Enders Game Essay -- Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card When the novel starts Ender Wiggin is a six-year-old genius. He has a brother, Peter, and a sister, Valentine, whom is the only person Ender truly loves. Ender is the third born in the Wiggin family, which is rare, because the limited amount of children per family is two. The government had been running a Battle School in space to train young boys and girls to become military commanders to fight against the buggers, aliens who had invaded Earth in the First and Second Invasions. Peter and Valentine had both been tried out for the Battle School, but Peter was too ruthless and Valentine was too soft towards the enemy. They both failed to go to the Battle school. But, the government wanted Ender. They wanted the death threatening genes that Peter had and the merciful and loving genes that Valentine had. They hoped that Ender would make the perfect military commander. So, The government had Ender born and they put a monitor on the back of his neck to watch his every move to see if he ha d what it took to get into Battle School. The monitor protected Ender from Peter and kids at school because if anything got out of hand the officers would stop it to help Ender. They took the monitor off. Peter and the kids at school could finally get to bully Ender without getting caught. Peter quickly took advantage of the monitor being off to bully Ender around. If it weren’t for his loving sister, Valentine, Peter would have killed Ender. The kids at school had formed at gang to jump Ender after school one day. The leader was a boy named Stilson. They were a little bigger than Ender was and they out-numbered him too. Ender knew they were gonna hurt him and keep hurting him for the rest of the school year, so Ender decided to make this the first and last fight. Ender won the fight by ruthless blows to Stilson when he was down. Afterwards Ender cried for what he had done because he didn’t like hurting people, he didn’t like being Peter. Colonel Graff came back to get Ender. It had turned out they wanted to see how Ender could handle himself without the monitor and he had done it perfectly. Colonel Graff took Ender to Battle School. Graff had isolated him from the other boys in his launch group by stating that Ender was the best of them, so Ender had no choice but to be the best in the group to make them like him. After a while, Ender m... ...ut from the queen’s perspective. He opened and closed his eyes again seeing new images of himself putting the egg into a cool place, a dark place, but with water, so she wasn’t dry so that certain reactions could take place within the egg. Ender realized the queen bugger found him through the ansible followed it and dwelt in my mind. They came to know Ender by his nightmares. Ender picked up the egg and thought to himself that he was going to take the egg from world to world looking for the right place to hatch her so she can awake in safety. Ender picked a spot far from the castle tower for the new colony and wrote a novel from the queen’s perspective stating how sorry she was and that they killed us because they couldn’t communicate and Ender signed after the novel as â€Å"Speaker for the Dead†. He sent the book to earth through the nets and the book was published quietly. After a while almost everyone on earth had read it. Ender began to grow happy on the bugger planet and decided he had lived with pain and suffering all his life he can’t be happy now so he and Valentine boarded a starship and went from planet to planet searching for the right place to hatch the queen bugger.

Fnce451 Midterm

Midterm Exam – October 17, 2012 SOLUTIONS Instructions: 1. Read the questions carefully. 2. Answer all questions on the following pages. 3. A financial calculator and a regular calculator are permitted. 4. A one-sided 8. 5† x 11† formula sheet is permitted with formulas only. 5. The midterm has 11 pages, including 2 blank pages. 6. For Part 2, show all your work. 7. Midterm duration: 75 minutes. 8. Mark allocation: Shown on exam. Print your name: _________________________________________ Sign your name: __________________________________________ Student Number: __________________________________________Good Luck!!! Part 1: Multiple Choice Part 2: Short Answer and Problems Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Total /20 /4 /5 /10 /16 /55 1 Part 1 [2 points each = 20 points]: Multiple Choice. Circle the BEST answer. 1. The Double Dip Co. is expecting its ice cream sales to decline due to the increased interest in healthy eating. Thus, the company has announced that it will be reducing its annual dividend by 5% a year for the next two years. After that, it will maintain a constant dividend of $1 a share. Two weeks ago, the company paid a dividend of $1. 0 per share. What is this stock worth if you require a 9% rate of return? A. $10. 86 B. $11. 11 C. $11. 64 D. $12. 98 E. $14. 23 2. The value of common stock today depends on: A. The expected future holding period and the discount rate. B. The expected future dividends and the capital gains. C. The expected future dividends, capital gains and the discount rate. D. The expected future holding period and capital gains. E. None of the above. 3. The tax shield on CCA is calculated by: A. The quantity (1-Tc) multiplied by CCA. B. Revenues less expenses less CCA. C.The quantity (Revenues-Expenses) multiplied by CCA. D. Revenues less expenses less taxes. E. None of the above. 4. If the project beta-IRR co-ordinates plot above the SML, the project should be: A. Accepted because it is overvalued. B. Accepted because it is undervalued. C. Rejected because it is overvalued. D. Rejected because it is undervalued. E. None of the above. 5. The opportunity set of portfolios is: A. All possible return combinations of those securities. B. All possible risk combinations of those securities. C. All possible risk-return combinations of those securities.D. The best or highest risk-return combination. E. The lowest risk-return combination. 2 6. The combination of the efficient set of portfolios with a riskless lending and borrowing rate results in: A. The capital market line which shows that all investors will only invest in the riskless asset. B. The capital market line which shows that all investors will invest in a combination of the riskless asset and the tangency portfolio. C. The security market line which shows that all investors will invest in the riskless asset only. D.The security market line which shows that all investors will invest in a combination of the riskless asset and th e tangency portfolio. E. None of the above. 7. Stock A has an expected return of 20%, and stock B has an expected return of 4%. However, the risk of stock A as measured by its variance is 3 times that of stock B. If the two stocks are combined equally in a portfolio, what would be the portfolio's expected return? A. 20. 0%. B. 4. 0%. . C. 12. 0%. D. Greater than 20%. E. Need more information to answer. 8. Two mutually exclusive investment opportunities require an initial investment of $8 million.Investment A then generates $1 million per year in perpetuity, while investment B pays $500,000 in the first year, with cash flows increasing by 5% per year thereafter. Determine the NPV for which an investor would regard both opportunities as being equivalent. A. ?$1 million B. $0 C. $1 million D. $2 million E. $8 million 9. When comparing two projects with different lives, why do you compute an annuity with an equivalent present value (PV) to the net present value (NPV)? A. So that you can see which project has the greatest net present value (NPV). B.So that the projects can be compared on their cost or value created per year. C. To reduce the danger that changes in the estimate of the discount rate will lead to choosing the project with a shorter time frame. D. To ensure that cash flows from the project with a longer life that occur after the project with the shorter life has ended are considered. E. To avoid complications arising from alternating cash inflows and outflows. 3 10. A firm is considering changing their credit terms. It is estimated that this change would result in sales increasing by $1,000,000.This in turn would cause inventory to increase by $150,000, accounts receivable to increase by $100,000, and accounts payable to increase by $75,000. What is the firm's expected change in net working capital? A. $1,175,000 B. $325,000 C. $250,000 D. $175,000 E. $150,000 4 Part 2 [35 points]: Short Answer and Problems. Please show all your work. Question 1 [4 poi nts]: When two stocks have a correlation of ? 1, is it always possible to construct a portfolio with 0 standard deviation? If so, what is the weight (denoted as ? ) that always ensures that the portfolio has 0 standard deviation? Answer: Yes. 1 point) We can show this by substituting correlation of ? 1 in the portfolio variance formula: ? p2 = ? 2? 12 + (1 ? ?)2? 22 + 2? (1 ? ?)? 1,2? 1? 2 which gives, ? p2 = ? 2? 12 + (1 ? ?)2? 22 + 2? (1 ? ?)(? 1)? 1? 2 = [ 1 ? (1 ? ?)? 2]2 (1 point for setting up the problem with the variance formula) We are interested in the standard deviation, which is the square root of the above variance. By choosing ? so that [ 1 ? (1 ? ?)? 2] = 0 we get ? = ? 2/(? 1 + ? 2) and thus we can always ensure the portfolio has 0 standard deviation. (2 points: 1 point for setting the standard deviation equal to zero to solve for ? and 1 point for final answer) 5 Question 2 [5 points]: Storico Co. just paid a dividend of $3. 50 per share. The company will increase i ts dividend by 20 percent next year and will then reduce its dividend growth rate by 5 percentage points per year until it reaches the industry average of 5 percent dividend growth, after which the company will keep a constant growth rate, forever. If the required return on Storico stock is 13 percent, what will a share of stock sell for today? Answer: Here we have a stock with differential growth, where the dividend growth changes every year for the first four years.We can find the price of the stock in Year 3 since the dividend growth rate is constant after the third dividend. The price of the stock in Year 3 will be the dividend in Year 4, divided by the required return minus the constant dividend growth rate. So, the price in Year 3 will be: P3 = $3. 50(1. 20)(1. 15)(1. 10)(1. 05) / (. 13 – . 05) = $69. 73 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for answer) The price of the stock today will be the PV of the first three dividends, plus the PV of the stock price in Year 3 , so: P0 = $3. 50(1. 20)/(1. 13) + $3. 50(1. 20)(1. 15)/1. 132 + $3. 50(1. 20)(1. 15)(1. 0)/1. 133 + $69. 73/1. 133 (2 points for set up) P0 = $59. 51 (1 point) 6 Question 3 [10 points]: The expected return of the S&P 500, which you can assume is the market portfolio, is 16% and has a standard deviation of 25% per year. The expected return of Microsoft is unknown, but it has a standard deviation of 20% per year and a covariance with the S&P 500 of 0. 10. The risk-free rate is 6 percent per year. a. [2 points] Compute Microsoft’s beta. Answer: ? Microsoft = Cov(RMicrosoft, RM) / var(RM) ? Microsoft = 0. 10 / (0. 25)2 = 1. 60 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) . [2 points] What is Microsoft’s expected return given the beta computed in part (a)? We know from the CAPM: E(R) = Rf + ? (E(RM) – Rf) Therefore, E(RMicrosoft) = 0. 06 + (1. 60)(0. 16? 0. 06) = 0. 220 or 22. 0% (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) c. [2 points ] If Intel has half the expected return of Microsoft, then what is Intel’s beta? From the CAPM, we can solve for ? : E(R) = Rf + ? (E(RM) – Rf) 0. 11 = 0. 06 + ? Intel(0. 16 – 0. 06) ? Intel = 0. 50 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) 7 d. [2 points] What is the beta of the following portfolio? . 25 weight in Microsoft; 0. 10 weight in Intel; 0. 75 weight in the S&P 500; ? 0. 20 weight in GM (where ? GM = 0. 80); 0. 10 weight in the risk-free asset. Answer: The beta of the portfolio is the weighted average of the betas of the assets that comprise the portfolio: ? P = (0. 25)(1. 60) + (0. 10)(0. 50) + (0. 75)(1. 0) + (? 0. 20)(0. 80) + (0. 10)(0) = 1. 04 (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) e. [2 points] What is the expected return of the portfolio in part (d)? Answer: From the CAPM, we can solve for E(RP) E(RP) = Rf + ? E(RM) – Rf) = 0. 06 + (1. 04)(0. 16 – 0. 06) = 0. 164 or 16. 4% (2 points: 1 point for set up and 1 point for final answer) 8 Question 4 [16 points]: Better Mousetraps has developed a new trap. It can go into production for an initial investment in equipment of $6 million. Ignore the CCA system and assume that the equipment will be depreciated straight-line over 5 years to a value of zero, but in fact it can be sold after 5 years for $500,000. The firm believes that working capital at each date must be maintained at a level of 10 percent of next year’s (i. e. he following year’s) forecast sales. The firm estimates production costs equal to $1. 50 per trap and believes that the traps can be sold for $4 each. Sales forecasts are given in the following table below. The project will come to an end in five years, when the trap becomes technologically obsolete. The firm’s tax bracket is 35 percent, and the required rate of return on the project is 12 percent. What is project NPV? Year Sales (millions of traps) 0 0 1 0. 5 2 0. 6 3 1. 0 4 1. 0 5 0. 6 Thereafter 0 Answer: YEAR: Sales (traps) Revenue ($4. 00 ? Sales) Expense ($1. 50 ?Sales) Working capital Change in Wk Cap CF from Operations: Revenue Expense Depreciation Pretax profit Tax After-tax profit CF from operations Cash Flow CF: capital investments CF from working capital CF from operations Total CF PV @ 12% Net present value 0 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 20 0. 20 1 0. 50 2. 00 0. 75 0. 24 0. 04 2 0. 60 2. 40 0. 90 0. 40 0. 16 3 1. 00 4. 00 1. 50 0. 40 0. 00 4 1. 00 4. 00 1. 50 0. 24 –0. 16 5 0. 60 2. 40 0. 90 0. 00 –0. 24 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 2. 0000 0. 7500 1. 2000 0. 0500 0. 0175 0. 0325 1. 2325 2. 400 0. 900 1. 200 0. 300 0. 05 0. 195 1. 3950 4. 000 1. 500 1. 200 1. 300 0. 455 0. 845 2. 0450 4. 000 1. 500 1. 200 1. 300 0. 455 0. 845 2. 0450 2. 400 0. 900 1. 200 0. 300 0. 105 0. 195 1. 3950 (5 points) –6. 00 –0. 20 0. 00 –6. 20 –6. 20 –0. 1817 0. 0000 –0. 0400 1. 2325 1. 1925 1. 0647 0. 0000 – 0. 1600 1. 3950 1. 2350 0. 9845 0. 0000 0. 0000 2. 0450 2. 0450 1. 4556 0. 0000 0. 1600 2. 0450 2. 2050 1. 4013 0. 3250 0. 2400 1. 3950 1. 9600 1. 1122 (2 points) (6 points) (3 points) 9 This page is left blank on purpose. Use it if you need it. 10 This page is left blank on purpose. Use it if you need it. 11

Why the Illegalization of Marijuana Was a Corrupt Decision

Why the Illegalization of Marijuana was Corrupt For most of human history marijuana has been legal and has actually only been illegal for 1% of the period of time of which it has been in use. Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings, and that it was to protect the citizens from what was determined to be a dangerous drug. However, some of the actual reasons that marijuana was wrongly banned include racism, protection of corporate profits, and corrupt legislators along with illegitimate widespread fear among citizens of the United States.Throughout the 20th century racism towards Hispanics, Negroes, and even Mormons greatly influenced the negative outlook on the use of marijuana. In the early 1900’s, western states developed high tensions towards the increase of Mexican-Americans that took business from small American farmers because they worked for cheaper wages. One â€Å"differenceà ¢â‚¬  that many Americans highlighted during this time was the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana and brought the plant with them. However, one of the first state laws outlawing marijuana may have been influenced, not just by Mexicans using the drug, but because of Mormons using it.Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church’s reaction to this may have contributed to the state’s marijuana law. In Texas, a senator said on the floor of the Senate: â€Å"All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff (marijuana) is what makes them crazy. † In the eastern states racism was again one of the charges connected to marijuana. Some newspaper editorials in 1934 stated that: â€Å"Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shoes and look at a white woman twice. During heavy tensions between whites and all minorities, racism made people fear anything that affected the social or der, and as a result many people started to blindly connect marijuana to increases of inappropriate conduct between whites and minorities. Along with rising fears of social disorder, the protection of profits for some major corporations also contributed to the increasing belief that marijuana should be illegalized. Many people across the nation were already losing profits because of Prohibition and didn’t need something else to affect their businesses as well.William Randolf Hearst, the owner of a major newspaper company had many reasons to want marijuana to be banned. First, he had invested heavily in the timber industry to support his newspaper chain and didn’t want to see the development of hemp paper in competition. He also was extremely prejudiced towards Mexicans because he lost nearly 80,000 acres of timberland to Pancho Villa. As a result of this, he told lies about Mexicans and marijuana and how they were causing an increase in violence across the country.This yellow journalism enabled him to sell an extremely high amount of newspapers which made him very wealthy. In one column sold nationwide, Hearst stated: â€Å"Users of marijuana become stimulated as they inhale the drug and are likely to do anything. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug. † Another corporation, Dupont chemical company, wanted to help Hearst outlaw marijuana for two main reasons. For one, Dupont had patented nylon and wanted hemp removed as competition.Also, people could grow hemp themselves and would therefore not have to buy medication from Dupont and other pharmaceutical companies. These companies fearing marijuana competition led to many results, one being the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. A man named Harry J. Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man and saw the Bureau of Narcotics (a new government agency) as an excellent career opportunity. His main goal was to bring the illegalization of mar ijuana to the federal level. After two years of planning, Anslinger brought his plan before Congress where the only opposition was from Dr.William C. Woodward who argued that Harry Anslinger and the Bureau of Narcotics were distorting earlier AMA statements that had nothing to do with marijuana and making them appear to be AMA endorsement for Anslinger’s view. Committee members then proceeded to attack Dr. Woodward, questioning his motives in opposing the legislation. After this yellow journalism won over medical science and the bill was passed on where on the floor of the House an American Medical Association committee member stated that the association supported the bill 100 percent.Thereafter, on the basis of that lie, on August 2, 1937, marijuana became illegal at the federal level. Roger Roffman, a professor of social work at the University of Washington, asserted in July 2009 that â€Å"approximately 3. 6 million Americans are daily or near daily users. † Peter R euter, a professor at the School of Public Policy and the Department of Criminology at the University of Maryland, College Park, said that â€Å"experimenting with marijuana has long been a normal part of growing up in the U. S. ; about half of the population born since 1960 has tried the drug by age 21. A World Health Organization survey found that the United States is the world’s leading per capita marijuana consumer. The 2007 National Survey on Drug Use & Health prepared by the U. S. Department of Human Health and Services indicates that over 100 million U. S. citizens over the age of 12 have used marijuana. The 2008 survey found that 35 million Americans were willing to tell government representatives that they had used marijuana in the past year. In 2009, according to a Zogby poll and an ABC News/Washington Post poll, between 46% and 56% of US voters would support legalization.While many people support the fact that marijuana is illegal, they are uneducated in the histo ry of the process to ban the drug. Even though it is proven to have negative effects, if taken in moderation, marijuana has been proven to be less harmful than alcohol. This shows that the large majority of the population does not realize that in the end, a narcotic was banned for reasons that only appealed to certain people, and that because of ignorant members of legislation, the bill was passed without truly being studied in depth.This was a stupid mistake by our federal government which was backed by people with personal issues without any direct relation to the drug marijuana. Works Cited * Guither, Pete. â€Å"Why is Marijuana Illegal? â€Å". drugwarrant. com. Retrieved 17 January 2011. * â€Å"Senate†. New York Times (New York City). February 15, 1860. * Gieringer, Dale H. (2006-06-17). â€Å"The Origins of Cannabis Prohibition in California†

Commentary: “Two Hands” Essay

There are various familial relationships that most of us would often take for granted. Jon Stallworthy, for example, highlights that of a father and son in his poem, â€Å"Two Hands†. Throughout his depiction of these two characters, he emphasizes how two people who seem so similar, and are supposed to be intimate or close by default, can be almost alien to each others’ personalities and emotions. Several techniques, such as diction, themes and structure are utilized to portray the contrast between father and son. In â€Å"Two Hands†, there are two main characters present: the son, who also narrates the text, and his father. The reader can depict the father to be a surgeon, or at least have a profession in the field of medicine, because of the use of terms such as â€Å"scalpel† or â€Å"lancet†, as well as expression like â€Å"fingers that have stitched new life†. In contrast, the same ‘two hands’ of the son have been utilized in a rather contrasting way; that of the field of literature. We can deduce this from his â€Å"fingers [that have] some style on paper.† Furthermore, there is no mention of any other characters in this poem, which can portray the significance of his father to the narrator, or even display how much he truly needs a father who is too preoccupied with his career. One of the primary reasons that Stallworthy is able to spark a great deal of emotion from his reader is due to the choice of speaker. In this case, the son’s voice has been used to describe his relationship with his father. I think this has been done because his emotions of abandonment, sorrow and loneliness are very expressive and therefore make readers feel empathy for the son. He depicts himself as a son whose father pays no attention to him, and only to his work; almost as if being a father is an obligatory duty rather than a valued relationship. There are several themes that bring out the emotions felt by the narrator in this text. For example, love is something that is lacking in the relationship between father and son. While it can be said that the son admires his father, which is depicted through the phrase, â€Å"Hand, you may have your chance to stitch a life for fingers that have stitched new life for many.† The narrator is describing his father’s accomplishments by stating that he has saved the lives of many, which shows love and respect for his father. However, there is no portrayal of emotion from the father’s side in the text, which can only show that according to the son, there is no love provided from the father’s side at all. Another vivid theme in the text is that of the conflict between family and career, which can be looked at individually for the son, as well as for the father. This poem clearly implies that the father is married to his career, as he has almost no time to devote to his son. The final line, â€Å"he will be out again† is extremely powerful in showing how often he is out of the house. Furthermore, even when he is at home, he is â€Å"in his study†¦ up late,† because â€Å"he has articles to read.† Overall, we can infer that the father feels like by working hard and supporting the family, he is fulfilling his duties, and therefore the concept of spending time and expressing love to his son are almost redundant, and of no value. On the other hand, you have a son, who feels nothing but love, respect and adoration towards a father who has no regard for such emotions. He also feels that his career is worthless in comparison to that of his father’s. His hands have â€Å"save[d] no one, serve[d] no one, dance[d] with this pencil.† The use of the word ‘dance’ has playful and amateur connotations to it, which shows that his work of literature is meaningless to him. This tone of abandonment informs the readers of the son’s feelings of insecurity and inferiority in front of his father, while all alone he tries only to be close to him. In a poem, the structure and topography play an extremely crucial role in the way a readers depicts the writing. Stallworthy has laid out â€Å"Two hands† in one long stanza, with a great deal of enjambment as well. This implies run-on thoughts, as well as providing a tone of overall reminiscence to the text. The lack of a concise structure gives the effect of thoughts being haphazardly thrown onto paper, in whichever order they may occur. Moreover, this style makes it seem like a story is being told. This is useful in depicting the character of the narrator, as well as provides the impression that he is writing a biography on his father. Once again, the line, â€Å"Hand, you may have your chance to stitch a life for fingers that have stitched new life for many,† reveals the narrator’s intentions. Where ‘stitching a life’ means writing a book to the son, to the father the very same phrase has a more literal meaning; that of saving a life, perhaps in surgery. Over the course of this poem, the use of rhyme or rhythm is extremely subtle, and perhaps is only used in order to emphasize certain points. Stallworthy hasn’t used a specific rhyme scheme in his poem, to demonstrate that no conclusion has been drawn from the thoughts conveyed by the son. There is a great deal of expression of emotion; however he isn’t able to make anything out of it. In contrast, in the few places where slight rhyme has been utilized, there is some logical reasoning involved. For example, â€Å"Down the lancet margin his hand moves rapidly as mine moves slow. A spasm shakes the phone at this elbow.† In these lines, he is claiming that his father’s expertise exceed that of his own in the field of medicine, allowing him to scan the medical journal more rapidly. Overall, it can be reasoned that there are very few decisive or exact points being made, which is why the use of rhyme has been avoided. The way a message is interpreted relies a great deal on the diction in which it has been said; therefore the word choice is another vital factor in â€Å"Two Hands†. Firstly, all the words describing emotions are of negative connotations. For example, â€Å"curse† or â€Å"sob†, imply feelings of frustration and helplessness. There is also no mention of love or family values, directly signifying that there is no evidence of it in their relationship either. In contrast, there are plenty of words to describe the father’s career, such as â€Å"lancet† and â€Å"scalpel†. The use or lack of use, of difference words indicates their existence and importance in the lives of the father and son. This would also explain why there are no emotions linking to the father, but many saddening ones linking to his son. Throughout this text, Stallworthy implicates a very negative atmosphere, relation directly to the bumpy relationship between father and son. A mood of intensity is depicted through the use of phrases such as, â€Å"I curse tonight,†, where the son expresses his frustration over the fact that while his father is at home, with him, he is busy working. Even though they may be physically near, the father’s heart and mind do not stray from work. The tone is also often depressing or gloomy, which is highlighted by the fact that it is set during night time; this is when all fears are at their peak, and when one feels most lonely as well. Finally, the poet’s extensive use of personification helps in illuminating the overall impression he wishes to bring across in the text. For example, â€Å"the pencil nodding stiffly† provides an image of a man working hard into the depths of the night; stern and focused. Furthermore, the personification of the scalpel in the phrase â€Å"led a scalpel an intricate dance† portrays the act of surgery as an art form, requiring a great deal of grace as well as skill. These two models illustrate the father as extremely hard working and skilled in his field of work. In contrast, an expression like â€Å"The phone has sobbed itself to sleep† highlights an extremely striking image of a young boy trying to cry himself to bed. It provides a saddening effect on the reader, and also emphasizes the lack of emotion in the father. It is almost as if the situation is so depressing that even inanimate objects are crying out in sheer desperation. Finally, the son’s confusion and uncertainty is represented through the symbol of his hands, â€Å"whose indecisions keep [him] cursing nightly; fingers with some style on paper, elsewhere none.† He is perplexed by his current situation where his own hands seem so worthless in comparison to that of his fathers’, which leaves him in an unknowing state. In general, Stallworthy utilizes various poetic devices in order to provide the simple of contrast between the father and son. The â€Å"Two Hands† signify that of the sons’, which seem so insignificant relative to his fathers’, who have saved so many lives through what can be called a graceful art. His inferiority, loneliness and helplessness are highlighted throughout the text, through the symbol of the two hands.

Republic of Angola - Prospects and Opportunities Essay

Republic of Angola - Prospects and Opportunities - Essay Example epublic of Angola started to work its way towards becoming a regional player in Africa after the war was through the collaboration with some of the developed countries that include the United States. There was the formation of the U.S-Angola Chamber of commerce that made attempts to sponsor a wide array of the companies in Angola as well as a number of the international companies. Partnership with the United States by Angola has created particular forms of opportunities that arise as a result of international cooperation, the presence of private investment and the increase of trade between the two countries and many others (Renato 2006, par. 1-10). Since the end of the war, Angola has been able to reflect a lot of social, political and economic progress over a period of five years. For instance, there has been an ambitious program that has been created in relation to the provision of rehabilitation services following the massive destruction that took place in the country following the war period. It is related to the development and improvement of the social infrastructure, the provision of a steady economic growth, the stabilization of political institutions as well as the improvement of the security conditions (Roque 2014, par. 1-8). There are therefore a lot of prospects and opportunities presented to the Republic of Angola in its efforts to become among the leading regional players in Africa. Being the second largest producer of oil in the Sub Saharan Africa, after Nigeria, the country has been able to experience a boom in oil production between the years 2002 and 2008 since the production of oil state at several fields in deep water. The Republic of Angola has taken a great step towards ensuring that it maintains its rate of production and export by being a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) (Birmingham 2006, p. 92). Oil production and export in Angola is another major prospect and opportunity that is likely to place the

Consider these arguments in terms of culture, motivation, and Essay

Consider these arguments in terms of culture, motivation, and strategy, and comment on their substance. You should also reflect - Essay Example The paper also seeks to reflect on how power is exercised in organisations in relation to moral values. The paper begins by explaining the concept of culture in view of the arguments raised by Stiglitz. The paper will also critically analyse how motivation of the people as well as the strategy implemented have a bearing in the way financial institutions are operating during the contemporary period in USA in particular. Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behaviours. â€Å"This is commonly referred to as a set of basic values, perceptions, wants behaviours learned by a member of society from the family and other important institutions,† (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). For instance, the following values are given priority in the United States of America: achievement and success, activity and involvement, efficiency and practicality, progress, material comfort, individualism, freedom as well as humanitarianism. The success or failure of a given organisation can be attributed to this concept of culture. However, Stiglitz argues that individualism and market fundamentalism have eroded the sense of community and have led to exploitation of the ordinary people. ... In actual fact, the approach taken by the banks is that which advocates the survival of the fittest. Whilst the free market concept posits to the effect that the market forces should shape the standards expectations especially of financial institutions, it can be argued that the conditions set are favourable to the business organisations which leaves the ordinary people exposed to manipulation by these big businesses. The aspect of materialism has increased dramatically in the operations of financial institutions and this has posed a serious challenge to the ordinary people who end being victims especially during turbulent periods that can be attributed to the strategies implemented by the financial institutions. Whereas marketers in the other industries worry about the impact of culture on their strategies, financial institutions in USA are primarily concerned with entrenching the aspect of individualism in their operations (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). Stiglitz argues that rugged ind ividualism combined with a high degree of materialism has led to loss of trust among the members of the society and different financial institutions. The aspect of culture and moral values can also be attributed to the concept of ethics. Business ethics loosely refers to values, principles and standards that operate within a particular organisation which attempts to make a distinction between something that is morally good from bad (Rossouw, 2004). The concept of business ethics therefore derives from the value system that is used by a particular organisation to shape its operations. To reinforce this assertion, DesJardins (2006, p. 5) describes values as the â€Å"essential and enduring tenets†

The Criticisms of The Friedan Mystique Article Essay

The Criticisms of The Friedan Mystique Article - Essay Example The difficulties that Betty Friedan saw women facing were most likely enough to let her realize that any revolution that would take place in women’s favor would do so at a slow and painstaking pace. Therefore, Friedan might have predicted that at some point during the change, women’s advances would not be commonplace. It might very well have been known to her that during the revolution, women’s wages as compared to men’s would rise to equality—not overnight, but gradually. Friedan’s idea was to grant women the wide variety of choices that men had. It was not to be conceived that women should abandon child-bearing and rear altogether and launch out into the business world without concern for family and the perpetuation (or at least prolongation) of the human race. Her goal was to grant women the choice and opportunity to pursue business should they have that desire. In light of this, it would seem that Betty Friedan would have known that some women might consciously choose to remain in the homes, bear and rear children, and take care of their husbands. Certainly, at the time that she lived and wrote, while some women seemed eager and were clamoring for equality, others seemed quite satisfied with their domestic lot. Some were even critical of the women who wanted the choice to become educated and actually use that education in the corporate and professional world. The existence of these phenomena would have made it possible for Friedan to predict the criticisms of feminism made in â€Å"The Friedan Mystique.†