The Origin and Fate of the Universe †Physics Essay

The Origin and Fate of the Universe – Physics Essay Free Online Research Papers The Origin and Fate of the Universe Physics Essay After reading Stephen Hawking’s eighth chapter entitled, â€Å"The Origin and Fate of the Universe†, I was intrigued and fascinated by his method of thinking on the matter. According to Einstein’s initial general theory of relativity, the universe was formed with the occurrence of the Big Bang and it would eventually end with the event of the Big Crunch. But when consulting quantum effects further, the mass or energy initially created must ultimately be returned to the rest of universe. That means that black holes and singularities within it would disappear. The drastic clout that quantum effects have is very interesting and captivating. This is a universal topic because it involves every human being that has ever lived and will eventually decide our future. That is why I find this topic so relevant and fascinating. With the recent death of Pope John Paul II, I really found the part regarding the late Pope’s advice interesting. At the meeting with Stephen Hawking and others, the Pope instructed them all to pursue their interest in the evolution of the universe but not to delve into the Big Bang which is supposed to be the moment of creation. This is a very controversial subject with religion and science and I was intrigued by how they handled the situation. The model that Hawking had in mind revolved around the basis that when the universe expands, any matter or radiation in the universe becomes cooler. The temperature drops as the universe gets bigger. The temperature is a measure of the energy of the particles and when there are very high temperatures, such as the Big Bang, particles move so incredibly fast that they can avoid any attraction to each other due to the nuclear and electromagnetic forces. With the higher temperatures, particles contain more energy within themselves. So basically, with this theory, at the time of the Big Bang the universe had zero size and was infinitely hot. Then as time progressed, the universe expanded and the temperature decreased. This is the origin and fate of the universe through the eyes of Stephen Hawking himself. Research Papers on The Origin and Fate of the Universe - Physics EssayInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThree Concepts of PsychodynamicEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayCapital PunishmentBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfBringing Democracy to AfricaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaQuebec and CanadaCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion

Strategies for Graduating College Early to Save Money

Strategies for Graduating College Early to Save Money Many of the top private colleges and private universities in the country now have a total sticker price hovering around $70,000 a year. Some public universities have total costs of well over $50,000 a year for out-of-state students. However, even if you dont qualify for financial aid, theres an obvious way to reduce your college costs: Graduate from college early. Finishing college in three and a half or even three years can save you tens of thousands of dollars. How to Fast Track Your College Career So how can you graduate early? The math is pretty simple. A typical college load is four classes a semester, so in a year youre likely to take eight classes. To graduate a year early, you need to acquire eight classes worth of credit. You can do this a few ways: Take as many AP courses as you can. If you score 4s or 5s on the AP exam, most colleges will give you course credit. In some cases, a score of 3 will earn credit.If you have the option of an International Baccalaureate program, you can often earn college credit if you score well on your IB exams.If your high school has dual enrollment options with a local college, the credits you earn will often transfer to your undergraduate institution.  Take all available placement exams when you arrive at college. Many colleges offer placement exams in subjects like language, math, and writing. If you can place out of a few requirements, youll be in a better position to graduate early.Take community college courses for general education classes like writing, history, or introduction to psychology. Course credits will often transfer. Summer, even the summer before college, is a good time to rack up credits. Be sure to check with your colleges Registrar first to make sure the course credits will transfer. If you plan to study abroad, pick your program carefully. Youll need to transfer credits back to your college, so you want a program where all of your course work is going to count towards graduation.Take the maximum number of credits allowed when youre in college. If you have a strong work ethic, you can pack more into a semester than the average student. By doing so, youll fulfill all of your academic requirements sooner. With some professional programs such as engineering and education, graduating early is rarely an option (in fact, often students end up taking more than four years). The Downside of Graduating Early Realize there are some disadvantages to graduating early, and youll have to weigh these factors against the financial perks: Youll have less time to build relationships with your professors. As a result, youll have less opportunity to conduct meaningful research projects with the faculty, and your professors wont know you as well when you need letters of recommendation.Youll be graduating with a different class than the one you entered with. This isnt necessarily a big deal, but you may find that you end up without a solid sense of class affinity.Youll simply have less time to grow and mature. Many college students really blossom during senior year as their experience and confidence grow.For many students, college is a wonderful time for  making new friends, growing intellectually, and discovering ones self. Students are often in tears at graduation because they are sad to have college come to an end. Make sure you really want to  rush this time of your life.This is related to many of the above points, but with less time to gain research and internship experiences, and with less time to foster meaningf ul relationships with the faculty, youll be in a weaker position when applying to jobs or graduate school. Its possible the money you save from graduating early will be lost with lower lifetime earnings. These issues, of course, arent a big deal for some students, and its quite possible that the financial benefits outweigh all other factors. A Final Word Many colleges use fast-tracking as a marketing ploy. The undergraduate experience, however, is about so much more than earning enough credits to get a degree. Accelerated degree programs make much more sense for non-traditional students than for typical 18- and 19-year-olds who will grow so much socially and intellectually during four years of college. That said, the financial factor cant be ignored. Just be sure to recognize that there are both pros and cons to rushing a four-year degree.

Cooper's Industries M&A Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cooper's Industries M&A - Case Study Example The complementary development continued throughout the 1970’s as did the diversification into related areas. The main aim of this corporate strategy has been to lessen its dependence on the cyclical natural gas business. 2) Cooper’s creates value through building similar businesses around related areas of its expertise and then achieving synergies from these businesses. The value that is created is by combining the strengths of the related diversification and complementary building by which the company achieves capabilities in areas close to each other. This synergy helps it to achieve scale and size in running the business. Hence, Cooper’s creates value through these twin processes and by achieving synergies. 3) The key resources of Cooper’s are its people and especially those in the upper reaches of management. The company has consciously followed a strategy of hiring the best talent available to run its various businesses and this has resulted in it achieving a corporate culture that has become an asset for the company. The other key resource of Cooper’s is its culture of encouraging the various businesses to run autonomously thereby encouraging risk-taking and entrepreneurial spirit among the business units. This is related to the company culture and hence it can be said that Cooper’s key resources are its people and the processes that it has built around them. 4) It is my view that Cooper’s should not acquire Champion Spark plugs. There are many reasons for this and they range from the gigantic restructuring that needs to take place at the organizational and operational level as well as the huge increase in its debt percentage resulting from the deal. Further, the company does not stand to gain from integrating another company that is primarily into manufacturing spare parts as the potential synergies from such a move are debatable.

Gene Therapy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gene Therapy - Research Paper Example A vector is used in gene therapy as a package for delivering the useful DNA into the cells of the body (Mayo Clinic, 1). In line with the current challenges that continue to plague the field of healthcare such as increased incidences of antibiotic resistance, gene therapy will become a major treatment strategy in the future management and control of ailments. There is bound to be a lot of debate and emotion surrounding whether mankind should or should not embrace this treatment regime as diseases will become untreatable through conventional ways. With advanced knowledge of the subject, however, gene therapy will be useful in the future management of diseases. When gene therapy was initially thought of in 1973, the pioneers of the concept called for utmost caution in the attempts to use this technique on humans. A 1990 United States experiment treated a patient (DeSilva Ashanti) of ADA-SCID in an FDA-allowed procedure. Initially, failures with the technique led to many people writing it off but these assumptions have since changed drastically following several successful trials in the period after 2006 (Kelly, 348). As of 2014 January, over 2,000 trials were actively being pursued. Gene therapy is an important issue in healthcare as it offers immense hope in finally treating diseases that are currently untreatable such as HIV/ Aids and cancer (Kelly, 377). However, there are feared a number of consequences, especially manifesting in future generations, should the application of gene therapy go south (since very little is known about it). Gene therapy should therefore be a concern to every human being in any part of the world as we have a duty to the consequent generations. Genes house one’s DNA which is responsible for a number of human functions and characteristics. In this light, therefore, if a gene is mutated or is simply not functioning properly, diseases can result.

Is fundamental analysis redundant Essay Example for Free

Is fundamental analysis redundant Essay Introduction Shortly after the stock market crash in 1929, as the first batch of financial experts in the Great Wall, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd firstly mentioned the concept in a book called security analysis: Based on public information that intelligent investors are able to analyse securities and determine whether the current price of stocks and bonds is over or below their intrinsic value. The Critical thinking and strong logic make this theory become the foundation of nearly all investments theories in Wall Street. Warren Buffett, John Neff, Peter Lynch and other famous investors become the  best practitioners in fundamental analysis. This essay will firstly introduce the related theories of fundamental analysis. Secondly, the essay will explain free cash flow model to equity valuation and the qualitative and quantitative factors of fundamental analysis. Thirdly, choosing a particular company analyses the relationships between the leading financial ratios and its stock price. Finally, indicating why financial ratios and free cash flow model cannot explain Berkshire Hathaway cooperation’s stock price changed during global financial crisis. Theory Aasuumption Metholody Theory Fundamental analysis which is based on analyzing the intrinsic value of securities, focuses on factors affecting the stock price and its trend and lets investors determine what type of securities they choose to buy and when to buy. (Lee and Swaminathan 1999, 8 )The basic assumption of fundamental analysis is that value investors believe that the market price is determined by its intrinsic value and the stock price can reflect its intrinsic value in the long term. Cash flow model Fundamental analysts use cash flow model, dividend model to roughly estimate a company’s intrinsic value. They assume that the stock price of the intrinsic value is its present value of the stream of expected cash flows and the selected reference values are based on generating the cash flow data. For example, using free cash flow model to measure intrinsic value, investors firstly assume the observed company can increase at constant rate and then choose the reference value based on a constant growth rate (g)to estimate free cash flow the next 10 years. Secondly, they calculate the present value of the 10-year cash flow based on the constantly discounted rate (k). Secondly, they estimate the terminal value P10=free cash flow*(1+g)/(k-g) and calculate its present value. Thirdly, they get the present value of the company and calculate pre- share value: equity value/numbers of shares. Rational investors can make well-informed investment decisions according to the relationship betw een market price and intrinsic value. Qualitative factors On the company level, fundamental analysis focused on two factors: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have a dialectical relationship. Both analyses should join together to analysis and inspect on a particular company. Although qualitative analysis is used for physical areas, with the usage to tackle non-financial information, it can be widely useful in business and finance fields.(kesh and Raja 2005, 167) The qualitative analysis of the company level is concerned with products and services, competitive advantage, management efficiency, corporate culture. Advanced products can get increasing cash inflows and improve company value (Carter and Demissew 2008, 63) because booming demand for products and services can lead to a high reinvestment rate of the company, this creates additional wealth.( Madden 2007, 125) Competitive advantage can includes producing capacity and the efficiency of a company’s design and cost controlling better than the industry’s competitors. Generating a competitive advantage for a company will creates stakeholder value. (Vilanova, Lozano and Arenas 2009, 63) The improvement of management efficiency can lower operating costs and company culture can enhance corporate image, leading to improvement of company value. Quantitative factors The quantitative factors in fundamental analysis are based on a deep understanding of financial reports which is the process of identifying opportunities and threats from the company, so investors must be concerned with the balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement analysis. Financial statements consist of all important historical information about the company’s operation management during a specific time period (quarterly, annually). All these information provide an overview of a company’s business activities and can help managers assess the company’s wellbeing. (Dayanandan 2010, 116) Financial statement Different users are interested in different areas of the financial statements. For example, investors and equity holders are concerned with  expected earnings and dividends of the observed companies. Company’s executives usually focus on the company’s capacity. Therefore, based on historical reports, different users can get valuable information about what they concentrate on. Financial statement analysis includes selected data from financial statements to predict the company’s financial health.( Hagos and Pal 2010, 441) Applying these data from financial reports, such as profitability ratio, liquidity ratio, management efficiency ratio, debt ratio, market performance ratio analyses year by year to determine whether to buy or sell observed companies. Based on analyzing financial statements, financial analysts are able to use profitability ratio, including gross margin, ROE to indicate how efficiently revenue is generated. The liquidity ratio such as current ratio, net working capital can be used to prove the firm’s ability to generate sufficient liquidity when needed and to meet short term obligations. For example, current ratio is an indicator as a rate of current assets to current liabilities. It measures the liquidity status of a company. With a higher current ratio over time, this company will be able to meet its current obligations and experience less financial risk.( Zaki, Bah and Rao 2011, 315) Table1 Sourced by Berkshire Year ROE Total asset turnover Debt/equity P/E P/B closed Price 2003 0.105 0.588 1.32 12.7 1.34 $84280 2004 0.085 0.394 1.20 18.8 1.6 $87900 2005 0.093 0.412 1.16 15.5 1.45 $88620 2006 0.102 0.397 1.27 12.5 1.27 $109990 Table 1 above shows the some figures provided by Berkshire corporation’s annual report from 2003 to 2006. During this period, the stock price has a significant increase from $67600 in Jan 2rd, 2003 to $109990 in Dec 1st, 2006. And from 2003 to 2006, Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s net worth is $13.6billion, $8.3billion, $5.6billion and 16.9billion respectively. Graph1: Berkshire Hathaway(BRK) Inc’s stock price between 2003 and 2006 Sourced by yahoo finance The increase of Net worth can indicate the stock price’s change during this period. The gain in net worth during 2003 was $13.6billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 21% from $41727 to $50498. Because of good quarterly reports and an annual report, the stock price reflected the company’s performance, rising from $67600 to $89490. However, between 2004 and 2005, the gain in net worth increased $8.3billion and $5.6billion. Although in 2004 Berkshire’s book-value gain of 10.5% fell short of the index’s 10.9% return, the net worth fell from $13.6billion to $8.3billion, leading to fluctuation of the stock price during 2004. In 2005, the net worth fell to $5.6 billion because hurricane caused loss worth of $34billion. And in the stock market, the price fluctuated and even slightly increased. However, the price reflected the company’s performance. As a multi-business company, its main business-insurance company called GEICO improved its management efficiency at nearly 32% and warranty numbers increased by 26%. On the other hand, insurance float of BRK’s insurance company increased from 46 billion to 49 billion. Due to the capital cost rate of mostly 0% and improving competitiveness, its stock price rose sharply. Financial ratios (price to book ratio and earnings per share ratio) measure share price compared to earnings, book value per share and indicate whether the market overvalues, undervalues and appropriately values the firm’ shares. Managers use to assess investors’ perceptions of future prospects. Some investors invest in stock market based on analyzing financial statements. Table2 Table2 shows mainly the relationship between the book value and stock price. Financial analysts are willing to use book value to measure the stock price. From the table 2 above, the book value of the Berkshire Hathaway increases from $14426 in 1995to $70281 in 2006 and the companys stock movements, rising from $31900 in 1995 to $110050 in 2006. In addition to particular years, these two charts reflect clearly whether a short term or a long term, the trend of the book value and stock price is roughly the same. In the long term, the growth rate of the net worth is a useful indicator to justify intrinsic value. From 1995 to 2006, the net worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s  net worth increased from $5.3billion to $16.9billion, more than 3.18 times growth during the period. Stock price had increased 3.44 times with book value 4.87 times. Although 1n 1999, the net worth fell to 0.358billion, in the long term, this company still had a significant increase in its stock market performance . Analysts also can apply activity ratios such as total asset turnover ratio and average payment ratio period to measure management effectiveness in managing its assets and to determine whether the investment in particular asset categories is too high or too low and also find out the efficiency or speed in converting accounts to sales or cash. (Dayanandan 2010, 114)Debt ratios such as debt to equity ratio and debt ratio can indicate financial leverage and the apparent financial risk assumed by the firm’s equity holders. Application Dow Jones Graph2 Dow Jones industrial index Sourced by yahoo finance Graph2 shows the change of Dow Jones industrial index before, during and after global financial crisis. The global financial crisis started in 2007 because the burst of housing bubble caused credit crisis especially in the debt markets.( McCarthy, Solomonand Mihalekl 2012, 1277 ) the stock market highly violated between 2007 and 2009. For example, in United States, the stock market increased to the peak in October 2007 with the Dow Jones Industrial Average about 14,000. After that duration, the Dow Jones dropped sharply from 12,000 in August 2008 to 6,600 in March 2009. After 2009, there is significant increase until now, rising to 14,929. Company- Berkshire Hatchaways Berkshires core business for insurance business includes the property casualty reinsurance and special class insurance company. For the past 25 years, this company has increasingly strong capital and little debt, for shareholders to create the value of more than 25% growth on average every  year. Table 3 shows analysis ratios and stock price from 2006 to 2012. Table3 Year ROE Total asset turnover Debt/equity P/E P/B closed Price 2006 0.102 0.40 1.27 12.5 1.27 $109990 2007 0.109 0.43 1.24 13.8 1.51 $141600 2008 0.046 0.40 1.41 38.16 1.71 $96600 2009 0.059 0.38 1.19 18.1 1.11 $99200 2010 0.08 0.37 1.29 14.9 1.24 $120450 2011 0.06 0.37 1.32 19 1.18 $114755 2012 0.077 0.38 1.23 14 1.1 $133000 Sourced by Berkshire Graph3 Berkshire’s stock price between 2006 and 2012 Sourced by yahoo finance The gain in net worth during 2006 was $13.6billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 18.4% to $109990. In 2007, the net worth is 12.3billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 11% to $141600. However, in 2008, the stock price fell to $96600, and then there is an increasing trend from 2009 to 2012. Total assets turnover ratio Total assets turnover ratio measures the management efficiency of the firm in managing its total assets to generate sales. A high ratio suggests greater efficiency. Figures shown in table3, the total assets turnover ratio during global crisis had slight change between 0.37 and 0.40. However, the stock price changed sharply, so the stock price can not reflect the stability of this ratio. ROE indicates the rate of return realized by a firms shareholders on their investments and uses as an indicator for the company’s operation. Return on equity (ROE) Return on equity (ROE) is the best indicator to learn how much money a company is making for its investors and measurement of the company’s operations. (Dayanandan 2010, 117) However, ROE is also sensitive to leverage. Assuming that proceeds from debt financing can be invested at a return greater than the borrowing rate, ROE will increase with greater amounts of leverage. From 2007 to 2008, the debt to equity ratio increased by 13.7%, from 1.24 to 1.41. However, ROE rate fell sharply from 10.9% to 4.6%. Although ROE overreact to debt change, Berkshire’s fundamental did not change in 2008. Most of Berkshires business is affected by the economic significant downward in 2009. However, its manufacturing services and retail generated a lot of cash flow and continued to consolidate their market competitive advantage. Berkshires two most important businesses: business insurance and utilities also had a good growth rate. These businesses produced a large amount of business prof its in 2008. P/E ratio P/E ratio is a common approach used by security analysts. In practice, investors usually use expected P/E ratio for the following year and analyse whether the stock price is overvalued or undervalued on the basis. P/E ratio indicates that a stock of its P/E rate over 30 is more likely to be overpriced. The P/E ratio in 2007 and 2008 is 13.8 and 38 respectively and the stock price during the period time of 2007 and 2008 is $141600 and $96600. The change of stock price is overreact to the pre-share earnings. P/B ratio P/B ratio gives some idea of whether an investor is paying too much for what would be left if the company went bankrupt immediately. From 2006 to 2009, P/B ratio increased or decreased had no direct correspondence with the stock price. However, to most companies, the book value is always lower than the stock price. Because most companies have intangible assets such as brand name, specialized skillsï ¼Å'product pricing power. These factors can not reflect in the balance sheet, but the long term trend of the market value is similar with book value. It seems that when P/B ratio increases, the gap between book value and stock price increases. On the other hand, the gap shows investors are willing to hold the stock due to its intangible assets. Cash flow model All these financial ratios cannot explain what happened in 2008 and using cash flow model to estimate the stock price also cannot explain this situation. Because investors assume the company can increase at constant rate. Although they use long-term GDP growth rate to reduce the risk of assessing value, this growth rate cannot explain and predict what happened during the investing period. They also use CAPM to measure discounted rate given by the risk-free interest rate plus a risk premium. The formula is ki=Rf+(Rm-Rf)ÃŽ ²i. However, ÃŽ ²sometimes cannot estimate risk between the market and stock. For example, a company’s market value increases from 10billion t0 20billion is less than market value of the company from 10billion to 3billion. If the company still operate well, from the market side, the risk of buying a company of the market value of 20billion is less than buying the same company of its market value of 3billion. Conclusion Therefore, during global financial crisis, fundamental analysis was useless. It is clear that during some periods the stock price is overvalued or undervalued significantly from its intrinsic value, leading to highly volatility of market price. Any market volatility is considered as irrational performances, so these market valuations caused by behavioral finance which do not have impacts on the company’s assets valuations and  operations. (Adams, Armitage and FitzGerald 2012, 157). In the long term, the trend of the stock price is similar to the trend of its intrinsic value. On the other hand, in the short term, market price is influenced and fluctuated by political, economic, psychological factors, so market price is always undervalued or overvalued, but it is fluctuating around the intrinsic value. Some research show that sometimes earnings information cannot react to the stock market simultaneously and all the public financial information pose a gradual influence on the stock market for a while. During global financial crisis, the stock price sharply fluctuated because of financial behavior. Debt crisis caused by housing loan had a significant impact on people’s confidence. Trader’s low confidence let them make decisions irrationally. Reference list 1. Lee, C.M.C. and Swaminathan, B. 1999. Valuing the Dow: A bottom-up approach. Financial Analysts Journal 55 (5): 4-23. 2. Kesh, Someswar. and Raja, M. K. 2005. â€Å"Development of a qualitative reasoning model for financial forecasting.† Information Management Computer Security 13 (2): 167-179. 3. Carter, T. and Demissew, D.E. 2008. Value innovation management and discounted cash flow. Management Decision 46(1): 58-76. 4. Madden, B.J. 2007. Guidepost to Wealth Creation: Value-Relevant Track Records. Journal of Applied Finance 17 (2): 119-130. 5. Vilanova, M., Lozano, J.M. and Arenas, D. 2009. Exploring the Nature of the Relationship Between CSR and Competitiveness.Journal of Business Ethics 87: 57-69. 6. Dayanandan, R. 2010. Working Capital Management for Sustainable Cooperatives. Global Business and Management Research 2(1): 102-124. 7. Hagos, T.M. and Pal, G. 2010. The means of analysis and evaluation for corporate performances. Annales Universitatis Apulensis : Series Oeconomica 12 (1): 438-449. 8. Zaki, E., Bah, R. and Rao, A. 2011. Assessing probabilities of financial distress of banks in UAE. International Journal of Managerial Finance 7 (3): 304-320. 9. McCarthy, Mary., Solomon, P., and Mihalek, Paul. 2012. Financial Crisis During 2007 And 2008: Efficient Markets Or Human Behavior? Journal of Applied Business Research 28 (6): 1275-1281. 10. Adams, A., Armitage, S. and FitzGerald, A. 2012. An analysis of stock market volatility. Annals of Actuarial Science 6ï ¼Ë†1ï ¼â€°Ã¯ ¼Å¡153-170.

Wedding Speech - Best Woman or Maid of Honor :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Wedding Speech – Best Woman or Maid of Honor Good Evening! For those of you who don’t know me, I am Sarah, Frankie’s slightly older sister. I want to start by congratulating Frankie and Erik, and thanking all of you for coming here today. I of course have known Frankie, a very, very long time. Frankie and I have always been pretty much inseparable as long as I can remember and we have always managed to keep each other laughing. I vividly remember Frankie and I staying up until well past our bedtime, throwing stuffed animals at each other, talking about boys and laughing so hard at everything and anything. To this day Frankie is the only person I know that can make me laugh so hard it hurts. Now, I of course have lots and lots of fun embarrassing stories about her†¦but because it is her special day, I will leave her alone. But there is always Erik†¦Erik, Erik, Erik. The big bonus of Frankie and Erik dating as long as they have is that we have all gotten to know Erik really well, really, really well†¦he has become the big brother I never had†¦ or wanted. But honestly he has really become a part of our family. He hunts, drinks beer, and wears flannel so it wasn’t too much of a stretch. Now, I have been trying for weeks to come up with a single embarrassing story, something about meeting Erik for the first time, or the first time he met our family, and frankly I came up with nothing. Erik has always been polite, kind, and funny to everyone†¦EVERYONE†¦frankly man it’s a little spooky.

Male Image in Victorian Poetry Essay

In Robert Browning’s â€Å"My Last Duchess†(1842), â€Å"Porphyria’s Love†(1842), and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s verse novel â€Å"Aurora Leigh†(1856) we have two contrasting images of male lover and husband. The greed for wealth and power drives the male characters in Robert Browning’s poems to grow from dominating to domineering psychopaths and destroys the object of their affection; in contrast Aurora Leigh, a woman of substance, refuses to play the second fiddle and spurns the offer of love and marriage from her cousin Romney to be able to pursue art independently. Though the Brownings are not known as the typical representatives of their era, some of the characters reflect the dominating values of their time. The upper class male characters in these poems are vain and arrogant in their attitude, and condescending to women. Robert Browning’s view in â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† and â€Å"My Last Duchess† through the dramatic monologues. The Duchess, being a woman of â€Å"a softer mood†, becomes the soft target of her hard-hearted husband. She lacks the education and confidence to choose her path of freedom. The two male characters – the obsessive lover in â€Å"Porphyria† and the Duke in â€Å"My Last Duchess† — reveal the dark motives through the successful use of dramatic monologues. In â€Å"My Last Duchess† it is an exaggerated view of his social status that leads the Duke to neglect his wife first, then as she obdurately follows her natural inclinations of innocence and equanimity to all, she is smothered to death with aristocratic diplomacy: â€Å"This grew; I gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together. † (ll. 45-46) The Duke who gets rid of his last Duchess so inhumanly, shamelessly negotiates marriage with the daughter of a rich Count. He admires the beauty and the grandeur of the Duchess’ portrait, and it is the famous artist Fra Pandolf or Neptune taming a sea horse, the rare sculpture of Claus of Innsbruck to highlight his position and ensure â€Å"master’s known munificence/ Is ample warrant that no just pretense/ of mine for dowry will be disallowed. †(ll. 49-51) It is greed that drives the Duke to murder his first wife to make way for a more profitable second marriage for a hefty dowry. The Duke represents the values of the rich upper class; he overestimates his nine- hundred-year-old status and underestimates the priceless sweet disposition of his humble wife: â€Å"She had /a heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad,/ Too easily impressed;† (ll. 21-23) His typical male vanity is expressed in his own words: â€Å"Who’d stoop to blame/ This sort of trifling? † (ll. 34-35) The male ego in the Duke is so domineering that it would not brook any kind of opposition to the custom and culture of his â€Å"superior† class. Marriage is a matter of convenience and a passport to accumulation of wealth. As soon as he realizes the incompatibility of his first marriage, he is ready for the second even at the cost of murdering his last Duchess. The Duke stands for the ruthlessly ambitious capitalist of the Victorian era who does not mind building his empire on the graveyard of his hapless victims. His criminal nature is camouflaged by his high social status. Robert Browning’s â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† bares the psyche of a lover obsessed with jealousy. The dramatic monologue focuses on the central character of the male lover who kills his beloved on the ground of suspicion. This abnormal act of murder exposes the deeper recesses of his soul. In a cold and stormy night he makes love to his lady after she returns from a sortie and then strangles her with her hair. Even after this diabolical act the male lover does not feel any remorse; on the contrary, he gloats over the absolute surrender of his beloved: â€Å"Murmuring how she loved me – she †¦And give herself to me forever. † (ll. 21, 25) It is vanity that sustains the lover; but he feels insecure from some unknown threat of an imaginary rival: â€Å"Porphyria worshipped me; surprise/ Made my heart swell and still it grew† (ll. 33-34) He kills her with a desire of immortalizing the consummation of their love. The sadist manipulator of woman delights in the â€Å"blue eyes†, â€Å"blushed burning cheek† and the â€Å"smiling rosy head† of the corpse. This may be an extreme case, but the absolute domination of the male over their female counterparts is fact of Victorian society. The death wish of Porphyria does not sound true, it seems to be her lover’s wish-fulfillment. The sick lover takes stock with a calculating mind: â€Å"And I, its love, am gained instead! † (l. 55) The women in Robert Browning’s poems pay with their lives for trusting their men. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s â€Å"Aurora Leigh†(1856) explores the fate of a progressive thinker Aurora who turns down the marriage proposal of Romney, she finally emerges triumphant in her profession of a poet and reformer as she proclaims: â€Å"Their sole work is to represent the age,†(V. 200) She refuses to give up her profession of writer to complement the philanthropic work of her cousin with a bold assertion: â€Å"You misconceive the question like a man,/ Who sees a woman as the complement / of his sex merely. † (Bk. II. ll. 434-36) Though Aurora is deprived of her inheritance because of her refusal to marry her cousin Romney Leigh, she fares better than Robert Browning’s women who are playthings in the hands of their dominating men. She represents the New Woman who struggles against the male domination and finally emerges successful. Aurora notes that she faces opposition not only from the Victorian males but also from her aunt who is deeply conditioned by patriarchal culture as she describes her : â€Å"She had lived/ A sort of cage-bird life, born in a cage,†(Bk. I. 305-06) Such expresses the lot of the vast majority of Victorian women: â€Å"I only thought/ of lying quiet there where I was thrown/ Like sea-weed on the rocks, (I. 378-80) The relationship between Aurora and Romney breaks off when he scoffs at the idea of her becoming a poet– a trivial achievement. The superiority of the males is always highlighted in their conversations. Women are thought to be incompetent enough to be singers. She sums up her objections to male proposal of love and marriage: â€Å"What you love/ Is not a woman, Romney, but a cause:/ You want a helpmate, not a mistress, sir/ A wife to help your ends, — in her no end. †(I. 400-03) Only a clear-headed and intelligent woman could see through the male pretence which is part of Victorian culture. The most trenchant comment made by Aurora on the need for individual identity is: â€Å"That every creature, female as the male,/ Stands single in responsible act and thought/ As also in birth and death. †(I. 337-39) She drives home the truth to her fiance that she is unwilling to regard his work as her own and concludes: â€Å"I too have my vocation. – work to do,† (I. 455) It is no mean achievement for a financially dependent woman to have the courage to declare: â€Å"I / who love my art, would never wish it lower/ To suit my stature. †(I. 492-94) The men of Victorian age definitely enjoyed more power over women and used this power to suppress their potential. As we see the women of Robert Browning’s poems are victims of male sadism and manipulation. But in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s â€Å"Aurora Leigh† we notice the beginning of a new dawn. Education help women struggle for emancipation at every level and achieve some freedom which means end of the era that treated women as their helpmates and as exclusive properties. Barrett Browning is regarded as an avant-garde writer of her age. Work Cited Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. â€Å"Aurora Leigh† in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th Ed. New York. W. W. Norton & Co. 2001. pp. 1898-1912 Browning, Robert. â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th Ed. New York. W. W. Norton & Co. 2001. pp. 2025-26 Browning, Robert. â€Å"My Last Duchess† in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th Ed. New York. W. W. Norton & Co. 2001. pp. 2028-29 O’Gorman, Francis (ed. ) Victorian poetry: An Annotated Anthology. Malden. Blackwell Publishing. 2004. 173-175

Prejudice in to Kil a Mocking Bird

Prejudice is shown in many ways in To Kill a Mocking Bird. From social prejudice against the Cunninghams to racial prejudice against Tom Robinson, the book has displayed many aspects of how people can look through the window and see things completely differently than the person beside them. A form of social prejudice is when Aunt Alexandra forbid Scout to play with Walter Cunningham, a poor boy whom Scout attends school with. This is because Aunt Alexandra sees Walter and his family as poor and beneath the Finches, in her words,† †¦ they're good folks.But they're not our kind of folks. †Ã‚   This shows that to the Maycomb citizens, social status is an extremely important issue. Also, in Tom Robinson’s case, Aunt Alexandra also advices Atticus not to take up the case, as it would cause the people of Maycomb to look down on them or gossip about them. Hence this shows that people in Maycomb like Aunt Alexandra are extremely conscious about where they stand in the society. Maycomb is a very religious town with the foot-washing Baptists appearing to have a strong influence on the community.The foot-washers have very strict views and believe that anything which is pleasurable is a sin. They are therefore prejudiced against a great deal of people who are different from them with different opinions. An example of their prejudice is when Miss Maudie says, â€Å"some of ‘em came out of the woods one Saturday and passed by this place and told me and my flowers we were going to hell†. Their belief is so extreme that they feel they should threaten those who enjoy life. Another example of religious prejudice is the isolation of the Radleys.This isolation is due to the Radley family not attending church which is Maycomb’s â€Å" principal recreation †The Radleys suffer religious prejudice because they keep themselves to themselves, apart from everyone else. This action is considered a disapproval by the people of Maycomb. Als o, Mrs Radley hardly ever â€Å" crossed the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbours †, this is also deemed unfriendly and unforgivable by the people of Maycomb hence the isolated of the Radleys.A form of racial prejudice can be seen from the trial of Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a black man who was found guilty of a rape he didn't commit. The racial prejudice nature of Maycomb is clearly portrayed through such instances as the fact that Atticus is accused by the town of being a â€Å"nigger lover† for defending Tom’s case and also through the mob scene outside the jail. The fact that a white man would stand up for a black man in that town got them very upset. â€Å"Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That's what I don't like about it†.The people are also not pleased that Atticus tried his best to defend Tom Robinson It is in the Tom Robinson trial that the greatest example of injustice because of prejudice is seen. The townspeople di d not care whether Tom was innocent or guilty because of his color and never even gave him a chance because he was black. Although Atticus actually manages to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson, the white jury still refuses to declare the innocence of a black man over a white resulting in the most blatant testimony to the fact that the town of Maycomb held racial discrimination above justice.Through its decision the town essentially kills a mockingbird. Tom Robinson was a man who did no harm to others but instead actually helped others out of kindness – a mockingbird who becomes victim to a racist society. Another form of racial prejudice is how inhumane the white are towards the black. The townspeople viewed this case as a carnival. â€Å"It was a gala occasion. There was no room at the public hitching trail for another animal, mules and wagons were parked under every available tree.The courthouse square was covered with picnic parties sitting on newspapers, washing down b iscuit and syrup with warm milk from fruit jars†. This was more like entertainment for the townspeople. This was fun for them, talking with friends, having lunch, and joking. They were there only to watch the trial like as if they were watching a show, they were only curious about the verdict of Tom Robinson’s case and were not concern about his predicament. This shows the prejudice in the white that caused them to be extremely cruel.

6 Common Myths About Language and Grammar

6 Common Myths About Language and Grammar In the book Language Myths, edited by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill (Penguin, 1998), a team of leading linguists set out to challenge some of the conventional wisdom about language and the way it works. Of the 21 myths or misconceptions they examined, here are six of the most common. The Meanings of Words Should Not Be Allowed to Vary or Change Peter Trudgill, now an honorary professor of sociolinguistics at the University of East Anglia in England, recounts the history of the word nice to illustrate his point that the English language is full of words which have changed their meanings slightly or even dramatically over the centuries. Derived from the Latin adjective nescius (meaning not knowing or ignorant), nice arrived in English around 1300 meaning silly, foolish, or shy. Over the centuries, its meaning gradually changed to fussy, then refined, and then (by the end of the 18th century) pleasant and agreeable. Trudgill observes that none of us can unilaterally decide what a word means. Meanings of words are shared between peoplethey are a kind of social contract we all agree tootherwise, communication would not be possible. Children Cant Speak or Write Properly Any More Though upholding educational standards is important, says linguist James Milroy, there is, in reality, nothing to suggest that todays youngsters are less competent at speaking and writing their native language than older generations of children were. Going back to Jonathan Swift (who blamed linguistic decline on the Licentiousness which entered with the Restoration), Milroy notes that every generation has complained about deteriorating standards of ​literacy. He points out that over the past century general standards of literacy have, in fact, steadily risen. According to the myth, there has always been a Golden Age when children could write much better than they can now. But as Milroy concludes, There was no Golden Age. America Is Ruining the English Language John Algeo, professor emeritus of English at the University of Georgia, demonstrates some of the ways in which Americans have contributed to changes in English vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation. He also shows how American English has retained some of the characteristics of 16th-century English that have disappeared from present-day British. American is not corrupt British plus barbarisms. . . . Present-day British is no closer to that earlier form than present-day American is. Indeed, in some ways present-day American is more conservative, that is, closer to the common original standard, than is present-day English. Algeo notes that British people tend to be more aware of American innovations in language than Americans are of British ones. The cause of that greater awareness may be a keener linguistic sensitivity on the part of the British, or a more insular anxiety and hence irritation about influences from abroad. TV Makes People Sound the Same J. K. Chambers, a professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, counters the common view that television and other popular media are steadily diluting regional speech patterns. The media do play a role, he says, in the spread of certain words and expressions. But at the deeper reaches of language changesound changes and grammatical changesthe media have no significant effect at all. According to sociolinguists, regional dialects continue to diverge from standard dialects throughout the English-speaking world. And while the media can help to popularize certain slang expressions and catch-phrases, its pure linguistic science fiction to think that television has any significant effect on the way we pronounce words or put together sentences. The biggest influence on language change, Chambers says, is not Homer Simpson or Oprah Winfrey. It is, as it always has been, face-to-face interactions with friends and colleagues: it takes real people to make an impression. Some Languages Are Spoken More Quickly Than Others Peter Roach, now an emeritus professor of phonetics at Reading University in England, has been studying speech perception throughout his career. And what has he found out? That theres no real difference between different languages in terms of sounds per second in normal speaking cycles. But surely, youre saying, theres a rhythmical difference between English (which is classed as a stress-timed language) and, say, French or Spanish (classed as syllable-timed). Indeed, Roach says, it usually seems that syllable-timed speech sounds faster than stress-timed to speakers of stress-timed languages. So Spanish, French, and Italian sound fast to English speakers, but Russian and Arabic dont. However, different speech rhythms dont necessarily mean different speaking speeds. Studies suggest that languages and dialects just sound faster or slower, without any physically measurable difference. The apparent speed of some languages might simply be an illusion. You Shouldnt Say It Is Me Because Me Is Accusative According to Laurie Bauer, professor of theoretical and descriptive linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, the It is I rule is just one example of how the rules of Latin grammar have been inappropriately forced on English. In the 18th century, Latin was widely viewed as the language of refinementclassy and conveniently dead. As a result, a number of grammar mavens set out to transfer this prestige to English by importing and imposing various Latin grammatical rulesregardless of actual English usage and normal word patterns. One of these inappropriate rules was an insistence on using the nominative I after a form of the verb to be. Bauer argues that theres no point in avoiding normal English speech patternsin this case, me, not I, after the verb. And theres no sense in imposing the patterns of one language on another. Doing so, he says, is like trying to make people play tennis with a golf club.

How to Keep in Touch with Friends from High School

How to Keep in Touch with Friends from High School While college often leads to a new city, a new school, and new friends, your new college life doesnt have to come at the expense of your high school friends. But how exactly can you keep in touch with your friends from high school when youre busy managing all that college has to offer? Use Social Media Things like Facebook and Twitter are likely already a part of your social life. As you transition from high school to college, using social media to keep your friends updated and to stay updated about them can shift from something of interest to something important for your friendship. With a little work, you can stay informed about relationship updates, school changes, and the overall ups and downs of your friends lives. Use the Phone and Video Chat Using tools like Facebook can be great but they are often a rather passive way of keeping in touch with someone. Sure, a friends status update may say one thing, but a heart-to-heart chat on the phone can tell you so much more. While they dont have to happen frequently, phone calls and video chats can be an important part of how you keep in touch with your high school friends. Use IM You really need to finish your paper but your brain needs a break. That being said, you dont necessarily have the time for a phone call or video chat. The solution? Consider a quick IM conversation with one of your high school friends. You can give your brain a break while also checking in with a friend. Consider it a win-win situation (as long as you get back to your paper within a few minutes, of course). Use Email You may be used to communicating via text messages, IM, and video chat, but email can also be a great tool. When its 3:00 in the morning and you need something to do to shift your brain from your Shakespeare paper to sleep mode, consider spending a few minutes drafting an email to an old high school friend. Update them about your own college life while asking for the latest news on their end. Meet Up Whenever Possible ​No matter how great technology is, theres just nothing like a face-to-face meeting. Meeting up in person is important if youd like to maintain your high school relationships both during and after college. Remember, too, that you can meet up in all kinds of places: back in your hometown, at your campus, at your friends campus, or even somewhere fun you both have always wanted to go. (Vegas, anyone?)

Analysis of Starbucks in 2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Starbucks in 2012 - Essay Example Starbucks has always been determined in establishing a large network of its stores both in America and all around the world. The cooperation leads in selling coffee as a result of selling its products at a premium rate in order maximize their profits. There are several questions about Starbucks that may need answers. Will the glamor of sensualist Starbucks coffee be retained or will more engaging options shake the success of Starbuck’s main coffee products? Will advertisement help Starbucks maintain its position as a world leader coffee chain producer? The most appropriate point to begin from is evaluating the current coffee market; undertaking an analysis to determine the level over which consumers need the designer coffee is important. Starbucks faces stiff competition from its major competitor such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts and Caribou coffee. The management has been engaged to ensure that the company maintains its well-known reputation as major coffee chain cooperation. Recently, Starbucks’ competitor McDonald launched its campaign on Mccafe in which its aim is to sell coffee at a relatively low discount as compared to Starbucks. McDonalds enjoys the advantage of an excellent podium from which it can face its competitors as a result of establishing numerous stores that gives it easy access into the markets. Dunkin Donuts as well is not relaxed; Dunkin is seen to use its doughnuts and other menu items on the stage. The customer has the option of choosing between a coffee donut and a mug of coffee. Externally, Starbucks also deals with daily competitive challenges. For instance, in Singapore, The Coffee Bean and Tea leaf is always on the forefront to contain the giant coffee chain store. For Starbucks, manageable development results to embracing business plans and operations to meet the requirements of Starbucks’ stakeholders currently while sustaining, safeguarding and ensuring the availability of natural and human resources that may b e required in the future. Each and every coffee store in Asia eyes Starbucks. The coffee chain has established 1,744 stores in the Asian Pacific with Singapore having a total of 92 stores. Recently, Starbucks announced the establishment of 100 new stores with each in Philippines and Malaysia. Starbucks never waits for its competitors is when to follow the suit. It has been seen to be expanding its markets outside America to increase its profitability. Starbucks recently purchased Teavana Holdings at a cost of $620 million in an effort to expand its markets. Starbucks is faced with some challenges in the event of serving its customers. One major challenge is the price of coffee beans as factor behind the company’s major profit. Starbucks’ profit and coffee price hugely rely on coffee price beans which are a product and stands not to be altered by Starbucks. As a result of hedge money, climatic conditions and other related factors, the cooperation is in a position of not able to approximate the price of its coffee and the cooperation’s profitability. Product pricing is another major setback. Starbucks’ product and services experience makes the company to charge high prices on its coffee. In contrast, McCafe premium coffee is selling at a lower price as compared to Starbucks’ premium coffee and was well assessed. After review, another challenge faced by Starbucks is negative publicity. The public has