The Semiology of Cubism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

The Semiology of Cubism - Essay Example AÂ  cursory reading of the given text testifies to the fact that the aim of the author is not to limit the actual scope of the topic by affiliating it to concrete conclusions. In contrast, adhering to the creative nature of the topic one is delving upon, the author is trying to give the reader a peep into the struggles, conflicts, frustrations, angst and evolutionary reverberations going on into the minds of the few representative cubists, thereby portraying the evolution of a school of art in a somewhat loosely chronological context, where the artists simultaneously engage in the act of creation and at the same time get disillusioned with the forms and symbols created by them. One peculiar thing about the reader is that in one’s attempt to engage in a loosely creative way into a semiotic evolution of cubism, while avoiding adhering to concrete generalities, many a times the writer comes out as being somewhat nebulous.

Kraiger and Holton and Kirkpatricks models' investigation Essay

Kraiger and Holton and Kirkpatricks models' investigation - Essay Example Kirkpatrick's four stages of criterion, including the responses, knowledge, behavior, as well as results, all have been utilized to steer the training assessments in addition to the measurement of training performance for more than 40 years. The recent belief within the training assessment literature expands Kirkpatrick's agenda. The measurement of knowledge criterion characteristically explained with reference to an alteration within declarative information or else expertise has developed beyond the theory within stage two of Kirkpatrick's model. Kraiger along with his colleagues extrapolated the fact that knowledge within training can be categorized into three groups of criterion, cognitive, expertise based moreover sentimental learning. The multidimensional model of training routine is the one, within which disparate the modeling demeanoured with the job performance criterion. This condition is altering as additional researchers take up the Kraiger model within their training investigation. When presenting the training criterion, a lot of diverse provisions appear to be used in exchange of each other: such as the training assessment, training efficiency, substantiation, or appraisal. Time and again, these provisions have extremely dissimilar meanings. In terms of Kraiger and Colleagues, this kind of assessment is carried out to resolve whether the training objectives were accomplished and whether achievement of those objectives ended in improved performance on the post, and training efficiency seeks to learn why training did or did not realize its proposed outcomes. Training efficiency is a much expansive notion moreover encompasses training assessment as well as its criterion. Q2) Identify and describe three potential problems with using self-report measures in HRD evolution. How can these problems be minimizing Answer)The faction of self report Measures is decisive for accomplishment; however it is an unsatisfactory art, as adept by nearly all corporations. Moreover time and again, the spotlight is on established, technological measures, rather than on the explicit wants of the individuals concerned in addition to the preferred outcomes. This becomes even more stressed within the time and again unclear region of self report measures. If we take a much closer look within this segment we would discover that in addition to challenging those inked with the self report measurement to toil towards knowledge and development can guide to measures that are additionally straightforward as well as more precious to all. The foremost, and most elemental, dilemma with the utilization of self report measures is the exploitation of two comparable provisions: assessment and assessing efficiency. The word assessment is a noun that explains a compound business procedure of shaping value or else merit, plus the expression assessing efficiency is a verb idiom. Assessment is a much bigger progression than assessing efficiency. The next trouble is its malfunction to clearly deal with the disparate reasons for assessing the job. Present-day business requirements may perhaps adjoin a fourth rationale to

Conflict Of Modern Vs Traditional Culture

Conflict Of Modern Vs Traditional Culture The system of immigration is of sole importance in the US national development. The country mainly stands on immigration driven transformation throughout the history. Looking back in history, large scale immigration took place in 1970s and process continues till date. The twist of 21st century brought about many changes in the world. The immigration system of US has taken a sharp turn. Much important is the incident of 9/11 and the period following it. Immigrants, after having spent decades of their lives in alien environment being away from home and native culture, come across many problems. The problems vary according to their nature, from social to cultural and economic to political; all problems mainly arise due to lack of assimilation and primary focus on separatism. Assimilation demands merging of American immigrants into a new culture and adopting their way of life. Most first generation immigrants naturally stick to their mother countrys values and norms. For this particular reason they face identity conflict on cultural level. The conflict also arises when the immigrant originally belongs to a culturally dominant group in the mother country and finds him/herself as a minority in the host country. If their cultural identity is rejected by the host society, he/she returns towards his/her native cultural identity. Culture is an indispensable factor of conflict and its resolution. Cultures are like underground rivers that run through our lives  [1]  it shapes our ideas, perceptions and judgments of self and other. Asian- literature primarily addresses the concept of race. Problem Statement: The conflict among US immigrants about cultural assimilation is mostly expressed in South Asian American novels. The South Asian American novelists Mohsin Hamid and Jhumpa Lahiri portray some of cultural conflicts; for instance modern and traditional culture. Generally, American society perceives Asian immigrants culture as traditional and considers their own culture and way of life to be modern in nature. So it is to be analyzed how such conflicts are presented by both the novelists in their works The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The Namesake. Research Questions: On what basis the conflict of modern vs. traditional with respect to Pakistani immigrants is presented in the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist? How Mohsin Hamid defines modern and traditional culture? What according to Jhumpa Lahiri is modern and traditional culture? How in The Namesake the clash of culture is presented with respect to Indian culture? Are there any similarities in the way both novelists define the cultural conflict? Objective of the study The objective of this research is to study how conflict arises between the native and host cultures of immigrants. And to provide the variables on the basis of which the novelists have defined modern and traditional culture in their novels. Significance of the study The significance of this study lies in providing an in-depth analysis of the conflict that has emerged in pre and post 9/11 era with respect to The Namesake and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Methodology The study of conflict is based on qualitative analysis of cultural conflict in both the novels. It is based on theory of assimilation (model of Separatism). Separatism, Methodology is based on consultations from primary and secondary resources. Primary source is the text of two novels and secondary resources are research papers, print media, internet articles and critical commentaries of various critiques. Organization of the study Conflict of modern vs. traditional culture in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Conflict of modern vs. traditional culture in The Namesake. Comparative analysis of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The Namesake. Literature Review Culture means growing sum of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions  [2]  possessed by a particular group of people. It implies that culture revolve around various parameters ranging from dress code to particular political affiliation. Humans cannot flourish well in homogeneity; diversity is a key term in cultures. Conflict automatically arises with diversity among nature and culture of people. The economy of US has been dependent on manpower from across the globe in the form of immigration. Dating back to history; starting from seventeenth century slave trade till date; immigrants have been the mainstream of US economic system. Immigration, however, played a key role not only in making Americas development possible but also in shaping the basic nature of the society. Immigration has given rise to problems of assimilation of one group into another from different backgrounds. People always come from varying cultures, nations, and carry differing identities; they cannot completely merge with each other. The differences always arise and cause issues of identity among people.  [3]   Since each of us possess several different identities of varying degrees of complexity, personal, social  [4]  ; the inner desire to preserve the identities may not receive the same level of acceptance by the host society. This situation ultimately ascends cultural conflicts like identity, name, etc. Huntington in his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order presents his theory of clash of civilization as he believed that clash amongst nations is based upon culture. He writes: Edward Said in his book Orientalism is of the view that occidentals considered orientalists especially Muslims to be barbaric, insensitive and inferior to Anglo-Saxon race thus presenting the clash of civilizations. The hyphenated literature of America records such clashes. The Chinese exclusion in 1882 and the bigotry against Chinese immigrants in US are recorded in the following poem. The similar kind of discriminatory behavior is also portrayed by Meena Alexander in her poem. The extract below narrated the story of bigotry against Asian immigrants in the US where equal opportunities were not available for them Another critic Denna also comments upon the novel in the following words. Similarly Pakistani-American novelist Mohsin Hamid in his novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist also presents the situation of Pakistani immigrants in US by plotting the story in the backdrop of 9/11 attacks. Manish Chand, a critic quotes According to Irfan Khawaja, the protagonist of the novel suffers from cultural and identity conflict, as he is of the opinion: Chapter 2 History of Cultural Conflicts in US Immigration from earliest settlement to the present: Being a country comprised of immigrants, United States of America from its earliest to the present settlers have copious amount of ethnic, religious and cultural multiplicity. The earliest settlers brought about homogeneity as many comprised of white race and were religiously Protestants. But as the decades and centuries passed, Asians, Europeans and South American immigrants poured into the United States. Gradually the difference began to emerge. These differences primarily became apparent on religious, ethnic and racial level as these immigrants ranged from Catholics to Muslims and Hindus to Buddhists. United States developed as an industrial nation after the arrival of European settlers that started at the end of fifteenth century. Population rise, battles on land, industrial revolution, and religious persecution were some of the reasons to make people leave their homeland.  [5]   The earliest immigrants from British Isles migrated to North America and brought with them the mainstream culture which still resonates and dominates in American way of life. Nevertheless, it was Spaniards who first formed the permanent settlement which is now called as Florida in 1565. British developed the new land with the help of American Indians at first at Virginia colonies in 1607. They rated them as an inferior race having traditional and barbaric culture. They viewed them as slaves and tried to suppress them but remained unsuccessful. After realizing that they could no longer use them as slaves, they used corrosive means to move them off the area which settlers wanted for themselves. On the other hand Spaniards used different methodology with the red Indians by integrating them in to their community and exploiting their labor.  [6]   Along with British and Spanish settlers, black landowners from West Indies also played a part in bringing African immigrants to US. Slavery soon became the main solution of problem of manpower in developing American lands especially the South where economy depended on rice, indigo and tobacco.  [7]  These immigrants were a result of forced migration and were required to work on hard conditions without their choice; it was one of the largest population displacements in the world history. The culture of African immigrants in US has received pejorative connotation as whites presumed their culture to be sophisticated and a model to be followed by the World. The clash of cultures later emerged out in the twentieth century. The period between 1815 and World War I is significant in bringing about the greatest wave, an estimated 30 million, of European immigrants to the new land. The largest group was Irish, who became prey to British land laws and potato crop failure, in the mid nineteenth century. Germans constituted the second-largest group among European immigrants; most of them were middle class artisans and landless people who migrated due to Industrial upheaval in Europe During the epoch from 1890 to 1924, immigrants from Italy, central Europe and Russia started settling into the US. The late nineteenth century in the United States is marked by immigration restrictions. Some state laws did not allow illiterate and anarchists to step on their soil. The need of restrictions arose as many believed that the culture of newcomers is spoiling the whole essence of American culture and way of living. The turn of twentieth century and World War II brought about immigrants from Asia, Mexico and the South America. Cultural conflict and Legislations: The major cultural conflict in American history is mostly associated with African immigrants and their struggle to retain their own cultural identity with reference to their native land. Their struggle is marked by violence, peaceful protests, establishment of certain organizations like NAACP. The time span of this struggle starts with the establishment of James Town when Africans were brought to the New world solely for economic purpose and their status were nothing but slaves. They were not even considered as human beings but mere as property, the beings that are devoid of any emotion whether pleasure or pain. For that particular reason, they were transported in inhumane conditions through transatlantic route. Sometimes they were chained around their necks and were given food after several hours. These conditions resulted in the deaths of so many Africans on ship and their dead bodies were used to be thrown in rivers. On their arrival to the New World they were sold and they were departed from their families. Langston Hughes, a famous African-American poet narrates the similar incident in his poem The Negro Mother. After being sold, the slaves were put on mostly cotton, tobacco and potatoes plantation. Some of the slaves tried to show resistance regarding religion and culture and the remaining were put on so severe conditions that they could not think of anything else but pain. Americans considered the slaves to be devoid of any culture and religion but despite persecution, slaves managed to retain some part of their native culture. Though folktales, slaves were able to save their culture from perishing in United States. Apart from that, they crafted certain objects in accordance with the traditions of Africa As there was restricted time of leisure allotted to slaves especially on Sunday, the slaves used to rejoice themselves through dance and music. They used to play variety of musical instruments and the music for them connoted both spiritual as well as secular meanings. But not many slaveholders were lover of slaves music as many considered especially in South Carolina, the beating of drum as the call for rebellion on the part of the slaves. When in 1776, America gained independence, the author of Declaration of Independence , Thomas Jefferson chose beautiful words to signify whtat the new country stands for in these words but the Constitution of United States and the practices spoke otherwise. Under the Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution, while discussing about the representatives in the Government, give slaves the proportion of three fifth. It is interesting that the authors of the constitution has not used the word slaves, but the word others has been used for them. After the independence of United States, the South economy stated to boom because of slave. They were expensive and the number of slaves determined the status of the land owners. Apart from few landowners no one allowed slave the right to education and if slaves used to run away to some other place, it was the law that they had to be returned back to hi/her owners. On the other hand North was moving towards industrialization. In 1860, during the presidential campaign, the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln based his campaign on anti slavery slogan, which highly disturbed the South because they reckoned the slogan as an attack to their economic institution and warned North that if slavery would be abolished, then they would secede. In early 19th century anti slavery societies began to operate who called for the rights of slaves. The campaign became so severe in late 19th century the civil war broke out in 1861 and lasted till 1865. The Civil War resulted in the abolition of slavery. Behind the abolition of slavery there were various actors that played their part to raise awareness that blacks are also human beings and should be given appropriate rights. Abolitionist used various strategies; one amongst them was the publication of anti slavery alphabet. Through alphabets, the abolitionist presented their point of view in front of white Americans. Despite the end of slavery, it existed in the form of segregation; more specifically through Jim Crow laws. The laws made segregation legal from transportation places, to theatre etc. The Jim crow laws connoted that blacks are separte and could never assimilate or adjust themselves with the whites based upon their culture and mental capabilities. In an effort to revive their culture, African- American started to publish their literature and thus laid the foundation of jazz poetry, jazz music, etc which has now become the hall mark of American culture. The epoch of 1920s is marked by Harlem Renaissance or is often referred as Jazz age. After facing hardships of decades, it was Rosa Parks who when refused to give seat to a white American was arrested and it laid the foundation of Montgomery bus boycott which later became one of the causative agents of Civil Rights movement of 1960s. The leader of the movement, Martin Luther King Jr called for an end to racial discrimination and demanded the equal rights for the colored people. He called for non violent civil disobedience which compelled US Government to put an end to Jim Crow Laws. Martin Luther Kings sppech I have a dream is significant in this remark which calls for segregated free American society, where colored people would get equal chances of progress. The history of ethnic and racial conflict is mostly recorded in parallel to the history of immigration in the United States. Moving in to a new society, the immigrant suffers from discrimination which varies in degrees ranging from verbal abuse to physical violence. This discrimination has to be experienced by the migrant if he/she wants to be recognized as Americans. The Melting Pot theory formulated in eighteenth century is crucial to the understanding of cultural conflict in United States. The basic postulate of melting pot theory requires all immigrants to assimilate into the American dominant culture. It laid stress on homogeneity on religious as well as an ethnic level. During the late eighteenth century, it is estimated that 99 percent of US population comprised of white Protestants.  [8]  They easily were able to assimilate themselves in white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) as there was uniformity among them in terms of ethnicity, religion, and race.  [9]  But for the migrant the whole story was upside down. They found it difficult to melt in to the dominant culture especially African immigrants with lower socio-economic status and color. They were assumed as mentally and physically inferior and their culture also became the victim of ethnocentrism. Similarly by the end of nineteenth century, it became questionable whether European immigrant of lower economic status could be assimilated. Among immigrants, who were physically weak and were of lower economic status struggled hard to make their place in fast moving American society. The American Congress, dreading foreign-born political reformists, passed the short lived Alien Act in 1798 to exorcise alleged spies. Although unwanted entering was controlled by local and state control on immigration; the first major federal immigration legislation excluded prostitutes and convicts in 1875.  [10]   An alike display of persecution was observed against Asians on the West Bank. The gold rush of 1848 brought most Chinese immigrants to the country. Chinese came as individuals, not in families, since they intended to return back after earning significant amount of money. They primarily were employed to work on railroads as well on farms. The discrimination against Chinese included accusations of vice and idolatry. They were considered inferior and a potential threat to Americans on economic level. For this particular reason, the bigotry against Asian also included use of violence. Native born Americans made use of legislation to remove this threat as Congress passed Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.it remain enacted till 1943. During early 20th century Japanese immigrants entered US initially; soon they allegedly took away most jobs by providing cheap labor. The number of Japanese entering US was limited by the gentlemens agreement signed between US and Japanese governments in 1907; ultimately all Asians were prohibited from entering US by the year 1924. Racial profiling was not limited to work places but students at college campuses and religious places also suffered from bigotry. The conflicts based on culture and race which demands their life-styles be accepted and given space in the society are prevalent till date. The increasing number of undocumented and illegal immigrants residing in US paved way to another wave of Nativism during 1980s and 1990s. Most illegal immigrants came from Mexico, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean. It was assumed by Americans that these people were taking away job opportunities and hence became a burden on economy of US. Local political and social movements generated national demand to restrict immigration in late nineteenth century. The Ku Klux Klans actions were strict against foreigners as well as against African Americans. Eastern and Southern Europeans were easily recognizable due to their appearance and traditions, which made them easy targets of bigotry. Congress allocated quotas for immigrants comprising of complex sets of rules about national origin, most of which helped northern Europeans in the Immigration Act of 1924. President Harry S. Truman deviated from this policy when he granted asylum to European refugees who fled World War II. Quota system was revised to control immigration in McCarran-Walter Act (the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952), it also sustained marginalization of immigration from Asia. The Immigration Act of 1965 finally ended national origin to serve as basis for system of quotas. After the incident of bomb shelling at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese were hauled away by the FBI; restrictions and bans were placed on people of Japanese descent to be expatriated from US devoid of the fact that they had acquired US citizenship. They were caught and sent to internment camps. It gave an air of Japanese being captives of US forces. All the metaphors of freedom and liberty that were pure American phrases did not apply to Japanese immigrants in US. Immigrants to the United States, have adapted to the new culture despite of their many cultural diversities; they have been displaced from the familiar lifestyles and having to settle in the alien life and the new circumstances. After assimilation, the new comers assume themselves as Americans; the situation becomes ironical when these assimilated groups start to doubt more recent immigrant groups as a threat to American way of life. By the turn of twenty first century, September 11, 2001 attacks on World Trade Centre and Pentagon terribly affected the lives of Asian immigrants in the United States most specifically, Muslims. Many of the immigrants became the target of bigotry, harassment, and hostility. In the year 2004, the council on American-Islamic relations processed a grand total of 1,522 incidents where immigrants complained of ethnic and religious profiling. Hence 9/11 has served as a catalyst for producing a cultural conflict among Asian immigrants. The religious differences are also contributing to this problem. The 9/11 incident, has brought this conflict to height and has proved American society a failure for multiculturalism. Chapter 3 Cultural Clash in The Namesake The Namesake is a remarkable autobiographical tale of the novelist. Jhumpa Lahiri, being brought up in Bengali-American family, shares immigrant experiences and all the underlying conflicts; she states about writing the perfect inscription in an interview: Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London, and bred and matured in Rhode Island (US); thus attaining an immediate familiarity with living two lives in one. This distributed life made her much sensitive to the intense pressure to be two things, loyal to the old world and fluent in the new.  [11]  She has been successful in concisely portraying her diaspora experiences in a collection of short stories; Interpreter of Maladies (which won her the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2000). Similarly, once more catching the attention of literary world, through her first novel The Namesake; she Houghton Mifflin Company published an interview of Jhumpa Lahiri , she expresses about The Namesake: the novel is definitely about those who are culturally displaced or those who grow up in two worlds simultaneously. Jhumpa Lahiris The Namesake conveys clash of cultural assimilation; where first generation of immigrants natively belong to Bengal, India and are seen as traditional people loving their motherland and her culture. They dont assume America as their own place; but their son Gogol is born and bred in United States and he carries an opposite approach as that of his parents. Gogol is uncomfortable with his own name which carries in itself a whole history of his fathers association with an author; he himself understands his name neither his friends outside the home and this becomes a source of tension for him. He also feels distress over his parents Bengali rituals and rites that they occasionally practice. Such things become a source of inner battle for Gogol. Immigration is a common practice in the present globalized age. People from across the world change places and face different languages, cultures, and everything that is new to their lives. One common situation that they all face is natives unwillingness to accept them; this also applies within the country or within small states. Gogol, the protagonist, is unable to understand the account behind his name, when his father tries to explain. At one stage in his endeavors with his self, he isolates himself from the rest of his family to get rid of traditional culture; but he returns to his home after death of his father and adopts the rites that he used to practice. As a result of all this conflict, with his identity, he loses his girlfriend. Gradually, Gogol turns back to his parents culture and family, he finds himself attracted to a Bengalese girl that his mother introduced him to. He gets married to her; where it seems the story has finished happily, but that is not the case. Moushumi, who is a shy Bengalese young lady, after getting away from strict and traditional environment of her parents house seems to enjoy the freedom of married life and loses interest in him and builds an affair. The Namesake gives an insight into the lives of immigrants to United States, the cultural and identity crisis they find while assimilating into the new society.  [12]   The Gangulis, although live in United States but they socialize and live away from American culture as far as parents are concerned. Ashima wears traditional clothes and speak their native language. But once the children are in school, she observes American occasions like Christmas, but that too is celebrated in her Bengalese circle of friends and serves her home-based foods. Gogol, seems in trouble all the time because of his inner conflict. He always detests Indian culture and wants to keep an American identity; as a result he doesnt even refrain from leaving his parents home and abandon his relationship with family. Issue of cuisine The trouble regarding the cuisine also surfaces when Ashima realizes the difference of Chicken being butchered in the two countries i.e., India and America. Apparel Gogol while assimilating into the land of his dreams, America, he wears American styled clothes. On the other hand when he visits India, he wears Indian clothes. This means that he has not abandoned both the identities. Yet at the same time he is confused regarding the choice of his apparel. Difference of Perceptions regarding various countries: The plot contains the best travelling experiences of characters regarding India, America, Paris and Venice. Each person assumes the places differently, from escape to home and freedom to failure To the children of first generation immigrants, on the other hand, their parents native place seems old fashioned and outdated. Their lives become collaged between Indian and American rites as they face troubles with their selves in becoming Indian or Indian-American. As a result this conflict ends when in Europe where they can easily cut their connections. The people live, share and celebrate even the minor events collectively in India, but the situation is different in United States. As the character of Mrs. Jones reveals that she lives alone and sees her children and grandchildren rarely; this is a life that Ashokes mother would find humiliating.  [13]  In America, the Ganguli children are raised up as Americans, and want to celebrate events as their fellows. For instance, Gogol celebrates his fourteenth birthday in two different ways, one traditional Bengali and other American. The wedding of Moushumi and Gogol is also an example of clash between traditional and modern values. Their parents plan the whole event in their way and perform various customs that none of them understands. Gogols friends on the other hand design and plan the whole event of marriage personally. The difference between traditional and modern values is also evident in Gogols divorce from Moushumi. Since Ashima thinks, Fortunately they have not considered it their duty to stay married, as the Bengalis of Ashoke and Ashimas generation do.  [14]  In her view, the pressure to settle for less than their ideal of happiness has given way to American common sense.  [15]  Surprisingly, Ashima is pleased with this outcome, as opposed to an unhappy but dutiful marriage for her son.  [16]   In The Namesake, characters make constant contrasts between India and America, between tradition and modern way of looking at things, and so on. First generation immigrants like Ashoke and Ashima consider American ways as alien and foreign but to accommodate to pleasure of their American born children, adapt to certain occasions like Christmas. Second generation immigrants like Gogol and Moushumi, who are now Indian-American, feel alien in both the countries. They seem misplaced in their parents homeland as well as the land where they are born and bred. Gogol faces another cultural shock when he becomes aware of immolation tradition in the treatment of dead bodies. It becomes haunting for him to think that unlike his American tradition of burying the bodies in grave, his body will be burnt after death. Estrangement and alienation: The theme of alienation, of being isolated in a distant land, is dominant in the whole novel. During her period of first pregnancy, Ashima was anxious to raise the child in a foreign land, a country where she is related to no one, where she knows so little, where life seems so tentative and spare.  [17]  This alienation is mainly due to her inner conflict of fast and modern life of US and her traditional simple life back at home. At childs birth, she feels alone and helpless and considers his birth, It is unlike the customary gathering of whole bunch of people around the lady and c

The Joy Luck Club Essay -- essays research papers fc

Everybody is different despite which culture they’re from, religion they practice or beliefs they accept as true. Finding one person of your same culture, practicing your same religion and believing all the exact, same ideas as you do is practically impossible. There are always a few factors that make you different from this person, and this idea is acceptable to most. Why then, if one found they were almost identical in thoughts and feelings as another individual, but found that this individual was of a different race, would this be considered unacceptable? There lingers an aroma of ignorance and naive ness around a few that make it so they’re blinded to the idea that a difference in ethnic backgrounds does not make a person inferior or superior. If one were to be categorized as inferior or superior, it would have to be based on their actions: whether it be wrong doings or accomplishments. The main characters in this story are a generation of mothers and their daughters. This story is told in sections as a narrative, where each chapter is recounted by a different woman. The mothers speak of their experiences growing up under the strict conditions in China. They told of how their marriages were predetermined and how they had to do as any male ordered. The daughters, on the other hand, being raised under American ways, told of their hardships with pressure given to them by their mothers. They spoke of American husbands, equality between both sexes, and how they’d rather believe that their futures could indeed be controlled. This novel being reviewed for recommendation in minority studies is The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, where the minority groups being presented are both the Chinese Gelman – Page 2 and women. The view seen of women in the United States is that of a rising class; once always under the wing of a male, but in the present day, rising to achieve equality. The view seen of Chinese women though, still remains that they are being held in the male’s shadow. â€Å"Reading scores†¦ and math scores†¦ for minority students are falling further behind those of white students† (Heartland Institute). This is from a report taken in the United States, which could be applied to China as well. There, though, only the women are the minority, instead of all Chinese. The Chinese men got the better educations,... ... get across to the youth before they have a mind of their own, they’d learn not to even notice the color of one’s skin, but to look only into their eyes, which is a doorway to what the mind thinks, the heart feels and the body experiences. Gelman – Page 6 Bibliography Hart’s War. Dir. Gregory Hoblit. With Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, Terrence Dashon Howard, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Cole Hauser, Rory Cochrane and Marcel Iures. MGM, 2001. McAlister, Linda Lopez. â€Å"‘The Joy Luck Club’ A Film Review.† The Women’s Show. WMNF-FM (88.5). Tampa, FL. 02 Oct. 1993. RARA Foundation. â€Å"Minority Role Models.† n.d: n.pag. On-line. Internet. 21 Feb. 2002 Available WWW: HYPERLINK "http://www.minrm.com/index.html" http://www.minrm.com/index.html The Heartland Institute: School Reform News. â€Å"Minority Academic Progress Falters.† Jan. 1997: n.pag. On-line. Internet. 21 Feb. 2002 Available WWW: http://www.heartland.org/education/jan97/minority.html Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. Maine: Thorndike, 1989

Congoleum Corporation Essay

In valuing the target company Congoleum after an LBO by First Boston found the expected free cash flows generated by this firm from 1980 to 1984. These numbers were based on values provided in the case. From there, we employed the Adjusted Present Value method to discount these cash flows because we assumed that Congoleum was varying its Debt to Equity ratio during those years. We discounted these cash flows by the required return on assets that was in turn calculated through use of the Modigliani-Miller unlevering formula (to derive the Asset Beta) and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. The required return on Congoleum debt was calculated by the expected return of the average CCC-company’s debt and the expected return of debt under default. Then, the present value of financial side effects was taken into account by discounting the interest tax shield by the required return on debt. Finally, we calculated the terminal value of cash flows by assuming a constant 4.14% growth rate in perpetuity and a constant D/E ratio for the years after 1984. Thus, these cash flows were initially discounted under WACC-ME. From there, we factored in prior debt and cash that Congoleum had generated to calculate the total equity value of the firm after the LBO had taken place. Background Congoleum is a firm active in three product market segments: home furnishings, shipbuilding, automotive, and industrial distribution. In the summer of 1979, First Boston Corporation with the help of Prudential Insurance Company proposed a purchase of Congoleum by private and institutional investors. The day before the issuance of the tender offer, Congoleum closed at $25.375 per share with 12.2 million shares outstanding. Assumptions: During the preparation of this case, multiple assumptions have been made in order to facilitate the analysis requested. Below is a list of the assumptions made and our reasoning for their validity. * Tax rate of 48% * The D/V ratio from 1979 to 1984 and was best estimated through the mean of the expected D/V ratios of Congoleum’s separate divisions by the metric of percentage of total identifiable assets provided in this case * The D/V ratio from 1984+ was assumed to be constant and could be estimated via one of two methods: * It could be estimated by looking at the D/V ratio of comparable, BB rated companies * It could be estimated by looking at the D/V ratio of firms that are comparable to the various â€Å"subsets† of Congoleum (home furnishing, ship building, and automotive) and taking the average of those companys’ D/V ratio * The return on debt from 1984+ can be assumed through two methods: * The arithmetic average of comparable BB rated companies’ returns on debt * The weighted average of the returns on debt * The market risk premium was expected to be 8.6% and the risk free rate was assumed to be 9.5% as provided in the case * The risk of default for Congoleum is expected to be 15.25% and the expected return to debt holders in case of default is 6% (we assume that at least some payments to debt holders have occurred prior to default) * The growth rate of cash flows after 1984 is expected to be 22.50% over 5 years as provided in exhibit 9 of this case and that growth rate is expected to continue in perpetuity Discussion of Figures Figure 1 Figure is the actual income statement for Congoleum in 1978 and estimates of its income statement from 1980 to 1983. The free cash flows used in the calculation of the NPV of this company was the Free Cash Flow to All Capital because the cash flows employed by APV/WACC assume no interest. Thus, our interest expenses had to be added back to the cash flows to shareholders to make them free cash flows. From purchasing Congoleum, investors receive outstanding cash from the company, a term not from a bank, strip-securities, and equity from First Boston and Congoleum Management. Its outflows include its purchase of Bath Iron works, Congoleum’s other assets and executive stock. It also includes general LBO expenses. Additionally, attached is our sensitivity analysis that looks at how our assumptions regarding the growth rate and D/V ratio of our firm in years post 1984 impacts our calculations of the firm’s value Post-LBO. Figure 2 Figure 2 shows the value of the long-term debt and equity for the firm from 1974 to 1978. The total value of the firm in at any time is equal to the sum of the debt and equity for a given year. The D/E and D/V ratios for the firm over those 5 years were then averaged in this figure. Figure 3 This table displays the D/V ratio of firms that are representative one of the three â€Å"subsets† of Congoleum (Furnishings, Ship Building, or Automotive). Each of these ratios was then averaged to get the weighted average debt to value ratio of comparable companies; this was performed by using the ratio of Identifiable Assets per division to Total Identifiable Assets. Finally, the average D/V ratio of the firms representing each subset was also listed. Alternatively, the Debt to Value ratio of the provided BB firms is listed and those ratios were then averaged to get the mean Debt to Value ratio that could be used for the target Debt to Value ratio for Congoleum post-1984. Figure 4 The equity beta for the firm was provided in the case. We also are making the assumption that the Debt Beta is 0 (i.e. risk free). The Debt to Equity ratio was also calculated in Figure 2. Through the Modigliani-Miller unlevering formula, we then were able to derive our Asset Beta. Then, using our calculated Asset Beta and the provided market risk premium and risk free rate, we were able to calculate the required return on assets with the Capital Asset Pricing Model. From there, we employed the Miles-Ezzell cost of capital formula with the Debt to Equity ratio derived by looking at comparable â€Å"BB-rated firms† to derive our WACC. Additionally, the expected cash flow growth is forecasted to be 22.50% over the 5 years following 1984. Hence, we expect an annual growth rate of 4.14%. Figure 5 The free cash flows (calculated in figure 1) are listed from between 1980 and 1984. They are each discounted at the required return on assets calculated in figure 4 because are calculating the APV of cash flows from between 1980 and 1984. The required return on debt was then calculated by looking at the returns of comparable debt of other CCC firms. The average return on the debt of those firms was 15.19%. We then had to factor in the 15.25% probability of default by Congoleum and its expected return of 6% on debt in the case of default. The expected return on weight weights these two potential returns on debt by their probability of occurring. The side effects of financial distress were then calculated from between 1980 and 1984 by multiplying the annual interest expense by the tax rate and then discounting the interest tax shield by the required return on debt calculated above. Figure 6 Next, we had to calculate the present value of terminal value. We did this by first calculating the expected 1985 cash flow by multiplying the 1984 cash flow by the expected 4.1% growth rate (calculated in figure 4). Given, we expect the generate cash flows that grow at 4.1% in perpetuity, we calculated the present value of those cash flows by taking our 1985 cash flow and discounting by the WACC-ME (calculated in figure 4). This was performed by using the Gordon Dividend Growth Model because the firm would now be a publicly traded equity and the free cash flows are representative of the firm’s dividends. This gave us the value of the TV at 1984, so we then discounted by the return on assets to receive the present value of the TV. Figure 7 The value of the firm post LBO is thus equal to the sum of its discounted terminal value, tax shields, and free cash flows from 1980 to 1984. However, to calculate the total equity value of the firm, we must also factor in the cash and debt that Congoleum held prior to the LBO. That includes adding in 95.10 million in cash and subtracting out 15.6 million in debt and 34.5 million in previous pension liabilities. If you divide the equity value pre and post LBO by the number of shares outstanding, you then receive the companies’ price per share pre and post LBO. Figure 8 Shareholders thus gain the difference between the initial share price and the post-LBO share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. Debt holders are paid off entirely with no gain or loss.

Human and Monster Help People

In the Frankenstein, there are six characters that die in the novel. What is the fundamental cause of their death? Who is the real killer? One may argue that this question is meaningless because it is obvious that the nameless monster kills almost every character except victor’s mother, who died naturally. However, the real killer should not be just the one who kills people by his hand, but the one who causes the death of so many innocent people, fundamentally. In the novel, initially, the nameless creature is a really benevolent creature, but, with time went by, people’s discrimination gradually changed him to devil, who determined to revenge his creator by killing his beloved. Therefore, discrimination is the real killer. First, examining how the six characters died may lead to insight for the questions on hand. Caroline Beaufort, Victor’s mother, dies of scarlet fever. William Frankenstein, Victor’s youngest brother, is strangled by monster in the woods outside Geneva. Justine Moritz, a young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household, is executed for William’s murder. Henry Clerval, victor’s boyhood friend and Elizabeth Lavenza, victor’s the wife, are strangled by the monster too. Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor’s father, is overcome with grief over the deaths of his close family members. The monster is, directly or indirectly, involved every time character dies except victor’s mother’s death. But why does he do this? Is that because of his nature? No. The monster is virtuous at the beginning. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open village, and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel, quiet bare, and making a wretched appearance. † (73) I found the monster’s reaction to people’s sudden attack is not him fighting back or an act of revenge, which is the normal response of ki ller or any other evil creature, but escape. â€Å"I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I long to join them, but dare not†. The monster wants to merge into a warm family instead of trying to hurt them. It means he also really wants to be loved and love others. The above quotes suggest that the monster’s nature is good, meaning he is not the one to harm another purposefully. How does a nice creature, which goes after love, gradually become an evil devil? Something must have happens and gradually change his thoughts. Look at how he was born. â€Å"It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate. (71) This description above shows the monster is left alone by Victor because of the monster’s appearance and suffered from coldness and loneliness since the first day when he was created, while it is just the start of his miserable life. Look at the first times when he met a human being. Suffering from hunger, the nameless creature went into a small hut and an old man sat there. â€Å"He turned on hearing a noise, and perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable†(72). Once the old man notices the nameless creature and runs away because the monster’s appearance is terrifying and he assumes the monster will hurt him. We can see the old man as a representative of the ordinary people. He judges the nameless creatures by his appearance instead of quality. Imagine this situation: you are a really nice person and keep trying to make friends with others, but they discriminates you because of your skin color, gender or any other characters you have. This will make every emotional creature hurt. Actually the monster’s situation is even worse than that, because he has no companion and the only reason why everyone in this world discriminate him is his terrifying appearance which is not his fault. Therefore, it is reasonable for his inner world to gradually become dark. If people just try to avoid him, maybe, it is still acceptable. But what if his beloved try to destroy him? Please look at this sentence: â€Å"Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. †(94) At the sight of the monster, worrying about monster will hurt his father, Felix spares no effort to attack the monster , while the monster is the one who had always been trying to help this family alleviate life burden and been eager to become a part to his family. Wronged and beaten by those cottagers, monster still refrained from desire to fight back, even though he is strong enough to tear Felix up. It is not the deed of a killer. How many human beings can be as tolerable as him? In a sense, the monster is even nobler than many of us. However, people regard this creature, which looks scary, as a monster, which is hostile to human. Nobody cares about it comes with a heart of gold. In this case, how does he feel? His feelings are afflicted and intensively contradictory. When I thought of my friends, of the mild voice of De Lacey, the gentle eyes of Agatha, and the exquisite beauty of the Arabian, these thoughts vanished and a gush of tears somewhat soothed me. But again when I reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage of anger, and unable to injure anything human, I turned my fury towards inanimate objects. †(97)Through these sentences, we can feel the monster’s inner struggle. He wanted to vent his i ndignation and hatred, but at the thought of his â€Å"protector†, he calmed down. Then, once he thinks of their departure and aversion to him, rage came back. However, he only turned his anger to inanimate stuff. He wants to revenge for what people have done to him but his nature tells him he shouldn’t do that. Even if he can’t control his anger, he still tries to minimize the damage by only destroying inanimate stuff. He wants to be a genuine person and gets along well with human being, but was rejected and hurt again and again. The reality tortured him emotionlessly. He was perplexed at that time. His thought was not as benevolent and pure as before. The discrimination of human being towards him made him started thinking of revenge. However, there is something worse waiting for him. â€Å"This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind. † (99) This is the description of the inner world of monster after being shot by a peasant whose daughter was saved by monster. He tried his best to save a girl and it’s the evidence of his heart of gold. However, the girl’s father never thought of why he save her life and try to restore her animation, but shot him because his appearance makes him look like a monster which will hurt human being. What if it is a human being that saves the girl? Usually, the peasant will show his gratitude and might even ask him to have a meal. If we compare these two conditions, we will find the deed of the saver is the same and but the attitude of peasant will be different. What determines the differences is the appearance of the saver. Humanlike saver is regarded as a nice person and creature which has strange or frightening appearance is regarded as devil. Isn’t that a kind of discrimination? The cruelty of reality kept swallowing his benevolence until the only thing left him to do is revenge. When the monster compromised to victor at the condition of creating a female companion for him, Victor broke his promise because he thought creating another creature like monster can only bring troubles. It is a reflection of discrimination. â€Å"As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. † (119)This scene happened after Victor seeing the face of monster. When Victor was about to finish his work, he started to think creating another creature like monster can only bring more tragedies and decided to destroyed the monster’s female companion. It is true that the monster killed his brothers, but it is because there are too many miseries happened, revenge becomes the only thing he want to do to vent his indignation. We should notice that the monster can bring more sorrow to Victor and even other human beings, if only he wanted. However, if he didn’t do that, it means, in his deep heart, he is still benevolent creature. Nevertheless, Victor never care about how many good deeds the monster has done or the happiness of the creature he create, but only thought that the negative consequence of what the creature would make. Victor assumed the monster can never be a good creature, so his thought and decision are the reflection of discrimination on the monster. When we try to synthesis every part of novel I mentioned before, we will find the nature of this monster is good, but, gradually, the only thing in his mind is to revenge. What kind of thing makes a so nice creature become an evil? The answer is countless misery and injustice he experienced. Why does a nice creature have to suffer so much? Is that because of the fault of God? No! It is because of the discrimination. No matter how many times the monster help people, everyone in the novel, even children, thinks this creature is evil and tries to hurt people, so they avoid him, hurt him and even try to kill im. A nice creature never receives love or even sympathy because of his appearance, and, regardless of how the monster felt, his creator destroyed his last hope of being loved, so he wanted to see his creator was as painful as he was and decided to murder victors’ beloved. Now we can see that discrimination makes the nameless benevolent creature become a devil, contributing to the death of innocent people. So the real killer should be human being’s discrimination.