of a powerful politician who commits embezzlement and is caught, should be forced to face the same punishment as a homeless man who steals from an unmanned shop. In all areas of life, the lack of distributive justice results in feelings of aggrievement in the parties who feel that they are held up to a standard that others are excused from for one reason or another. This can then result in violent protests, and other criminal behavior. What is the purpose of corrective justice? Compare and contrast the different forms of substantive justice, including remedial, retributive, and utilitarian. Which form of substantive justice should the criminal justice system pursue? Corrective justice seeks to deal with criminals by handing down punishment for the crimes they commit. In substantive judgement, the criminal is handed a punishment that correlates with the level of crime he has commited. In retributive justice, the judge seeks to restore the balance by correcting what the criminal has done to society. In regards to utilitarianism, a stiff punishment is handed to the offender in the hopes of deterring others from

How can knowledge of macro and microeconomics help the small business Essay

How can knowledge of macro and microeconomics help the small business owner today The large multi-national corporation - Essay Example With this in mind, business owners need to know that having a pure monopoly right in the market means that price elasticity is not present (Mankiw). When the business owner has a monopolistic right over his business, the business owner has the advantage to increase the market price of goods and services they are selling (Blinder, Baumol and Gale: 212; Binger and Hoffman: 391). However, monopoly is often characterized by a demand curve that is slowing downwards (Mankiw). Therefore, for a monopolistic company to increase its sales, the business owner should still decrease the market price of goods and services up to such point wherein the company’s target market is willing to spend. In case of perfect competition, the business owners are being challenged to keep the market prices of their goods and services more affordable (Mankiw: 313). Macroeconomic theories are important to business owners as it gives them a better insight and understanding about the external factors that may occur in international markets which may eventually affect the domestic market. Aside from discussing aggregate demand and aggregate supply (Dornbusch, Fischer and Startz: 79), macroeconomics is not limited in examining a country’s import and export but also other economic concepts related to trade balance, capital inflows and outflows, trade balance, and foreign investment among others. Since we are in the era of globalization, macroeconomic theories help business owners who are into import and export make important business

The Effectiveness of Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (SWAT) Essay - 1

The Effectiveness of Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (SWAT) - Essay Example This essay describes the Special weapons and Tactical teams law enforcement that started with the idea of protecting the well-being of police officers in the United States, as they carried out their duties of â€Å"serving and protecting† the public. The idea of being able to extract bad guys efficiently without mass mayhem and creating collateral damage, was the hallmark for the creation of the teams. Whether one is a proponent or a detractor of the existence of SWAT teams, they must strike the same cord when confronted with the issue of the relevance of the teams continued existence. SWAT teams have done some questionable things, and they have accomplished many good things. Before we throw out the baby with the bath water, we must objectively assess the situation and ask the question. Are we better off today with SWAT teams, than we were without them? The researcher of this essay believes that we are definitely better off, and what is needed is that a considerable amount of thought must be directed to how, these teams can be better utilized, while they are on hold waiting for the day, when they will be needed to serve in the capacity for which they were originally conceived. It is commonly held that a good offense is better than a good defense. However, to sum up the researcher states that we know that municipal police departments left to their traditional arsenal and philosophy, are not equipped enough to handle the some of types of confrontations which the bad guys can concoct.

European culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

European culture - Research Paper Example Symbols consist of words, gestures, pictures, and objects representing a particular meaning. People sharing the culture only understand the meaning (Bondebjerg, 2004). The research seeks to find out the influence of the historic European culture to the present culture. It will highlight the current culture and matters of art and recreation such as music. The culture of Europe comprise of many overlapping cultures (Bundaberg, 2004). This indicates that now common culture does not exist. European culture passed through a series of events under different groups of people. The Greeks laid the foundations of the modern culture. Romans strengthened it while the Christians established it with the help of the other Europeans. In the fifteenth century, renaissance and reformation reformed and modernized the culture. The European empires that came after reformation globalized the culture. This culture succeeded to influence other cultures of the world through European education and Christianity (Goldstein, & Council of Europe, 2005). Culture consists of many aspects. By grouping similar aspects together, Scholars came up with five main components of culture. They include communication, cognitive component; material component, behavioral aspects, and religious aspects .communication comprise language. Language forms the most important aspect of culture in all cultures. People of the same culture interact and socialize with each other through the language (Goldstein, & Council of Europe, 2005). A symbol is anything used or shown to pass a particular massage or meaning. They vary with cultures although sometime they cut across many cultures. Cognitive component forms the second major aspect of culture. It comprises the ideas, knowledge, beliefs, and values of a particular group of people. Knowledge, considered as the storage of information fact and assumptions passes from generation to generation through formal

Advice How to Learn English Verbs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Advice How to Learn English Verbs - Assignment Example Based on self-assessment my own observations, this aim was particularly successful.   Students also demonstrated gradual and appreciable improvement in their understanding of and the proper use of various noun types.   They particularly enjoyed working together in groups for identifying and agreeing on noun types and learned from each other.   There were some setbacks with sentence structures as some students tended to have more difficulties with sentence structures than others did.   Identification of abstract nouns was also more difficult for some students than others.   Aside from these two areas, the group as a whole demonstrated marked progress throughout the session. Some students tend to have difficulties with sentence structures and double consonants more so than other students.     Ã‚  Similarly, identifying abstract nouns tend to be problematic for some students.   In other to improve these aspects of the session next time, I will ensure that those students encountering these particular problems identify these areas as a part of their personal goals.   By individualizing these problems, the students struggling with abstract nouns, double consonants and/or sentence structures can practice those areas independently while other students can move on.   Improving these areas independently can be dealt with either in class while other groups engage in other activities that do not require constant supervision or as a part of the homework assignment.   The observer/assessor provided positive feedback as contained in the application form.   However, she also noted that I missed an opportunity to capitalize on extending the spelling segment in that I could develop other areas of skills for life such as more dialogue in terms of use of standard English in different contexts.   Looking back, I can see where this approach would have been entirely appropriate during the class discussion on American and English spelling.   In my opinion, any opportunity to develop language should be embraced since some students in the class are bilingual.   I will, therefore, incorporate this approach.

Contemporary issues in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contemporary issues in business - Essay Example Countries with citizens who still have problems in meeting basic needs like food, clothing, and housing are an ideal testing ground for the comprehension of Bottom of Pyramid. The most challenging issue to this strategy is defining those people who are said to be at the base of the pyramid, as there are those who earn less than two dollars a day, and there are those who earn slightly higher than two dollars a day, but are still languishing in poverty. Many companies especially the multinational corporations invest on Bottom of Pyramid, so as to lift the lives of billions of people out of poverty and desperations that seem to continue, if the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. For example, the Unilever Company is one of the companies that have adopted the Bottom of Pyramid as a corporate strategy. Many CEOs have come to look at this strategy with a new lens (Prahalad, 2010). There is some evidence that can be used to prove that the innovations in the Bottom of the P yramid can and have resulted to profitable business. Business leaders, who have adopted the Bottom of Pyramid strategy, have started to re-examine and see the role of business in the society. This strategy has provided a platform for global innovations, which have a lot of implications in the world of business today. Therefore, though the Bottom of Pyramid has its own shortcomings, it is a very important strategy that most organizations can adopt (Prahalad, 2010). What is â€Å"Bottom of Pyramid?† There have been many discussions on the concept of ‘Bottom of Pyramid’ in business today and no precise definition has been put forward to define the concept. However, this concept was originally introduced â€Å"to draw attention to the 1-5 billion poor, who are unserved or underserved by the large organized private sector including multinational firms† (Prahalad, 2010, p. 6). The main aim of the Bottom of Pyramid is to ensure that the rich, who are the ones occ upying the top of the pyramid would be sensitized to help those who are less fortunate, and who are the majority occupying the base of the pyramid. Kazmi defines it as a strategy that "refers to exploiting the opportunities that are believed to be available in serving the poorer sections of the society and also serving social objectives† (2008, p. 207). Cited in Donohue, 2009. The above diagram is a representation of the rich occupying the top of the pyramid being the very few, and the poor occupying the base being the majority. In other words, it is a representation of how income in the world is distributed (Donohue, 2009). Thus, the Bottom of Pyramid refers to that population that leaves below the poverty line. How does the B.O.P Strategy Work? The term Bottom of Pyramid is said to be a relative term; it focuses on the strategies that companies can start to serve the populations, rather than un-serving and underserving them. When people say it is a relative term, it means th at, a person living at the Bottom Pyramid in China is different from someone living at the Bottom Pyramid in Somalia, though both are seen as living at the BOP, but in different contexts (Prahalad, 2010). This strategy also focuses on serving with approaches that are more profitable and relevant for application towards the bottom of the pyramid population. The debate on this issue will definitely continue before a very precise definitio

Road Rage Definition Essay Example for Free

Road Rage Definition Essay The term Road Rage can be referred to violent behaviour of a driver. This violent behaviour may lead to a road accident because the driver was not able to remain in control of himself or his emotions thus leading to aggressive driving which may prove fatal. The driver fails to control his temper and explodes which is manifested in different manners. Speeding and aggressive acceleration or tailgating may take place. Cutting others off or weaving in and out of traffic is also a very common result of road rage. Rude gestures, verbal abuse and threats are also witnessed often. Every year more than 300 cases of road rage have ended with serious injuries some of them fatal.   Why does road rage occur? One of the common reasons is that it has become a cultural norm. From childhood one has been observing one’s parents and other adults and has just followed in their footsteps. Secondly, by the time an adolescent starts driving he or she has been exposed to numerous hours of television gazing which have portrayed features of bad drivers who have not only shown road rage but have also got away with it too. Thirdly, if one is in an benevolent mood and is courteous to another driver, one expects the other driver to be courteous in return and when a courtesy is not returned, no thanks is given the driver turns furious and may even pursue the car and driver demanding a thank you and when it is denied the anger flares up and one feels hurt and insulted as well. This quickly turns to road rage and one wants to punish the offender, revenge is all one thinks about, for one is ruled by angry emotions and one does not question the legitimacy of one’s anger or the fact that the other driver might simply have been oblivious to the courtesy shown as he/she might have been engrossed in other thoughts.   Fourthly, it can also be generational where the youngsters feel that they can navigate the roads at 95 with their six months driving experience and they want to overtake every car and every person which can cause road rage among other drivers.   Road Rage is found everywhere in America today. As people commute to and fro daily burdened with anxiety, stress, discontent etc. such incidents tend to become more. The sad part is that everyone seems to be doing it. What is the rush for? You might save a few minutes but is it worth hurting someone, may not always be physical but even mentally? It is a question worth pondering over.   Verbal road rage which begins with an explosion of invectives and accusations will rapidly reach a peak, last a few seconds with a slight feeling of relief only to flare up again. This cycle of anger can go on and if not mitigated will result in a tragedy.   We tend to find road rage everywhere because of the unforgiving attitude we have for each other for making mistakes. Emotionally intelligent thinking will allow the driver to look at the situation and think more objectively. Drivers do make mistakes and bad moves not because they are stupid or careless or incompetent but because for the moment they were confused, scared or overwhelmed. The fact is that most drivers will appear incompetent under certain circumstances. When they are unfamiliar with the road environment their responses may be slow which will infuriate another driver, or older motorists drive more slowly in the passing lane or still others may have pain like a sprained back , or some may have children with them which do not allow them to move out fast for the other vehicle to overtake. Thus one must learn to remain calmer behind the wheel in order to prevent road rage. Children should not be witnesses to their parents having road rage, and the media should not show those with road rage not having to answer for their misdeed. A bit of courtesy takes one a long way. Acknowledgment of a bit of kindness shown by other drivers not only brightens up their day but also of the giver.    For older motorists or those with problems while driving should try to avoid the passing lane and if not possible should have a sorry sign to show the other drivers. Similarly those who make a mistake while driving should immediately apologise by showing the sorry sign. A thank you and sorry immediately calms down a person and there would be far less road rage in the country and in the world. Source: www.drdriving.org

The way Greeks and Romans understood women Essay Example for Free

The way Greeks and Romans understood women Essay In the Ancient World, women were not portrayed as they are today in modern literary works; women usually played controversial roles where their actions ranged from killing their own family to destroying their own town. Women in ancient Greek plays and Roman stories did not posses the social standing that we naturally think of today, many times their only power was to strike back when they were hurt. Medea, Phaedra, and Dido, admirable or dangerous, are among the most complex literary characters of any period. Medea, of Euripides play Medea, represents the destructive quality of possessive desire often portrayed by Greek women. Medea becomes enraged by Jason when he leaves her to be with the daughter of the King of Corinth. She reacts by destroying everything around him. She destroys his new wife, her father the King, and even goes as far as to kill her own two children she had with Jason in order to hurt him. Medea rationalizes her actions by saying if she cannot have Jason, the thing she wants the most in life, then he cannot have the things that matter the most to him in his life. Medea illustrates her nature of possessive desire for Jason with the line, At last I understand that awful deed I am to do; but passion, that cause of direst woes to mortal man, hath triumphed oer my sober thoughts (Euripides 104). From this you can see that Medea is only concerned with herself and her desires as opposed to her famil; she kills her own children to hurt her husband. Like Medea, Euripides writes another play Hippolytous, with a similar character named Phaedra. Phaedra is the wife of Theseus that has become obsessed by an incestuous passion for her stepson, Hippolytus. Phaedra attempts to win over Hippolytus in a love letter. Hippolytus, however, is a follower of Diana, the goddess of chastity and therefore refuses her. Phaedras distraught revenge includes her suicide and his succeeding, undeserved death by his father. In this case, like Medea, Phaedra could not possess her alleged good, her life and his must be sacrifice. Yet another example of this misplaced desire is in Virgils Aeneid with the character of Dido. In Aeneid, Aeneas is persuaded to leave his fate to found Rome and stay with his new found love, Queen Dido of Carthage. By the  intervention of the gods, Hermes and Jove, Aeneas is able to resist Dido and does not marry her but does in fact go on to found Rome. Once again this possessive quality is aptly shown by Hermes, Degenerate man,/Thou womans property (Virgil 166). Dido verifies this and pleas with Aeneas,  had you deferrd, at least, your hasty flight,/And left behind some pledge of our delight,/Some babe to bless the mothers mournful sight,/Some young Aeneas, to supply your place,/Whose features might express his fathers face;/I should no then complain to be left bereft/Of all my husband, or be wholly left (Virgil 168). Obviously Didos love is not actually true love since she is willing to compromise for an alternate Aeneas, whom she will be able to possess more fully be raise him to her satisfaction. Aeneas refuses Dido this as well and she, like Pheadra, burns herself. But as her sister mourns, she points out that Didos death was not a solitary destruction; At one thou hast destroyd thyself and me,/Thy town. Thy senate, and thy colony (Virgil 818)! By destroying her own town, something that she devoted a lot of her life to, she hurt many more people than just herself and Aeneas. In these three works, Medea, Hippolytus, and Aeneid, the female roles defiantly had an agenda. The women were all overwhelmed by love and were blinded by it. Medea, Phadrea, and Dido committed unthinkable crimes in an attempt to cast revenge on the object of their affection. In the end, none of them possessed the man they were longing for, they only ended up hurting themselves and those that supposedly meant the most to them.

George Bernard Shaws Play Pygmalion English Literature Essay

George Bernard Shaws Play Pygmalion English Literature Essay Of course, Shaws woman protagonist, Eliza Doolittle is not a statue, but an unfortunate, illiterate flower girl with a cockney accent that is preventing her from achieving a better position in her impoverished life. Because of these hindrances, Eliza is essentially non-existent in Britains unavoidable social hierarchy. However, two old gentlemen are intrigued by the idea of transforming Eliza. After observing this squashed cabbage leaf, Professor Henry Higgins, a scientist of phonetics challenges Colonel Pickering, a linguist of Indian dialects, that with his knowledge of language, he will be able to change lowly Eliza Doolittle into a woman as poised and well-spoken as a duchess and convince high society London of her status (104). For a few months, Higgins trains Eliza to tone down her sassy, candid manner and instead speak properly and act with more refinement. Following her preparation, Eliza faces two trials of her development. The first test is at Higgins mothers home where Eliza is introduced to Eynsford Hills, a mother, daughter, and son. The son is evidently convinced of her high society change when he finds himself attracted to her. Then, Elizas second trial takes place months later at an ambassadors party and is a success for Higgins. While Higgins wins his selfish bet, he grows bored with Eliza and she, in turn, does not know what to do with her newly appropriate self which results in a heated argument between the pair. As Eliza escapes to protection at Mrs. Higgins home, Mrs. Higgins scolds the men for playing with Elizas life. Finally, Eliza confronts the two men thanking Pickering for always treating her like a lady and threatening Higgins that she will go against him to work with his rival phonetician. Shaw concludes the tale with Eliza leaving as Higgins shouts out a few errands for her to run, assuming her return, but conveni ently never makes it clear whether she will or not. Throughout the play, Shaw focuses on the interesting, but defective class system in Britain that is defined by appearance and elegance of speech that same to constitute social standing. The language and morals of the characters display the backwards contrasts between the upper, middle, and lower classes. Despite Elizas dilapidated lifestyle, she is still able to retain her honor and good character, and she even frequently repeats, Im a good girl, I am (31, 34, 39, 97). This shows that she is not willing to sell her own body and sacrifice her integrity solely to slightly improve her life. Meanwhile, Henry Higgins, who is supposed to represent the upper-class with his boasted ability to replicate any sound imaginable and to place a man within any part of London demonstrates his expertise in his field, uses vulgar words, however, like bloody, devil, and damned, and treats everyone like dirt. The obvious differences in characterization confirm the problems with the class system as the hi gh moral characters who have proven self-respect and aspire to be better people are in the lower class while crude, offensive characters who were born into their rigid accents and riches are found in the high class. In act five of the play, Eliza makes an intelligent observation that her change came through how Pickerings treated her, rather than what Higgins imposed on her, when she comments that the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how shes treated (106). Her realization clearly portrays that she has transformed beyond her looks and her accent, to be able to make such a knowledgeable statement. Through Elizas revelation brought forth by her upward mobility, Shaw reveals the meaningless pretentious nonsense of Britains obsession with class structure as his underprivileged cockney character makes the most powerful statement of social behavior. This instance is a criticism of social barriers and class distinctions that are held in the Victorian era and it upholds the principle of equal opportunities of wealth and education for everyone, regardless of class and gender. Furthermore, amidst Elizas societal transformation, Shaw also touches on the issue of feminism and gender antagonism. Shaw basically suggests that even when Eliza elevates her status through her appearance and her attitude, she still has no place in society. Although she successfully pulled off her role as a high society woman, and while Higgins assumes that she can simply go her own way with all the advantages I have given her, she is not satisfied with the idea of selling herself into marriage (79). This resolution leaves Eliza terribly confused, and wishing that he left her where he found her because she was more comfortable peddling flowers on a street corner in the rain. This confusion leads up to the turning point of the play as Eliza decides to turn on her creator in Higgins to become her own person independent of his previously overwhelming influence. Shaws conclusion of not divulging to the audience what Eliza chooses to do reflects on the social problems that women were exp eriencing at the time as they were not only fighting for a place in the structure of English society, but for equality against men. Shaw was clever to administer all of Eliza and Higgins interactions in a way that Higgins was intrinsically rude and offensive while Eliza was only trying to improve her life, because it makes the audience feel badly for Eliza and make her more of a protagonist with Higgins as her antagonist. This idea further plays on the audiences emotions because it is relatable to many different issues in that people are always facing challenges in life that they have to overcome in order to succeed. It is also relatable because in real life, people are born into situations that they have to work their way out of and although in todays society, social status is not the same as it was in Victorian Britain, but that does not mean that people do not still demean others based essentially on their social standing. Everyone has been judged at one time or another and therefore Elizas experience draws on the sympathy of his audience, enough be putting itself into Elizas shoes and contemplating how you wo uld feel in her position. Additionally, Shaws decision not to marry Eliza and Higgins was made to make the ending of the story more realistic, and was an honest and agreeable conclusion. If Eliza and Higgins were to be married, their relationship would not have been a happy or mutual relationship, because Higgins has admitted that women upset everything and basically says that women and men are simply incompatible beings (39). If Eliza married Higgins, her new education would have been wasted, thus defeating the purpose of having Higgins educate Eliza, as he would only be expecting her to run errands and make appearances rather than do something with her life. And the two getting married would also have left the audience unsure whether Eliza had truly developed independence, but because the ending is ambiguous, no one can be sure of Elizas true destiny. Shaw chooses to close the play just before any wedding were to occur, to make the audience think about what should happen, rather than what he tells them will happen. First published in 1913. Republished in 2008 by Forgotten Books. ISBN-10: 1595475001 $21.00

Computers: Past, Present And Future :: Information Technology

I have been using computers for as long as I can remember, whether it is for entertainment use or work use, computers are part of our everyday lives. They have an effect on almost everything you do. When you buy groceries at a supermarket, a computer is uesed with laser and barcode technology to scan the price of each item and present a total. Barcoding items (clothes, food and books ) requires a computer to generate the barcode labels and maintain the inventory. Most televison advertisiments and many films use graphics produced by a computer. In hospitals, bedide terminals connected to the hospital's main computer allow doctors to typw in orders for blood tests and to schedule operations. Banks use computers to lool after their customers' money. In libraries and bookshops, computers can help to find the book you want as quikly as possible. This has not always been the case though; computers did not always exist, and are continuously changing to this day. I think one group said it best,† Companies promote it for their employees. Parents demand it for their children. Those who have it believe they have a competitive edge. Those who don't have it seek it out. "It" is a computer. We are rapidly becoming a "computer society" Until recently computers were found only in environmentally controlled rooms behind locked doors. Only computer professionals dared enter these secured premises. In contrast today computers are found in millions of homes and just about every office. In fact there is a computer for one in every eight people in the world. Eventually all of us will have at least one computer and will use it every day for work and leisure.† -EYAL POLAD, YARON TWENA, DORON FREIBERG, and GILAT ELIZOV. Role of Computers in the Past â€Å"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.† –Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 First Generation Almost everything invented or created, has one specific person who has been credited with their invention or creation, but this is not so with the computer. Many people throughout history have added their part to the computer. This could include programs to help the computer run better or faster, some created different kinds of computers, but either way they contributed to the computer we know today. The first â€Å"computer† was developed in 1936 by Konrad Zuse and was named Z1.

Innocence vs. Immorality in Othello Essay -- Othello essays

Innocence vs. Immorality in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚   In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello we find a wide array of moral and immoral conduct, a full range of life’s goodness and badness. Let us in this paper examine the specific types of each, and how they affect the outcome.    In Shakespeare’s Four Giants Blanche Coles comments on the lack of veracity in Iago’s speech:    The story that Iago tells Roderigo about the promotion of Cassio over him is not true, although it has been accepted by many discriminating scholars. Careless reading alone can account for this misapprehension, careless reading which for the moment dulls their alertness to one of the most essential requirements of Shakespearean character analysis. That requirement is that the reader must never accept, or must always be ready to challenge, the word of any character unless the veracity of that character has been established, or unless the statement is accepted by more than one person of confirmed honesty. (76)    Iago’s lying is a type of immoral conduct which the ancient practices from beginning to end of the drama. But is lying his chief motivating evil? Roderigo’s opening lines to Iago in Act 1 Scene 1 take us to the very root of the problem:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tush! never tell me; I take it much unkindly   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this. (1.1)    In other words, the wealthy playboy has been paying off the ancient for the soldier’s intercession with Desdemona on behalf of Roderigo. This payoff has been in progress before the play begins, and it continues even in Cyprus. Yes, it would seem that money is at the root of Iago’s moral downfall, and of all the t... ...rce of evil, namely his supposedly false wife. But Emilia is the one who, in asserting the innocence of her murdered mistress, resuscitates morality in this play. Emilia refutes the untrue notions which Othello says motivated him to kill; she counters Iago’s lies (â€Å"She give it Cassio? No, alas, I found it, / And I did give’t my husband.†) and lays the guilt for Desdemona’s murder on his shoulders. And she sacrifices her very life for the truth; she dies a martyr, stabbed by evil Iago. Othello also is a martyr in a sense, paying in full for the crime that he committed.    WORKS CITED    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Coles, Blanche. Shakespeare’s Four Giants. Rindge, New Hampshire: Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.

Introducing New Software and Hardware :: Sales Consumerism Technology Essays

Introducing New Software and Hardware ICT Coursework-Spreadsheet Identify: Mr Smith, who is the owner of JC SPORTS, has discovered three main problems with his shop's basketball sales, these were due to: 1. The old-fashioned manual systems in his company. (Manual system). 2. The lack of interest for the latest new products on the market. (Marketing system). 3. The lack of a new hardware & software systems. (Computer system). Surprisingly, because of poor product handling, out of all the sales in his sports and design shop, the amount of basketball sports goods sold dropped massively over the past six months. At the time, I happened to assist Mr Smith as he was recording down his sales. Mr Smith was not very clever when it came to using computers. He needed a quite a lot of helping out. Due to the fact that I was one of his best customers, Mr Smith then showed me his most baffling results that he recently found out. The problem was that Mr Smith was pretty old fashioned and used the ancient, long gone manual technology like the typewriter to sort out his business instead of using the modern day computer software and technology such as the word processor and the spreadsheet. Since I was compiling this project, I offered to help him solve this very problem by myself doing a series of analysis on the sales, marketing and systems later on in that very same week. It was a challenge. Mr Smith was very much obliged and gave me his sales report immediately. I also advised him to shape up and use the latest up-to-date, business & industrial technology around him and not use his very old, former technology. Later on at home, as I assessed the report, I took into consideration any possible alternative solutions and objectives of the following concerning a sales analysis, marketing analysis and a system analysis. These were ========== 1. Write a questionnaire: Write questionnaire in Microsoft Word. (For the customers- Customers will fill it in) 2. Do a survey: Plot survey results in Microsoft PowerPoint. (For the customers- Questionnaires will be sent out to customers as part of survey) 3. Enter all information and data into both Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. 4. Cut down prices: this will help by attracting customers who would like to buy the product at an affordable price. 5. Include deals: this is making special offers to customers that they will find hard to resist. 6. Advertise: this will help more and more people, customers and business associates know more about the product. 7. Introduce new appropriate hardware and software. Analyse: Continuing assessing my project, I conducted a feasibility study on

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner Essay

The tone in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner expresses a sense of curiosity and fear. The curiosity of the woman’s life and the fear of the unknown is also established with the author’s diction. The two tones even roll over to the point of view of the story (or point of views for this particular story). â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is based solely on the curiosity and fear that lingers in the community in which Old Miss Emily lives. The tone and attitude of Faulkner’s short piece illustrates the desire to know but the fear of what could be found. The citizens of Jefferson want to know the happenings of the reclusive MissEmily Grierson simply because she does not roam and gossip as they do since the absence of her husband. Although they have the need to pry into her private life, they are scared to face her directly simply because few people have even tried. The theme of curiosity is cognizant with these actions and the tone with which they are portrayed. The theme is also carried throughout the story with the diction that William Faulkner chooses to use. He carefully crafts his work to present a want to expose the hidden life of the old woman. He gives her an awful appearance, a rude personality, and an unreasonable dissent to loneliness. His diction also proves the prying habits of others. Observers of Miss Emily always assume about her condition of life. The observers themselves represent the story in which the way it was depicted. Curiosity and also a little bit of innocence is used very significantly with the point of view of a citizen that characterize the point of view of the entire community of Jefferson. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is told by one person, but the ‘we’ used throughout the plot signifies the communal viewpoint that is shared. The eyes through which the story emerges is nothing more than the perspective of a spectator retelling the stories passed down about Miss Emily. The design of the story is based solely on the wonders of people and their curiosity of others. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner Essay â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a tragic story about a woman named Emily Grierson who, for all her life has been controlled by her father. Once her father dies, Emily does not know, nor understand how to live her own life. At first she denies that her father dies; then after three days, with much pressuring from the locals and the doctors, she admits her father’s death and lets the townspeople bury him. Much of the town is wondering what to expect to happen to Emily. Emily becomes a recluse and sends her manservant, Tobe, who has served the family for generations, out to the market to do the shopping for her. One day, she met a Yankee day laborer named Homer Barron. Homer and Emily began seeing each other and eventually seemed to get serious about their relationship. Emily began to fall in love with Homer, but Homer did not have the same feelings for her. One day, Homer disappeared and was never seen nor heard from again. Many years passed and Emily died. Her cousins were curious and went to her home to see where she had lived her life. Upon their arrival, they find a corpse lying on a bed in a mysterious locked room upstairs. On the bed, next to the corpse there was a â€Å"long strand of iron-gray hair† (36). In â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† William Faulkner tells a story about a young woman who is overly-influenced and controlled by her father. Her father has made all the decisions for her and he chose whom she could and could not be courted by. After her father died, it took Emily three days to finally allow the townspeople to give her father a proper burial, because of her denial that her father had indeed, died. Emily had relied so heavily on her father for all of her life; she did not know what to do, or how to live. After her father’s death, Emily stays in her house where she felt safe, and does not go out into the outside world, regardless of what had happened and changed. As everything changed in the outside world, Emily still lived with the past. For example, when the new city authorities approach Miss. Emily about her taxes, she explains â€Å"See Col. Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson† (31) – even though Col. Sartoris had been dead for ten years. Emily Grierson is described by Faulkner as a short, fat, and mysterious woman who does not accept change. A good example of Emily Grierson refusing any sort of change is when the town wanted to attach numbers on her house and a mailbox for mail service; Emily Grierson refused to conform to the new ideals. When  Emily met a man named Homer Barron, the townspeople are surprised to see this; â€Å"Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer† (33). Miss Emily represents someone who lives in the South and could not accept the real thing that the North takes over the South after the Civil War. â€Å"When the Negro opened the blinds of one window, they could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their things, spinning with slow motes in the single sun ray†(30) is an example of old things. Emily’s house with all the old things represents the Old south, which has to face a new moder n generation. The idea behind this story is about Emily’s inability to conform to the present and leave the past. Emily had been dominated by her father her whole life, because of this, when her father finally passed away, Emily cannot face the truth about her father’s death, or her loneliness. When Emily meets Homer Barron, she felt that she once again had balance and security in her life. She feared that Homer may also leave her one-day and she would be alone again. This is the reason that Emily poisons Homer Barron. It is not until the death of Emily Grierson that we find the truth about the death of Homer Barron and how deep Emily Grierson’s insecurity truly is. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a tragic story that tells the tale of a lonely and isolated woman. The tone, extremely morbid and dark, was set at the beginning. He began the story by telling us the ending. We already know that Emily Grierson has died. He then begins to draw a dynamic picture of how Emily had lived; â€Å"†¦only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores† (29). The tone that Faulkner starts off with the description of Emily Grierson’s residence is a very dramatic and powerful use of description. An outsider looking in to Emily Grierson’s livelihood narrates â€Å"A Rose for Emily† in the third person. This is a very effective way for Faulkner to write this story. By doing this, we are not led into the thoughts of Emily, but more importantly, we know how Emily Grierson is thought of by the locals. Faulkner utilized many symbols in this short story. He used the fact that Emily is stuck in the past, the time when her father was still alive, and the new alderman and townsfolk. These are symbols of the battle that Emily is experiencing between the old south  (past) and the new south (present). At the end of the story, it is shown what William Faulkner meant by a rose, in his title â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. The â€Å"rose† is all of her dust-covered treasures, especially those of her wedding that she wanted; â€Å"†¦this room decked and furnished as for a bridal:upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man’s toilet things backed with the tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured†(36). William Faulkner depicts a very morbid and darktheme. The theme itself fits entirely onto his character, Emily Grierson. I believe Faulkner did a very good job in not only writing this story with a strong theme, but he did it in such a way, in every aspect one could see the theme throughout his short story. I think the vivid drawings of how Emily once lived and who she became is extremely important in â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. Works Cited Kennedy, X.J and Dana Giolia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2005. A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner Essay There are popular sayings that goes â€Å"love moves in mysterious ways† and â€Å"love makes people crazy. † The amalgam of those sayings would somehow serve as a rough description of William Faulkner’s story â€Å"A Rose for Emily. † Since its publication, the story still captures the imagination of many present-day readers—although, in a disturbing way. The title is deceptively, and ingeniously for that matter, designed to make the story seem as a love story. It is important to note that a rose is a generally accepted symbolism for love. However, the story begins with the death of the protagonist. Actually, there are many points in the story that would lead the readers to the conclusion that Faulkner’s story is far from a love story. This reading will be standing beside the argument that â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a love story that presents to the readers love in an unfamiliar form. Faulkner exquisitely described how Emily is madly in love with Homer. She even dreams of being married to him someday. Faulkner’s details resemble a layout of a typical love story. However, all of those beautiful renditions of Emily’s love are just diversions to the author’s twists. When Emily mentioned that she wants to be married to Homer, he replied that â€Å"he was not a marrying man† (366). The reader could almost picture Emily as a rose whose petals are torn by the sharp gust of wind of Homer’s subtle rejection. This particular event of her life had significantly contributed to her impending insanity. And because Emily loves Homer so much, Emily had devised a plan to keep him beside her. She had poisoned Homer, paralyzing him for a moment, and then for eternity. She then set Homer’s lifeless body in her bed, then slept with him—in every context of the word slept. Emily’s version of love could be described as unconventional. The story begins describing how the townspeople of Jefferson (Faulkner’s fictional city) treated her â€Å"†¦a sort of fallen monument† (Faulkner 5). Even though the townspeople treat Emily in a revered manner, it would be arguable that they have love for her. In the first part, Emily is already dead and her pitiful yet gruesome background would be unfolded as the plot progresses. A safer claim to make about the townspeople treatment to Emily is that they pity her at the same time disgusted by her life, or more particularly, her love life. The shocking ending, considered a classic, reveals to the readers that Emily had murdered the one she truly loves, Homer Barron. It is just understandable that the townspeople of Jefferson and the readers (of the real world) would raise the question: could this be considered love? If we would set aside the conventional notions of love (like couples promising to each other eternity, sincerely caring for one another, a mutual understanding, etc. ), Emily’s version of love would certainly be dismissed. However, we could still interpret Emily’s actions as out of love, but to put it more succinctly, it should be categorized as unrequited love. It should not be disputed anymore that anyone is capable love, even those with hints of insanity. Moreover, it is a general notion that a person who loves someone needs some kind of returned love. And if love is unrequited, the most likely effect on the unrequited lover would be a seemingly incurable misery. Emily’s murder of Homer is oftentimes interpreted as an act of desperation. On the other hand, it could also regarded as an reaction to the subliminal messages of her love and passion for Homer. As we know of love, through literature and real life, it could paint in our minds illusions of being easily loved back. Emily may have been genuinely convinced that she would someday marry Homer and that they would spend eternity in each other’s arms. The living Homer had rejected her proposal, she may have immediately though that the dead Homer may compromise. Moreover, she had set the dead body in a bed, a symbolism for marriage. In addition, it is implied that she had slept with the dead body of Homer. It is important to consider that the context of the story is a time period where the people are mostly conservatives, especially the aristocrats like Emily’s family. It could be interpreted that she did not slept with the body out of mere lust, it could be something close to being love itself. Emily’s life could be considered lacking love. The title, â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, suggests that she desperately needs to be loved. She loved her aristocratic lifestyle and her father who provides it for her. But when her father had passed away, she may have felt that all she loved had gone to grave with her father, â€Å"†¦being left alone and a pauper, she had become humanized† (366). Considering her mental state, she had found love in Homer, he does not want to be with her, it is just understandable that she would do anything to be with the one she loves. After all, the topic at hand is love, a term and a concept with no satisfying definition. Even science admits that love is more than just chemical reactions. If we would delve further in this attempt to understand love, we might just end up mad like Emily. Works Cited Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Longman, 2001 â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner Essay â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short story by American author William Faulkner. It tells about an old woman named Emily Grierson lives in the town of Jefferson. The tale sets in the early nineteen hundreds, it opens with the town finding out about Emily’s death. Through the whole story, people learn of the life and times of Emily, her relationship with the town, her father and her lover. People find out the truth that Emily was hiding at the end of the story. There are many different symbolisms in the story Among all of the symbolisms , the monument, the frame, the grey hair, the house and a rose are the most important and thoughtful ones throughout the entire story. The monument appears in the beginning of the story as the first symbolism. â€Å"When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument†(A Rose For Emily). Faulkner calls Emily a â€Å"fallen monument†, it also could understand as an â€Å"idol in a niche†. It shows that how the town views her and to connect her to the idea of the old, genteel Southern ways. The modern townspeople don’t know what to do with her, and she is so closed off to them, but they respect her enough to just leave her alone. Like Faulkner states, she was like a statue — only representing a real, living person and â€Å"thus she passed from generation to generation — dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse.† In her old age she is seen as a monument to the past that is never seen outside of her house. All of the respect that her father had earned died with the old men and women of the town. Frames also seem to be symbolic in â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† One of the examples is the scene where the narrator is describing Miss Emily’s father as standing in the foreground and framed by the doorway as he held would be suitors at bay. Meanwhile Miss Emily is framed in the background. Emily’s father. Mr. Grierson is a controlling, looming presence even in death, and the community clearly sees his lasting influence over Emily. Also he references framing with reference to her crayon picture of her father in the gold frame. The whole story is framed in the idea of traditions dying out as time passes. monument† who left a part of her behind in the grey hair. The single grey hair on the pillow is another symbolism. The old hair on the pillow signifies that Emily is a history in the town now, lying with corpses as all that she has had to be proud of is also dead. Her desperate attempt to maintain a hold upon the past has failed and she is a â€Å"fallen angel’. The house that Emily lives in is a symbolism that shows the decay as Emily begin getting older and older. The house at one time was one of the most beautiful homes in the whole town of Jefferson. In Emily’s youth the house was always well kept. As Emily aged so did the house she lived in. The street she lives in from the symbolic of high class became the worst for the entire town. With faded paint and an unkempt yard it even began to smell at one point. The men of the old Jefferson would never tell a lady that her house smelled so they cured the smell themselves. It would seem that the house and Emily where connected in a way. Both of them had grown old and lost their brightness. The house was also looked at in the same way as Emily. Emily lost her mind and her looks. The house lost the beauty it once held due to old age. They where looked at as a monument to the past. The most important symbolism among the all in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is in the title itself. The rose is most often thought of as a symbol for love in the case Homer is the â€Å"rose† or love for Emily. Her father thought there was no man was good enough for her or for the Grierson family. Therefore she was never able to experience passion or the rose of love until she met Homer. The rose for Emily is hope, and passion. However, there is another meaning of rose to consider. However, the rose in the title of the story could therefore stand for Emily’s secret; that is Homer her â€Å"rose† whom she cherished, loved and kept to herself even after his body was corrupted by the decay of time. While Faulkner had many symbolisms in â€Å"A Rose For Emily†, the symbolisms of the monument, the frame, the grey hair, the house and a rose are the most important and worthful ones throughout the entire story. Author William Faulkner truly wrote a wonderful story about an old women who loses her mind. â€Å"A Rose For Emily† uses different symbolisms to show the way in which people all grow old and decay, it tells a story of fallen angel Emily’s life. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner Essay Love, obsession and Gossip In â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† William Faulkner uses the point of view of the townspeople to show their personal opinions and judgment’s of Miss Emily. He writes a story about a woman who is traumatized by the way her father has raised her and the effects of his strict and overprotective mentality. Because of her father’s death she finds it difficult to let go and live a normal life that involves social interaction. To make matters worse than her anti-social attitude, Emily is stereotyped and judged by those in her community. In light of her upbringing and the judgments of the townspeople, Emily becomes attached to anyone who shows her attention. In turn, she is very protective and insecure of herself in her ability to keep those who she cares about in her life. Emily’s father was a wealthy man who would stop at nothing to make his daughter happy, or so he thought. He was said to be so wealthy that he â€Å"had loaned money to the town† (432). He was very strict with Miss Emily in that he would not let any males come to visit or even come near her. Faulkner illustrates this characteristic in writing, â€Å"None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such† (434). The relationships and love that Emily desired were brutally taken away from her because of her father’s struggle to maintain the family status. The author illustrates this by explaining her situation, â€Å"†¦ even with insanity in the family she wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized† (434). Regardless if Emily wanted to date or not, her father would not let ny of her relationships flourish. Because of her father’s attitude, Emily grew to be very sheltered, and it was no surprise to the town that she was single at the age of thirty. Her father was selfish, and his selfishness abolished all hopes of happiness for her. She felt stuck in her father’s world with no way out. Not only did she feel alone, but she was also under extreme pressure to live up to her father’s name and maintain the families status in their town. Emily’s need to have someone in her life becomes so great that it leads her to stray from her father’s expectations. This is evident when Miss Emily begins to show interest in Homer Barron, a â€Å"Yankee† construction foreman. Emily’s actions raise a dispute of feelings among the townspeople, â€Å"†¦because the ladies all said, ‘Of course a Grierson would not think  seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer.’ But there were still others, old people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige-without calling it noblesse oblige† (435). The difference in opinions of the townspeople suggests the generation gap and values of the different generations. The new and old generationsâ€℠¢ values conflict because they each believe in different ideas. The older townspeople want Emily to behave appropriately and live up to her family’s name. They are also more willing to help Emily in her endeavours because they think of her as proper and noble. The older generation of townspeople felt that her family was â€Å"a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor-†¦-remitted her taxes† (432). The older generation performed favors for Emily because of her family’s status and heritage. They wanted Miss Emily to fail because it would satisfy their hidden jealousies. The new generation on the other hand, is not as compassionate toward her because they are only familiar with her, not her past relatives, who were well respected and admired. The new generation was not favorable to her past situation. â€Å"When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction† (432). The arrangement of Emily’s remitted taxes was not accepted by the new generation of town officials. Faulkner illustrates the difference in values near the beginning of the story to introduce the reader to Emily’s situation. Throughout the story, evidence proves that Emily’s every move is scrutinized by her community. For example, when the story opens, everyone in the town is at her funeral. Faulkner writes, â€Å"Our whole town went to the funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man servant-a combined gardener and cook-had seen in at least ten years†( 431). The people of the town go to Miss Emily’s funeral, not out of respect, but out of hypocrisy and curiosity. The community views her as a â€Å"fallen monument.† The men in the town attend the funeral to respect her family’s name and her father’s suc cess while the women went solely to judge her home. In other words, she was once looked upon highly, but through the years she became a recluse and detached herself from society. Emily’s reasons for secluding herself from society go back to when her father was alive and he was her world. After her  father’s death, she has a hard time dealing with the fact that he has passed on because now she is alone. Her father kept her from finding anyone worth marrying, so now she will have to live by herself. The reader can reason Emily’s importance of her father from Faulkner’s writing, â€Å"On a tarnished gilt easel before the fireplace stood a crayon portrait of Miss Emily’s father† (432). The reader can assume that the portrait was drawn by her and she is trying to hold onto the only person left in her life. The loss of her father leads Emily to pursue a relationship with the northerner, Homer Barron. Emily becomes attached to him because she is lonely and feels rejected by the town. The traditions , customs, and prejudices of the South doom their â€Å"so-called† affair to end. Emily and him would take drives and attend church together, but according to Faulkner’s story Emily discovers that he is not attracted to women. She is already in an unstable state of mind and this information pushes her to the extreme. Emily’s relationship with Barron becomes an obsession rather than a love or compassion. Her obsession forces her to take things to the next level. Emily buys items which point towards marriage and the town begins to talk, as usual. According to Faulkner, Emily purchases â€Å"a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. On each piece† and â€Å"a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt† (436). Emily’s beliefs that she was going to have this man forever cause her to buy these things. In Emily’s eyes, whether he wanted to be with her or not, she was determined to have him for her own. The reader does not discover that she has secretly poisoned Homer Barron with arsenic until the end of the story. Out of curiosity the townspeople search her home, but not until after her burial. Their findings satisfies their desire to know the real truth about her. Faulkner writes, â€Å"The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him† (438). This statement proves that Emily kills Homer out of desperation because she new that by killing him he would never leave her like her father did, because this sleep would, â€Å"outlast love†. Miss Emily’s father had sheltered her so much that she could not possibly see herself alone again. All of Miss Emily’s actions throughout her life, prove that she did not kill Homer out of love, but out of desperation and loneliness. She became her father’s child and sheltered Homer like her father had once sheltered her.  Homer was Emily’s â€Å"rose† and she was not going to let it die.

Hierarchy and power within East and Western enterprises

Hierarchy and power within East and Western enterprises. Introduction Culture is the way we live. It is the clothes we wear, the foods we eat, the languages we speak, the stories we tell, and the ways we celebrate. Culture is also about our roots. Where did our ancestors come from? What do we believe? What makes our lives different from the lives of others? Kalmia, B. (2009). Nations may share civilizations, but they will always be distinct in their culture, since culture defines what they are. Scranton, R. (2007).The globalization of markets and production continues to bring together people room different cultures and countries in culturally diverse organizations. In the field of international management, it is important not only to recognize these diversities, but it is also vital to understand the cultural differences for the purpose of connecting with and motivating knowledge workers. Traditionally, these cultural distinctions have been classified into ‘eastern' and ‘ western' views that widely vary with respect to workplace activities and, more specifically, with respect to knowledge management.With the ‘western' view being more focused on explicit knowledge and tangible individualistic motivational factors, and the ‘eastern' view on tacit knowledge and abstract workplace principles; it becomes evident that management of these different cultural perspectives is becoming increasingly complex yet critical in the global workplace. An understanding of these differing views is therefore necessary for effective management in the international sphere, specifically for providing a means for better cross- cultural understanding and successful knowledge transfer.Management Tasks planning- The goals and objectives Of a company or department are established, as well s determining what actions are needed to achieve. Organizing- organizing actions needed to achieve the goals. Staffing- The task of allocating employees to particular positions withi n the company. Directing- This has to do with leading the organization and its employees towards its goals. Controlling- Monitoring the performance of the company or department is a task for which different cultures may use different systems and approaches.Effect of cultural values on management The way tasks and responsibilities are performed in management can be examined in the light of key number of cultural values. Eight cultural value orientations have a considerable influence on the way managers perform their activities. The eight cultural values which can be called as model of culture is, Time focus (Monochromatic and polymorphic) Different cultures have different perceptions of time according to their environment, history, traditions and general practices. In eastern culture where monochromatic perception of time prevails, time is experienced and used in a linear way. People tend to do one activity at a time. For example in eastern culture, people have the diner and then do the home work or read a book. In western culture where polymorphic time is preferred ,people tend to focus on several tasks and and are less dependent on detailed information when performing these tasks. For example in western culture, people have diner while doing the home work or reading a book. Time focus and management tasks Monochromatic Culture (Eastern perspective) Planning- The focus of activity is more on the task itself and Making schedules.Organizing- The approach used is structured,Linear and task- focused. Staffing- Concerns focused on shorter term. Directing- Managing the inflow and Distribution of detailed information. Controlling- Tendency to Use control systems and strict deadlines. Polymorphic Culture (Western perspective) planning- The focus Of activity is more on relationships when planning. Organizing- The approach is less structured one, More holistic and people- focused. Staffing- Focus on longer term. Directing- Sharing of implicit knowledge/information. Cont rolling- Tendency to use more flexible control systems involving people.Time orientation (past, present and future) Culture focused on the past value the upholding tradition in line with the history of the company and the way it usually does things. Those cultures concerned with the present are out quick results and short-term gain. Those with the view towards the future, plans are assessed in the light of expected future benefit. Power (Hierarchy and Equality) The Power value orientation is to do with the extent to which the less powerful members of a society expect or accept that power is distributed unequally.At work,the level of power and authority are strictly marked out by some eastern cultures oriented to hierarchy. There ,the employees do their work according to the directives of their boss. Len eastern cultures the manager as a separate room from other employees indeed to show up the power distance between the employees and the manager. Companies in west,oriented towards eq uality there will be more informal structures based on expertise focused on certain projects. Len western cultures the manager works at the same table where the other staffs work.This shows the equality between the manager and the staffs. Power and management tasks Hierarchy (Eastern perspective) Planning- More autocratic or paternalistic planning is displayed. Organizing- The Organizational structure is tightly controlled. Staffing- Us borderlines expect bosses to take the initiative to train,developing promote them. Directing- Employees like being closely supervised and feel comfortable with a directive supervisor. Controlling- Employees prefer the personal control Of superiors. Equality (Western perspective) Planning- Employees may implement the plan.More participative planning. Organizing- Organizational structure encourages individual autonomy Staffing- Work relationships should not be strictly prescribed. Directing- Managers exhibit participative or consultative styles. Contro lling- Subordinates develop performance objectives with their bosses. Space (private and public) One aspect of space orientation is related to private or public space. Another aspect related to invisible boundary around every person. The concept of space can be seen in terms Of personality.There can be cultural differences in the relative size of people's public and private spaces and also in the degree to which they feel comfortable sharing those parts of their personality with other people. In Eastern workplace managers and employees do not share the same office ,but in western workplace the location or size of the place here an employee works does not necessarily reflect that persons rank in the company. The influence of personal space at work Private Planning- Forms of planning: individualistic or systematic. Organizing- More task-centered. Staffing- Explicit information about how staff are to be employed.Directing-. Managers and employees do not share the same office Controllin g- Explicit measures of performance public Planning- Group-oriented or authoritative forms Organizing- Relationship-centered approaches Staffing- Implicit information Directing-. Size of the place where an employee works does not reflect the arson's rank Controlling- Managers can use more informal checks on performance Structure (Individualism and Collectivism) Individualism Individualism, can be defined as a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only.Individualism shows the extent to which cultures elevate the role of the individual over the role of the group. When individualism is valued the â€Å"I† predominates over the â€Å"we† Individual goals, initiative and achievement are most important and people are encouraged to be independent and self-reliant. Collectivism Collectivism represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can e xpect their relatives or members of a particular in- group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.Most of the Eastern cultures place more importance on personal relationships rather than the task to be performed or the deal to be completed. Example Along with the collectivist nature Of the individuals a team based behavior can be seen in the work place environments in Sir Lankan. Similarly there is a new concept which is identical within the emirates airlines which is known as the Family concept. The boss is the ‘father' and the employees are the ‘children'. The father tells the children what to do but also looks after them and cares for them. The ‘children' do as they are told and show their father ‘respect'.It is a two-way relationship in which all parties benefit. This can be comparable to the team based relationship oriented work place conditions in Sir Lankan. Highly individualist cultures (Western) believe individual is most important unit People taking care of themselves (including immediately family only) Self- orientation Identity based on individual Guilt culture Making decisions based on individual needs â€Å"l† mentality Emphasis on individual initiative and achievement Highly collectivist cultures (Eastern) believe group is most important unit.Expect absolute loyalty to group (nuclear family, extended family, caste, organization) Group orientation Decisions based on what is best for the group. Identity based on social system Shame culture Dependence on organization and institutions (Expects organization / institution / group to take care of individual) â€Å"We† mentality Emphasis on belonging Structure and management task Individualism (western perspective) leaning- It is expected that those involved in planning will take initiative to present their views. Organizing-Tasks assignment and resources allocation.Staffing- Organizations are not expected to look after their employees career devel opment. Directing-Leaders expect employees to meet or exceed their responsibilities. Controlling- Control tends to be exerted by individual standards of excellence. Collectivism (Eastern perspective) Planning- plans are developed within the shared values used for measuring activities in the organizations. Organizing- organizational structures emphasize he group; the team is assigned tasks and resources. Staffing- promotions are are based primarily on seniority.Directing- Leaders expect loyalty in exchange for protection. Controlling- Deviations from standards and expectations is discouraged through group oriented pressure. Conclusion General management and knowledge management theories and practices have to be viewed and reviewed in the context of local cultures. In an organization, the managers bring values, experiences and beliefs that are profoundly rooted in their national cultures. Even the perspective of hat management actually entails varies widely across different national c ultures.The model of culture has been applied to the world of international business and the daily tasks of a manager examined in terms of cultural values. Individual's frame work of cultural preferences influences the way in which their tasks are executed. Management tasks in the firms varies according to the culture Management tasks in western enterprises varies from the management tasks that are carried out by eastern enterprises. Additional studies must be undertaken to have a thorough understanding of the cultural rabbles.Without Andean different perspectives from the traditional and AC opted frameworks, such as Hypotheses dimensions, organizations cannot leverage the strengths of the global economy, which can make the difference between survival and success for today's firms.

Luxor Cosmetics Executive Summary Essay

Question 1 2008Variable manufacturing cost as a percentage of selling price Product(Variable manufacturing cost/WSP Production)Mark up Lipstick16.8/2180%(21/16.8)-125% Nail polish10.5/1570%(15/10.5)-143% Creams2.8/5.650%(5.6/2.8)-1100% 2010 Product Lipstick15.3/1885%(18/15.3)-118% Nail polish9.3/11.680%(11.6/9.3)-125% Creams3.3/6.650%(6.6/3.3)+1100% *Note that these calculations are done for goods produced in the year in question Question 2 (cost of goods manufactured in 2008/ sales value for units produced in 2008) * ending inventory 2008 (16.8/21) * 11.5 9.748million Question 3 Luxor uses a FIFO inventory system, so the inventory that is sold first actually may come from prior years. Because of this, goods that are sold in each year need to be separated into goods produced in that year and goods produced in prior years. This is necessary to do because the percentage of the COGS that is variable is slightly different from year to year. 2009 Cost of Goods Sold: 6.3M from inventory on hand at beginning of year (produced in 2008 under FIFO) 2.3M from inventory produced in 2009  2010 Cost of Goods Sold:  8.2M from inventory on hand at beginning of year (produced in 2009 under FIFO) 0.3M from inventory produced in 2010  We now must determine the percentage of COGS that is variable for goods produced in 2008, 2009 and 2010: 2008 10.5M/(10.5M+0.7M) =93.75% 2009 9.8M/(9.8M+0.7M) = 93.333333% 2010 9.3M/(9.3M+0.6M) =93.939393% We now apply these percentages to the COGS for 2009 and 2010 to determine the total variable cost for each year. 2009 Variable COGS = (6.3M * .9375) + (2.3M * .93333333) = $8.0529M 2010 Variable COGS = (8.2M * .93333333) + (0.3M * .9393939393) = $7.9352M Assuming the variable manufacturing cost per unit was the same in 2009 and 2010, a higher variable cost of goods sold means that more units were sold. Since the variable COGS in 2009 is higher in 2009 than it is in 2010, we can conclude that the sales volume of nail polish decreased in 2010. Question 4 Let x = Break Even SalesF = Marketing & Promotion + General Administration + Interest + Fixed Manufacturing Costs Let F = Total Fixed CostsF = 3.4 + 1.3 + 1.8 + 1 Let V = Variable Costs Per Dollar of Sales7.5 V is easily estimated by (COGS-Fixed Costs) /Sales There is a small amount of fixed costs in COGS which means that it is not strictly variable, but for our purposes that makes a very small, immaterial difference and the question only requires an approximation. V = (27.7-1)/33.5 0.7970 x = F + Vx x = 7.5 + 0.7970x 0.2030x = 7.5 x = 36.95 Break even sales are approximately $36.95 Million Question 5 Let x = Break Even SalesF = Marketing & Promotion + General Administration + Interest Let F = Total Fixed CostsF = 3.3 + 1.3 + 1.1 + 1 Let V = COGS Per Dollar of Sales6.7 Again, V is easily estimated by COGS/Sales There is a small amount of fixed costs in COGS which means that it is not strictly variable, but for our purposes that makes a very small, immaterial difference and the question only requires an approximation. V = (27.7-1)/33.5 0.7970 x = 33.00 x = F + Vx x = 6.7 + 0.7970x 0.2030x = 6.7 The new breakeven sales for 2012 would be approximately 33.00, given that 2012 is approximately similar to 2011. The firm is more likely to breakeven than the previous year if they can keep their sales constant and do not produce more than they can sell. Although with current trends of sales over the past few years, it could be estimated that breakeven is not likely. With the current trends sales could be estimated somewhere around 32 million, in which case the firm would not breakeven in 2012. Question 6 Inventory Schedule – 2011 Budget InventoryLipstickNail PolishCreams Inventory (12/31 2010 Actual)15.011.41.2 Planned Production * 19.013.08.0 Goods Available for Sale34.024.49.2 Budgeted Sales19.013.08.0 Ending Inventory (12/31/2011 Budget)15.011.41.2 * Planned production is to produce the same amount as the planned sales, as per sales manager Budgeted Cost of Goods Manufactured and Sold – 2011 Budget Variable Manufacturing Cost (Budget)0.90.90.6 17.911.74.4 Fixed Manufacturing Cost (Budget)0.80.60.6 Cost of Goods Manufactured18.712.35.0 Inventory (12/31/2010 Actual) 13.69.60.7 Goods Available for Sale32.321.95.7 Inventory (12/31/2011 Budget)0.90.90.6 14.110.40.7 Budgeted Cost of Goods Sold 18.211.45.1 MARGINS1.01.11.6 0.00.10.6 Variable Manufacturing Cost – First, find the factor of Variable Manufacturing cost to planned production, less fixed manufacturing cost i.e. – 6.8/(8.0-.0.8) = 0.9 (From Exhibit 2) Inventory – Find the factor of budgeted ending inventory cost to budget inventory value i.e. – 6.6/7.0 = 0.9 (from Exhibit 2) Margins – (Budgeted Sales/Budgeted Cost of Goods Sold) – 1 i.e. – (19.0/18.2) – 1 = 1.0 (rounded) Income Statement – 2011 BudgetCash Flow – 2011 Budget Sales40.0Cash Receipts From Customers40.0 Cost of Goods Sold34.7 Gross Margin5.3Cash disbursements Marketing & Promotion3.6Variable Manufacturing34.1 General Administration1.3Fixed Manufacturing1.0 Interest1.8Marketing and Promotion3.6 Pretax Income-1.4General Administration1.3 Interest1.8 Pro-Forma Year-End Balance Sheet – 2011 BudgetTotal Disbursements41.8 Assets Cash0.0Beginning Cash5.5 Miscellaneous Current Assets3.0+ Receipts40.0 Inventory0.0- Disbursements41.8 Property & Equipment11.2- Loan Repayment10.0 Goodwill9.3Ending Cash (Budgeted)-6.3 Total Assets23.5 Equities Bank Loan16.3 Miscellaneous Current Liabilities4.0 Common Stock12.5 Retained Earnings *9.7 Total Equities42.5 * The Retained Earnings are 9.7 in this budget, which is adjusted from the previous budget to account for an additional $0.7 M loss i.e. – 10.4 – 0.7 = 9.7 Question 7 Through the implementation of the suggested changes in allocation, more of the fixed costs will be allocated to the cream products because this product line has the highest margin (as shown in the budgeted Cost of Goods Manufactured above), even though creams have the lowest total sales value. This will lead to more of the fixed costs being incorporated into the Cost of Goods sold, and not into the ending inventory numbers, therefore decreasing pre-tax income even further. Allocating the fixed costs in this manner would not affect the Cash Flow Statement in any way, as the fixed costs would still lead to a cash disbursement of an equal value regardless of which product line they are allocated to. Question 8 Luxor Cosmetics is a company that is stuck in a dying market because most of their customers that buy the lipstick and nail polish are women aged 45 to 75 who are in the lower income group. As that group gets older and older they have less need for cosmetics so they buy less and less. The sales will continue to drop and we will get less and less profitable. A way to combat this is to reposition ourselves in the market. We need to find a way to get ourselves into a better market that is more eager to buy cosmetics. One way of doing this would be to start targeting a new demographic of women who will buy our products. We could also avoid the non-wholesale market because that way we would get bigger orders and be able to budget better. However if we do this we will have to consider the possibility that we will have to lower our prices and we will have less profits in the end but we will have more sales. We should reinvest in the company that we purchased in the 1990s. We had a product t hat we were going to aim at teenagers but we abandoned the company due to the dotcom crash; we should look at getting that company running. We should reinvest in the company that we abandoned because the market has recovered now. We would get a brand new customer base and we could have increased sales. Plus we already own the company and it does no benefit to us just sitting on the books not generating any profits. It is an environmentally friendly product and environmentally friendly products are becoming more and more popular today. We could make the company seem very socially responsible and that would build us a better reputation and may make our sales in our existing company increase substantially. The goodwill that is on the books today was acquired when we bought the environmentally friendly company in the 1990’s and yet we have not revalued it since then. The asset impairment test should be done on goodwill to see how much of the goodwill exists anymore. It is possible that the asset of goodwill should not exist on the books for Luxor at all anymore. And it is just making our financial statements misleading for investors. If we adjust this properly we will have a more realistic picture of our company as it stands now. This way we will not have misleading financial statements anymore. There are a few ethical issues in the case. The first is that there is pressure for the numbers to be fudged, but as a  professional accountant that cannot be done. We do not want to make the statements misleading so that the bank is coaxed into giving us a loan that we cannot afford. We cannot fudge the statements to meet our needs because someone would figure it out and we would not get away with it and overall it is highly unethical. The other is following the policy that is set in place for how to account for certain things. If our inventory is not usable anymore we should not be keeping it on the books hoping it will make us look better. This is not appropriate and should be written off and adjusted for the fact that it is now obsolete.

A Story About Courage Essay

Waking up in the morning to birds chirping and the warm summer breeze is almost impossible when you live in the heart of New York City, well it is for me at least. My name is Sandy Collins, I’m your typical teenage girl. I like going out with my friends, having slumber parties, and going shopping. I moved from Texas to New York City a month and a half ago. The moment I stepped out of the car I instantly loved the change. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy living in Texas, but now living in New York felt like it made much more sense. As a child I did everything with my dad. Biking, fishing, rollerblading, you name it. I, Sandy Collins has done it. My dad always said he wanted a better life for me then what he had, he sure meant it. Back when I was almost eleven years old my parents got a divorce, great birthday present, huh? At first when I’d walk into the room where my parents would be arguing, they’d pretend they were only talking loud of some sort. But as the months went by, they didn’t even noticed when I’d enter the room. Soon after that my mom filed for a divorce, leaving me in the middle. It was hard to cope with it to begin with, but soon after that I realized I had no part in what happened. Now four years later here I am making the decision to move in with my dad. When I first mentioned moving to New York to my mom, her reaction was absolutely no. After mentioning it a few more times, giving her a month or two, she finally realized that I should be able to make my own decisions because in the end it’d make me happier. Now five months after, BAM! New York City here I come. The twelve hour drive was definitely the worst road trip, bonding time, or whatever my mom would wish to call it. She came up with a clever idea to shove me, my seven year old brother Ricky, my stepfather Joe, and herself in our beat up Toyota Tercel and take on the task to drive us all the way to New York for the last bonding time she’ll have with me in a long time. Not to mention we’re in the month of July. â€Å"Sweetie would you like something to eat? † mom said shaking my shoulder. I’d fallen asleep three hours into the drive. We ordered from the nearest fast food place, Mcdondalds, filling all our hungry appetites. After about ten hours I became so bored I started to play with the lose thread on my shirt. I could tell Ricky wasn’t having any more fun then I was considering he was opening and closing the screen of his Nintendo DS over and over and over again. The traffic became agony, there’s no doubt that you could put your car in park for five minutes and no would notice. Finally after hours of traffic we arrived at the house. Dad had just walked out the front door waving and smiling. â€Å"Dad! † I exclaimed while giving him a giant bear hug. â€Å"Hi hunny, I’m so glad you’re here. Dad said smiling. â€Å"Nice place you got here† Joe said examining it with his eyes. We’ve never been to dad’s place before, he’d always come to Texas to visit on special occasions and my birthday’s. â€Å"Now you be good, call whenever you have the time and no late night walks, New York is very different then back home. † Mom said. She kept going on until she had run out of things to say. â€Å"Okay, Okay mom. See you at thanksgiving, love you. † I said giving her a hug. I realized after saying that, that made her take-in how long it’d be until we’d see each other again. After saying goodbye to everyone I knew I’d miss each and everyone back home in Texas terribly but I had a feeling this was a change for the better. What we had left of the day, dad decided it’d be a good idea to show me around the neighbourhood. â€Å"Your hair is so straight and black now† dad said. â€Å"Yeah, I coloured it a few months ago. I thought it was time for some change, like moving here. † I said smiling. For the next month dad and I went fishing, rollerblading, shopping, and all the other things we used to do when mom and he were together. I even met a new friend, Paige. She’s the neighbour’s daughter; she told me we’d be attending the same school together up the street when school re-opens in two weeks. The next day we arranged to go shopping. â€Å"Hey dad, would it be okay if I go shopping with Paige today? † I said. â€Å"Sure hunny, I have to run a few errands and do some grocery shopping anyway, so I’ll drop you two off at the mall. † Dad said, smiling as always. Paige is so nice and out-going to be around. My friends in Texas were more down-to-earth. We would still go places and what not, but Paige’s personality screams fun. â€Å"We need to spice up your wardrobe, all of your out-fits are too toned down for NYC. † Paige said, trying on a vintage pair of black boots. After a couple of hours of shopping, we grabbed something to eat and went home. Home I kept thinking. I like it here, being with my dad made me so much happier. Walking down the busy streets of New York with the sound of cars honking, people shouting for taxis, bargainers trying to sell you their no more than $5 junk, was now what I got to call home. Oddly I loved it. When I got home I took my shopping bags to my room and headed downstairs to watch T. V while waiting on my dad to come home and make dinner. As I reached for the television remote the phone rang. â€Å"Hello, may I speak to Mr. Collins? † â€Å"He’s not home at the moment; would you like me to take a message? † â€Å"Sure, is this Ms. Collins? † â€Å"Yes it is. † I said, realizing soon after this person was probably referring to Ms. Collins as if I was my dad’s wife. A moment before I was about to correct myself, the person started speaking again. Oh, hi Ms. Collins, this is Tom’s doctor, Dr. Lee. Unfortunately I have to break the bad news to you; Tom’s cancer results have come in positive. He has cancer in his right lung and it’s too late to attempt to cure it. I’m extremely sorry to tell you this way; Tom’s appointment was re-scheduled in two weeks from now when school re-opens, he cancelled the appointment scheduled for today knowing he’d want to spend as much time with your daughter arriving from Texas before school started. When I got the results, knowing Tom for so long, I wanted him to know as soon as possible. † I didn’t know what to do, I held the phone to my ear ready to reply but my mind went blank. Eventually I replied and hung up the phone. Did I really just hear that? No, it couldn’t be. My dad couldn’t have cancer, he just couldn’t. Who am I kidding!? His doctor called for god sakes, I just didn’t want to believe it. Moments later my dad walked in the front door. â€Å"Hi hunny. † He said smiling.