Thursday, January 30, 2020

Betrayal in Julius Ceasar Essay Example for Free

Betrayal in Julius Ceasar Essay When a person is betrayed by someone he or she loves, something profound happens in the heart of the betrayed person. It is not simply that someone has let you down, or double-crossed you. Rather, the betrayer has done an action or taken special information and used it to harm you. The betrayer has held a position of confidence of your most sacred secrets, and then they treat those secrets as if they are to be exploited. A betrayer is a person who knows your heart and has ripped into that heart and ripped out that heart by exposing and exploiting your vulnerabilities. Betraying another person has become okay in modern day society due to the fact that we feel that we need to preserve ourselves, we have to defend our personal relationships with others, and we must always serve the greater good. In today’s society, people are focused on self-preservation when it comes to the betrayal of others. If a person feels that his life, his ego, or his friendships will be jeopardized by another person, he is most likely not afraid to betray another person. This is much like jealousy. We as people feel that we are never good enough. We want to be better than the person next to us, but when that doesn’t happen we feel that person needs to be expelled. In the novel Julius Caesar this is exactly what Brutus does to Caesar. He was afraid that Caesar would outshine the Triumvirate. Brutus killed him, thinking that maybe it would make him look better. This never worked out Brutus. Instead, everyone hated him. His self-preservation was the reverse psychology of what we as people think that betrayal will do for us. Another way that our society views betrayal is with our personal relationships with others. This can be summed up in one word: trust. Humans use trust as a comfort factor. We are always seeking the opportunity to ensue trust in the people in our lives. Betrayal is always ready to mess this up. If we feel that we cannot trust someone we betray them. This is what Caesar’s friends did to him. No one wanted to believe that they could trust him. So what did they do? They betrayed him. The last factor in betraying another person is for the greater good. Brutus believed that by killing Caesar that he was serving the people. He thought that is what they wanted. Just because he was afraid of Caesar he believed that everyone thought the same. The thought was that he would become king and that was very frightening to Brutus. Service to the greater good is a factor of betrayal that is used by many people. We do it because we think that we are able to protect others. Many times this form of betrayal does not do any good because it is done for the wrong reasons. Betraying another person has become okay in modern day society due to the fact that we feel that we need to preserve ourselves, we have to defend our personal relationships with others, and we must always serve the greater good. When a person is betrayed by someone he or she loves, something profound happens in the heart of the betrayed person. It is not simply that someone has let you down, or double-crossed you. Rather, the betrayer has done an action or taken special information and used it to harm you. The betrayer has held a position of confidence of your most sacred secrets, and then they treat those secrets as if they are to be exploited. A betrayer is a person who knows your heart and has ripped into that heart and ripped out that heart by exposing and exploiting your vulnerabilities. Betrayal is found in many different forms of literature, especially the novel Julius Caesar.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Medea By Euripides And Macbeth English Literature Essay

Medea By Euripides And Macbeth English Literature Essay Introduction Medea by Euripides and Macbeth by William Shakespeare are plays renowned for their portrayal of frightening female characters; Medea and Lady Macbeth. Such female characters are particularly controversial as they contradict the social expectations of women. Society constantly attempts to mold women into soft, gentle and compassionate beings. Due to such a stereotype whereby women are perceived as weak, Euripides Medea and Shakespeares Lady Macbeth are found to be quiet overly intriguing characters. Strong, fierce, angry and evil women were not heard of when such plays were written. Medea and Lady Macbeth are both prominent female characters of classic literature. Medea is the protagonist of the Euripides play Medea whilst Macbeths Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeares most memorable female characters. There is a myth that lingers upon mankind suggesting that females are gentle, caring, weak beings and because the depiction of Lady Macbeth and Medea are quite the contrary, it is debatable whether they are in fact credible characters. To be credible means to be believable, comprehensible and encompass human characteristics such as strengths and weaknesses. This allows the audience to empathize with the characters and create a shared sense of humanity with them. If it is argued that Lady Macbeth and Medea are possibly melodramatic characters, suggesting that they are exaggerated, two dimensional and hence commit evil purely out of malevolence then such an accusation undermines the quality of the plays. Melodramatic works may temporally thrill an audience however they offer little insight to the human condition and encounter no lasting, intellectually satisfying impact. Consequently the question asked is, are Lady Macbeth and Medea credible characters? Whether or not Lady Macbeth and Medea can be appreciated as believable by the audience is absolutely vital to the plays achievement; if they were simply seen as evil, the plays would be regarded as melodramatic and hence fail to be literature of depth and quality. However, if the audience is given an insight into the human condition and is therefore able understand the motives behind evil deeds and the ways in which such actions impact the characters; the play will succeed in being credible and effective. Moreover, the success of each work as literature depends on the key characters being fully rounded and believable. The intention of this essay is to examine the two plays in order to prove that Lady Macbeth and Medea are indeed credible characters. How are Lady Macbeth and Medea presented? The opening scenes of the Euripides Medea commence with the plays protagonist offstage. A strong sense of anticipation is developed as Nurse and Tutor discuss the dilemma whereby Jason has betrayed his loyal wife. The audience is subsequently introduced to Medeas despair; she is heard off stage bewailing her situation, If only I were dead  [1]  . The way in which Euripides employs sound without having Medea visually appear onstage, contributes to the plays elements of stagecraft whilst emphasizing Medeas heartbroken tone of voice and allowing the audience to focus on her speech. Medea gains the audiences empathy early in the play due to such a passionate initial depiction. Lady Macbeth however, is initially revealed to the audience later in Shakespeares Macbeth. She first appears onstage whilst reading her husbands letter; she is excited, anxious and thrilled at the prospect of Macbeth becoming King. Love is the fundamental basis to Lady Macbeth and Medeas disposition. They adore their husbands profoundly, and it is this sense of devotion which adds to their characters credibility. Throughout the entire play, Lady Macbeth is an utterly loyal wife. She is ambitious for Macbeth and hence on no account indicates a quest for personal glory. Lady Macbeth goes to great lengths in order to ensure Macbeths rapid succession to the throne; she is clearly his dearest partner of greatness.  [2]  In fact, it is her devotion for Macbeth which leads to her pursuit for evil. At first Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to sin; she is responsible for influencing his demeanor. Next she develops a strategy in order to murder King Duncan and prepares the murder scene for Macbeth, before taking part in the crime herself. Such actions were evidently driven by Lady Macbeths immense affection for her husband. Medea is also absolutely faithful to her husband and similarly assists him to achieve heroi c status in regards to the capture of the Golden Fleece. Despite such loyalty on Medeas behalf, Jason betrays her for a royal bed; this initial predicament causes a different side to Medeas character to be unleashed and destruction to commence. It was Jasons sense of betrayal following Medeas unquestioning love which leads to her being involved with evil; she creates a scheme to murder her husbands mistress before killing her own children. Once both women are on the pathway of evil they begin to manipulate their husbands with remarkable effectiveness. When Lady Macbeths husband hesitates to murder Duncan the king of Scotland, she gives a chillingly disturbing statement emphasizing her sense of determination and pride, she would have dashed the brains out  [1]  of her own baby rather than go back on her word. She then attempts to undermine his manhood by referring to him as a coward  [2]  in order to influence his decision. Medea manipulates her husband Jason correspondingly. She engages in ruse, pretending to sympathize with her husband in order to bring him into her confidence, First Ill send a slave to Jason, asking him to come to me; and then Ill give him a soft talk.  [3]  Medea utilizes gifts in an attempt to break the ice between Jason, Glauce and herself. Ostensibly, the gifts are intended to convince him that the children stay in Corinth; little do Jason and Glauce know that the coronet and dress ar e in fact poisoned and will cause death to whoever touches them. Evidently, both women use their manipulative ability in order to skillfully persuade their husbands. Lady Macbeth and Medea at times appears totally given over to evil. The aggression of these female characters is particularly striking as it defies prevailing social expectations of how women. Women are generally tender human beings however Lady Macbeth and Medea exemplify vindictiveness and determination; general characteristics of man. Our first impression of Medea allows us to bond with her; she is terribly devastated at Jasons betrayal and the way in which she bemoans in her home is truly credible. As time elapses our impression of Medea alters as we gradually observe layers of her malevolence shed to reveal a tormented human soul. It is universally accepted that women are compassionate and soft hearted due to their motherly nature however Medea is stunningly said to be stone and iron; determined to kill her sons despite their desperate cry for salvage. It is very difficult to comprehend how a mother could murder her children; subsequently Medea is portrayed as evil. Although she never felt a sense of guilt for her wicked actions, Medea hesitated slightly before committing infanticide, I cant do it  [1]  she cried. Medea looks to her sense of pride for strength, Are my enemies to laugh at me? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I must steel myself  [2]  , subsequently she swiftly gets over such dither and proceeds with the killings of her two sons. Witnessing Jason suffer brought Medea great satisfaction that prevailed over her own remorse at killing them, But my pains a fair price, to take away your smile  [3]  . Although the audience is thoroughly informed of Medeas brutal past, it was still very shocking and unexpect ed when she kills her children. At this particular moment in the play, the bond between Medea and the audience begins to diminish. Despite experiencing hardships and being emotionally torn, the audience cannot look past the brutality of such a scene. In the early scenes of Shakespeares Macbeth, Lady Macbeth appears to be stronger and more ruthless than her husband. The fact that she is in control of all evilness suggests that her sense of evil is inevitable. Despite the many attempts to reach evil, Lady Macbeth recognizes the need to mask her womanliness in order to find assistance for her plans. Evidence of such is how she yearns for her female essence to be to be replaced with poison, Unsex mecome to my womans breasts and take my milk for gall  [1]  she cries. This statement is an extracted portion from Lady Macbeths soliloquy whereby she calls on the dark spirits. She clearly acknowledges her femininity and the fact that she lacks the complete capacity for evil; she is unable to kill Duncan herself in spite of being exceedingly driven towards brutality. If one is truly evil there is no need to be unsexed. This particular speech also serves to highlight Lady Macbeths great level of passion and the extraordinary lengths she would go to ensure Macbeths speedy succession to King. It is understood that Lady Macbeth is familiar with religion and holds some religious conception. She realizes that she is contemplating a sin against God by wanting her femininity to be removed and consequently wants to be hidden from heaven  [2]  . This opens room to note that a cosmology which posits heaven above all also allows for hell, for guilt, for punishment. Although Lady Macbeth is aware that she will be punished for calling upon the dark spirits, she disregards such knowledge and sins. This form of negligence and ignorance indicates Lady Macbeths desperate desire. At this moment in the play, the audience scowl at her sense of hypocrisy. Why do they follow an evil pathway? Medea is human, however she is also related to the gods and worships Queen Hecate. Obviously elements of fantasy propel her story however she appears before the audience as a woman and must be understood as one. Clearly Medeas love for Jason was all consuming; she was willing to do anything and everything for her beloved. Such passion is evident from Medeas complete obedience; she abides by her husbands every word. As previously mentioned, all of the plays events proceed from the initial dilemma whereby a heartless husband betrays his obedient wife; this is why Medea results to her evil ways. She feels shamed, trampled on and unappreciated as she had supported and did great deal for him, for example she fled her home country and family to live with her lover. Medea even murdered her own brother for Jason. In addition to such, she persuades the daughters of a King to murder their father. Medeas deeds were unselfish and self sacrificing which is why Jasons betrayal drove her wild. To many it is incomprehensible for women to be driven by such an extent of ambition, love and betrayal as to call upon evil. However, Medea was harshly betrayed by the man who was her whole life  [1]  ; the audience can understand this motive for calling upon evil and desiring revenge. Jason lacked the decency to simply stop for a moment before wedding his young bride to recall all the extraordinary deeds Medea had done for him, actions she took for his benefit alone and which he could never express enough gratitude for. Such a degree of unfaithfulness evidently shreds Medea to pieces. The audience observes Medeas character evolve before their very eyes. Such is understood through the employment of soliloquies which are an essential element of stagecraft. Soliloquies are speeches made to oneself which allow the audience to hear the inner thoughts of a character. This permits the audience to be drawn into the characters mind and build a bond with the character. Soliloquies are of particular importance in Medea as they give the audience an insight into the way in which Medeas temperament evolves. It is Medeas self directed speeches which allow the audience to understand her state of mind and comprehend her thoughts as time elapses. Our first impression of Medea is that she is absolutely distraught and suicidal, If only I was dead  [1]  . This is an understandable and human response to such devastating rejection. The audience can relate to being betrayed and can hence understand why Medea later turns to evil; this adds to the credibility of her character. As time progresses her strength and passion drives her to mad; the first time Medea appears on stage she is not shaken with weeping, but cool and self-possessed.  [2]  If it were not for her soliloquies prior to her appearance such as, Oh, how I hate living! I want to end my life, leave it behind, and die  [3]  , the audience could not possibly understand or acknowledge her suicidal state of mind. Later Medea goes on to use her manipulative cleverness to avenge Jasons disloyalty with a series of murders, I have in mind so many paths of death for them  [4]  . Prior to such a statement Medea was begging Creon in order to allow her and her sons to stay the country for one more night. If it were not for the preceding soliloquy it would not be understood that Medea had manipulated Creon. The soliloquy reveals her true feelings; she will strike dead  [1]  her enemies. Medea is a descendant of the Sun god and is capable of passions of far greater intensity than mere mortals. Her only desire was to watch Jason suffer and she was willing to do absolutely anything to achieve just that. Medea is a proud woman, consequently when Jason trampled over such pride, compressing her ego and self concept, she was to avenge him, you were mistaken if you thought you could dishonor my bed and live a pleasant life and laugh at me  [2]  . Medeas fury bubbled and boiled to the severe extent whereby it began to take over her heart, mind and body. She is completely overwhelmed with anger and willing to even harm herself in order to wipe the smile off his face, my pains a fair price, to take away your smile  [3]  she says. Medea successfully devastates Jason by killing her own flesh and blood, her two sons despite the heartache it would cause her, simply to torment him. The way in which Medea gradually follows an evil pathway rather than undergoing a sudden tran sition of character makes her believable. Lady Macbeths love for Macbeth is also all consuming however not of the intensity of Medeas. She was also keen on doing everything and anything for the sake of her beloved. After Macbeth is informed of the prophecy he becomes rapt withal  [4]  and consequently his dearest partner of greatness  [1]  becomes determined to secure his position as King. Lady Macbeth begins to take control; she analyses Macbeths personality and considers him too straight forward and honest to be involved with evil, Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full othmilk of human kindness, Tcatch the nearest way  [2]  . Lady Macbeth was immensely spellbound by the prophecy, she desired it sooner rather than later; she saw that her husband was ambitious to be king. Lady Macbeth notices that Macbeth requires her strong words to prompt him; subsequently she uses her influence to encourage him. Lady Macbeths evil desires escalate from this moment onwards. As time progresses she begins to take further control and eventually plans King Duncans murder. She employs a metaphor of hypocrisy, look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent undert  [3]  which is used in order to disguise her intentions of harming King Duncan. This particular metaphor is extremely prominent as it reveals a great deal of Lady Macbeths character. The audience begins to observe her strength of spirit and identify her opposite outlook to Macbeth. In addition Lady Macbeths willingness to be associated with evil is emphasized in this statement. The fact that Lady Macbeth becomes furious and challenges her husbands courage and honor when he has serious second thoughts about killing Duncan, indicates that she is indeed more brutal than he at this stage of the play. Lady Macbeth prepares the murder scene but was unable to kill Duncan herself claiming that the King resembled my father  [4]  as he slept. This exemplifies that she is not as ruthless as she appears and that she is rather vulnerable and compassionate. This particular statement adds to the credibility of Lady Macbeths character. It helps define that although one might carry out evil actions, certain things dear to them will expose their vulnerability. Lady Macbeth returns with bloody hands after smearing the chamberlains with blood in order to disguise herself and Macbeth of the deed. At the time the image of her bloody hands has no affect on her and she bluntly says, a little water clears us of the deed.  [1]  However in time, the memory of her bloody hands, which is a significant part of stagecraft symbolizing guilt, haunts and torments Lady Macbeths mind. As previously mentioned Lady Macbeth is aware of God and believes in heaven and hell. She acknowledges that she has sinned; consequently her guilty conscience begins to disturb her sleep. In time Lady Macbeth begins to experience the regular occurrence of sleepwalking. Whilst sleepwalking, she rubs her hands in a washing motion which modern psychology would regard as an obsessive compulsive disorder; she is unable to wash the guilt off her hands. Whilst performing the hand washing routine Lady Macbeth soliloquizes; Wash your hands; put on your nightgown; look not so paleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whats done cannot be undone.  [2]  This further emphasizes her extent of her anguish. Soliloquies are a prominent element in regards to understanding and appreciating Lady Macbeths change of thought and attitude throughout the duration of the play. They help reveal the severe extent of her distress and disturbance. Along with soliloquies, symbolism is another form of stagecraft which is evident in the play; evidently Lady Macbeths sleepwalking is a sign of her great level of guilt. It is particularly ironic how earlier in the play Lady Macbeth calls upon darkness in order to hide her deed, Come, thick night  [1]  and how she now fears the dark; she has light by her continually  [2]  . Lady Macbeths sense of guilt and vulnerability towards the end of the play allows the audience to empathize and connect with her. In demonstrating such human qualities, her credibility was enhanced as unlike Medea, her actions did affect her conscience. The audience is able to relate to Lady Macbeths sense of guilt and therefore appreciate her credibility. Her guilty conscience a ffects her terribly, drives her to contemplate death and eventually commit suicide. The way in which Lady Macbeth gradually breaks down physically and mentally, demonstrates her human essence and hence makes her character credible and realistic to the audience. What is their involvement with evil? The audience is introduced to action from the moment the plays commence. The opening scenes of Macbeth introduce the audience to the prospect of Macbeth being king. Our first impression of Lady Macbeth is that she is a loving wife and excited and happy for him; the atmosphere is blissful. On the hand, the opening scenes of Medea introduce the audience to an atmosphere of misery. Jason has betrayed his wife for a royal bed and we first see Medea as distressed and a heartbroken woman. The audience is later informed of Medeas past; we understand that she has previously committed acts of evil including murder however such actions were driven by her love for Jason. On the other hand, the audience is not informed of Lady Macbeths past; it is presumed that she has had no prior involvement of evil. Medea has committed several murders before the play commences. She has killed her brother and whilst in her home town, Colchis, Medea used her devilish ways to manipulate the daughters of the local king and rival Pelias, into slaughtering their own father. From such details it understood that Medea is capable of committing horrifying deeds and that it was her love for Jason which ultimately suppressed her sense of evil throughout the course of their marriage. Consequently it was expected that once Jason hurt her Medea, she would revert to her violent demeanor and resort to greater brutality than that of which she had encountered out of love for him. After being rejected, Medea lays out a cunning plan pursuing a violent rampage in order to torment Jason. She manipulates Jason into trusting her and sends her sons off with a supposed gift for Jasons new bride. The gifts have been poisoned and princess Glauce endures a horrible death, The stuff was eating her flesh. Her eyes, her face, w ere one grotesque disfigurement; down from her head dripped blood mingled with flame; her flesh, attacked by the invisible fangs of poison, melted from the bare bone, like gum-drops from pine-trees bark- a ghastly sight.  [1]  When Medea gloats, Youll give me double pleasure if their death was horrible,  [2]  she is close to being considered melodramatic however we see enough of her humanity to prevent her from becoming theatrical. This statement highlights how deeply Jasons betrayal scarred his loyal wife. Although Medea fails to be struck by guilt after committing infanticide, she evidently wavers before killing her own children which illustrates her sense of humanity; she is not a cold hearted murder. Lady Macbeth only calls upon evil after she was informed of her husbands prophecy. Similarly to the way in which Medea reached out to evil out of love for Jason during their marriage, Lady Macbeth called upon evil with her husbands best interests at heart. She was ambitious for him to be King and desired to share such a royal status with him. Lady Macbeth begins her pursuit for evil by using her influence to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan; she ultimately becomes her husbands backbone encouraging the involvement of evil. Unlike Medea, Lady Macbeth didnt waver when sinning however her bad actions impacted on her and eventually her conscience and sense of guilt drove her to her own grave. The way in which Lady Macbeth is unable to endure guilt emphasises her weaknesses as a human being, thereby reinforcing her credibility. Conclusion In conclusion, at particular moments in the play Euripides Medea and Shakespeares Macbeth appear close to being melodramatic whereby the audience questions, Are Lady Macbeth and Medea credible characters? Eventually the audience sees the womens sense of humanity whereby it is clear that both Medea and Lady Macbeth are indeed credible. Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeares most renowned and fearsome female characters; however after deeply analysing her character, one cannot restrain himself from feeling empathy for her. It is understood that although she reaches out to evil and commits terrible acts, Lady Macbeths sense of faith, guilty conscience and feminine essence restrains her from being a killer with no conscience; she is a criminal whose actions and guilt deeply affect her. It is her sense of humanity and weakness which ultimately leads to her destruction. This disregards her as a frightening character and emphasizes her credibility. Medea is also said to be a frightening female character. Although her actions were horrifying and savage, Medeas conscience and vulnerability allows her to waver before killing her children; a truly evil character would not waver before committing evil. Medea was heartbroken, scared, bruised and battered which was her ultimate drive for destruction. Consequently, the audience also empathizes with Medea after understanding and acknowledging her sense of humanity and connects with her emotions. Thus, despite the fact that Lady Macbeth and Medeas female roles go against the ordinary depiction of women, they are by no means melodramatic evil characters. If Lady Macbeth and Medea were melodramatically evil, the audience will feel that the plays are unconvincing thereby unjustly diminishing the playwrights achievements.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Sex Offender Laws and Wrongful Convictions Essay -- Argumentative Ess

Sex Offender Laws and Wrongful Convictions The laws for sex offenders should be changed for many reasons. This is a very controversial subject, and tempers flare easily and often for good reason. Due to the plethora of opinions on this subject it is hard to determine what is right and what is wrong. The very same government sending teenagers to school together as a group and teaching them about safe sex is the same government that is bringing charges against them for practicing sex. Not only that but they are labeling them as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. How confusing this must be to the young people of America today. So many young people are finding this out the hard way by being accused of a sex offense for being with a person of their own age group, their peers. Consensual sex by teenagers experimenting is an activity that is labeled by most states as sexual assault, statutory rape and/or child sexual abuse. This felony crime, in most states, is also accompanied by registering as a sex offender for the rest of a person’s life if convicted. Growing up in the 60’s, it was common and acceptable for a sixteen year old to date a nineteen or twenty year old. It is a good thing these laws were not in effect then, because most of the young people being accused today would have never been born. Their parents would either still be in jail or unable to afford to have children due to the fact that a registered sex offender cannot find decent paying employment. â€Å"No one will hire a person labeled a sex offender no matter what the situation, clearly a violation of human rights.† (Laurie Peterson July 27th 2007) Federal legislation expanded the release of criminal records reports under the fair credit reporting... ... and Hayley Mitchell Haugen. Detroit: Green haven Press, 2010. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. "Age of Consent Laws Must Be Reviewed and Revised." Age of Consent. Ed. Olivia Ferguson and Hayley Mitchell Haugen. Detroit: Green haven Press, 2010. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Cayenne B. "Jessica’s Law." U. N. I. O. N. - HOME PAGE. Web. 04 Dec. 2010. . Sex Offenses American Law Yearbook 2007) Detroit: Gale 2008 180-181 Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context Web 1 Dec. 2010. Document URL http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage "Shred Your Sex Offender Map - Forbes.com." Forbes.com - Business News, Financial News, Stock Market Analysis, Technology & Global Headline News. Web. 04 Dec. 2010. .

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Ways of Computing the Value of Alternative Projects Essay -- Finance F

Ways of Computing the Value of Alternative Projects When deciding whether to invest in a project an investor first will compare investment or sunk costs to the expected profit and based on this decision will decide what to do. Depending on the specifics of the project calculating of sunk cost and expected profit might be rather different and will play the main role in the decision to invest, wait and invest later or not to invest at all. More detailed consideration of the standard NPV rule: to invest if present value of cash flow is greater than sunk cost will show that some projects cannot be simply estimated using this idea. For the irreversible projects such as building a factory or buying an option NPV method may not be proper because it does not take into consideration the opportunity cost of waiting for new information, and, then investing. In other words, if investor knows that the price of the product producing on the factory will go down or the product will not be sold at all, because of some new competitive product, he will most likely choose not to build it at all. Now, different investment opportunities may be taken into consideration, for example, building the factory in steps or start using the factory for a different use. Let us calculate a value of the project using regular NPV rule and NPV rule that takes into consideration time effect or this opportunity to wait and invest later. These calculation have been done by many researchers, but Pindick and Dixit in their book Investment Under Uncertainty propose very easy way to compare different results. We will just use their idea but with a simpler numbers and show how different ways of computing provide different results. On this simple example we can lear... ...umption of presenting net present value as a geometric Brownian motion is the most important one and has been implemented in the financial field for a while. Empirical works by financial institutions have shown that such assumption lets investors obtain reasonable results and plan the investment in advance. This technology has been also used in reducing risk on the portfolios when hedging. The obtained results can be easily implemented in the options pricing theory and were applied by Pindick and Dixit in the works. With all the assumptions the model shows realistic results and have been used by many financial institutions since 1980s. References 1. Investment Under Uncertainity, Avinash Dixit and Robert Pindick, Princeton University Press, 1994 2. Investment timing, Robert McDonald and Daniel Siegel, The Quarterly Journal of economics, v.111, 1986

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Object Speech Outline Essay

I. Blood sweat and tears have been shed in this jersey. I have battled in this Jersey, for God, this school and my team. All my life I have played soccer with the goal to never â€Å"plateau† or to stop getting better, to always achieve the next level. I have played soccer since I was four years old and this jersey embodies my experiences up to this point. This jersey represents not only soccer, but my accomplishments, my defeats, my passion, my hatred, the impact it has had on my life, and much more. But most importantly this jersey represents God in my life, and how soccer has been the catalyst for God to minister through me. II. I started off my college soccer career playing division 1 soccer at Sacramento State in the 2nd hardest conference in the country, the big west. As a freshman I had the 4th most minutes played on the whole team, I had a full ride, and some might say my life had been set up nicely. But by then end of the season I found myself feeling empty, something was missing. The more I thought about it the clearer it became, I had all of this but I didn’t have what mattered most, God. So I took a leap of faith and left sac state to pursue a deeper and stronger relationship with God. I had no intention of playing soccer anymore or coming to APU. But one of my good friends who plays here at Azusa convinced me to come and check it out. Having done this I found myself in a position, for the first time in my life, where my faith and my passion have been able to coincide, through wearing this jersey. III. This brings me to my second point, which is that not only am I able to play soccer for God and represent my faith, but I am able to actually minister to people through my sport. This summer I tried out and made a semi professional team known as the Southern California Seahorses. This team plays at the highest level possible for college athletes while still allowing them to maintain collegiate eligibility. The Seahorses are a Christian based organizatio n whose main goal is to mold young men into, not great soccer players who are Christians, but Christians who are great soccer players. You may wonder what the difference is, though it is rather small in semantics the significance is nothing short of incredible. I am now proud to call myself a Christian who  happens to play soccer. The difference is what do you put first, your passion and your goals, or God? For the first time in my life, I have put God above my goals, I have put aside my dreams to live to serve God, and in return God has blessed me by allowing to me to still pursue my goal by ministering through soccer. IV. As I said before, this Jersey embodies my life up to this point, why? Because soccer has been the center of my life, everything has revolved around it, and finally I am now able to combine the two biggest things in my life, my faith, and my passion for soccer, and am blessed to be able to practice both on a daily basis. For me the question that brought the most clarity, was when I was asked, â€Å"Do you call yourself a soccer player who is Christian, or a Christian who happens to play soccer? †

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Stakeholders of Carrefour in Oman

Stakeholders Carrefour Group Employees as stakeholders: Carrefour is planning to become distinction from others in terms of human resources management and social responsibility in all the countries where it operates. Attracting, training, supporting and retaining loyalty while remaining open to people from a diverse range of backgrounds. The group do its best to ensure that all employees fulfill their potential and perform to the best of their abilities. Carrefour recruits 90% of its employees in its store catchment areas.Carrefour recruitment policy is based on equal opportunity, and the Group gives those from all backgrounds a chance to succeed, with or without qualifications. When people start working with Carrefour, they are choosing a responsible company that incorporates its sustainability policy into all of its business lines. Therefore, Carrefour is accepting its employees to perform at their best, be creative, respect the company code of ethics, serve customers in the best w ay and respect the regulations and policies.Moreover, Carrefour aims to boost workplace well-being by constantly communicating with employees and their representatives in compliance with Group values, this policy makes a major contribution to increasing motivation and collective and individual performance. Carrefour group also gives its employees the chance to express their opinions regarding their jobs and their life within the company. The results are then handed out to employees and their representatives, allowing for the identification of areas for improvement and the implementation of action plans. Carrefour ensures that employees benefit from appropriate social protection.When employees face any problems in terms of coverage, Carrefour provides for additional welfare, health and retirement coverage, either to cover what’s missing in local systems or complement them. Carrefour helps its employees to arrange schedules, enabling them to better balance their professional an d personal lives. Carrefour is committed to provide part time jobs for young Omanis, in order to mate the needs of its customers, perform its business activities and gives its employees the chance to finish their own daily needs. The group is committed also to ensure the safety of its employees and customers at all. As one its mployees stated the group adopted French and Oman safety standards. Furthermore, is to reduce workplace accidents through prevention training and awareness campaigns. The Group ensures that its teams understand health and safety regulations, offers training, enforces procedures and performs regular on-site audits. On the other hand, employees also expect from Carrefour to perform and respect their efforts and works. Employees want the group to pay them the best compensation, which refers to all forms of pay and rewards received by employees for the performance in their jobs including all forms of cash, benefits, services, and perks.Also, employees want from Ca rrefour training and development programs to improve their skills and abilities, gain more working experiences and give them promotions. Moreover, employees in Carrefour expect from the group their jobs and to appreciate their inputs for the group and how they contributes to the group business activities. Employees how are working as cashier want from the management break time after working in rush hours. Also, employees expect from Carrefour to define clear goals and objectives for them to make their jobs easier, so they can finish what is require from them within a time.Some employees want freedom and responsibilities over their work, which actually make them more productive. Employees also want from Carrefour guidance and feedback to acknowledge them their performances. Customers as stakeholders: Without customers a business would not exist. One of the major objectives of Carrefour is to win and maintain customers by developing and providing products and services which offer valu e in terms of price that customers pay. Carrefour is not only interested in its customers money only, Carrefour wants that people have wonderful time spent by shopping in Carrefour.Moreover, Carrefour offers and meets almost all customers' needs by offering different types of products. Carrefour provides assortment of products in order to save customers time and effort in searching. The group ensures safety and environmental place for families while there are in Carrefour. Carrefour is committed to provide its customers with quality and low price products. Carrefour built and maintains relationships with long-term customers to maintain profit and image in the market. On the other hand, customers expect from Carrefour to provide the best products services.Employees in customers prospective should be knowledgeable and available staff, while a customer is making the buying decisions, they want knowledgeable assistance and available when they want it. Some customers value on accurate in formation and want to be served by employees who know the product. Also, customers expect from Carrefour employees to give them more information about different products in the same categories. Customers not only want sales people to knowledgeable and available, they want them to be friendly and courteous with them. Customers expect from Carrefour employees to value them not the sales they make.Customers want convenience and easier shopping by well organizing the merchandise, attractive displayed and easy to find. Customers want a fast finish and they want to complete buying process and be on their way as quickly as possible. Suppliers as stakeholders: Suppliers are the most important partners for Carrefour in doing their business activities every day. Carrefour has different in its chain of production. Carrefour has a number of core values that are central to everything it does with its suppliers. Carrefour expects from its suppliers to supply products and supplies in time and orga nized it in the right places.Moreover, Carrefour expect from suppliers to keep supplying it on timely and orderly bases. Carrefour expect from its suppliers never be late in supplying necessary goods in time. Also, Carrefour operates a network between its suppliers, in order to share data and information to make supply chain management very easy. Integrity, decency and fairness during the contract period, and after contract award. Carrefour expect from suppliers continuous improvement, sharing benefits, market improvements and innovations. Furthermore, receptive to requests for information and responsive to general enquiries.High quality, value for money products or services backed by efficient manufacturing and distribution systems. Demonstrably sound financial standing and strong business performance. On the other hand, suppliers want from Carrefour to pay its payment to them in time. They also expect from Carrefour repeat orders and respect them and their proficiently in doing th eir jobs. They also expect from Carrefour to share financial information. Some of suppliers want from Carrefour to allow them to show and represent their own brand in Carrefour. Moreover, they want from Carrefour to give the freedom in providing whatever they want in Carrefour shops.Government and local community as stakeholders: Since Carrefour is a foreign group Omani government expects from it to develops the well fare of the society. Also, to respect the roles and regulations of Oman. to ensure that corporations take into account the interests of a wide range of constituencies, as well as of the communities within which they operate Moreover, the government wants from Carrefour to pay its taxes in time. The government state over the fate of a company and its investors. The government determines who benefits from corporate actions. Also, the government asks the group to operate in environmental condition.Helps to assure that Carrefour operate for the benefit of society as a whole . Society provides a licence to operate in return for benefits to the community as a whole and a respect for ethical values, people and the environment but can. AL-Fair Employees as stakeholders: Employees who provide the human resources that power the engines of marketing and productivity. Without human resources the business is unlikely to function even if there are shareholders and potential customers waiting to buy from AL-fair. Al-fair value its employees and it believes they one of the most important resources.AL-Fair Management policies are focusing in employees how much they are needed by the company, recognizing, rewarding and investing in them. Welfare of their employees is very important to the company as company employees stated. Company wants its employees to be pride in being a part of that AL-Fair. Al-Fair management believes engagement valuable to make employees feels their work makes something that really matters to company. Company helps its employees to have an op en and clear view about how they would do in their jobs. Building people is a line responsibility of the management has to accept that expending energy is part of their job.Customers as stakeholders: Customers provide revenue in return for the benefits that ownership of the product or service brings. AL-Fair offers products and varieties of them to meet all people needs. In AL-Fair customers finds more fresh foods. In AL-Fair company try to earn customers trust by understanding them. Customers buy therefore they expect recommendations to be received from employees. Customers want from AL-Fair employees to know as much as possible about the products and services they provide. Prices varies from low to high prices to meet all customers requirement.Customers expect relationship between them and employees. Suppliers as stakeholders: AL-Fair wants from suppliers to present their products and goods in Al-Fair. Timely product and service delivery. AL-Fair wants from its supplier to be Rece ptive to requests for information and responsive to general enquiries. High quality, value for money products or services backed by efficient manufacturing and distribution systems. Demonstrably sound financial standing and strong business performance. AL-Fair expect from its suppliers to be enable and remain efficient in dealing with the company.Moreover, is expected from suppliers to be quick and effective saving in serving business time. Government and local community as stakeholders: AL-Fair realizes that success of its business in directly tied to the sustainability of the community in which they operate and business sustainability, managers are seizing this value. The company has found mutual value in its business and social awareness has been a major source of increasing its loyalty. Therefore, building strong two-way stakeholder relationships is important component to long-term business sustainability.

Monday, January 6, 2020

How to Calculate Volume Percent Concentration

Volume percent or volume/volume percent (v/v%)  is used when preparing solutions of liquids. It is very easy to prepare a chemical solution using volume percent, but if you misunderstand the definition of this unit of concentration, youll experience problems. Percent Volume Definition Volume percent is defined as: v/v % [(volume of solute)/(volume of solution)] x 100% Note that volume percent is relative to the volume of solution, not the volume of solvent. For example, wine is about 12% v/v ethanol. This means there is 12 ml ethanol for every 100 ml of wine. It is important to realize liquid and gas volumes are not necessarily additive. If you mix 12 ml of ethanol and 100 ml of wine, you will get less than 112 ml of solution. As another example, 70% v/v rubbing alcohol may be prepared by taking 700 ml of isopropyl alcohol and adding sufficient water to obtain 1000 ml of solution (which will not be 300 ml). Solutions made to a specific volume percent concentration typically are prepared using a volumetric flask. When Is Volume Percent Used? Volume percent (vol/vol% or v/v%) should be used whenever a solution is prepared by mixing pure liquid solutions. In particular, its useful where miscibility comes into play, as with volume and alcohol. Acid and base aqueous reagents are usually described using weight percent (w/w%). An example is  concentrated hydrochloric acid, which is 37% HCl w/w. Dilute solutions are often described using weight/volume % (w/v%). An example is 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate.  Although its a good idea to always cite the units used in percentages, it seems common for people to omit them for w/v%. Also, note weight is really mass.