Thursday, December 26, 2019

Home - Iain Crichton Smith - How to Fail - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 547 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/09/14 Category Advertising Essay Did you like this example? Personal Study Notes – Jason Fee – Home by Iain Crichton Smith QUESTION: What techniques does the author use to show what the word â€Å"Home† really means to the main character? Introduction A short story I have read and thoroughly enjoyed is â€Å"Home† by â€Å"Iain Crichton Smith† I chose this short story because I found the authors’ style of writing interesting and the way he showed the characters’ experiences and emotions. The short story is based around the main characters’ understanding of home and the experience he has which, I believe, changes his idea of the definition of home. In this essay I will analyse the techniques used by the author to show the true definition of the word â€Å"Home† to the main character. Very early in the short story the author makes good use of language techniques. The main character is out of place in Glasgow. â€Å"They walked into the close whose walls were brown above and a dirty blue below, pitted with scars. † The author describing the walls of the close as â€Å"pitted with scars† suggests that the walls are old and damaged, and thus have been vandalised due to local delinquents and lack of money or care or to bother to fix it. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Home Iain Crichton Smith How to Fail" essay for you Create order The word â€Å"Scars† has connotations of danger and suggests people could get hurt in this area. Although the main character stays optimistic at this point he starts to realise that the area is not the way he remembered it, because when he lived there, the low standard of the area was what he was accustomed to. An Interesting technique the author uses is atmosphere early in the story. The atmosphere of Glasgow is important to the main character as the contrast between the man and his surroundings give key insight to his personal opinion of home. The black polished car drew up outside the brown tenement Somebody had written in chalk the words YA BASS† The author describes the tenements as brown which the reader interprets as a connotation of poverty and dirt, which casts a significant contrast of the main character arriving in a â€Å"black polished car†. The word â€Å"Polished† indicates wealth and the word â€Å"black† could indicate sophisticatio n. This line is significant to his loss of his sense of belonging to the area he used to live in. This is important as it shows his indifference and leads to events which affect his overall realisation. Another technique the author uses is his creation of characters in the story. The main character is treated differently than before because of the wealth he has obtained since he was last in Glasgow. â€Å"Get out of here, daddy, before we cut you up, and take your camera and your bus with you, and your bag too, right? pat and said quietly Tourist† Because the main character is wealthy, compared to the area he is visiting, he is treated as an outsider to that area, whom the youths don’t seem to accept. They mock him with his age by calling him â€Å"daddy† and threaten him. The author’s use of creating characters is important in making the main character feel unaccepted and uncomfortable, which are the two factors he realises are what make a place his â€Å"Home† His happy memories of his friends confirm this.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

I Can Not Start The Construction Of My Theology Of...

BTH 526 Apologetics Assignment #2 I cannot start the construction of my theology of Apologetics without going back to the Apostle Peter’s call for all Christians in 1 Peter 3:15 to be ready all the time to give a defense for your faith in God. So God is informing us that we need to be developing strategies for our defense. I know this sounds weird, but as a football coach you always have a game plan when you step on the field. I think this is what God is telling us through Peter. As a coach on the defensive side of the ball I always look at what I can shut down or take away from my opponent’s offense. I will attempted to construct a defense by looking at the opponent’s (unbeliever’s) major offensive weapon and developing strategies I can†¦show more content†¦What I mean by this is we cannot know what is innately bad unless we know what is innately good. Good cannot exist unless there is evil, because we would not know what bad or evil is unless we know what is good. Timothy Keller alludes to the development of human rights as an indicator of a God, because these rights are not developed within the theory of evolutionary human development.1 Human or moral rights go against the laws of nature and the central theme of evolution, which is survival of the fittest (Timothy Keller, page 153).1 With the use of Apologetics strategies I must have a willingness to allow God to work through me to open the unbeliever’s eyes and ears so that they can discover God and seek out His loving goodness for mankind. McGrath concludes that Apologetics main aim is to lead people to God, and I agree with him on this key idea in Apologetics (McGrath, page 41). To effectively lead people to Jesus one must be able to fully understand their relationship with the Lord. This would include the understanding of key doctrinal components of the Christian faith to the point that they can be explained in simple terms. These components would include the existence of God and the Trinity, the extension of grace to mankind through Jesus, and the cross of Christ is the only place one can find forgiveness for sins. McGrath’s lays out his key components as the cross and resurrection of Christ, the cross’ healing abilities in aShow MoreRelatedRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagescultu re bearers / Ennis Barrington Edmonds. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-513376-5 1. Rastafari movement. 2. Jamaica—Religious life and customs. I. Title. BL2532.R37 E36 2002 299†².676—dc21 2002074897 v To Donnaree, my wife, and Donnisa, my daughter, the two persons around whom my life revolves; and to the ancestors whose struggles have enabled us to survive and thrive This page intentionally left blank Foreword One of the most useful things about

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Business Capstone Project Structure Decisions

Question: Discuss about the Business Capstone Project for Structure Decisions. Answer: Introduction SMEs have a tendency to service as the source for creating employment opportunities, livelihood of the poor, generating income and contributing to the economic growth of the countries (Welsch, Price and Stoica 2013). Although, the roles of the SMEs have been increasing in the financial sector, the accessibility to the credit remains a major concern. Microfinance is a form of financial development which aims at alleviating the poverty of the poor who remained aloof of the proper financial services. The paper deals in examining the role of the microfinance in promoting the small and medium enterprises in Australia. Research aims and objectives The research aims at contributing to the array of literature on the Microfinance and the development of SMEs in Australia. The research also aims at investigating the effectiveness of the implementation of the microfinance in the larger companies in the country. The research also deals in estimating the current issues that are being faced by the organizations. The research objectives related to the study are as follows: To evaluate the role of Microfinance in the business organizations To identify the issues as faced by the organizations leading them to seek micro financing To identify the various facts and figures related to the ability of micro financing in developing the SMEs to larger companies Literature review SMEs in Australia According to the reports presented by Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the small business is actively trading businesses with 0-19 employees (Salimzadeh, Courvisanos and Nayak 2013). Likewise, the medium business has 20-199 employees while the larger organizations have more than 200 employees working under their respective business environments. The small businesses make significant contribution to the Australian economy which accounts for more than half of the industry employment and contributing to over a third of the industry value. SMEs play crucial role in the creation of employment and the income generation in the developing countries including Australia. This role is critical in the efforts of the countries to eradicate the poverty. Capital structure and financing For a business to expand, the firms should be increasing their assets by involving an implicit decision for raising money capital such that to promote financial growth. According to Elsas, Flannery and Garfinkel (2014), there are three main sources of the funds composing of equity financing, use of retained earnings and debt financing. The three major theories related to the capital structure of the firms include (i) trade off model, (ii) pecking order hypothesis, (iii) and signaling model. These theories allows the firms to choose their capital structures by trading off the debt benefits with the cost of debts of the agency and bankruptcy costs as well. Key factors inflowing the development of SMEs Microfinance is a significant tool for prompting the business development. The development of the small business is subjected to receive and access lucrative market related to the finance sector. The microfinance helps in improving the business working capital. Microfinance also helps in solving the financial issues as faced by the organizations. According to a recent survey, more than 10,000 firms in over 80 countries around the world have named financial constraints as one of the most sever issue which have been hampering with their growth (Fuller 2016). Role of microfinance in the SME development According to Gorodnichenko and Schnitzer (2013), lack of access of finance is one of the major constraints that is hampering with the development of small businesses. Commercial banks have been traditionally concentrating on their lending especially on the large formal enterprises possessing the collateral and less risks. According to Vanroose and DEspallier (2013), one of the solutions dealing with the lack of financing options for the SMEs is the introduction and development of microfinance. It has the capability to strengthen the firms and encourage the best practices in the working environment of SMEs. From the demand perspective, microfinance is diversified into microcredit, micro savings, micro insurance and investment as well. Microfinance also plays a crucial role in the profits and revenue growth of the SMEs. Research gap The literature lacks the illustration of the framework and models related to the micro financing and its auctions in the SMEs. Moreover, the literature lacks the evaluation of the impact of the microfinance on the business performance of the organizations. It also lacks the illustration of the structure of microfinance as followed in the business organizations. Research questions What are the key factors influencing the small enterprises in order to transform medium enterprises into large enterprise? What is the significance of micro financing in the SMEs? What are the issues faced by the firms that determine the likelihood of receiving micro financing? Research design and methodology Research methods The research method can be diversified in the form of two dimensions including the inductive and the deductive method. The applications of the deductive approach are to establish a hypothetical evaluation of the issues underpinning in the research study. On the other hand, the inductive approach is dependent on the theories related to the subject matter related to the research. The research study requires implementing the Deductive research approach which could help in reducing the resource consumption. As the Inductive research approach requires the inclusion of new theories and models and hence, would be more time consuming. Thus, the deductive research approach would be more suitable for the research study. In the research study, the deductive method has been utilized for conducting the same involving the formation of the hypothetical evaluation related to the research topic. The formation of the research questionnaires is subjected to be interpreted according to the primary issues being recognized in the research. The questionnaires should be incorporating the qualitative ands quantitative questions which could be helpful in acquiring quality data related to the research study. Thus, the deductive approach is the most appropriate for the research study. Research strategy According to O'Leary (2013), the research strategy is the factor that enables the research process to acquire useful information related to the research topic. The research study requires the information related to the role of the Microfinance in the development of SMEs. Thus, the conduction of primary data collection would be suitable for the research study. This follows the conduction of the interviews and surveys based on the research questionnaires being formulated in the research study. This conduction of interviews and surveys would be helpful in acquiring quality data related to the research topic. Data collection methods The data collection process would be helping in collecting the required information related to the research which should be compatible with the time and budget as estimated for the research. There are two main techniques which are followed in the data collection process including the primary data collection and secondary data collection. The research study requires the formulation of the research questionnaires and hence, the conduction of primary data collection would be more appropriate. Sample size The sample should be selected by implementing the random sampling technique. 100 respondents should be selected who should be working in the commercial banks and financial organizations in Australia. Data analysis The data analysis another significant process which is helpful in analyzing the information being acquired through the data collection process. The analysis would be helpful in gaining relevant information related to the microfinance and its role in the development of the SMEs in Australia. The tools being implemented in the research process includes the various charts, figures, tables, diagrams and analytical software including SPSS and Word. These tools would be helping in analyzing the information such that to gain knowledge about the research topic being selected for the research. Contribution The various research tools, techniques, approaches and strategies related to the research study would be helpful in conducting the research process in the appropriate direction. The implementation of the primary data collection method would be helping in collecting useful information related to the research topic. Moreover, the implementation of the appropriate research strategy, design and procedure would be enabling in collecting relevant and useful information related to the research topic. The research methodology would be helpful in constructing the data analysis through the implementation of the statistical analysis. Research outcome The research study is helpful in contributing to the array of literature based on the Microfinance and the development of SMEs in Australia. The research would be able to find the relationships between the SMEs and the Microfinance institutions for transforming the firms to economy development in the country. The roles of the SMEs have been increasing in the financial sector, the accessibility to the credit remains a major concern. The research study would be helpful in evaluating the role of Microfinance in the business organizations. It also helps in identifying the issues as faced by the SMEs. The research also helps in identifying the various facts and figures related to the ability of micro financing in developing the SMEs to larger companies. The paper deals in examining the role of the microfinance in promoting the small and medium enterprises in Australia. References Elsas, R., Flannery, M.J. and Garfinkel, J.A., 2014. Financing major investments: information about capital structure decisions. Review of Finance, 18(4), pp.1341-1386. Fuller, G.W., 2016. Introduction. In The Great Debt Transformation (pp. 1-24). Palgrave Macmillan US. Gorodnichenko, Y. and Schnitzer, M., 2013. Financial constraints and innovation: Why poor countries don't catch up. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(5), pp.1115-1152. O'Leary, Z., 2013. The essential guide to doing your research project. Sage. Salimzadeh, P., Courvisanos, J. and Nayak, R.R., 2013, July. Sustainability in small and medium sized enterprises in regional Australia: a framework of analysis. In Annual SEAANZ Conference Proceedings in Sydney, Australia. Vanroose, A. and DEspallier, B., 2013. Do microfinance institutions accomplish their mission? Evidence from the relationship between traditional financial sector development and microfinance institutions outreach and performance. Applied Economics, 45(15), pp.1965-1982. Welsch, H., Price, D.P. and Stoica, M., 2013. Innovation, Performance and Growth Intentions in SMEs. International Journal of Economics and Management Engineering, 3(5), p.176.

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Monetary And Fiscal Policies, Although Controlled By Two Essays

The Monetary and Fiscal Policies, although controlled by two different organizations, are the ways that our economy is kept under control. Both policies have their strengths and weaknesses, some situations favoring use of both policies, but most of the time, only one is necessary. The monetary policy is the act of regulating the money supply by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, currently headed by Alan Greenspan. One of the main responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System is to regulate the money supply so as to keep production, prices, and employment stable. The Fed has three tools to manipulate the money supply. They are the reserve requirement, open market operations, and the discount rate. The most powerful tool available is the reserve requirement. The reserve requirement is the percentage of money that the bank is not allowed to loan out. If it is lowered, banks are required to keep less money, and so more money is put out into circulation (theoretically). If it is raised, then banks may have to collect on some loans to meet the new reserve requirement. The tool known as open market operations influences money and credit operations by buying and selling of government securities on the open market. This is used to control overall money supply. If the Fed believes there is not enough money in circulation, then they will buy the securities from member banks. If the Fed believes there is too much money in the economy, they will sell the securities back to the banks. Because it is easier to make gradual changes in the supply of money, open market operations are use more regularly than monetary policy. When member banks want to raise money, they can borrow from Federal Reserve Banks. Just like other loans, there is an interest rate, or a discount rate, the third tool of the monetary policy. If the discount rate is high, then fewer banks will be inclined to borrow, and if it is low, more banks will (theoretically) borrow from the reserve banks. The discount rate is not used as frequently as it was in the past, but it does serve as an indicator to private bankers of the intentions of the Fed to constrict or enlarge the money supply. The monetary policy is a good way to influence the money supply, but it does have its weaknesses. One weakness is that tight money policy works better that loose money policy. Tight money works on bringing money in to stop circulation, but for loose policy to really work, people have to want loans and want to spend money. Another problem is monetary velocity. The number of times per year a dollar changes hands for goods and services is completely independent of the money supply, and can sometimes contradict the efforts of the Fed. The benefits of the monetary system are that it can be enacted immediately with quick results. There are no delays from congress. Second, the Fed uses partisan politics, and so has no ties to any political party, but acts in the best interests of the U.S. Economy. The second way to influence the money supply lies in the hands of the government with the Fiscal Policy. The fiscal policy consists of two main tools. The changing of tax rates, and changing government spending. The main point of fiscal policy is to keep the surplus/deficit swings in the economy to a minimum by reducing inflation and recession. A change in tax rates is usually implemented when inflation is unusually high, and there is a recession with high unemployment. With high inflation, taxes are increased so people have less to spend, thus reducing demand and inflation. During a recession with high unemployment, taxes are lowered to give more people money to spend and thus increasing demand for goods and services, and the economy begins to revive. A change in government spending has a stronger effect on the economy than a change in tax rates. When the government decides to fight a recession it can spend a large amount of money on goods and services, all of which is released into the economy. Despite the effectiveness of the Fiscal policy, it does have drawbacks. The major problems are timing and politics. It is hard to predict inflation and recession, and it can be a long period of time before the situation is even recognized. Because a tax cut can take a year to really take effect, the economy could revive from the recession and the new unnecessary tax cut could cause inflation. Politics are another problem. Unlike the monetary policy run by the partisan Fed, the fiscal policy is

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Berlitz Kids German Language Pack

Berlitz Kids German Language Pack It is an unfortunate fact that very few elementary schools teach foreign languages, despite research indicating that children age 12 and younger are much more receptive language learners than older students. The Berlitz Kids Language Pack series is aimed at parents who know this, and want to offer their son or daughter the benefits of a second language. The Berlitz Kids German Language Pack program targets children ages five and up. The Language Pack comes in a colorful cardboard briefcase package with handle that kids can carry around. The Berlitz Kids German package includes the following: The Missing Cat/Die verschwundene Katze story bookAudio CD for the story book and songsFirst 100 German Words picture dictionaryHelp Your Child with a Foreign Language guide bookBerlitz Language German Club certificate The Berlitz Kids German Language Pack materials teach the language in a natural, familiar way that is suited for young learners. In a reading and story-telling format, along with songs in German, kids are introduced to German vocabulary, grammar, and the sounds of the language (on CD). Berlitz has repackaged its 1998 Language Pack edition, dropping the former flashcards, and putting the audio on CD rather than cassettes. The story book is in German with English in smaller print. The accompanying audio CD has excellent sound and includes eight sing-along songs that go with each chapter of the story book. The story of Nicholas and Princess, his missing cat, is a typical illustrated childrens tale that manages to introduce basic German vocabulary and grammar without seeming to teach them overtly. Berlitz offers two additional German story books (The Five Crayons and A Visit to Grandma, also with audio CD) at extra cost, which is one of the few complaints I have about this $27.00 package. For that amount, it should include more than just one story book. Besides The Missing Cat, the only other printed material for the young student is a thin 26-page picture dictionary called the First 100 Words. But parents are offered some real help in guiding their young learner. Besides being able to learn and read along with their youngster, the included 210-page book Help Your Child with a Foreign Language by Opal Dunn helps parents do a better job of introducing a new language to their kids. The book is a comprehensive guide that includes pedagogical information, language activities and games, Language Time ideas, German phrases, mistakes to avoid, suggested teaching strategies, and other resources to help mom or dad enhance the childs learning experience. It encourages parents to participate in their childs language learning by offering good ideas and practical strategies for young learners that they can use. I have awarded the Berlitz Kids Language Pack German program four stars (out of five) because it offers a good introduction to German for kids, but it should include at least one more story book instead of offering it at extra cost. I found the German songs a bit irritating (all sung by the same artists), but most young kids will probably love them. Children and their parents will enjoy learning German with the Language Pack. It is also available for Italian, French, and Spanish. Berlitz Kids German Language PackStory book/audio CD, picture dictionary, parent guide, certificateBerlitz Publishing/Langenscheidt$26.95 SRP

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Good-paying Jobs

Good-paying Jobs Good-paying Jobs Good-paying Jobs By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the expression â€Å"good-paying jobs†: I’ve just come across ‘good-paying jobs’ in a report I’m editing by a highly regarded organization. (It has also been used by some politicians lately.) I was wondering if you could address the use of this phrase instead of what I would expect – â€Å"well-paying jobs.† I believe it’s not correct. The OED tells us that good is â€Å"the most general and most frequently used adjective of commendation in English, and one of the most common non-possessive adjectives in all periods from Old English to the present day.† Consider only a few of the uses of good: good food (wholesome) good books (well-written with worthwhile content0 good money (not counterfeit) good soil (fertile) good English (grammatically correct, well enunciated, and pronounced according to current national conventions) A good question is thought-provoking, a good friend is loyal and dependable. Captain Ahab hopes for a good wind and Yenta looks for a good match for a client. Someone, if not Chief Crazy Horse, may have said â€Å"It’s a good day to die,† and some scriptwriter came up with an episode of Desperate Housewives called â€Å"What’s the Good of Being Good?† The OED entry for good identifies the word as adjective, noun, adverb, and interjection. The good page of the online edition I use scrolls seemingly into infinity. My Compact Edition of the OED shows fifteen columns for plain good and another fifteen columns for words that have good as the root. We speak of good-tasting food (food that tastes good), good-looking people (people who look good), and good-meaning do-gooders (people who mean well). Note: American speakers are more likely to say â€Å"a well-meaning person,† but the OED includes â€Å"good-meaning.† Why shouldn’t we speak of â€Å"good-paying jobs† to mean â€Å"jobs that pay well†? The OED includes good-paying in its list of hyphenated â€Å"good words† for special uses, although the earliest citation (1834) doesn’t use the hyphen: Sandy, this has surely been a good paying job; for, when you were in the Calton, your little ones could not come out for dirt and rags. A Google search indicates that the two phrases are in about equal use. The Ngram Viewer shows both forms, with â€Å"good paying† higher on the graph than â€Å"well paying.† â€Å"This job pays good† is undeniably nonstandard usage. On the other hand, the following usage in an obituary written by Steven Greenhouse and published in The New York Times does not ignite my grammar nerve: From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Herman headed the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s Working for America Institute, which promoted labor-management partnerships to create profitable businesses and good-paying jobs. I think that speakers who prefer â€Å"well-paying jobs† to â€Å"good-paying jobs† should use it, but unless house style demands one or the other, a writer’s choice should probably stand. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their SynonymsTestimony vs. Testimonial

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Estimate critical analysis of the companys recent history with Essay

Estimate critical analysis of the companys recent history with Financial Analysis of Heartland Express company - Essay Example (Rm-Rf) is the risk premium rate and beta can be defined as a measure of how much the stock and market move together. The following values have been traced through relevant financial sources WACC or the weighted average cost of capital is the weighted average cost of the company’s equity and long term debt. WACC is calculated by multiplying the cost of equity with the market value of the equity and cost of debt with the market value of the debt. Cost of debt is usually the interest rate that the company’s pay on its long term and short term financial borrowings. However, an analysis of the company’s financial statements will show that the company does have any long term or short term interest bearing financial debts. All of its debts comprise of trading nature and the company does have to pay any interest on such securities. Does the cost of debt for the heartland express is nil. Keeping all the above factors into consideration, the WACC of heartland express is equal to its cost of equity i.e. 6.11% The estimated value of the company’s equity is calculated by discounting the free cash flow of the company for the foreseeable future using the weighted average cost of capital of the company (WACC). Free cash flow method is basically a measure of financial performance of the company which is calculated as free cash flows minus the capital expenditure. From pure financial management’s perspective, free cash flow can be defined as the cash which the company is able to generate setting aside the money required to maintain or expand its current asset base. The following table presents the free cash flow calculation and the equity value of the company as at financial year end December 31, 2010. Note 2: In the free cash flow method, the depreciation and amortization expense are added to the profit after taxes since these are the non-cash items. For the