The Use Of Setting In A & P Essay -- essays research papers

The setting of 'A & P'; is quite usual for a regular grocery store on a weekday. The town is north of Boston, five miles from the beach. Since the store is right in the middle of town, banks and churches and the newspaper store can been seen from the front doors. The day is Thursday, so there is not very much business. Outside, the sun can be seen on the pavement. The main character, Sammy, is almost nineteen years old and his coworker, Stokesie, is twenty-two and married. The manager, Lengel, is gray and teaches Sunday school. The setting in John Updike's story, 'A & P';, is used as a way to show humor and realism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Updike uses the setting in a way to show humor. In the beginning, Sammy is ringing up an older woman's groceries when three bathing suit clad girls walk in. Sammy, of course, forgets what he is doing momentarily, and rings up a box of HiHo crackers twice and the old woman catches the mistake (Updike 316). 'She's one of these cash-register-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up,'; Sammy thinks about the old woman (Updike 316). Updike also makes humorous descriptions of all the other customers. They are referred to as sheep because of the way they move about the store without anything on their minds except what is on their lists (Updike 318).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The setting also gives a sense of realism in the story, making everything describ...

An Exposition on Peanut Butter Cookies Essay -- Exposition Essays

An Exposition on Peanut Butter Cookies Have you ever tried to bake peanut butter cookies, and for some reason they were a complete flap because they were dry and crunchy, too moist and crumbly, or perhaps they had a terrible taste? Well, I have discovered this cool new recipe and I have never failed at making them. Have no fear, the ultimate peanut butter cookie recipe is here. We will need the following ingredients: 1c. of brown sugar, 1c. of white sugar, 1c. of margarine or butter, 1c. of peanut butter, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp. of baking soda, 1/4 tsp. of salt, 2 tsp. of vanilla, 3 cups of flour, and 1/2 cup of white sugar. As far as cooking utensils go, we will need the following: 2 large bowls, a small cup, a microwavable bowl, a baking sheet, one set of measuring spoons, one se...

Capital Budgeting Decision Process

Capital Budgeting Decision Process 1. Introduction The maximization of shareholder wealth can be achieved through dividend policy and increasing share price of the mark value. In order to derive more profits, our company shall invest potential investments which always cover a number of years. Those investments involve substantial initial outlay at the outset and the process. The management is responsible to participate in the process of planning, analyzing, evaluating, selecting and making decisions to allocate the limited resource to those investments. This is called capital budgeting decision process.Budgeting acts as an important managerial tool in practice. It is budget for the major capital investment such as purchase of land and building, plant and machine, investing new product or market. In modern competing environment, the company shall go ahead to make those investments in order to survive and profitability. A good evidence is Apple which globally introduced iPhone and acte d as a leading market position. Denzil & Antony (2007) stated that â€Å"Those decisions shall take account of the amount, timing and associated risk of expected company cash flow†.Therefore, Capital budgeting decision process is within the prospective of financial management. 2. The Aims of Financial Management Finance management generally embraces financial decision, investment decision and dividend decision. Its aims can be varied from different company, the main aims are expanding a new market, budgeting control, maximizing profit and maximizing shareholder wealth. Keown, et all stated that â€Å"The fundamental goal of a business is o create value for the company’s owners (this is, its shareholders)†.However, the management may focus on profit maximization that will benefit him because he is the agent on behalf of the shareholder resulting in devoicing ownership and management from the company. It leads to conflict with the shareholder’s interest and may detriment the shareholder’s wealth. In order to balance those conflicts, the management shall efficiently allocate limited resource and must consider its investment strategies with its financing policies at the best interest of the shareholder. The present value of future cash flows is a better measure of the wealth of shareholder value.Cash inflows are derived from financing activities such as debt and/or equity. If those funds are used for investment decision, it implies that there will be less contribution to shareholders as a mean of dividends. Efficient and effective allocations of the funds are principle responsibility of the management. This can be achieved through making an optimal capital budgeting decision process so as to create value for shareholders. 3. Academic literature on models of the investment process The company may face many potential investments in which it has to make choices to invest.It is necessary to evaluate potential investments in order to make better decisions. Every new investment is subject to risk and uncertainty. It always takes a long period of time to report future benefit. It will severely affect the cash flow of the company. The company therefore must manage the cash flow efficiently and effectively. Some techniques are introduced to decide whether to invest potential investment. John Graham & Harvey (2000) conducted a survey of 392 CFOs found that CFOs always use Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR), percentage respectively is 74. and 75. 7; Payback period (PB) is also popular 56. 7 percent while Profitability Index (PI) seldom use only 11. 9 percent . Alkaraan & Northcott (2006) also obtained a similar result from survey that UK manufacturing companies applied appraisal techniques. Accounting rate of return (ARR) and PB are commonly used techniques. It is important to be aware of their merits and drawbacks. ARR is an accounting ratio which is also known as Return on investment. It is ac cepted for potential investment (usually less than one year assessment) if ARR is more than or equal to hurdle rate.It is easy to understand and calculate, but it ignores cash. PB measures the number of years required so that the estimated returns can cover the initial outlay. It is also easy and simple to use, but it takes no account of cash flow after payback period. Both methods take no consideration of time value of money. To overcome those problems resulted from ARR and PB so as to make optimal decisions, the project appraisal process needs to consider the time value of money. Expected future cash flow of potential investments shall be discounted and added together to derive a lump sum of the present value sing a given discount rate. Three types of discounted cash flow are NPV, IRR and PI. NPV is the difference between sum of present value and initial outlay for the proposed investment. A positive NPV indicates that the proposed investment is accepted and vice versa. NPV takes account of the time value of money and all relevant cash flows over the life of the project. However, it is difficult to understand and rely on to provide an available appropriate discount rate. IRR is the discount rate at which NPV is zero. If IRR is greater than the cost of capital, then the potential investment is recommendable.IRR is easy to understand and it excludes the drawbacks of ARR and PB that both ignore the time value of money. However, IRR often gives an unrealistic rate of return unless the calculated IRR is a reasonable rate for reinvestment of future cash flows. PI is the sum of the NPV and the original investment divided by the initial outlay. PI is useful under capital rationing since it demonstrates that the best return can be achieved from the available funds. NPV and IRR are commonly used to measure potential investment today.Michael (2004) suggested that â€Å"Theory would suggest that the DCF methods are superior to the traditional techniques and that NPV is superior to IRR†. Therefore, potential investments can be best chosen to add value to the company. 4. A best practice design for the decision process Dayanada, Don. (2002) showed that â€Å"capital budgeting is a multi-faceted activity†. A best design for the decision process shall include seven stages. Arnold, G. (2008) specified that â€Å"There is a great deal more to successful investment programme than simply project appraisal†.Firstly, the company must has clear objectives and identify profitable investments project to sustain long term development of the company. Baker, H. Kent, et al. (2011) also suggested that the first stage is identification. The company has a motivation to achieve those objectives. The management translates them to specific directions and policies by using strategic planning after the company establishes objectives. Secondly, the company can develop and classify potential investments according to strategic planning. Thirdly, there ar e many potential investments in any company.It needs to be screened at this stage because potential investments are without being examined in depth in the previous stages. It can eliminate unsound and less profitable investments before the next step to evaluate the potential investments. Fourthly, it is the project appraisal stage that evaluates whether those potential investments contribute additional value to the company or not. Fifthly, it requires to present various reports and sets up a level of authorization for proposed projects. Sixthly, it conducts on the implementing stage to control capital expenditure, when to implement and who to be responsible.Finally, it is the monitoring and evaluating stage that is called the post-completion audit. It compares between the actual cash flows and other forecasted cost and benefit to improve the proposed investment or inducement for further investment. 5. Key stage of the decision process The key stage is project appraisal at the fourth stage from the above decision process. Dayanada, Don. (2002) pointed out that â€Å"project analysis is critically important for the firm†. Potential investments will be considered the initial outlay and expected future cash flow associated with risk and uncertainty.At this stage, it involves the application of many techniques, such as forecast, risk analysis, time value of money, discount rate and inflation, etc. Facing many problems of potential investments, the management should be familiar with those techniques. What is the relevant cash flow for the potential investment? Karanovic, et al (2010) pointed out that â€Å"In capital budgeting process one of most important things is discount rate determination†. It will affect the decision-making using different discount rate. Shall the company choose the highest NPV or the highest IRR when the mutually exclusive potential investments?James & John (2008) stated that â€Å"different investment projects often have diffe rent degrees of risk†. If the proposed investment is more risky, the higher return is required. However, is higher return reasonable? If undertaking it, what will happen? Clive Emmanuel, et al (2010) stated that â€Å"Once taken, capital investments are largely irreversible and significant financial sums are at risk†. Hence, it may require using different appraisal techniques for the same investment, for example, using PB and/or PI technique to assist the analysis of NPV.When making decision to select potential investment, the management shall consider how to allocate the available funds to those investments efficiently at the same time. Therefore, the fund is a key issue to determine how many potential investments are undertaken. The management must concern about the liquidity of the company immediately after accepting potential investments. Improper acceptance or rejection of any proposed investment may significantly affect the long-term success of the company. 6. Con clusionThe capital budgeting decision process is one of the investment decisions which form the fundamental part of financial management. Inappropriate investment decisions can endanger the survival of the company and cause difficulties in obtaining additional financing from stakeholders. To make optimal capital budgeting decision process, investment proposals shall be analyzed under risk, uncertainty and inflation. After making decisions, the company shall separately consider how the funds generate in the best way. A sound capital budgeting decision process is beneficial to achieve the aims of financial management.The efficiency of financial management is a good-measurement to achieve the objective of the company. 7. Recommendations Since our company has a clear objective to maximize the shareholder wealth, it can be achieved through making potential investments to invest. Identifying potential investments is crucial to the prospect of the company. It requires expertise and managem ent to execute the capital budgeting decision process. An independent capital budgeting committee shall be assigned to monitor the capital budgeting decision process.Since capital budgeting decision process is more dynamic, after implementing it, Cotter, et al (2003) suggested that â€Å"real options should be included in a capital budgeting analysis†. A good capital development system and management information system will be well on the way to achieve the objective of financial management successfully. Reference List Alkaraan, F. , & Northcott, D. (2006). Strategic capital investment decision-making: A role for emergent analysis tools? : A study of practice in large UK manufacturing companies. The British Accounting Review, 38(2), 149-173.Available through: ABI/INFORM Complete database [Accessed 31 March 2012]. Arnold, G. (2008). Corporate Financial Management. 4th edition. FT/Prentice Hall. Baker, H. Kent, et al. (2011). Capital budgeting valuation : financial analysis for today's investment projects. Hoboken, N. J. : John Wiley & Sons. Clive Emmanuel, Elaine Harris, Samuel Komakech. (2010). Towards a better understanding of capital investment decisions. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 6 Iss: 4 pp. 477 – 504. Available through: EMERALD database [Accessed 31 March 2012]. Cotter, J. F. , Marcum, B. & Martin, D. R. (2003). A cure for outdated capital budgeting techniques. The Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 14(3), 71-80. Available through: ABI/INFORM Complete database [Accessed 25 March 2012]. Denzil Watson and Antony Head. (2007). Corporate Finance Principles & Practice. 4th edition. FT/Prentice Hall. Don Dayanada, et al. (2002), Capital budgeting : financial appraisal of investment projects. Cambridge University Press. Graham, John Robert, & Harvey, C. R. (2000). The theory and practice of corporate finance: Evidence from the field. Rochester, Rochester: doi:10. 139/ssrn. 220251. Available through: ABI/INFORM Comp lete database [Accessed 20 March 2012] James C. Van Horne & John M. Wachowicz, Jr. (2008). Fundamentals of Financial Management. 13th edition. FT/Prentice Hall. Karanovic, G. , Baresa, S. , & Bogdan, S. (2010). Techniques for managing projects risk in capital budgeting process. UTMS Journal of Economics, 1(2), 55-66. Available through: ABI/INFORM Complete database [Accessed 22 March 2012] Keown, John D. , Martin, J. , William Petty. (2011). Foundations of Finance : the logic and practice of financial management. 7th edition. Prentice Hall.

Poetry – Love in Vain

When I first laid my eyes on her, I thought I May never see again: she emitted Such a blinding light from her appearance A mastermind criminal she was to Steal the stars and trap them in her eyes which Left the earth in a starless blanket. A glance towards her would leave memories Worth remembering forgotten I was Swallowed by her heavenly features which With ease would take you. The red painted sky At sunset was reflected in her cheeks And the crimson of rage locked in her lips. She was the food on my plate and the drink In my glass, the water in the lake and The pump of my blood. She was the scent of A flower, the fire in a furnace, the Glow of a light, the words in a poem She was everything and all revolved Around her. Lavishly sweet was the taste On her lips, which only a touch will leave You dazzled and the stress which you once had Would diffuse into nothing. Just with a wink In our sight, she'll have anything she wants For you'll be pampering to her needs. It is better to say ‘stay away from Such devils' you would give them your life and They'll leave you lifeless; you'd make them happy But experience it? No you will not. They'll strip you of your wealth; to think you were In love would be the notion of a fool. Hell would upsurge if you deprive her of A single thing; such creations of God, Beautiful in stature, should not have hearts Of fiery temper like a volcano. Unless you obliterate her from your Mind from the first sight, you'll be ensnared. Censor her from your mind and you'll be free. Generous was god, when he let me be Free from this trap, like a fly from a web. And now I am free as a bird in the sky, And like the bird I watch below at those That fall into the similar hole to Me but to deep for them to climb back out. Those sorrowful memories play in my Head, but the pleasurable time I will Never forget. But was my love in vain? Or was it her playing me with her games? I find it hard to believe that I was Merely a pawn in the grasp of such a Woman, but was she ever a woman?

Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution Essay

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution each had their own impacts on the United States economy. It can be shown that the drafting of the Constitution reversed the control of economic authority between the national government and the states, specifically regarding the laying and levying of taxes. The stipulations of taxation are clarified in the Articles and the Constitution through Article VIII and Article I, Section 8, respectively. Both statements provide for an easy analysis of taxation considering the means of taxation and how it is assessed, who collects the taxes, and the purpose of these duties. An additional observation can be made regarding the effects of slavery on the Constitution and how that is reflective of the economic impacts of the document. With the comparison of these aspects, a conclusion can be made about the reasoning behind the change of this provision in the Articles. The American Revolution resulted in a substantial amount of debt for the United States. To finance the War of Independence, Congress had borrowed large sums of money by selling interest-bearing bonds and paying soldiers and suppliers in notes to be redeemed in the future (Foner, 200). The Continental Congress owed $42 million at the end of the revolution (Lecture #9). The states lacked a secure source of revenue, so they had to address taxation in their first written constitution, The Articles of Confederation. They used this constitution as an initial attempt to apportion taxes to the states. The Articles of Confederation primarily addresses taxation in its eighth article. According to this article, the government is levying taxes to each state as a whole, based on the value of each state. The taxes collected will be used to fund a single account to pay the charges of war. This is clarified in the document when Article VIII states that the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“common treasury which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land within each state.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Furthermore, the document states that any additional improvements of buildings and land will be taken into account for the estimation of the value of the respective state. This stipulation allows the assembly of Congress to increase taxes with any proportional increase in the value of the land within a state. The next  paragraph of the article refers to who will be laying and collecting these taxes. It declares that the dues will be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The main notion to be extracted from the Articles of Confederation is the fact that Congress did not possess the power to levy taxes or regulate commerce by any means. The states retained the ability to adopt their own economic policies. Utilizing this power, several states printed sums of money in order for individuals to pay their debts (Foner, 200). In summation, Article VIII of the Articles of Confederation left Congress with very little financial power as well as a lack of a dependable source of revenue. Due to the need for better regulation of interstate commerce, a group of fifty-five delegates congregated to form the Constitutional Convention, with the objective of drafting an entirely new constitution. The Constitution completely reversed the distribution of authority, transferring numerous economic powers from the states to Congress. This is verified in the first clause of Article I, Section 8 of the document in which it affirms that Congress has the power à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Unlike the Articles of Confederation, which imposed taxes based on the value of each state, the first clause of the Constitution announced a uniform collection of duties, imposts, and excises throughout the United States. From this clause, it can be understood that these taxes will now be collected by Congress, in contrast to state legislatures. However, the purpose of the taxation remains consistent with the first constitution, as they both use the money to pay debts, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare of the United States. Additional clauses empowered Congress to regulate interstate and international commerce, as well as borrow and coin money. The Constitution also included conditions that barred the states from issuing paper money, levying taxes, and interfering with commerce (Foner, 205). As stated, these provisions stripped the states of the power they retained under the Articles, and bestowed them onto Congress. Moreover, an emphasis can be placed on the issue of slavery, as it had a significant impact on the economy as well. Slavery was not notably  recognized in the Articles of Confederation, but was implicitly addressed in the Constitution. One prominent acknowledgement of slavery with respect to the economy was the Three-Fifths Compromise. This proclaims that taxes shall be apportioned to States based on the sum of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  By counting slaves as property as well as three fifths of a person toward the census, people with more slaves owed more taxes (Lecture #9). Congress also found a source of revenue by allowing importation of slaves, yet taxing those that are taking them in. This is indicated in the Non-Importation Clause, which states that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a Tax or Duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollar s for each Person (Article I, Section 9). When writing the Constitution, the national government clearly found ways to generate revenue from slavery. In addition, slavery had a large influence on the Constitutionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s impact on the United States economy. Article VIII of the Articles of Confederation may have been drastically altered into Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution for a number of reasons. The transfer of power from the state legislatures to the national government that resulted from this provision change can be proven to be a purely economic decision. Due to the overwhelming debt from the war, Congress needed a more controllable, secure source of income. Consequently, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention drafted this section to put control back into the national governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hands. With the Articles of Confederation, the states were separate, but equally powerful entities. One can perceive that the national government did not believe the states would be able to succeed with this system in place. The Constitution generated a more unified and collective assembly to work toward c ommon goals. This was made possible by reassigning the economic sovereignty to the national government. In conclusion, the drafting of the Constitution can be simplified to a transfer of economic power to the national government used to generate secure sources of revenue to get out of debt. The Articles of Confederation was merely too passive and vague to create a dependable taxation plan. The Constitution administered a well-defined formulation to allow an easier way for the national government to collect income. Giving Congress a substantially greater extent of economic dominance and the states more limitations, the national government was able to utilize a widespread  amount of resources to implement taxation. Clearly, the change of Article VIII to Article I, Section 8 spawned an absolute change of power from the states to the national government.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 71

Assignment Example The defendant and the plaintiff agree under the supervision of the court to implement the decree. An example of a consent decree is in divorce situations where the couple decides to settle under the supervision of a court. Disparate impact is the discrimination against a class that occurs due to the employer’s neutral employment practice, when the employer has a disproportion along the protected line. Disparate treatment is discrimination against an individual in a protected group that occurs due to unequal treatment from the employer, compared to the others. Using the four-fifths rule, the rate of selection of each group is calculated by dividing the number of the selected persons in a group by the number of total applicants in that group, and the group with the highest selection is observed. The impact ratios are then calculated by comparing this selection rate with the highest group. Any group with a substantially less selection rate than that of the highest group is observed. The employer defences against discrimination charges include job relatedness, business necessity, BFOQ, and BFSS. In job relatedness the employer argues that the employee does not work effectively. In the business necessity, the employer argues that the protected employee must have a given business necessity. The BFOQ will be based on their qualifications while the BFSS will be based on the selection criteria or a ratio. A hostile working environment is an offensive working environment that is characterized by unlawful physical or verbal harassment that shows hostility towards an individual basing on color, religion, race, gender, national origin, age, disability, his or her relatives, friends, and associates. Organizations can have policies that describe the constituents of a hostile working environment, and what is an inappropriate behaviour. It can also inform and educate employees on the organizational policies. They should investigate all

Examine the sources of English Law and comment on the relevance they Essay

Examine the sources of English Law and comment on the relevance they hold for the construction or property professional. You should in particular comment on the - Essay Example Hence, his conduct is therefore dependent upon the manner that laws develop, such that as policies and regimes change, affecting the principles of private property, the devices available to property professionals are likely to change, as well. Thus, given the recent changes brought about European Union (â€Å"EU†) legislations in English law, this essay will therefore assess the effects of EU legislations in English property law to determine its relevance on the duties of property professionals. Within English law, the rules governing property have been, for most part, determined by legislations made by the Crown and Parliament, as the land’s formal law-making authority. However, as Galbraith and colleagues have illustrated, this rule-making institution, although the supreme author of the law, is in practice subject to a number of limitations determined by statutory interpretation, in giving the legislation’s â€Å"true meaning†; and European legislation, as part of English law (2004, pp. 3-4, 9). For the property professional, this is of relevance for a number of reasons. First, as the supreme author of the law, the Crown and Parliament, through legislation, determines the core devices, rules, and standards property professionals must abide by in practicing their profession. However, whereas practitioners can be widely knowledgeable on the relevant legislations affecting their practice, the bulky system of precedent developing under case law altering standards and procedures informally necessarily calls for property professionals to change the way they conduct their responsibilities as well (Abbey & Richards, 2005, p.31). Second, given that equity is a pervasive element of land law where court judges have a broad discretion in distinguishing disputes brought to court in the context of equitable rights over land;