Friday, November 15, 2019

Research For My Career Plan Accounting Essay

Research For My Career Plan Accounting Essay Introduction My career choice is public accountant. My choice is highly influenced by the passion I have for working with numbers. My second choice career is internal auditing .it is closely related to accountancy. Both the careers entail working with the numbers. Accountancy is a career which involves communicating, summarizing, classifying, interpreting and presenting financial position about an enterprise to the management, auditors, owners or the shareholders. Strong accounting foundation is important when it comes to running successful businesses. Every business needs a book keeper, accountant or a chief finance officer. Internal auditors can assist police in white collar crimes since they can comfortably do forensic accounting. They can work with lawyer as professional witnesses in fraud cases. Government accountants maintain tract of public funds by maintaining records. Public accountants work for public accounting companies. Their major tasks are to do the actual accounting, tax and consultancy work. Accountants use financial statements to show in monetary terms the resources under direct control of the organization. According to Drake, P et al (2011), accounting is a study of how organizations track their assets, capital, and liabilities over time. It involves computing cost and capital gains from the capital. An accountant participates in strategies for mergers and acquisitions. Many accountants ends up being the chief finance officers(CFOs).this is because they have the best understanding of what drives the business and profits in an organization. According to careers in accounting website (2009) bureau of statistics projects 16% increase in job positions by 2016.the future of accounting is bright. Internal auditors are also known as Auditors, Fraud Investigators, Inspectors, and Investigators among other names. They frequently measure the level of compliance of the company with its policies and objectives. They advise the management on how to better execute their policies. They tend to improve the reliability of financial reporting, preventing and investigating fraud and safeguard company assets. People planning to be accountants and auditors should have an aptitude for mathematics .they should have good communication skills since the career entails communicating results to clients, management, shareholders and governments among others. They should be excellent when it comes to working with people, business systems and computers. Accountants should have unquestionable level of integrity. Educational requirement and certifications Most job vacancies requires at least a bachelors degree in accounting or related field .if you want to practice accounting and auditing in government, the requirement is 4 years of college in accounting or auditing with some experience. Since 2007 42 states and Washington DC requires all the CPAs to have successfully completed 150 semester hours of college course work. Many colleges have harmonized their curriculum to be in line with the law. Some organizations require masters degree in accounting or business administration with accounts as your major. A certified public accountant (CPA) is a popular requirement for big corporations. CPAs exam is divided into four parts in all states .examination is prepared by AICPA(American institute of public accountants).majority of states require one pass all the four other parts within 1year six months. Other additional requirements may include certified internal auditor (CIA) exam and the certification in control self assessment (CSA).CPA holders are licensed by state board of accountancy. The internal auditors are licensed by Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). Accountants who have passed in their exams and have met requirements needed by the state where they practice can become certified public accountants. However for renewal of licenses, one is required to have completed certain number of hours of continuing professional .the umbrella professional bodies for accountants organizes seminars, courses and continuing education programs. Other certifications provide a CPA and internal auditors with an advantage. These certifications are found in many accredited colleges. They include; the Certified Management Accountant (CMA),), the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), or Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designations, Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Accredited Tax Preparer (ATP), Accredited Tax Advisor (ATA), Accredited Business Accountant (ABA). These programs are marketable. They put the accountants and auditors at the highest edge of landing a high paying job. Some of these programs depend on the field one want to specialize with. Most of these professional societies require applicants to have at least 2 years working experience, pass a for part examination, agree to meet continuing education requirements and comply with professional conduct. Graduate schools test permit students from different colleges and universities with different grading system to be compared. Applicants to graduate schools school finish GRE which tests verbal, quantitative and analytical abilities. GMAT test verbal, quantitative and analytical reasoning but it is designed to address the needs of business schools. Many institutions review accountants GMAT score for employment.GRE is accepted in many business programs in business schools. it is simple to prepare science it has easier grading curve and the applicant does not waste a lot of time in preparation.GRE is easier than GMAT. There are institutions such as Manhattan review in New York which assist students to revise for their GMAT and GRE examinations. They have state of art facilities. Ethical Conduct Just like doctors and other professionals, CPAs and internal auditors should adhere the code of conduct. They should maintain high level of integrity. They should represent the interest of their clients. They should obey the bylaws set by their professional bodies. Working Hours According to BLS government website (2010), public accountants work 40 to 50 hours a week. According to Telberg, R (2007), accountants spend more time at work related activities at the expense of their families. Some carry their work with them to vacations and home. Many accountants have reported to CPA review website (2012), that during the busy season, they can work up to 70 to 80 billable hours. Internal auditors have long working hours .their day typically starts from 8am to 5pm.they work up to Job Duties CPAs maintain and audit organizations financial books. They also have knowledge bin book keeping, taxes, government audit and financial planning. They oversee the budgets and financial management. They ensure that they financial records are accurate and up to date. They also keep track of investments, expenditures and revenue generated by an organization. They research and analyze companys financial reports. They also create financial plan for the company. They also suggest way companies could save the money. They file tax reports of a company. CPAs help organizations to develop a strategy to legally minimize the amount of tax they owe the government. Many CPAs tend to be self employed therefore they hire staffs and manage businesses. Freelance CPAs can assist potential business owners develop business plans and get funds to start the same. Internal auditors appraise the organizations internal control system to see whether they are in harmony with state laws, the organizations objective. They liaise with both the external auditors and the Comptroller and Auditor General. They Recommend and advise the company on value for money and efficiency improvements. Salary According to the BLS, http://www.bls.gov (2012), Salary depends on a number of factors namely: the CPAs educational background, years of experience, and the company he is working for. CPAs take home $50,770 per year. CPAs with one to two years of experience may be remunerated lower amounts. And those working for large corporations like coca cola are paid higher salaries. Partners in public accounting firms can earn around $175,000 a year. CPAs enjoys an array of benefits, which includes all expenses paid for vacations, health and life insurance, and pension benefits. Internal auditors take an average of $81000 per year. Manager internal auditors earn up to $100000 per year. The level of salary depends with the level of experience and the company one is working for. Job Satisfaction and Lifestyle of CPA and Internal Auditor CPA and internal auditing are among of the careers which demand a lot of time. Some the accountants and internal auditors carry their work with them to home. During peak season they work long hours and sleep at least 4hours.they enjoy free vacations pension benefits. Their high income guarantees them a high living standard. Some accountants and auditors receive pay rise every year. Others enjoy up to 3 weeks vacations. It is one of the professions where there are no complains. The job opportunities are there. As a matter of fact it has been projected that the job opportunities for CPAs will rise by 22%.according to CNN money website (2012), it is number 9 in the 100 most lucrative jobs in business section in USA. They enjoy personal satisfaction from their careers .accounting profession make one to enjoy prestige and respect from the society since it is perceived to be hard than other professions. Conclusion Both careers are lucrative prefer my first career choice more. I am planning to do what it takes to realize my dream of pursuing accountancy.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Essay on Social Networking Sites

Essay on Social Networking Sites Social networking sites peaked the year 2007. These sites encouraged online social connections. Early sites such as SixDegrees. com and Friendster allowed people to manage a list of friends. One drawback to these sites was that they did not offer users the ability to publish content like blogs. Social networking sites begin with a group of founders sending out messages to friends to join the network. In turn the friends send out messages to their friends, and the network grows. When members join the network, they create a profile.Depending on the site, users can customize their profile to reflect their interests. They also begin to have contact with friends, acquaintances, and strangers. Founded in 2002, Friendster used the model of friends inviting friends to join in order to grow its network. It quickly signed on millions of users. Unfortunately, as the site grew larger, technical issues surfaced. Painfully slow servers made it difficult for users t o move around the site. Additionally, management enforced strict policies on fake profiles. These false profiles, or â€Å"fakesters,† as they were known, were deleted by the site.This approach turned off users. Eventually, Friendster began to lose members in the United States. Fellow networking site SixDegrees. com closed its doors after the dot-com bust in 2000. Within a few years, these early social networking sites found their popularity declining. At the same time, a new social networking site called MySpace was beginning to take off. THE RISE OF MYSPACE MySpace brought together the social features of networking sites and the publishing capabilities of blogs. The combination of the two tools struck a home run with teens. Young people were looking for a more social way to blog.MySpace provided the solution. In 2003 Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe launched MySpace in Santa Monica, California. As music fans, the pair designed the site as a place to promote local music acts. They also wanted to be able to connect with other fans and friends. On MySpace, users created a Web page with a personal profile. Then they invited other users to become their friends. According to DeWolfe, the bands were a great marketing tool in the beginning. He said: â€Å"All these creative people became ambassadors for MySpace by using us as their de facto promotional platform.People like to talk about music, so the bands set up a natural environment to communicate. â€Å"1 Anderson and DeWolfe were determined to keep MySpace an open site. Anyone could join the community, browse profiles, and post whatever they wanted. User control was one of their founding principles. It also made initial financing hard to find. According to Anderson: â€Å"We'd get calls from investor types who wanted to meet us. They would say ‘Your site isn't professional. Why do you let users control the pages? They're so ugly! ‘†2 In the meantime MySpace continued to sign people up. Teens and young adults loved the site.They flocked to create their own profiles. The ability to customize pages, load music, and share videos added to the MySpace appeal. Unlike other early social networking sites, MySpace gave users a media-rich experience. Users could express themselves on their Web page by adding music and video clips. At the same time, they could socialize with friends. MySpace made social contact easier with tools such as e-mail, comment posts, chat rooms, buddy lists, discussion boards, and instant messaging. MySpace brought together the ability to express oneself and to socialize in one place.The timing was perfect. Over the next two years, MySpace grew at a tremendous pace. The site's success brought attention from investors. Rupert Murdoch, famous for his media empire, wanted to buy MySpace. Murdoch had interests in television, film, newspapers, publishing, and the Internet. In 2005 Murdoch purchased MySpace for an amazing $580 million. By early 2008 MySpac e had grown to a mind-blowing 110 million active users. It signed an average of thirty thousand people up every day. One in four Americans was on MySpace. The Web site had become the giant among social networking sites.It was the most trafficked site on the Internet. MySpace's influence traveled outside of the United States. The company built a local presence in over twenty international territories. MySpace could be found in places such as the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and Latin America. In a few short years, MySpace had become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. SOCIAL NETWORKING BEYOND MYSPACE The success of MySpace in the social networking arena spurred the development and redesign of many other online social networks. Some sites appealed to a general audience.Others, such as Black Planet, LinkedIn, and MyChurch, sought to serve a niche market. Facebook was one site that emerged as an alternative to MySpace. In February 2004 Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook . The site began as a closed network for college students. Closed networks only allow users to join if they meet certain criteria. In contrast, sites such as MySpace and Friendster were open social networking sites. Anyone could sign up for an account. Open and closed social networks have advantages and disadvantages. Open networks foster interaction between adults and teens.Parents can check up on their teen's profile and decide if they are comfortable with their child's online image. On the other hand, open access means that profiles are completely public and can attract unwanted attention. Closed networks are generally smaller. As such, there is a greater chance a user will know other members both online and offline. But a closed network blocks parents from reading their teen or college student's profile. Being closed also limits a social network's ability to grow and attract new users. As a closed college network, Facebook grew by adding more colleges to its network.By the end o f 2004, Facebook had almost 1 million active users. As Facebook's popularity grew, it expanded beyond colleges to high school and international school users. At this point, however, the site was still restricted to a limited pool of student users. In 2006 Facebook made a pivotal decision. It opened the network to the general public, expanding beyond its original student base. By May 2008 Facebook boasted over 70 million active users. At that time, it was the second-most trafficked social networking site behind MySpace and the sixth-most trafficked site on the Web.As an alternative to MySpace, Facebook's social network gained popularity with business professionals and colleagues. Facebook's purpose was to help users connect online with people that they already knew offline. Unlike the wild-looking pages found on MySpace, Facebook promoted a clean, orderly online experience. VIDEO- AND PHOTO-SHARING SITES Online social networking evolved into a full multimedia experience with the arri val of video- and photo-sharing Web sites. Users could upload visual content to share with friends and other users. Photo-sharing sites such as Flickr enabled users to transfer digital photos online to share with others.Users decided whether to share their photos publicly or limit access to private groups. Users could also use the site's features to organize and store pictures and video. One of the most popular video-sharing Web sites was YouTube. The site, founded in 2005, used Adobe Flash technology to display clips from movies and television, music videos, and video blogs. Users could upload, share, and view video clip topics from the latest movies to funny moments captured on film. Not everyone wanted to create a profile, write a blog, or upload pictures and video.Other social networking tools allowed these users to participate online. E-mails sent messages to a friend's electronic mailbox. Instant messaging was a real-time conversation between two people online at the same time . Comment posting allowed users to interact and talk about a friend's blog, profile, or pictures. Even online gaming was a form of social networking, allowing players to meet other people with similar interests online. WHY IS ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING SO POPULAR? The popularity of online social networking has prompted researchers to explore the similarities between online social networks and tribal societies.According to Lance Strate, a communications professor at Fordham University, social networks appeal to people because they feel more like talking than writing. â€Å"Orality is the base of all human experience,† said Strate. â€Å"We evolved with speech. We didn't evolve with writing. â€Å"3 Irwin Chen, an instructor at Parsons design school, is developing a new course to explore oral culture online. He agrees with Strate. â€Å"Orality is participatory, interactive, communal and focused on the present,† he says. â€Å"The Web is all of these things. â€Å"4 Mi chael Wesch teaches cultural anthropology at Kansas State University.He studied how people form social relationships while living with a tribe in Papua New Guinea. He compared the tribe to online social networking. â€Å"In tribal cultures, your identity is completely wrapped up in the question of how people know you,† he said. â€Å"When you look at Facebook, you can see the same pattern at work: people projecting their identities by demonstrating their relationships to each other. You define yourself in terms of who your friends are. â€Å"5 Despite the connections between social networks and tribal cultures, significant differences exist.In tribal societies relationships form through face-to-face contact. Social networks allow users to hide behind a computer screen. Tribal societies embrace formal rituals. Social networks value a casual approach to relationships. Millions of people across the world have joined online social networks. Perhaps their popularity stems from o ur innate desire to be part of a community. According to Strate, social networking â€Å"fulfills our need to be recognized as human beings, and as members of a community. We all want to be told: You exist. â€Å"6

Sunday, November 10, 2019

A Comparison of Creation Myths from Genesis and Greece

The words myths and legends tend to be used interchangeably, but usually myths have a religious purpose whereas legends are the stories of heroes. Creation myths   have commonalities, because they are all seeking to explain the same things.It is part of human nature to wonder about the unknown and to seek answers. At the foundation of almost every culture is a story that explains how the earth, its creatures and its people came to be.These myths may be dismissed by some modern thinkers, yet continue to have huge influence as a frame of reference. In the case of Judaism and Greek mythology both emerge from the Eastern Mediterranean region, so although there are lots of differences, these are people not so far removed from each other geographically and there would have been some trading links at least and so it is likely that each group would have had some knowledge of the stories of the other.Myths are stories created by a group of people in order to explain some of the great questi ons in life such as ‘Where did man come from and from where did he gain knowledge?’ They originate in oral tradition as people discussed such matters and it would have been many generations before they were committed to script in some form.This goes some way to explain why there may on occasions be slightly different versions extant, as in Genesis 1 and 2 where there are two version of the creation. They are both included because at the time when the canon of Jewish scripture was finally fixed in the early years of the Christian era, beginning in about 90 C.E.[1] both stories had been in circulation for so many years and both were felt to contain something of value.Although myths may have internal chronology i.e. this happened first and then that, but there is no link with modern times.The book of Genesis differs on this point from the general rule in that after the story of the first family, Adam Eve and their sons,   in Genesis 4 and 5 there is a list of the generat ions between Adam and Noah, considered by the Jews to be an historical figure and after the story of Noah, in chapter 9 there are further lists , partly to explain the origins of the various nations of the earth , and in part to provide a link to the story of Abram ( later Abraham), considered to be the founder of the Jewish race.So the stories in Genesis are more particular than the generalised creation myths of the Greeks, which do not mention the founding of the Greek race.There is no such definitive collection of Greek myths, probably because the ancient Greek religion totally disappeared early in the first millennium C.E.[1] What are the Deuterocanonical book s of the Bible? Available from http://www.bluffton.edu/~bergerd/deutero.html accessed 1st December 2008

Friday, November 8, 2019

Ask the Right College Tour Questions

Ask the Right College Tour Questions College tours are excellent things. Your perky tour guide will show you all the campus landmarks, spout the important stats and answer any questions. So dont waste time asking frequently asked questions - FAQs are on the universitys website. Instead, ask questions that speak to your childs particular interests and concerns, the ones about real student experiences. Its best if your child, rather than you, puts together a list of questions that are important to him and does the asking, but if every teen on the tour is afflicted with a shyness attack, go ahead and get the ball rolling. Here are a few questions to get you started, whether youre on campus for a regular tour or Admit Day. Dont ask about average class size - its a slippery statistic that averages gargantuan lectures with tiny senior seminars. Ask your tour guide about the size of his freshman year classes.Is this a commuter college or do students hang around on the weekend? What did your tour guide do last weekend? And the weekend before that? How often do he and his friends go home?Whats the best class or most inspiring professor your tour guide ever had? Why? How well does he know his professors, and how did that happen?Whats the most impossible class to get into on campus? Why? Is it because the class and the professor are so darn wonderful, or because its difficult to get the classes your child will need? Does that vary by major?Who helps your child choose classes? Does he have the same faculty adviser for all four years? Or does a peer adviser - a sophomore or junior, for example - help him register the first time and then hes on his own?What are the general education requirements - the GEs requir ed for graduation? For some reason, tour guides think GEs are the same on every campus. They are most emphatically not. Some schools require five humanities, five lab science, and three math classes, beginning with calculus. Others require one of each, plus a world religions class. The differences can be a deal breaker for your child. Why did your tour guide pick this school? What other schools did he consider? What does he wish hed known then that he knows now?What are the biggest campus traditions? Does everyone go to the football or basketball games?What percentage of students go Greek? Are the fraternities and sororities residential or social only? When is rush and what’s it like?How difficult is it to find housing? On some campuses, frats and sororities are a big deal because its so difficult to get into the dorms. Did your tour guide live in a dorm freshman year? Which one? Which one does he like best?What was the most difficult thing to get used to here? (A University of Puget Sound guide admitted it was the grey, drizzly weather, then rallied valiantly to say, â€Å"But it makes the sunny days seem all the sunnier!† Weather is a huge issue for many students.)Where does your tour guide study - in his room, the library, another favorite spot? How many hours a day does he study?Whats the favored campus hangout? How about off-campus (best pizza, coffee house, etc.)? If your child has health issues, youll want to ask questions about those concerns, of course. But everyone needs to ask what happens if a student has appendicitis or another health emergency - is there a hospital on campus or does campus security take you to a nearby hospital?Ask about academic support. Every campus has facilities to help students with learning disabilities, but most have tutoring help for anyone who needs it. What form does that take? Peer tutors or faculty support? Math and writing learning centers staffed 24/7? No matter how brilliant your child was in high school, he may be unhappily surprised by the higher expectations of college professors.Ask about the college career center and internship opportunities – and don’t be fooled by â€Å"the college encourages†¦Ã¢â‚¬  answers. Internships are an essential, often overlooked way to test drive career paths and start building a resume long before graduation. Some schools have extensive internship o pportunities. Some even require a certain number of internship hours. Others post opportunities in their career center but dont particularly solicit them. Ask about study abroad opportunities too. Nearly every college has some sort of international study program, but some majors are not conducive to study abroad - not if you want your child to graduate in four years, anyway. Some schools run their own satellite campus in a foreign country, so your child would be studying with University of Redlands faculty, for example, in Salzburg. Others tap into foreign university programs. (Do not be impressed by promises that a year abroad will cost no more than a regular year at your expensive private school or that the college will apply your scholarship to those months. All private colleges say that. State schools simply charge you whatever the international program charges. Hint: its not $45,000.)

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Biography of Mark Twain

Biography of Mark Twain Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens Nov. 30, 1835 in the small town of Florida, MO, and raised in Hannibal, became one of the greatest American authors of all time. Known for his sharp wit and pithy commentary on society, politics, and the human condition, his many essays and novels, including the American classic,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, are a testament to his intelligence and insight. Using humor and satire to soften the edges of his keen observations and critiques, he revealed in his writing some of the injustices and absurdities of society and human existence, his own included. He was a humorist, writer, publisher, entrepreneur, lecturer, iconic celebrity (who always wore white at his lectures), political satirist, and social progressive. He died on April 21, 1910 when Halley’s Comet was again visible in the night sky, as lore would have it, just as it had been when he was born 75 years earlier. Wryly and presciently, Twain had said, â€Å"I came in with Halleys Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I dont go out with Halleys Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.†   Twain died of a heart attack one day after the Comet appeared its brightest in 1910. A complex, idiosyncratic person, he never liked to be introduced by someone else when lecturing, preferring instead to introduce himself as he did when beginning the following lecture, â€Å"Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands† in 1866: â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen: The next lecture in this course will be delivered this evening, by Samuel L. Clemens, a gentleman whose high character and unimpeachable integrity are only equalled by his comeliness of person and grace of manner. And I am the man! I was obliged to excuse the chairman from introducing me, because he never compliments anybody and I knew I could do it just as well.† Twain was   a complicated mixture of southern boy and western ruffian striving to fit into elite Yankee culture. He wrote in his speech, Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims,1881: â€Å"I am a border-ruffian from the State of Missouri. I am a Connecticut Yankee by adoption. In me, you have Missouri morals, Connecticut culture; this, gentlemen, is the combination which makes the perfect man.† Growing up in Hannibal, Missouri had a lasting influence on Twain, and working as a steamboat captain for several years before the Civil War was one of his greatest pleasures. While riding the steamboat he would observe the many passengers, learning much about their character and affect. His time working as a miner and a journalist in Nevada and California during the 1860s introduced him to the rough and tumble ways of the west, which is where, Feb. 3, 1863, he first used the pen name, Mark Twain, when writing one of his humorous essays for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise in Nevada. Mark Twain was a riverboat term that means two fathoms, the point at which it is safe for the boat to navigate the waters. It seems that when Samuel Clemens adopted this pen name he also adopted another persona - a persona that represented the outspoken commoner, poking fun at the aristocrats in power, while Samuel Clemens, himself, strove to be one of them. Twain got his first big break as a writer in 1865 with an article about life in a mining camp, called Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog, also called The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. It was very favorably received and printed in newspapers and magazines all over the country. From there he received other jobs, sent to Hawaii, and then to Europe and the Holy Land as a travel writer. Out of these travels he wrote the book, The Innocents Abroad, in 1869, which became a bestseller. His books and essays were generally so well-regarded that he started lecturing and promoting them, becoming popular both as a writer and a speaker. When he married Olivia Langdon in 1870, he married into a wealthy family from Elmira, New York and moved east to Buffalo, NY and then to Hartford, CT where he collaborated with the Hartford Courant Publisher to co-write The Gilded Age, a satirical novel about greed and corruption among the wealthy after the Civil War. Ironically, this was also the society to which he aspired and gained entry. But Twain had his share of losses, too - loss of fortune investing in failed inventions (and failing to invest in successful ones such as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone), and the deaths of people he loved, such as his younger brother in a riverboat accident, for which he felt responsible, and several of his children and his beloved wife. Although Twain survived, thrived, and made a living out of humor, his humor was borne out of sorrow, a complicated view of life, an understanding of life’s contradictions, cruelties, and absurdities.   As he once said, â€Å"There is no laughter in heaven.†Ã‚   HUMOR Mark Twain’s style of humor was wry, pointed, memorable, and delivered in a slow drawl. Twain’s humor carried on the tradition of humor of the Southwest, consisting of tall tales, myths, and frontier sketches, informed by his experiences growing up in Hannibal, MO, as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, and as a gold miner and journalist in Nevada and California. In 1863 Mark Twain attended in Nevada the lecture of Artemus Ward (pseudonym of Charles Farrar Browne,1834-1867), one of America’s best-known humorists of the 19th century. They became friends, and Twain learned much from him about how to make people laugh. Twain believed that how a story was told was what made it funny   - repetition, pauses, and an air of naivety. In his essay How to Tell a Story Twain says, â€Å"There are several kinds of stories, but only one difficult kind- the humorous. I will talk mainly about that one.† He describes what makes a story funny, and what distinguishes the American story from that of the English or French; namely that the American story is humorous, the English is comic, and the French is witty. He explains how they differ: â€Å"The humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the telling; the comic story and the witty story upon the matter. The humorous story may be spun out to great length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in particular; but the comic and witty stories must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story bubbles gently along, the others burst. The humorous story is strictly a work of art, - high and delicate art, - and only an artist can tell it; but no art is necessary in telling the comic and the witty story; anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story - - understand, I mean by word of mouth, not print - was created in America, and has remained at home.† Other important characteristics of a good humorous story, according to Twain, include the following: A humorous story is told gravely, as though there is nothing funny about it.The story is told wanderingly and the point is â€Å"slurred.†A â€Å"studied remark† is made as if without even knowing it, â€Å"as if one were thinking aloud.†The pause: â€Å"The pause is an exceedingly important feature in any kind of story, and a frequently recurring feature, too. It is a dainty thing, and delicate, and also uncertain and treacherous; for it must be exactly the right lengthno more and no less- or it fails of its purpose and makes trouble. If the pause is too short the impressive point is passed, and the audience have had time to divine that a surprise is intended- and then you cant surprise them, of course.† Twain believed in telling a story in an understated way, almost as if he was letting his audience in on a secret. He cites a story, The Wounded Soldier, as an example and to explain the difference in the different manners of storytelling, explaining that:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The American would conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it†¦. the American tells it in a ‘rambling and disjointed’ fashion and pretends that he does not know that it is funny at all,† whereas â€Å"The European ‘tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever heard, then tells it with eager delight, and is the first person to laugh when he gets through.† †¦.†All of which,† Mark Twain sadly comments, â€Å"is very depressing, and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life.† Twain’s folksy, irreverent, understated style of humor, use of vernacular language, and seemingly forgetful rambling prose and strategic pauses drew his audience in, making them seem smarter than he. His intelligent satirical wit, impeccable timing, and ability to subtly poke fun at both himself and the elite made him accessible to a wide audience, and made him one of the most successful comedians of his time and one that has had a lasting influence on future comics and humorists. Humor was absolutely essential to Mark Twain, helping him navigate life just as he learned to navigate the Mississippi when a young man, reading the depths and nuances of the human condition like he learned to see the subtleties and complexities of the river beneath its surface. He learned to create humor out of confusion and absurdity, bringing laughter into the lives of others as well. He once said, â€Å"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.† MARK TWAIN PRIZE Twain was much admired during his lifetime and recognized as an American icon. A   prize created in his honor, The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the nation’s top comedy honor, has been given annually since 1998 to â€Å"people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain.† Previous recipients of the prize have included some of the most notable humorists of our time. The 2017 prizewinner is David Letterman, who according to Dave Itzkoff, New York Times writer, â€Å"Like Mark Twain †¦distinguished himself as a cockeyed, deadpan observer of American behavior and, later in life, for his prodigious and distinctive facial hair. Now the two satirists share a further connection.† One can only wonder what remarks Mark Twain would make today about our government, ourselves, and the absurdities of our world. But undoubtedly they would be insightful and humorous to help us â€Å"stand against the assault† and perhaps even give us pause. RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING Burns, Ken, Ken Burns Mark Twain Part I, https://www.youtube.com/watch?vVs, https://amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/150305.pdfMoss, Walter, Mark Twain’s Progressive and Prophetic Political Humor, http://hollywoodprogressive.com/mark-twain/The Mark Twain House and Museum, https://www.marktwainhouse.org/man/biography_main.php For Teachers: Learn More About Mark Twain, PBS, pbs.org/marktwain/learnmore/index.htmlLesson 1: Mark Twain and American Humor, National Endowment for the Humanities, https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/mark-twain-and-american-humor#sect-introductionLesson Plan | Mark Twain and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, WGBH, PBS, https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/773460a8-d817-4fbd-9c1e-15656712348e/lesson-plan-mark-twain-and-the-mark-twain-prize-for-american-humor/#.WT2Y_DMfn-Y

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Legal Homework 3 B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal Homework 3 B - Essay Example Thirdly, Judy’s isolation, the entry and unannounced exit of the psychiatrist are clear signs of failure to put Judy and her family at the heart of care; fourthly, the psychiatrist and the nurse have violated the principle of communication and co-ordinated care in the treatment of the patient, otherwise the change of guard could have been more seamless to avoid suicide attempts. 2. Was the nurse negligent for unlocking the bathroom door and allowing Judy to shower by herself? The nurse was negligent for unlocking the bathroom and allowing the patient to shower by herself, because technically it was impossible for her to carry out any meaningful grooming due to her mental disorder. Moreover, she had spent many days without taking a bath. 3. Was it below the standard of care the nurse to leave the bathroom door unlocked when the psychiatrist came to see Judy? Leaving the bathroom door unlocked was in order, since the patient’s movements would be monitored by the psychiatr ist. And if in any case the nurse’s helping hand was urgently needed, he or she would have accessed the room more easily than when it was locked. 4. Is there a greater duty to this patient from an ethical perspective? Why or why not? Judy is undergoing involuntary psychiatric treatment preferred under the doctrines of police power and state’s parens patriae, however this condition does not strip her of patient rights and ethical treatment. By contrast, mandated treatment naturally invokes ethical tensions for psychiatrists and their assistants that need a delicate balancing act. Whereas, Judy’s personal freedoms should be restricted by virtue of her mental health, there ought to be a greater duty to her by considering principles that obligate the clinicians to treat her with more respect and dignity (McSherry, McSherry, & Watson, 2012). Whereas deterrence of suicide in Judy’s case requires a stricter environment, she deserves a closer, friendlier environm ent since suicide cases do not just happen out of blues; there are imminent signs like preparation of ropes as witnessed in this case. In acknowledging the gravity of denying Judy the freedom of patients, she should be granted: a judicial review of her situation, a legal counsel, and a better, less restrictive option than hospitalization. Moreover, greater duty of care requires that the emergency health care facility to collaborate more with Judy’s decision-makers in exploring viable treatment options to restore her health, because it is only ethical if the health care staff work towards her wellbeing rather than confining her in an isolated room, which only serves to aggravate her condition. 5. What ethical principles must be considered when caring for such a patient? a) The main ethical principle that should be considered in this case is treatment through informed consent. Owing to Judy’s mental health condition, her kin through a legitimate surrogate decision-maker reserve the right to be furnished with balanced professional information regarding Judy’s health condition and viable treatment options in order to arrive at appropriate decisions without undue influence. b). Secondly there should be a friendly, professional distance and esteem between Judy and her clinicians that creates a safer and more predictable environment for her recovery. This would create room

Friday, November 1, 2019

The implementation of a statistical process control to ensure total Essay

The implementation of a statistical process control to ensure total quality management and identify solutions to satysfying customer needs and reduce waste in the company - Essay Example This is inherently present in the method of data collection that was put in place while conducting the primary analysis. In this case, the data that has been put forward in the report was collected by analyzing the colour defects in a random sample of 200 units and the height variance of dolls for a period of 30 days. For accuracy, charts and table were designed and analyzed. We used an Np-chart to plot data on the colour defects and a histogram for the height difference of the dolls as the appropriate Statistical Process Control charts to monitor the data. The Np-chart was used because the data on colour defects was prepared as counted time attribute data with a constant sample size. The following charts prepared in MS-excel show the findings of the report in details. Chart 1.0 Np-chart for the number of defective dolls The Np-chart shows how the process, measured by the number of nonconforming items such as the dolls it produces, changes over time. Chart 2.0 Histogram for the heigh t measurements of the dolls The histogram was a suitable choice because the data collected in the 30 days was a measured time variable data with columns of decimals. Discussion and Recommendation The results indicate that there is a problem in the company. More specifically, the problem is traceable to the production part of the company. Consequently, the managerial team of the company should act fast in implementation of effective measures some of which we have discussed in the recommendations provided. There is a high number of customer dissatisfaction due to inconsistent and non-uniform manufacturing. It is evident, from both the report as well as the data collected too, that for every 200units sampled at... This study looks into Tom pulling Toys Company, a well-respected major global manufacturer of educational toys for children. The company plans to expand its profit margin and crave towards becoming a market leader. However, with the current competition from China, the company is in the race towards changing its strategies to counter the completion and remain profitable. With such demands to find the ideal changes, a Statistical Process Control method has been put in place to solve this issue. This report gives the overview of the progress of the Processes control in detail. After investigating the variation in the height of dolls and the different colour schemes in the dolls sampled, it was found that the dolls are suitable for the market but fail to meet Total Quality Management that is in line with the company requirements. This results from production of dolls that are not within a competitive scope of the market and provides a leeway for companies in China to provide threatening competition to the sale of dolls and possibly other products which are also part of the products that the company produces. In any market, it is imperative to stay ahead of the competition in order to remain relevant and improve competitive edge. It is important to consider long term benefits to the company when designing and manufacturing given the quality of the products will be ultimately determined by the customers. Apart from handling the individual faults in the height and colouring of the dolls, the product quality needs to be defined with measurable and appealing characteristics that can win buyers.