Pride and Honour- Mercutio and Tybalt Essay Example

Pride and Honour Pride and Honour- Mercutio and Tybalt Paper Pride and Honour- Mercutio and Tybalt Paper Essay Topic: Romeo and Juliet The play I am referring to is the romantic tragedy written by William Shakespeare in the 16th century, called ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The film was then interpreted again the 1990’s by a director called Baz Luhrmann. The key characters in this story are Romeo, one of the central protagonists; Juliet is the other main character. There is Mercutio who is Romeo’s best friend and finally Tybalt a character who is an enemy to most, and always wanting a fight. The basic outline of the story is: Romeo is part of the Montague house and Juliet is part of the Capulet house, in the play these two families have an ancient and on-going feud between them. The setting is in Verona, Italy where peace does not last for long. Romeo is faced with unrequited love between himself and Rosaline, part of the Capulet house. Then Mercutio takes Romeo and a few other friends to a ball at the Capulet mansion so Mercutio can prove that Rosaline isn’t the only girl ‘available’ to Romeo. Incidentally at the party Romeo meets Juliet and falls in love with her a first sight. A short while later Romeo and Juliet get married by a priest called Friar Laurence. After the wedding Tybalt is seen provoking the Montagues and insisting to start a fight. Eventually Mercutio get stabbed and Romeo pursues his best friend’s murderer, in revenge Tybalt is killed brutally by Romeo. Next the police sentence Romeo to banishment from ‘Verona walls’. Meanwhile Juliet is forced into a fixed marriage with a famous, rich lord called Paris. This love is again unrequited, with Juliet having no interest in him. Consequently Juliet goes to Friar Laurence and he gives her a potion to make her look dead on the day of the marriage so when Juliet wakes up she can run away with Romeo. The fatal flaw in this story is when Romeo finds Juliet looking dead he commits suicide and when she wakes up to find her lover killed she then slaughters herself. After hearing from the tragedies from both families the Capulet and Montague house end the feud and rivalry and become friendlier with each other. The story first starts with the Montague and Capulet houses having an open street brawl. Luhrmann chooses a petrol station for this encounter to create more atmosphere. We first meet Tybalt Capulet at the apocalyptic petrol station fight interpreted by Baz Luhrmann in the opening scene. The audience first witnesses him when he steps out of the Capulet car and the camera zooms in on his feet, putting out a cigarette. This shot demonstrates that Tybalt is a defensive and territorial character. Also this could show his superiority and protectiveness for the Capulet family. Additionally the cigarette being put out could signalise the Montague family possibly loosing the brawl by being crushed and the ‘light would have gone’. Tybalt is also represented as having an aggressive and violent persona by William Shakespeare in the opening scene. This is shown when Tybalt says ‘Peace, peace I hate the word’. Firstly when he repeats ‘peace’ this shows that he is mocking the expression. Secondly Tybalt emphasises the word ‘hate’ this illustrates his vented anger and frustration towards the Montague family. In his eyes the idea to end the rivalry is an insult and a disgrace to him. When Tybalt says this line he is refuelling the family feud. Tybalts general tone towards the Montague family is very icy and silky also he purposely mocks a lot of phrases made by the opposing family, this shows; he is not genuine and usually sarcastic. Tybalt dresses very dignified and superior, when the audience first sees him in the opening scene. Furthermore he is always seen (apart from one scene in which he dies), wearing a bullet proof jacket. This could show that he is all the time ready for a fight and never vulnerable. To back this point up Tybalt is constantly carrying around two pistols with the Capulet logo on them. Curiously he is seen wearing a vest with Jesus printed on the front during the opening fight. This might suggest that the never-ending family feud between the Capulet and Montague families could be because of a religious reason. Tybalt actions and movements give him he nick name ‘Prince of Cats’. This is supposedly so because he is very agile and swift like a cat. His activities are silkily and smooth and he also has a very accurate aim, in the street brawl Tybalt does not stumble or fall over at all. The next time the audience sees Tybalt is at the Capulet ball which Mercutio ‘smuggles’ Romeo and some friends into. Tybalt’s feelings during and after the ball are very strong towards the Montagues as he sees Romeo showing affection toward Juliet when they first meet. This is clear when he says ‘that villain Romeo’, which suggests that every member of the Montague family is seen as an enemy and foe without even knowing him personally. The phrase ‘don’t judge and book by its cover’ couldn’t be more evident during this line. Tybalt instantly assumes that Romeo is up to no good and a mischief maker when he sees the connection between Romeo and Juliet. Again during the Capulet ball Tybalt has the need to exert his anger and frustration about the central protagonists ‘wrong-doings ‘at he party by complaining to his uncle ‘Capulet’ the head of the family. He adamantly rejects Tybalts plea to start an open fight. Following this Tybalt becomes even more aggravated by this and tries to go out individually to fight the Montagues, without thinking about the possible consequences. In Act 3 Scene 1 it brings and end to Tybalt’s ‘reign of terror’ during the play. The setting of the corruption takes place on Verona beach when Tybalt and a few others approach the Montague’s looking to cause a scene and a fight. Luhrmann presents this encounter by playing sinister and menacing music to introduce the Capulets; this would give the audience the impression that there will be some sort of disagreement. The music is foreshadowing the epic brawl that is going too happened between the two houses. After the Capulets enter, the surrounding public is scared a frightened with an atmosphere of silence and quietness takes over the beach. It is obvious to see that society is afraid of the family feud and prospect of Tybalt starting a fight. Then Tybalt insults Mercutio by saying ‘thou art consort with Romeo’. Mercutio takes this the wrong way and thinks he possibly could have meant do you ‘homosexually like’ Romeo? Mercutio clashes with him the fight has started. Luhrmann uses dramatic and loud music to portray this melee. Also there are handheld camera shots of the two foes, showing the viewers the characters reactions and facial expressions. After Tybalt and Mercutio have thrown their insults at each other, Romeo pulls up in his car and tries to resolve the problem by shaking hands, but instead Tybalt rejects this offer and insists to fight with him. This action really reflects Tybalt’s overall personality; he is always ready to fight and is an aggressive and destructive character. But contrastingly he purposely removes his bullet proof vest to show he is ready for a fight to the death, additionally when Tybalt removes his vest it shows that he is expecting to win the fight. Lastly Tybalt’s friend Abra empties all of Tybalt’s bullets except for one which confirms that one person will die in the fight. Luhrmann really creates ambience in this scene by using the weather to portray the atmosphere and feeling of the characters. Firstly when Mercutio and Tybalt clash the weather suddenly become stormy and wind with thunder and lightning in the sky. This technique used is pathetic fallacy and gives the audience a huge insight into the character feelings. Such as Tybalt is feeling satisfied because he has got the exact reaction out of Mercutio as he wanted, he intended to agitate him and drive him on argue and clash against him. Next Tybalt fatally stabs Mercutio leading to his death, and in revenge Romeo peruses his friend’s murderer with vigorous action. In this bid of vengeance from Romeo he wildly and violently chases Tybalt who now looks life the coward as he is hunted down by Romeo. He seems scared and worried for his life, as if sub-consciously knowing that he has gone too far. Following on there is a short street battle, until Romeo finds a Capulet gun and shoots Tybalt many times before falling into a fountain underneath the Friar Laurence’s Church. Throughout the film Luhrmann uses all different types of imagery. He uses mainly fire and water imagery all through the movie. Water Imagery is often used or plays some part in a characters life in this play. Tybalt is seen falling into water when he dies, Romeo and Juliet’s first camera shots we either near or in water. Also fire imagery is portrayed after the opening scene after being a representation of the family feud. Fire destroys are consumed which is the similar connection with the on-going family rivalry. But water extinguishes fire, which could suggest that the deaths of Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt and Mercutio collectively put out the fire therefore dousing out the family feud. Mercutio is a character who can be described as polarised, two faced or multi-faceted. He has a very changeable and suddenly adaptable personality could change rather randomly. The two main ‘faces’ of Mercutio are: eccentric, flamboyant, playful and fun but he can become pensive, melancholy and easily frustrated. He is introduced by again the camera showing a close-up of his feet first before any part of his body. This is the first similarity between Tybalt that Luhrmann recognises. This shot could show that Mercutio is also protective, defence and territorial. Baz Luhrmann interprets the character of Mercutio as unconventional, bizarre and possibly homosexual in his actions. When the audience first see Mercutio in Act 1 Scene 5, just before the Capulet ball, he is dressed as a girl and uses a very high pitched voice, when he sings a song to try and cheers up Romeo from his heartbreak with Rosaline. The costume he wears matches that of his personality by being peculiar and strangely different. Also the director understands the character to be homosexually attracted towards Romeo. This is backed up by the way he talks nimbly, politely and lightly to Romeo. Another trait of Mercutio is that he enjoys being the centre of attention and ‘centre stage’. This is backed up because during the Capulet ball Mercutio is seen numerous times dancing and singing solo on the stage. At the first glimpse of the party Romeo is having a hallucination and in his ‘dream’ he saw Mercutio singing ‘Young hearts Run Free’, with him also being the main act on the stage. This choice of song strongly reflects Mercutio’s ‘happy’ side. The lyrics of the song is about someone who does what ever he/she wants when ever they like, which is very alike to Mercutio’s personality as he does not usually follow anyone else’s lead and mainly decides to do what he wants. Also the music is loud and blaring again portraying Mercutio’s persona. The final part of the story that Mercutio plays a major piece in is Act 3 Scene 1 in which he dramatically dies. The significance of his words before he dies illustrates that he could have been upset with the Montagues before he died. Additionally when Mercutio says ‘A plague o both your houses’, this suggests that Mercutio is exclaiming that he is cursing both the Montague and Capulet houses, and blatantly accusing them of causing his death. Mercutio is also fully aware that the family feud has claimed yet another life. Hence he has unintentionally sacrificed himself, in another opposing family brawl. This portrays his pride because in theory it is Mercutio’s own fault that he was murdered, for interfering when he wasn’t needed. He irritated and antagonised Tybalt consequently leading to his own downfall. Moreover this could be interpreted differently by stating that Mercutio was protecting himself and Romeo, from Tybalt but it was Romeo’s fault for not defending him. Lastly Mercutio says ‘A scratch, A scratch’ after he has been fatally stabbed. This proves that de does not want the recognition or attention for his terminal injury. Mercutio believes that he should not show his discomfort, distress, or worry as he feared he could be called a coward. After this is takes his late few steps and struggles onto Verona Beach and dies. In Mercutio’s final scene he is wearing a white shirt, this could indicate that he was innocent in this battle, as white is the colour of purity. Finally with Mercutio dying on the beach the sand could show that the brawl that had just happened could have been a ‘western showdown’ with the windy conditions, loud dramatic music and desert like surroundings. The water imagery used in Mercutio’s death is before the Capulets come to the beach, he is shooting into the water angry because of Romeo’s mystery towards them. His friend Benvolio insists that they leave otherwise they ‘will not escape a brawl’ as there is a lot of tension and anxiety between the opposing families. Also Mercutio dies on the beach which is near water, again showing the water imagery presented in this film. It is obvious to say now that water imagery is a symbol or foreshadows death. Finally to sum this essay up the characters Tybalt and Mercutio are portrayed and illustrated as slightly contrasting personalities by William Shakespeare and Baz Luhrmann. There are many similarities and difference between them, but overall in the story they are both represented as very proud and honourable characters, no matter how extreme and bizarre, every story must have some sort of entertainment.

Free Essays on The Things They Carried

In the short story â€Å"The Things They Carried† Tim O’Brien faces Jimmy Cross with the problem of surviving while fighting in Vietnam. While trying to maintain his sanity, Jimmy struggles between his old self and the person he has to become. Jimmy has to make some difficult decisions while in his tour, and most of them come to his attention after his friend Ted Lavender is killed. Jimmy’s main struggle in dealing with his friends death is to figure out a way he can become a better leader. He wants to lead his troop with confidence and preciseness. Before his friend’s death, Jimmy had constructed a bulwark to separate him from the rest of the troop. Jimmy was in his own world, mainly back in New Jersey with Martha, but sometimes in a fantasy world where nothing felt real and he would do amazing things like fly over Vietnam waving the whole madness goodbye. His misconception of fantasy and reality is one of the first things that he changes about himself in order to become a better leader. Making this decision was near impossible, the pictures that he had become inured to seeing everyday were put to flame and Martha was no longer in his thoughts. By burning those pictures he not only breaks free from the fantasy world, but also of Martha. She was a girl back home who he had loved dearly, and had remained in contact with throughout the war. His infatuation with Martha was not a sexual one, but one that had something much greater weight towards his survival. He did not think about Martha day in and day out because she was his only true love of the world; he merely needed something to occupy his mind with. He needed something to keep his thoughts away from the horrible tragedies going on around him. He was trying to maintain his hope. Martha gave him a goal, something to shoot for, a reason not to give up. â€Å"So easy, really. Go limp and tumble to the ground and let the muscles unwind and no... Free Essays on The Things They Carried Free Essays on The Things They Carried In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters. Tim O’Brien is drafted one month after graduating from Macalester College to fight a war he hated. Tim O’Brien believed he was above the war, and as a result pursued the alternative of escaping across the border to Canada. This understandable act is what Tim O’Brien considers an embarrassment to himself, and to others. When Tim O’Brien finds accommodation on the border to Canada, he meets Elroy Berdahl who eventually influences Tim O’Brien, to change. Elroy Berdahl acts as a mentor to Tim, a figure that remains detached in the sense that he must provide enough support and understanding without being attached to the results. At the rear of the boat Elroy Berdahl pretended not to notice...I realized that Canada had become a pitiful fantasy. Silly and hopeless. It was no longer a possibility. Right then, with the shore so close, I understood That I would not do what I should do. I would not swim away from my hometown and my country and my life. I would not be brave. That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a threadbare pipe dream. (O’Brien 59,60) Tim O’Brien’s epiphany so close to the Canadian shore, represents the change he went through in the 6 days he was with Elroy Berdahl. Tim O’Brien’s whole life appeared before him and out of cowardice, he went to war. Rat Kiley is the platoon medic who eventually loses his mind in the field. Rat Kiley’s metamorphosis occurs when the platoon switches to a routine of night movement Kalil 2 for 2 weeks. Rat is una... Free Essays on The Things They Carried All too often, literature is misunderstood by a reader due to the simple fact that he or she has no idea what happened in the author’s life to cause him or her to write a particular literary piece and what the author is trying to pass on to the reader. There are many factors that affect the way an author writes his or her literature including experiences that took place in his or her life, occurrences around the world, and values and beliefs he or she has. In order to understand a text, the reader must first have an understanding of the author. By this, I mean that the reader must seek to identify with the author and try to read the text as the author intended. This involves the reader learning some things about the author and determining what assumptions the author made about the reader’s knowledge, beliefs, and previous literary experiences. Peter Rabinowitz, a literary strategist, referred to this sort of perspective as â€Å"authorial† reading and encour aged this view vehemently. As we read a piece of literature, we will try our best to read as â€Å"authorial readers† and relate the author and his world to what he or she wants me to attain. An author named Tim O’Brien wrote about some of the events that took place in the Vietnam War. In his short story, â€Å"The Things They Carried,† O’Brien wrote a sort of autofiction about some of his accounts in the war. This is referred to as an autofiction because it is a story about true occurrences in his life with some fictional incidents intertwined into the story, hence an autobiographical fiction. In order to understand his story, we are going to learn some things about his background and his experiences in the war that influenced his literary style and also try to figure out how we, the readers, are supposed to read this particular text. In other words, we will attempt to become the â€Å"authorial readers† that we talked about earlier in order to better understand his ... Free Essays on The Things They Carried Spilling Your Heart Through a Pen Tim O’Brien utilizes the autobiographical fallacy to vent a guilty war clogged conscience. Since the author is linked to the narrator, the reader must question the factual truths of The Things The Carried. The book is dedicated to Cross, Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Henry Dobbins, and Kiowa. However, O’Brien states that all the accounts, besides the narrator being a 43-year-old veteran, are fictional. So, the speaker is the author, but his stories cannot be believed as truth. Even though the stories of the narrator’s friends are fiction, the narrator stresses that the realism of these characters is not important. Tim O’Brien is linking himself to the narrator not for the purpose of making the stories more believable. According to the writer, â€Å"Story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.† (179) When a person reads the truer fictional stories, while believing the author is the narrator, it makes one â€Å"†¦fe el what [the narrator] felt.† (179) Tim O’Brien is using the autobiographical fallacy to vent his negative memories in the hope that the reader can relate or sympathize. The narrator strongly opposes the Vietnam War. Internal conflict arises when the draft picks the Tim to fight in the war. He travels toward Canada to avoid Vietnam, but feels â€Å"†¦ashamed of my conscience, ashamed to be doing the right thing.† (52) The reader knows that this particular story is not factual, because the narrator is tormented by images of people from the past and future (i.e. Abe Lincoln and Huck Finn). Many details of the narrator’s trip to Canada are bogus. The narrator goes to the war, survives, and states that, â€Å"†¦it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.† (61) These words, coupled with Tim O’Brien’s linkage to the narrator, force the reader to understand the author’s guilty conscience. The narrator relays many stories in w... Free Essays on The Things They Carried In the short story â€Å"The Things They Carried† Tim O’Brien faces Jimmy Cross with the problem of surviving while fighting in Vietnam. While trying to maintain his sanity, Jimmy struggles between his old self and the person he has to become. Jimmy has to make some difficult decisions while in his tour, and most of them come to his attention after his friend Ted Lavender is killed. Jimmy’s main struggle in dealing with his friends death is to figure out a way he can become a better leader. He wants to lead his troop with confidence and preciseness. Before his friend’s death, Jimmy had constructed a bulwark to separate him from the rest of the troop. Jimmy was in his own world, mainly back in New Jersey with Martha, but sometimes in a fantasy world where nothing felt real and he would do amazing things like fly over Vietnam waving the whole madness goodbye. His misconception of fantasy and reality is one of the first things that he changes about himself in order to become a better leader. Making this decision was near impossible, the pictures that he had become inured to seeing everyday were put to flame and Martha was no longer in his thoughts. By burning those pictures he not only breaks free from the fantasy world, but also of Martha. She was a girl back home who he had loved dearly, and had remained in contact with throughout the war. His infatuation with Martha was not a sexual one, but one that had something much greater weight towards his survival. He did not think about Martha day in and day out because she was his only true love of the world; he merely needed something to occupy his mind with. He needed something to keep his thoughts away from the horrible tragedies going on around him. He was trying to maintain his hope. Martha gave him a goal, something to shoot for, a reason not to give up. â€Å"So easy, really. Go limp and tumble to the ground and let the muscles unwind and no... Free Essays on The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien Throughout history, every war has great stories that need to be heard. For the Vietnam War those great stories are captured in Tim O’Brien’s story â€Å"The things they carried†. Tim O’Brien was one of the most influential and talented writers of his time, and in his stories he unveils the truth and the facts of war and tells the readers that war is not fun and games it is serious business. Tim O’Brien was born in a small town in Austin Minnesota on October 1,1946.He went to Macalester College and graduated in 1968 with a BA in political science. Though O’Brien was against the war in Vietnam he as forced to enter the armed forces soon after he graduated. After O’Brien got out of Vietnam he went to Harvard University. He eventually left Harvard to become a newspaper reporter which led the way to his brilliantly wrote novels. Besides â€Å"The Things They Carried,† O’Brien wrote many other dazzling novels. Some of those novels are â€Å"If I Die In Combat Zone†, â€Å" Going After Cacciato,† and his most recent novel â€Å"In the Lake of the Woods†(Tim O’Brien’s Biography). In these novels, O’Brien discusses one issue that leads to a discussion of seemingly opposite issues. His novel â€Å"If I Die In Combat Zone† was a memoir of his Vietnam Tour and he describes his trip Vietnam back to Minnesota. In this novel, he emphasizes how casually death can come by describing the period of relative relief after a successful ambush. He says how the soldier may feel relaxed but that fear that death can come is still imbedded in their brain. In his novel â€Å" Going After Cacciato† he begins the story with a list of the dead soldiers in the platoon and has the protagonist of the story working on the order of the list throughout the novel. His intent in this novel was to let the reader make judgments about the morality of the war. He did this by showing the reactions of the soldiers and the innocent victims of the wa... Free Essays on The Things They Carried How does death affect the behavior of people? Although death affects everyone’s behavior differently, knowledge of one’s imminent death is a main force behind behavioral changes. This knowledge causes emotions that motivate people to look for changes, that make them have to adjust. It makes them find different ways to cope with war. This is the reason that causes the characters in a book called, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien to have to change due to their situation. They are in the Vietnam war and the horror of death is always hanging over their heads. They have to find ways to cope with that incomparable fright. Their knowledge of death and its closeness causes the men in the story to alter their behavior by modifying emotions to relieve guilt, by exhibiting different actions to ease anxiety, and for some by just losing humanity thoroughly to excuse their actions. Guilt is a very strong emotion, and it demands adjustment very rapidly. Guilt makes a person regret how they ignored their values, and ideas, and the demand for adjustment comes from wanting to not repeat the misjudgment of their actions. Some try to substitute the guilt with other emotions, for example, some make jokes. Azar, for instance made fun of a little girl whose whole family had just died, â€Å"..., Azar mocked the girl’s dancing. He did funny jumps and spins. He put his palms of his hands against his ears, and danced sideways for a while, and then backwards, and then did an erotic thing with his hips†(pg.136). For him, the situation grows lighter with laughter. Even though he knows nothing is funny about the situation, he trys to replace the guilt with humor. He even went as far as to make fun of someone’s death, â€Å" â€Å" A classic case,† Azar was saying. â€Å" Biting the dirt, so to speak, that tells the story.† † ( pg.168). He makes jokes, he knows its not funny, but he makes jokes. He makes jokes not for others, b... Free Essays on The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien does not actually come out and write about guilt, death, or love; he describes in vivid detail how he feels. This is how he lets the reader know his feelings, either it be love, guilt, or death. Through his details the reader differentiates Tim O’Brien’s thoughts. As the reader understands O’Brien’s writing in the finial chapter, â€Å"The Lives of the Dead,† he or she finds that guilt, death, and love are all brought together by this one nine year old girl, Linda. In many ways, he describes her as, the love of his life. This was no â€Å"crush or childhood infatuation,†(228,4) as he put it, but â€Å"as deep and rich as love could ever get,†(228,4) like the complexities of mature adult love, and maybe more. In the same way he depicts his love for Linda, he portrays his guilt in the same situation. O’Brien feels helpless as that of a little fourth grader. The little boy who just stood there as the bully picked on the girl he felt something for, but had no real way of showing it. As he describes it â€Å"I stood off to the side, just a spectator, wishing I could do things I couldn’t do†(223,2) O’Brien does not come out and say he felt guilty for doing nothing, but expresses it in so many words, that of his feelings. Now love and guilt are a easier topic to understand, but when it come to death, one may find it hard to understand because fighting in a war is not something everyone has the privilege to participate in, and in war, death is a common aspect. With O’Brien’s detail, the reader can see how, in his situation it would be hard to let a person, one feels so much for go. Too feel that one loves someone so much, but can’t tell him or her. In ways he describes it as â€Å"sitting there, wanting to find some way to let her know how I felt, but instead of doing so, I sat there with my mouth shut†(229,2,4) Feeling guilty for not speaking and standing up for that same person, then to find you will never... Free Essays on The Things They Carried THE THINGS THEY CARRIED I don’t believe that O'Brien is a coward for going to war, but the opposite, that he would be a coward for not going to war. I think the reason why he was going to go to Canada was because he doesn't believe in the cause and he thinks he is too talented a student to be forced into battle. Ultimately, he makes the decision to join the army because of what others will think of him, which is not the best reason why someone should go to war, but this shows he’s not a coward and he wouldn’t run away from his country. In "On the Rainy River," O'Brien thinks of his family, what will they think of him (past, present, future) if he doesn't join the war and he doesn't fight to defend his country. Also if he abandons the country, he will never be able to see them again. When O'Brien is fishing with the old man and he "sees" everyone he has ever known or will ever know "judging" him on his decision, he thinks that he is too much of a coward to go against tradition and go to Canada, but that is the opposite, he would be coward if he went to Canada. He is afraid of his family being ashamed or embarrassed by his flight, despite the fact that he truly seems to believe in his flight. O’Brien would not only let down his family and friends but the whole country. The U.S. needed help from the citizens they chose in the draft to go to Vietnam and help defend there fellow man and country, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in the war, you would make more of a difference in the world going to war then skipping out and going to another country. Also in this novel, we can notice that O’Brien does care what people think of him, he would be far more respected if he went to war, then if he didn’t. Also if he died in war, he would have died for our country which he has lived in his whole life. O’Brien believes he is a coward because he is going against his moral convictions (going to war). But that does no... Free Essays on The Things They Carried â€Å"The Things They Carried† is a short story by author Tim O’Brien. It is a fictional account of an American officer, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, and his soldiers serving in Vietnam. The story begins with a description of the equipment the men are required or chose to carry with them as they patrol Vietnam. Interwoven in the story amidst the descriptions of the men’s possessions, fears, attitudes, is the story of how Ted Lavender, one of the men, dies. Jimmy is constantly daydreaming about a girl he loves, who does not love him. The platoon is ordered to go destroy a tunnel system near a village in Than Khe. After the tunnel was cleared, Tom Lavender is shot in the head while returning to the platoon after relieving himself. The central idea of the story is people who neglect their responsibilities often need to experience the results of their failure in order to change. The main character in this story is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who is a 22-year-old Army officer from New Jersey. He believes that he should not be leading his men. â€Å"†¦He could not bring himself to worry about matters of security. He was beyond that. He was just a kid at war, in love.† Jimmy is in love with Martha, a girl back home. He carries her letters and a stone she sent him for good luck and he often daydreams to escape the reality of war. â€Å"He carried the pebble in his mouth, turning it with his tongue, tasting the sea salts and moisture.† and â€Å"†¦but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha carrying nothing.† Jimmy also carries the weight of command and the responsibility for his men’s lives. After one of his men dies the author writes this. â€Å"Lieutenant Cross felt the pain. He blamed himself.† There are two main supporting characters, Martha and Te d Lavender. Martha is a junior a Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. The lieutenant dated her a few times before he left for V... Free Essays on The Things They Carried The Things They Carried In, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien drifts away from the trendy war novel in which the author describes actions in an attempt to place the reader in the war. Instead, he focuses on the thoughts of the soldiers, the inner feelings, and small personal nuances in an attempt to place the reader in the men. In addition, he employs the stylistic technique of specific, conscious detail selection and utilizes connotative diction, allowing him to create a new literary art form. The splendor of the novel is in O’Brien’s ability to convey a multitude of ideas in so few pages, which he displays through and ensemble of motifs. One such motif, the â€Å"heart of darkness,† shows how the smoke from the war, both figuratively and literally, blackens the soldiers, burning their hearts to atramentous ash. O’Brien makes apparent the â€Å"heart of darkness† motif in Norman Bowker as he becomes hardened during his sojourn in Vietnam. Norman Bowker, describe d as â€Å"a very gentle person† (13), is inherently very good-natured. However, he â€Å"carried a thumb†¦dark brown, rubbery to the touch†¦cut from a VC corpse† (13). This image evokes a picture of a hard-mannered, emotionally devoid soldier, carrying a severed finger as a trophy, proud of his kill. The ardent imagery describing Bowker’s darkening indicates a psychological and emotional change. The vision of the callow corpse â€Å"badly burned, flies in its mouth† (13) sputters through Bowker, smoldering his soul. O’Brien states that the VC from Delaney 2 whom Bowker takes the thumb is â€Å"just a boy† (13), giving the image of an unfledged person who should not be subjected to the horrors of war. The connotation associated with â€Å"boy† enhances the pathos one feels for the dead soldier, which in turn enunciates Bowker’s ebony heart. Just before Bowker takes his own life, he tells O’Brien in a letter, â €Å"It’s almost like I got killed over in Nam†¦Hard... Free Essays on The Things They Carried It is difficult for the young adults of our generation to grasp the intensity of the mental anguish endured while engaged in militant combat, especially when we refer to the Wars of Korea and Vietnam. Several students rarely even cover the wars in History class. To that end, it is no surprise that cinema is the primary educator on the subject. However, movies are often dramatized or overly fictional and therefore undependable. Literature is the next source, and while it is an accurate depiction, it is simply too boring for the common student. Contradictory, Tim O’brien’s portrayal through metafiction, in the story The Things They Carried offers cinematic appeal and literary precision. The combination presents an illustration of the real human emotions of soldiers in the Vietnam War. In the stories’ beginning, we met Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, a romantic, who longed for his distant love, Martha. He carried (or â€Å"humped† as O’Brien respectively put it) with him letters from her; and while they weren’t love letters he obsessed over them as if they were. In one instance, she had sent him a pebble for good luck. His mind wandered into a dream of Martha walking along a shoreline with her beautiful bare feet exposed in the purest form. He went as far as to put the pebble in his mouth to enhance the dream with the taste of sea salt. â€Å"On occasion he would yell at his men†¦to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams†¦walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (O’Brien 75) While mentally paralyzed by one of his fits, one of his men, Ted Lavender, was shot in the head. Following the gruesome death of Ted, Lt. Cross realized his negligence as a commander. He decided to extingu ish his foolish love for Martha by burning the letters and thus alleviated his mental malfunction; he was a soldier again. This fictional microcosm of the Vietnam War claims that while the soldiers faced apprehensive dan... Free Essays on The Things They Carried The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien This story by Tim O’Brien takes you along with the soldiers of First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ platoon as they â€Å"hump [†¦] up the hills and through the swamps† (388) of the jungles in Vietnam. Each man carries the weapons of his trade and the equipment to do a soldier’s deed in war. â€Å"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight† (O’Brien 396). Their plight, common to most soldiers who have experienced combat, was to endure the daily stresses of combat and all its associated physical and mental fatigues culminating in a flight home on â€Å"[†¦] that big silver freedom bird [†¦];† (O’Brien 397) if you happened to be one of the fortunate ones to make it through your tour without being killed. Not so fortunate was Ted Lavender who is killed while the platoon was on a mission to â€Å"[†¦] search out and destroy the elaborate tunnel complexes in the Than Khe area south of Chu Lai† (O’Brien 391). Among the many things that the typical platoon leader carries: â€Å"[†¦] a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45-caliber pistol [†¦]† (O’Brien 388), Lieutenant Cross carried the responsibility for Lavender’s death – an intangible and immeasurable weight. This would ultimately be the greatest burden that Lieutenant Cross would carry. Lieutenant Cross felt totally responsible for Lavender’s death and vowed â€Å"[†¦] to perform his duties firmly and without negligence† (O’Brien 398). By discarding the tangible items from his beloved Martha, including her letters and the two photographs, and finally, he would dispose of his good-luck pebble; this would remove some of the emotional burden s, as if to make room for the burden of Lavender’s death. The Things They Carried captures the physical and emotion...

Financial Accounting Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial Accounting Concepts - Essay Example The intangible assets lumped in one account is also listed under the non-current assets. This account may represent the patents, trademarks, reputation, skilled management or well-trained labor force of the company. It should be noted that some accountants are averse to record this type of assets unless they can be promptly valued (Brealey, Myers & Marcus, 1995). The liability section of the balance sheet, along with the shareholders' equity, shows the financial resources utilized for the procurement of assets (Brealey, Myers & Marcus, 1995). Similar to assets, liabilities are also classified into current and non-current liabilities, obligations which are due in the short-term and long-term, respectively. Non-current liability accounts of WMT in the balance sheet include long-term debt and other non-current liabilities, which represent the WMT's loans from banks and investors which are not immediately due. Furthermore, deferred income tax is accounted for in the balance sheet. As the name suggests, this is the outstanding income tax due which will have to be paid to the government. This section also includes the account for minority interest which is the liability of the company to investors with non-controlling stake or interest over the company. On WMT's balance sheet as at end-2004 shown in MSN Money, only the commo

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Analysis Term Paper

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Analysis - Term Paper Example This explains her divided personality (Spark 6). Miss Brodie had a group of 10 year old girls who she considered her group. They would learn things that were not necessarily in the curriculum but were worthy knowing. She chose her group members on the ground that she could put her trust in them, those whose parents could not raise complaints on what their daughters were being taught which was more irrelevant or those whose parents constituted the elite group who had too much knowledge and exposure to complain about Miss Brodie’s teaching methods and policies (Alberto and Ann 6).she also chose girls whose parents were unenlightened to be able to question her teaching policies and who believed in the high rated reputation of this school. Miss Brodie’s untrustworthiness comes out here when she gains trust from the parents and the students and later exposes them to her a lot of details of her intimate life. Miss Brodie is also negligent in that she goes out of her way to teach something like the interior decoration of the author of Winnie The Pooh, skin cleansing substances or about the love life of Charlotte Bronte which is out of the out of the curriculum she was entrusted with. Miss Brodie in one of her grammar lesson decides to tell her students about the accident of her lover. She narrates the story critically and the emotional ten year olds break into tears. When the headmistress Miss Mackay, pays the class n impromptu visit Miss Brodie manages to selfishly lure the students to say that they are crying about a moving history story from the WW1.This was a selfish lie (Spark 8). Miss Jean Brodie was narcissistic and that barred her form genuinely caring about her students and that explains her behavioral contradictory. She burns with a desire to be admired and adored by everyone; more so by the Brodie set (Spark 11) she fails in caring about her students in a healthy way but instead

Accounting Standards Essay Example for Free

Accounting Standards Essay INTRODUCTION Accounting Standards are employed to build the application of accounting practice. The actual financial position of the company can not be presented accurately and precisely with adhering to the principles and standards. Due the evolution of time, the concept has changed to suit the needs of the industry and is also continuously to changing to needs. With rapid change and development of wealth, trade and technology, there was a need to account the business transaction due to intricacy involved. Due to the mode of writing and numbers which facilitated the accounting process. It is accountants who helped in the development of economic and commerce by providing valuable services to the community. See more: Satirical essay about drugs HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF ACCOUNTING STANDARD: Pacioli is being considered the father of the Accounting. The first double entry book-keeping was developed around 1200 B.C   in Italy followed by first book on double entry was written by Luca Pacioli in 1494. Due to the advent of Industrial Revolution around 1750, business expanded rapidly which catapulted mass transportation, invention of new products and new markets, development of capital markets and as the result, the role of accountant become inevitable to any industry. As development of trade grows, the need for professional accountants also nurtured in a fast pace. Society of Accountants was established in 1854 in Edinburg which was accorded a royal charter which recognized the profession’s role in the trade and commerce. In U.S, the first such professional society was the American Association of Public Accountants, chartered by the state of New York in 1887. Cost accounting was developed to augment the efficiency in the manufacturing Units. Management Accounting was developed to advise the business to make strategic business decisions. During 20th Century, United States has overtaken the British and become the leading industrial power in the world. The growth of industries like U.S. steel and Standard Oil demanded more classy accounting systems to keep track record of expanding business divisions within these huge business corporations.   As insiders of the industry took advantages by stock manipulations, price fixing and other questionable business practices mainly to derive benefits thereby depriving the interest of gullible investors. All the states of the U.S.A and Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia stipulates through law that an accountant should have specific educational and experience requirements and should passes an qualifying examination and will be granted a title known as Certified Public Accountants. [CPA]. Now, CPA’s have structured in to State and national societies. In United States, American Institute of Certified is the prime body representing accounting profession, which is the contemporary successor organization of the American Association of Public Accountants and the American Accounting Association organized in 1916. In United States , the Financial Accounting Standards Boards [ FASB] , an independent non-governmental organization supported by financial-reporting industry groups , is the nodal institution accountable for establishing accounting standards and rules whereas the International Accounting Standards Boards [ IASB] formulates rules and standards that are recognized and used by many nations. With fast growth of corporate activity, the need for sophisticated accounting methods has increased and accounting has witnessed many improvements in theory and techniques. The ever changing tax laws and regulations is causing change in accounting methods frequently as it is necessary to maintain homogeneous accounts for governmental statutory requirements or public scrutiny. A series of exposures pertaining to accounting firm’s failure to detect or openly challenge irregularities or fraud as in the case of World.com and Enron, when auditing finances of a number of corporations compelled Congress to establish the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in 2002. Securities and Exchange Commission has been allocated power to appoint the above board to register and regulate accountants and firms to act as auditors. It sets standards for auditing and is responsible for reviewing audits and disciplining accountants and accounting firms.   [1] SIGNIFICANCE OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS: Accounting standards are significant as they guarantee improved public accountability and offer effective and efficient functioning of the trade and commerce of a nation. They play a vital role for complete understanding of political, economical and social consequences of allocation and proper utilization of government resources both at the federal and at the State levels. Improper and bad accounting may lead to serious long term consequences .Accounting standards can be misused to offer misleading information of a business. FREE MARKET APPROACH OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS: It refers to a method applied by private sector wherein creation of an economic market in which business is ruled by the laws of supply and demand and not by the unwanted government interference, subsidy or regulation. Under this accounting standard, voluntary disclosure of activity -based cost data which offers a new approach of functional process and provides more alternatives for decision makers. In a real free market, accounting standards would enhance as corporations and accountants vie to offer the best information to shareholders. In a free market, the aspiration for profit is satisfied by long-range, honest, rational behavior thereby innovating, by employing best employees, by offering quality products and by providing accurate information to investors. Business is required to provide accurate information to investors else it would loose its reputation and credibility in the market. The current FASB is so cumbersome and complex that an ordinary lay man finds it difficult to interpret the same. Most companies in U.S.A now started to follow dual reporting. For instance, AMD and Intel release two sets of accounting reports: one as per FASB guidelines which is mandated by the regulation and other based on simple accounting standards that they deem that it being more informative to shareholders. There are certain existing statues which refuse the shareholders to overthrow existing corrupt or incompetent management. For instance, Anti-hostile takeover legislation which was passed in 1968 has made it complex to replace incompetent management .Arcane regulations passed in 1930 limit the capacity of the financial entities such as insurance companies, pension funds and mutual funds that own major shareholding in corporations to participate in the board for decision taking and for joint deliberations. Hence, the opportunity to safeguard the interest is being denied by arcane regulations. If the U.S government is really interested in the healthy stock market, it should exhibit it by deleting, not adding, regulations and building the market truly free. PRIVATE SECTOR REGULATION OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS Stock Exchange Commission [SEC] supports on an independent, private sector standards –setting process mainly through open and deliberate. Though the commission has the statutory authority to frame accounting principles , it has not do so for the last 60 years .Instead it has assigned the onus to the private sector for leadership in establishing and enhancing the accounting standards. It is the private sector standards-setting process, as supervised by the SEC has resulted in existence of a quality accounting standards and strong capital markets in USA as of today. EVOLUTION OF REGULATORY APPROACH: After the end of the First World War in 1919, there was spurt in investment in securities by investors. Around 1920, more than .02 billion large and small shareholders availed the benefits of post-war affluence and ready to avail sudden wealth from stock market and due to boom, more than $ 50 billion worth in new stock was floated during this time. The famous stock market crash in 1929 which was notoriously known as â€Å"Black Friday† resulted in loss of faith by investors on the capital markets. Many investors were turned as pauper over a night. It was observed that if at all economy was to recover, the public’s confidence on capital market required to be refurbished. Congress was forced to find out a solution for this problem and it held many deliberations on the subject and finally passed the â€Å"Securities Act of 1933 â€Å"and the â€Å"Securities Exchange Act† of 1934. The prime goal for the establishment of Securities exchange commission was mainly to enforce the fresh security laws, to build confidence, to provide stability to the market and last but not the least to offer protection to investors. Stock Exchange Commission [SEC] was toothed with mandate to formulate accounting principles and standards. It is to be noted that even though SEC was accorded the power to supervise the accounting practice, SEC is of the opinion that the private sector is having ample resources and ability to build up suitable accounting standards. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA] had been in the field since 1887. As a federation of state societies, American Society of Certified Public Accountants was established in 1921 and later merged with the Institute during 1936. Due to persuasion from the SEC, the AICPA appointed the committee on accounting procedure in 1939. Committee on Accounting Procedure [CAP] released about 51 accounting research bulletin between 1939 and 1959. Though, these bulletins were able to solve the problems now and then as they emerged but could not address the issues relating to accounting principles. To resolve the accounting principles issues, AICPA established a new standard setting body in 1959 namely the â€Å"Accounting Principles Board† [APB].The main goal of the APB is to establish appropriate practices, formulate accounting principles and to minimize the discrepancies in practices. Though the APB released about 31 opinions between 1959 and 1973, it was dissolved for absence of productivity. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles [GAAP] are an anthology of conventions, procedures and rules that describe accepted accounting practices. Though it is not accorded as mandatory by any statute, SEC advises that it should be followed in all financial reporting of publicly traded companies. GAAP can thus be explained as a cluster of conventions and objectives that have been developed over time to oversee how financial statements are being prepared and presented. The three nodal authorities’ viz. the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The Financial Accounting Standards Boards and Exchange Commission offer regulation concerning acceptable accounting practices. The GAAP is founded on four basic assumptions as per the details below: Economic Entity concept- It stresses the business as a separate entity and to segregate income and expenses of business from that of personal. Going concern assumption which assumes that business will carry on for a longer period to validate the methods of capitalization of assets, provision for depreciation and amortization. Monetary unit assumption which fixes US dollar as the monetary unit for accounting purpose Periodicity assumption facilitates recording of business operations and separating into different periods. This is mainly to facilitate for comparison between past and present performance of the business.   FASB’s basic principles are detailed below: Historical Cost Principle- This requires business to account and report on cost of acquisition basis rather than present market value of the assets and liabilities. Financial reports and statements are prepared in accordance with set of rules , procedure and standards for reporting financial information known as the â€Å" Generally Accepted Accounting principles† (GAAP) , as established by the Financial Accounting Standard Board ( FASB). This standard stipulates that a company â€Å"account for all of their assets or economic resources according to their historical cost.† (Horngreen, Stratton Sundem, p.6) Revenue Recognition principle or accrual basis of accounting requires business to record when the revenue is realized or earned and not when the cash is earned. Matching principle – Expenses has to be matched with the revenues where it is possible Full disclosure principle- Business should offer all the significant information relating to the company though it may not affect company’s financial statements. For instance, Tax disputes, lawsuits, takeover information and possible contingent liabilities of the business are to be disclosed by way of footnotes to the financial reporting. INHERENT DISADVANTAGES OF THE FASB Cost –benefit relation ship: It emphasizes that benefit of offering financial information should also be weighted against cost of providing it. Materiality- It refers to the significance of the item reported and it is to be weighed amount reported will have impact on third party’s decision based on the information provided. The Industry Practice Constraint – Conservative approach stresses that it is better to understate the financial statements rather than overstating it. The after effects of Enron, WorldCom, Inc have forced the Congress to enact Sarbanes Oxley Act in 2002.   The other accounting reforms announced is the creation of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCAOB] to supervise the audits of the Public companies. PACOB has been entrusted with wide authority to regulate the auditing profession. PACOB has been toothed with powers like imposing civil penalty and to impose permanent revocation of an auditing firm’s ability to audit public companies. 8, SWITCHING TO PRINCIPLES BASED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: There is strong suggestion from various quarters that U.S should abandon the current â€Å"rules-based† system in favor of a â€Å"principles-based accounting†. If that happens, the critics are of the view that all the current difficulties being faced by U.S financial reporting would be alleviated or eliminated. Further section 108 of the Sarbanes –Oxley Act of 202 stipulates that SEC to conduct a study on the adoption of a principle based accounting system. [2] CONCLUSION: Globalization offers both impetus and opportunity and it is time to streamline the FASB guidelines in tune with changing scenario.[3] It is to be noted that FASB has recently issued special report on Leases thereby implementing a new approach, is recognition of the need to review existing standards. Hence it is necessary not only to review its leases guidelines but for all current standards. The current FASB is high technical and complex in nature and may not help the investing public to understand the same without the guidance of professionals on the subject. When most of the countries around the globe have switched from complex to simpler guidelines, U.S can also follow them. In setting standards on national or global basis, technical correctness is regarded as less important than the comparability among reporting entities. Globalization in commerce here has become the order of the day and U.S accounting standards must reflect true global interests. Sticking to technically sound accounting standards would not help to develop acceptable, meaningful international standards. FASB should take avail this opportunity to update and even change the standards. The accounting profession and accounting standard setters should unite together in their effort to assure simpler, more beneficial and easy to understand U.S and worldwide accounting standard. BIBILIOGRAPHY Van Riper, R. 1994, Setting Standards for Financial Reporting: FASB and the Struggle for Control of a Critical Process. CT: Quorum Books. Westport. Hartgraves, A. L., Benston, G. J. 2002, â€Å"The Evolving Accounting Standards for Special Purpose Entities and Consolidations†. Accounting Horizons, 16(3), 245+. Barker, Richard, 2004, Reporting Financial Performance. Accounting Horizons 18, no. 2 157+. Bekesford, Dennis R. 1999,Its Time to Simplify Accounting Standards. Journal of Accountancy 187, no. 3: 65. Beresford, Dennis R. 2001,Congress Looks at Accounting for Business Combinations. Accounting Horizons 15, no. 1: 73. Derieux, Samuel A. 2000,Lets Reassess Accounting Standards. Journal of Accountancy 189, no. 5: 82. Dye, Ronald A., and Shyam Sunder. 2001,Why Not Allow FASB and IASB Standards to Compete in the U.S.? Accounting Horizons 15, no. 3: 257. 1992,The Financial Accounting Standards Board. Journal of Accountancy 173, no. 6: 4. Fleming, Peter D. 1991,The Growing Importance of International Accounting Standards; Arthur R. Wyatt, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Committee Heralds International Harmonization. Journal of Accountancy 172, no. 3 100+. Gornik-Tomaszewski, Sylwia, and Irene N. McCarthy. 2003,Cooperation between FASB and IASB to Achieve Convergence of Accounting Standards. Review of Business 24, no. 2: 52+. Hartgraves, Ai L., and George J. Benston. 2002, The Evolving Accounting Standards for Special Purpose Entities and Consolidations. Accounting Horizons 16, no. 3: 245+. Herrmann, Don, and Ian P.N. Hague. 2006, Convergence: In Search of the Best CPAs Should Understand How U.S. and Foreign Accounting Standards Influence Each Other. Journal of Accountancy 201, no. 1: 69+. Houston, Melvin, and Alan Reinstein. 2001, International Accounting Standards and Their Implications for Accountants and U.S. Financial Statement Users. Review of Business 22, no. 1: 75. Monson, Dennis W. 2001, The Conceptual Framework and Accounting for Leases. Accounting Horizons 15, no. 3: 275. Nobes, Christopher W. 2005,Rules-Based Standards and the Lack of Principles in Accounting. Accounting Horizons 19, no. 1: 25+. Radig, William J., and Brian Louder milk. 1998,Leading the Way to Uniform Accounting Principles. Review of Business 19, no. 3: 22+. Schipper, Katherine. 2003, Principles-Based Accounting Standards. Accounting Horizons 17, no. 1: 61+. Silliman, Benjamin Rue. 2005,Convergence of Accounting Standards: A Comparative Analysis of the U.S. Revised Standard on Share-Based Payment and the International Accounting Standards Boards IFRS 2. Review of Business 26, no. 2: 24+. Wyatt, Arthur R., and Joseph F. Yospe. 1993,Wake-Up Call to American Business: International Accounting Standards Are on the Way. Journal of Accountancy 175, no. 7: 80+. [1] Encyclopedia Article Title: Accounting. Encyclopedia Title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Publisher: Columbia University Press. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 2004. [2] Article Title: Principles-Based Accounting Standards. Contributors: Katherine Schipper author. Journal Title: Accounting Horizons. Volume: 17. Issue: 1. Publication Year: 2003. Page Number: 61+. [3] Article Title: Lets Reassess Accounting Standards. Contributors: Samuel A. Derieux author. Journal Title: Journal of Accountancy. Volume: 189. Issue: 5. Publication Year: 2000. Page Number: 82

The Circularity of Life in Tess of the DUrbervilles :: Tess of the DUrbervilles

The Circularity of Life in Tess of the D'Urbervilles  Ã‚   Thesis: Hardy is concerned with the natural cycles of the world, and the disruption caused by convention, which usurps nature's role. He combats convention with the voice of the individual and the continuing circularity of nature. Phase the First: The Circles of Life The circularity of life is a major theme of the novel. Hardy treats it as the natural order of things. The structure of the novel reflects this reigning image of the circle at several levels. First, the use of seasons to denote the passage of time implies circularity rather than a linear world-view. Years are shown as repetitions with variations rather than as new creations. Tess herself views time in this way, as she reflects on the various recurring dates which mark events in her life. "She philosophically noted dates as they came past in the revolution of the year; the disastrous night of her undoing at Trantidge with its dark background of the Chase; also the dates of the baby's birth and death; also her own birthday; and every other day individualized by incidents in which she had taken some share. She suddenly thought one afternoon... that there was yet another date, of greater importance to her than those; that of her own death" (149). In the novel, the past and the future are merely points on the cycle which nature designs. Reveals the destructive aspect of this realization to Angel when she declares her disinclination to study history which will only tell that she is "one of a long row only... just like thousands' and thousands'" (182). Secondly, the plot itself is not only circular, but contains a myriad of smaller circles within it. The main circle of the plot is from the discovery of the D'Urberville Tombs to Tess's death. Within this circle revolve others. The life and death of Sorrow is a small circle within the larger one. Alec D'Urberville's repentance and recantation form another. Clare's and Tess's physical journeys towards and away from and back again to each other represent more circles. Hardy's consistent use of these circles in the plot reinforces their importance to the theme. The diction of the novel seems designed to forcefully remind the reader of this theme. At the start of the novel Tess and her companions dance in a circle on the gr een; at it's end, she stops to rest at Stonehenge.

Hadoop

Its a platform managed under the apache software foundation and its an open source and its deal with big data with any data type structer semi structer or unstructers and give the result in very short time it allows to work with structured and unstructured data arrays of dimension from 10 to 100 gb and even more. V.Burunova and its structer is a group of clusters or one each of them contains groups of nodes too and each cluster has two type of node name node and data node name node is a unique node on cluster and it knows any data block location on cluster and data node is the remining node in cluster and that have done by using a set of servers which called a cluster. Hadoop has two layers cooperate together first layer is mapreduce and it task is divided data processing across multiple servers and the second one is hadoop distributed file system hdfs and its task is storing data on multiple clusters and these data are separated as a set of blocks. Hadoop make sure the work is correct on clusters and it can detect and retrieve any error or failure for one or more of connecting nodes and by this way hadoop efforts increasing in core processing and storage size and high availability. Hadoop is usually used in a large cluster or a public cloud service such as yahoo. Facebook twitter and amazon hadeer mahmoud 2018 hadoops features: Scalable: Hadoop able to work with huge applications and it can run analyze store process distribute large amount of data across thousands of nodes and servers which handle thousands terabytes of data or more also it can add additional nodes to clusters and these servers work parallel. Hadoop better than traditional relational database systems because rdbms cant expand to deal with huge data. Single write multiple read the data on cluster can be read from multiple source at the same time data avalibility: When data is sent to a data node that hadoop creates multiple copies of data on other nodes in the cluster to keep data available if there a failure on one of nodes on cluster.

Language Anxiety Essay

Learning and teaching a language can be considered by many as a very challenging and demanding task due to what the process itself implies. Could you imagine how each language learner feels when he/ she is asked to perform an activity or just to speak in front of the class? Some of them will feel very comfortable but what about those whose hearts often pound really hard, break out in a cold sweat and find it difficult to catch their breath. The disorders introduced previously corresponds to what a considerable quantity of foreign language learners face whenever they are asked to do something in the classroom known as: Anxiety, a term linked to an unpleasant feeling but which can also be helpful when learning a language. To begin with, anxiety in the language learning is considered as one of the most important affective factors, which has been studied since the 1970s. It is important to know what anxiety is, in general terms anxiety is a psychological construct that is described as a state of apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly associated with an object (Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson, 1971). It can also be defined as a subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the automatic nervous system (McIntyre & Gardner, 1994) or in simple words it is described as a feeling of nervousness or worry. But making a relationship between language and anxiety it is found that according to what McIntyre (1999) stated, language anxiety is the worry and negative emotional reaction aroused when learning a second language. Secondly, anxiety has been found to be a negative feeling but helpful in some ways when learning a language. According to Hortwitz (1986) facilitating or helpful anxiety motivates learners to fight the new learning task, making them to expend extra efforts to overcome their feelings of anxiety. This type of positive anxiety is necessary since students who are not anxious under any condition will feel too relax and they will not even care about their learning process which will cause them to fail at learning a language. F or example, a student who feels anxious but he uses it positively as a way to motivate him to pass the course and learn the target language successfully will obtain excellent results. However, there is a probable risk that is helpful anxiety can easily become harmful anxiety. It is claimed that one third of students learning a foreign language experience some kind of anxiety (Horwitz, et al., 1986). Students facing anxiety is a real and common phenomenon that takes place in the classroom which is normal and helpful at some point but when the level of anxiety starts increasing without any control it will be very harmful so that students should be very careful and recognize the anxiety and do something positive about it before they react to this negative anxiety in a very negative way. What is more, according to some experts as the one mentioned previously Horwitz stated that helpful anxiety occurs only in the accomplishment of simple learning tasks, but not with more complicated learning such as language learning. Lastly, the type of anxiety is an issue that should be identified in the classroom and overcome possible difficulties related to it. Teachers can identify anxiety due to the fact that most of the time when anxiety takes place there are very observable evidence such as physical symptoms, general avoidance or physical actions but what sometimes is difficult for educators is to tackle in the language learning. Some suggestions have been made for teacher to overcome anxiety such as being supportive, encouraging students to relax through music or games, using fair tests, providing meaningful activities, giving meaningful rewards, being clear about classroom goals, helping students to assess their performance, encouraging risk taking and creating a comfortable environment among others. To conclude, it must be said that learning a language implies many affective factors but anxiety is one of the most relevant and an inevitable feeling among second language learners. The matter is Do my students know how to identify anxiety symptoms and do something positive about it? What is more Do I know what to do to diminish language anxiety? When learning a language the answers to these questions can be the difference. To ignore language anxiety within a classroom is not the solution; it will just drive to failure. References Hilgard, E. R., Atkinson, R. C., & Atkinson, R. L. (1971). Introduction to psychology (5thed.). New York: Harcourt. Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70(1), 125-132. MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1994). The subtle effects of language anxiety on cognitive processing in the second language. Language Learning, 44, 283-305. Robertson, P & Adamson, J (2011). Language Learning Strategies, Beliefs, and Anxiety in Academic Speaking Task. The Philippine ESL Journal, (7), 95-100. Retrieved from http://www.philippine-esl-journal.com/Volume-7.pdf

Middle School and High School Intervention Programs

Middle School and High School Intervention Programs Intervention has become an important tool for servicing students who struggle academically particularly in reading and/or math. School intervention programs are very popular in elementary schools, but what about middle school and high school? The truth is that the older the student is, the more difficult it becomes to get a student who is behind back on grade level. That doesn’t mean that schools shouldn’t have intervention programs in place for their middle school and high school students. However, these programs should embrace the middle school/high school culture where motivating students becomes half the battle. Motivating students will lead to improvement and growth in all areas of academics. It is important to understand that what works for one school may not work in another. Each school has its own culture shaped by many external factors. Principals and teachers need to work together to figure out what aspects of a program are applicable to their school’s unique situation. With that in mind, we explore two different middle school/high school intervention programs. They were designed to motivate students to succeed academically to give those struggling students some much needed extra assistance 8th Hour/Saturday School Premise: Most students do not want to spend extra time at school. This program is aimed at two primary groups of students: Those students are below grade level in reading and/or mathThose students who often fail to complete or turn in work This  intervention program has been designed  with several strategies to help these students. Those include: Requiring students to complete incomplete or missing assignmentsProviding extra assistance on assignmentsProviding extra time to complete assignments when a student has been absentBuilding reading and math skills so as to prepare a student for state testing The intervention program should be run by a reading specialist or certified teacher and could be held during an 8th hour, or an immediate extension of the school day running every day. Students could also participate in this intervention by serving a Saturday School. This is not intended as student discipline but as an academic aid to success. Each of the four components is broken down below: Requiring students to complete incomplete assignments or missing assignments Any student who turns in an incomplete or a zero would be required to serve an 8th hour the day that assignment was due.If they complete the assignment on that day, then they would  receive full credit for that assignment. However, if they do not complete it that day, they should continue to serve 8th hour until the assignment is complete and turned in. The student would only receive 70% credit if they do not turn it in that day. Each additional day it takes to complete an assignment would also add to the count towards a Saturday School as discussed in point four.After three missing/incomplete assignments, then the maximum a student may  score on any missing/incomplete assignment thereafter is 70%. This would penalize students who continuously fail to complete work.If a student turns in a combination of 3 incomplete and/or zeros during a half-term period, then the student would be required to serve a Saturday School. After they have served a Saturday School, it would reset, and t hey would have 3 more incomplete/zeros before they are required to serve another Saturday School. This would reset at the end of each half term. Providing students with  extra assistance on assignments Any student who needs extra help or tutoring on assignments may voluntarily come in during 8th hour to receive that help. Students should take the initiative for this. Providing extra time to complete assignments when a student has been absent If a student is absent, they would  be required to spend the day that they returned in 8th hour. This would allow extra time to get the assignments and to complete them, so there is not as much to do at home.The student would  be required to collect their assignments the morning they return. Building reading and math skills so as to prepare a student for state testing After cross referencing state testing scores and/or other assessment programs, a small group of students could be selected to be pulled in two days a week to help improve either their reading level or math level. These students would be assessed periodically to monitor their progress. Once they reach their grade level, then they would graduate out in that area. This part of the program is intended to give students skills they are missing and needing to be more successful in math and reading. Fast Friday Premise: Students like to get out of school early. This program provides an incentive for students who maintain at least a 70% in all subject areas. The Fast Friday intervention has been designed to motivate students to keep their grades above a 70% and to provide extra assistance for those students who have grades below a 70%. Fast Fridays would occur on a bi-weekly basis. On Fast Friday our daily class schedule would be shortened from the traditional school schedule to accommodate an early dismissal following lunch. This privilege would be extended only to students maintaining grades of 70% or above. Students who have only one class in which they are below a 70% would be required to stay after lunch only for a short time, during which they will receive extra assistance in the class which they are struggling. Students who have two or more classes in which they have below a 70% would be required to stay until the normal dismissal time, during which they will receive extra assistance in each class they are struggling.

Business plan unit Essay Example

Business plan unit Essay Example Business plan unit Essay Business plan unit Essay Essay Topic: The Birthday Party The business that will be starting is a catering business. The business will be called The Peoples Catering Co. The business will be located in a villa near Salwa Road. This is because the company can rent out a villa with a big kitchen and will be able to produce more food for the catering. The reason why I have chosen this area near Salwa road is because it is an inexpensive area and is close to the main residential areas of Qatar. Also it is a reasonably accessible area. It is an ideal location for a business because a lot of businesses are located in this area. Therefore people will come into this area. It is a main connecting road in the centre of Doha and is a main highway. The catering business will produce foods for all social occasions, such as buffets, customer required foods to order, delicacies and other foods that are required for catering. There will be some fully qualified chefs hired from Asia and India because it would make the business more profitable and more efficient service for the customers. I think that the business will succeed because there is a gap in the market for this type of service. This is because there are few places which supply this service in Qatar. The places which supply this service are the hotels around Doha. I think that the service provided by the hotels would not be as good as a private small business catering company. This is because big businesses dont need every customer because they are so big around the world where as a small business needs every customer it can get. Another reason is because it is in high demand, this is because people in Qatar entertain a lot and they usually require some from of catering, also there is a limited amount of catering companies in Doha. Also other factors which help in this in that people in Qatar have a high level income amongst the Expatriates and the Qataris. the catering in Doha at the moment Is only supplied by hotels. I think this is because Qatar is such a small place that people may not have thought to open a small catering business. This is a mistake because I believe that people would be more inclined to use a private catering business other then a hotel. This service is also expensive because there are not many places to go and the hotels charge unreasonable prices because they are so high in demand and there is a limited supply. People do not have the time to prepare meals and food for guests when they are having a social event. This means that they are resorting to using catering companies for preparing and delivering the food for the function. My catering business will be aimed at the middle to upper class people. This is because of the price that will be asked for the catering. The price range for the catering business is aiming for depends on how much food is needed to be supplied, but for the average function it would cost any where between 1000 to 2000 riyals. The service would include a variety of choices for the customer to choose from in the way of food. There will be free delivery to where the function is held by the customer. There will be help for the customer as to choosing how much food would be needed. Also the customer will have the choice of getting someone from the business to come to them to help with choosing the food. Also if the food is not to the standard the customer wishes the business will provide a 50% discount for their next order. I believe that people are more likely to use a small business caterer because the quality needs to be good in order to succeed. This is because they need to acquire as many customers as possible in order to expand. Where as a bigger catering businesses such as hotels dont need every customer to keep coming back for repeat business because they have such a large range of customers and they are also earning money from people staying in the hotel. My long term vision for the catering business is to have grown to have many offices in easy to find locations such as in shopping centers, and to be operating in many locations around Doha and in cities surrounding Doha. Aims and Objectives All businesses must consist of a mission statement this is important because it states what they are aiming to provide for the customers. the mission statement for The Peoples Catering Co. is To provide the a satisfying quality and efficient service for all customers. Aims and objectives are goals that the company sets in order for it survive and to be successful. Aims are long term goals which the business hopes to achieve in 5 to 10 years time. Where as objectives are short to medium term targets which need to be reached in order to achieve the aim of the business. In order for the objective to be successful it must follow the S.M.A.R.T objectives guide lines and in order for the objective to be legitimate and useful. If the objective does not follow this procedure it is more likely for the business to become unsuccessful, in achieving its aims. S.M.A.R.T objectives stands for: * Specific: This means that the objective is specific to what the business is trying to achieve, and so that the objective can not be misread or misunderstood. If for example a businesses aim was, to earn money by the end of the year. This is not a specific objective. It isnt even an objective. It is more like an aim because it isnt specific but is something that the business wants to have made money. It doesnt specify how much they roughly want to make, it just says they want to have made money. A specific objective is one such as by the end of the financial year the business needs to have made at least 50000 QAR in profits. This is specific because it defines and specifies how much they want to make and in what time period. * Measurable: means for the objective to have specific measurements. An example of this is one such as within 1year of trading the business needs to have made at least 10000 QAR in profits and to have paid off the sufficient amount of the loan that is needed to have been paid. This is a specific measurable objective, because it has a specific time, amount of money and is a measurable objective. Therefore the business is able to see if they are on track and heading towards meeting the objective. * Agreed: This means that the objectives have been discussed with the staff. This will help with the achievement of the objectives because the staff would have had their input. This is better then forcing the aims of the business onto the staff, because their may be more determination to help the business if the staff feel as though they are having some input into the businesses future. * Realistic: is to be set to a level that is achievable/realistic, e.g. If the objective is to make 100000 riyal in one month, this would be an unrealistic objective if the business was just starting up and was a pizza place. This is because there is a lot of pizza business that are established in Doha. Therefore it would take a while for people to want to use their pizza place because they might not know of the place and may already have a specific place in which they got to get their pizza. * Timed: is the time limit you have set to complete a task/objective by. An objective must have a time limit in order to be legitimate. An example of this is, the business needs to have paid off the loan that was consumed in order to start the business within 2 years. If it is not a timed objective then the objective isnt worth having because it does not set a rough or specific date as to when something needs to be achieved. The objectives of the business, is to have made enough profit to have paid off the loan that was received in order to start the business within 4 years. It will be dispensed on expanding the business to increase profits and then whatever isnt spent will be the employers income. The relevance of this objective is so that the business is successful. Another objective is to break even within the first year and be able to start making profit in the second year in order for the business to be successful. If this is not achieved the business is not worth running and will be shut down or sold to an interested party. Some of the aims of The Peoples Catering Co. are in 10 years to have opened up another two The Peoples Catering Co. locations in Doha and to have opened a The Peoples Catering Co. in Dubai. This is so the business would have been expanded and be operating in more then one country therefore it would achieve a higher reputation because it is operating in more then one country. Also another aim is that in five years The Peoples Catering Co. wants to have satisfied all of its customers and to have a lot of repeat business from customers. This is so the business is successful and it is cheaper to keep old customers then it is to gain new ones. The reasons why I have chosen these aims and objectives is so it helps the business to grow and increase profit margins. This is important because for the business because if they are not achieved by the business this would mean that the business is not succeeding and making enough profit in order to expand and grow. Stakeholders Stakeholders are any one who has an interest in the business whether they are customers or share holders or someone who is interested in the business they are considered to be stakeholders. There are two types of stakeholders they are internal and external stake holders. An internal stakeholder includes a person such as employees, managers, and trade unions. Internal stakeholders are people who directly deal with the company and look after its welfare and keep it running. They may have an interest in the business because they are directly linked to it and involved with it. If the business starts failing then it will effect all of the businesses employees and owners. Such as if The Peoples Catering Co. was to start failing as business then it would cause the business to be unable to afford to employee as many people as they do. This can cause redundancies, sometimes this can be avoided through starting off with a high efficiency work ethic and quality. This causes people to go to the business and can often cause the customers to return for repeat business. They can also be external stakeholders which are people such as customers, competition, the community, shareholders, government, the media, suppliers, and shareholders. They are all external because they do not have anything to do with the direct running costs of the business, but are people who benefit from the business such as gaining funds for their business to help it grow. The stakeholders which The Peoples Catering Co. have include employees, managers, and trade unions. This is important that they are satisfied in order for them to keep their interest in the business also in order to avoid problems which may be caused by them. Such as trade unions can have the business shut down in the U.K if they are not satisfying the promises which have been made and the rules and regulations arent followed which have been set by the unions. Also it is important to keep staff happy and satisfied with their work. This is important because if the staff arent enjoying and/or satisfied with their jobs then it can cause the Legal Form There are many types of business structures available such as partnership, private limited company, public limited company and sole trader are the options that The Peoples Catering Co. has. The form I have for my company The Peoples Catering Co. is a partnership. This is because it helps increase the range of skills we have as a business and we would have our specialist areas. There is more liability for the business if it is set up as a Ltd but as a partnership all the profits made are split up within the partners there will only be myself and one other owner of the business. If the company was to be set up as a private limited company all the profit would be spent on increasing the share prices this is money which the business has to put in to be shared out evenly amongst the shareholders. This would mean that all the major decisions made by the business would have to be put through the shareholders as well as through the people who are directly involved. This would delay a lot of the processes and can cause problems. Another reason why a partnership was chosen is because in Qatar you need to have one GCC resident in the partnership in order to be able to open a business. In a business there is a lot more work load and it is harder to obtain a loan because you may not have many assets in order for you to be able to acquire the loan. Also if the business is set up as a partnership the business would raise better capital then a sole trader. As a sole trader there is more liability for the owner and is not spread out between partners where as a partnership reduces the liability for each owner. It can also make decision making easier and have more ideas brought up to improve the business. This is because it is joint decisions and if an idea is brought up it can be discussed and alternated if it is wrong, this is because the other partner can pick up on what is wrong with it. There are also disadvantages of a partnership, such as the control and profits must be split between the partners. There are often arguments between partners this can cause a partner to decide to pull out of the business due to the working conditions. There is also still a shortage of capital. There is also an unlimited liability this is also a disadvantage in a small business. Also if a partner is to leave the partnership their share of the partnership must be bought by someone else or by yourself. This means that the partner who takes over the other partners half of the business may not be very qualified and know what they are doing. If you are to buy the other share of the business from the partner who has left this means that you need to obtain money from the partner in order to be able to buy their share. Personal statement: I am Jake Schober I am an enthusiastic person who likes to get things complete and on time. I also like to get the most out of life. I am big on success I will not accept failure and I will keep on trying until I get it right. I will apply this to my business so it will succeed. I have an idea and I will strive to achieve that idea or objective. When I start something I see it out till it is finished or until the objective or aim is achieved. I am customary to change and will accept things as they come. I am very good with making useful decisions for the company and overall making of decisions. All of my decisions are to help improve something such as a business. When I was working for the Hilton hotel in Perth Western Australia I upgraded the star rating to a 5* from a 4*. This was my objective when I first entered the Hilton hotel it was my aim to make sure it had made the 5* rating before my contract had finished. I achieved this objective 2 years into my contract. I had a year le ft of my contract, at the end of my 3rd year my contract was extended for 2 years. I was offered another job at another Hilton hotel but I decided to look for work else where in a different field. Then I found out about a head chef position at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Doha. I went for the interview and I got the job position. While I was working at the Ritz I was planning on opening my own business at the end of my contract. So when my contract had finished I left and now I am planning on opening my own catering business. Name: Jake Schober Address: villa 8 Al Nuajia Complex Nuajia East D.O.B: 20th July 1971 Qualifications: * Earnt a chef diploma at T.A.F.E. Western Australia from 1993 to 1996 * 1987 to 1993 earnt a management degree at University of Western Australia Work Experience: * Worked as a head chef from January 2002 to June 2007 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Doha * Worked as manager for Hilton Hotel Perth Western Australia from December 1996 to December 2001 Market Research I am undertaking market research for my area of the market I wish to enter. This is to determine what the demand for catering is and if there is a demand. Also to find out the pricings of how much the consumers/customers expect to pay, what sort of catering customers require. Such as what type of foods such as finger foods, buffets etc. it is also to find out where the most successful way and the best places to advertise my business. It will help my business by finding out what areas in the market the business will succeed in and what the customers will prefer from the business. It will also discover if this type of business is in high demand or there is a gap in the market for it to enter in. There are two types of research primary and secondary research. Primary research is research that is conducted and specified for your business. It is important that this type of research is conducted if you want accurate facts and information regarding your business and the demand and what people would be expecting from your business. Primary research is conduct by a business or by the people or person who is wishing to start up a new business or find out progress information about the business. Secondary research is research which is conducted for another business that is in the same field of the market and/or is providing the same service. This research can be found on the internet and can be useful to find out general requirements by the stakeholders in the market. This type of research is not sufficient enough to base your businesses way of setting up and the way the service is provided. This is because this research is conducted and set up to suite another business which may not be the same as the business you are trying to set up. Therefore it is best for my business to use primary research to set up the business. This is because I am setting up my business in a country which has limited business providing the same service as mine is. This means that there would not be much if any secondary research which has been obtained by other business or supplied for the use of other people. Question Total Percentage Age Group * 10-15 * 15-20 * 20-25 * 25-30 * 30-35 * 35-40 * 40-45 * 45 and over 5 15 2 2 5 3 5 13 10 30 4 4 10 6 10 26 Gender * Male * Female 25 25 50 50 Do you Have in house parties that require catering? * Yes * No 32 18 64 36 If yes how often do you have in house parties that require catering each month? * 1-2 * 2-3 * 3-4 * 4-5 * 5 and over 17 3 2 13 10 34 6 4 26 20 What type of catering do you prefer? * Home Style * From a hotel * From a fast food outlet 24 16 10 48 32 20 Is there any specific time of year that you require catering? * Yes * No 22 28 44 56 If yes what time of year do you require catering?(you can choose 1 or more) * Holidays * Special events (such as Ramadan, eid, Christmas etc.) * Birthdays * Once a Month * Or frequently not at any specific time 20 42 36 12 35 40 84 72 24 70 Are you interested in trying out different caterers? * Yes * No 43 7 86 14 Would you use a home catering business? * Yes * No 43 7 86 14 Or would you prefer the caterer to come to you? * Yes * No 50 0 100 0 What sort of food would you purchase from a caterer for a party or social event? * Buffet * Finger food * Snack buffet 36 4 10 72 8 20 How much would you expect to pay for a fully catered function? * 500-1000QR * 1000-1500QR * 1500-2000QR * 2000QR and above 14 20 10 6 28 40 20 12 Do you watch television? * Yes * No 45 5 90 10 Do you read the paper? * Yes * No 36 14 72 28 Do you read the billboards that are up around Doha near traffic lights and intersections and on the side of the road? * Yes * No 47 3 94 6 Analysis of market research The questions I have chosen for my survey are to help work out what sort of target market my business is suited to. The results are telling me the following: 1. Gender: this was to determine which gender a catering business would appeal to. This was a 50, 50 split between male and female. This was so that there was an even number of male and females taking the survey in order for the answers to be more useful. 2. Do you have in house parties that require catering? This was to determine if people either entertain at home or go out to entertain. This showed that 64% of the people surveyed to have in house parties, and that only 36% dont have in house parties. This means that people require catering for these events, and there is an opening in the market and there is a high demand for the service which I am wanting to supply. 3. If yes how often do you have parties/functions that require catering each month? This question is to determine how high the demand for my company is each month. The results for this showed that 34% had catered functions 1to 2 times a month, 6% needed it 2 to 3 times, 4% needed it 3 to 4 times a month, 26% needed it 4 to 5 times a month and 20% required catering more then 5 times a month. This shows that my business would be high in demand due to the fact that over 46% of the people surveyed require catering 4 or more times a month. 4. What sort of catering do you prefer? This was to determine what sort of style my catering business would provide. This showed that 48% of the people surveyed preferred to have home style cooking over food from a hotel or from a fast food outlet. 32% preferred hotel style cooking, and 20% preferred fast food. This means that my business is in higher demand then what a hotel catering business and fast food businesses are. Although it is just below half the people surveyed said that they prefer home style catering it has the highest percentage of people who would prefer it over other types of catering. 5. Is there any specific time of year as to which you need catering? This question was to determine when the peak times for business are and when there is low need for catering in the market. This showed that 44% of the people surveyed said that there is a certain time when they require catering and 56% said that there was no particular time where it was needed. This means that there may be a down fall in sales in particular time of year but there is a large percentage which will still need catering during the time where others may not. This is to see if there is any specific times as to when there may be less demand and when there is higher demand. Such as if there is a specific time of year when the demand for the business may not be there. Such as in the summer there may not be many orders if any, this is because everyone leaves the country to go on holidays. 6. If yes what time of year do you require catering?(you can choose 1 or more) The question was to discover specifically which time of year catering is required more. The people surveyed could select more then 1 option therefore it gave me a broader answer and more direct rather then them having to choose an answer. The largest time for when catering is specifically required is around festive events such as Eid, Ramadan, Christmas and other festive seasons. The percentage of the people surveyed that said they specifically require it at these specific times of year is 84%. The following time is at birthdays this is a very broad criteria because birthdays occur all year round therefore business would continue all year round. 7. A6re you interested in trying out different caterers? This showed that 86% said that they would be interested in trying out new caterers this means that when the business will start trading it will be easy to gain customers because they enjoy trying out new caterers. 8. Would you use a home catering business? Also in this question 86% would use a home catering business. This is another positive for my business due to the fact that they would use a home caterer. 9. Would you prefer the home caterer to come to you? All of the people surveyed said that they would prefer the caterer to come to them. Therefore I will provide that service so I will need to purchase or rent vehicles to do so. 10. What sort of food would you purchase from a caterer for a party or social event? This showed that 72% of the people surveyed said that they would prefer a buffet style catering. Only a small minority said that they would prefer a snack buffet or finger food. Therefore my business will specialize in buffets. 11. How much would you expect to pay for a fully catered function? 40% of the people surveyed suggested that they would expect to pay between 100 to 1500qr for a fully catered function. Only a small minority said other figures that were not in this range. 12. Do you watch television? This was to determine if it was useful to advertise on television because people are watching it. This showed that 90% of the people watch television. 13. Do you read the paper? This was also to determine if it was useful to advertise in the newspaper. The results showed that 72% of people read the newspaper therefore it would also be an effective place to advertise. 14. Do you read the billboards that are up around Doha near traffic lights and intersections and on the side of the road? This showed that 94% of people did look at these signs therefore if an advertisement was to be placed on a billboard it would be effective. Competition analysis There are two different types of competitors, both direct and indirect competitors. A direct competitor is a business, company or product that is in competition with your product. That is in the same market as you. A direct competitor provides the same product or service that your business, company or product does. An indirect competitor is a business, company or product that appeals to the same target market as your service or product. It is not the same as your service or product as what you are providing but an alternative to what you are providing. An example of this is the option of going to a water park or to a theme park or a club. A direct competitor and threat to my catering business includes catering businesses such as the Marriott, Ritz, Ramada and any other hotels and restaurants and hotels which provide catering. This is because they provide the same service and are an alternate option to my business and service. Hotels such as the Ritz, Marriott and the Ramada provide the same service and are offered in the same price range of between 1000 and 2000qr. Therefore they will be more competition for my business then a cheaper option. This is due to the fact that they are trying to obtain the same target market as my business. They are all aimed at the middle to upper class market in Qatar who wishes to entertain. Other direct competitors include home cooking and take away places. This is because people may not wish to spend so much money on entertaining. The other type of competitor that exists in the market is indirect competitors. Indirect competitors are competitors who dont necessarily provide the same service but are an alternate option to the service your business. An example of this is if someone was to go away. They may choose a cruise over going to another country on a plane. This is an indirect threat because it is an alternate option. Indirect competition is one of the main threats that a business will come across especially in the travel and entertaining business. This is because there are many different options that dont provide the same service but are used for the same purpose. An indirect competitor for my business The Peoples Catering Co. includes places such as dine in restaurants. This is because they do not provide the same service but a similar service. Instead of people entertaining at home they go out for dinner. Other indirect competitors that exist for my business include places such as pubs and clubs. This is because they provide an entertainment and people who wish to entertain their friends go out to these places instead of entertaining at home. An indirect competitor for my business includes places such as the rugby club, cloud 9 and other pubs and clubs around Doha. I believe once my business is up and running and is a profitable busoiness and is acquiring good business I think that the competitors will respond accordingly. I dont believe that they will alter their prices and their way of marketing once my business has entered the market, this is because the business is only a small business and is not of a great threat to multinational companies. I think that my competitors such as the hotels may not even worry about the loss of business in the way of catering in Doha, because they are such large businesses the loss that they will be making from the catering may not make a difference in the end of the years trading profit. However if the catering businesses in the hotels are separately owned to the hotel which their premises are in I think that they may react to the up rising of my catering company. In conclusion I believe that there is a lot of direct and indirect competitors. Therefore I will need to do a market analysis every 3 or 4 months to make sure that my business is making progress and to work out when the quiet times of business are and when the business is becoming high in demand. Marketing Plan A marketing plan is used to find out if your business will be successful and to discover and explain ways of making it successful. A business plan states ways as to which the business will use the four Ps. They are Product, Place, Price and promotion. This is what a companies use as a basis for their marketing plan. The market plan has a large effect as to whether or not the business will be successful. If the market plan shows that the business will be in debt or that the ideas as to where and when the product will be placed there would be no point in trying to start up the business. This is where pricing strategies are needed, it is a way of working out different ways of pricing and marketing your product. There are many different pricing strategies available to businesses, they include strategies such as: * Psychological pricing: this is a way of making your product seem cheaper when you are only taking a small margin of the price off. For example charging $99.95 instead of $100 you are charging the same price but it does not look like $100, when actually it is. * Premium pricing: is when the product is considered to be of a high quality brand or is high in demand where the customers do not mind paying a high price for it. This means that the price can be increased and the customers will still want the product and may not hesitate to buy the product if it is a well known and wanted brand. Such as Billabong and Quicksilver, they are of a high price because they are known as a good quality brand and are a fashion brand which is considered to be cool to wear. This is why they charge such a high price because people are willing to pay these sorts of prices. * Marketing Penetration: this is when a business introduces a product or service at an extremely low price in order to gain interest amongst the market. Therefore they gain some of their competitors customers and then as the product or business grows it gradually increase the price. * Market skimming: is where a business or product enters the market and sets their price at a high margin and then gradually until it gains the sales which are required the company will lower the price of the product slowly. * Loss Leaders: this is when a business decides to have promotions and to have cheaper prices. This concentrates on obtaining customers and sometimes can cause the company to make a loss rather then a profit. Although this may happen the company would gain the customers and once they have reached the sales figures which they had aimed for they would then end the promotion and increase the prices. This can cause a small loss of the customers which they had gained but if the customer thought that the products and/or services were of good quality then they would keep purchasing the product over other products. When my business enters the market it will use market penetration. This is because it is the best way to be able to read the market and gain customers when the business is first starting up. Also it is the easiest way to find a price to have the products and services set up and to be able to gain customers while doing this. Where as market skimming the business may not acquire any business until the price has dropped enough and therefore may not acquire the full capacity of customers and may limit them selves as to how many people are interested in the business. Such as customers will notice a product or service if it is a cheaper price then the others if it is not a well known company, instead of purchasing the more expensive unknown brand or company. There is many different ways of promoting my business catering for you. An example of this is if a customer is to spend over 1000qr on their catered function they would get 5% discount on their next lot of catering which they will require. This would help draw in repeat business for the company. Or depending on how well the 5% discount attracted customers the promotion may need to be changed to 10% discount on the next purchase of over 1000qr, but at least 1000qr must be spent on the previous purchase in order to gain this discount offer. This helps attract new and keep new customers. This is important in order for the business to grow and maintain that growth rate, also it is important in order to gain repeat business so the business is able to survive and cover its running costs. Other promotions can include free desert buffets after their 5th visit of spending over 1000qr per service required. This will encourage the customers to return to the business more then once or twice. Thi s is because for every 5th round or catering they require which is over 1000qr they receive a desert buffet free of charge. The place which the business first premises will be located will be on or near Salwa rd. This is because this is a large business area for all different kinds of businesses, ranging from food providers to car sales and servicing. This is one of the largest and most popular main roads in Doha. This is because the high range of variety in which this area provides. People come along this road for various reasons and because of this if the business is located on the side of the road it is highly likely that people will not only discover the business through advertising in other places other then the shop itself, this is because when people are driving around they tend to look around and notice new things, such as a new store. the store will not only gain attention after it has been finished but whilst it will be under refurbishment to compensate for the business. This will mean that it should be relatively easy to find if it is located on or near Salwa rd. this is important in order for customers to be more inclined to look for the store because it is easier to find and more convenient for the targeted market. Human resources Human resources are the staff that is required in order to run the business. There will be 5 cooks that will be employed. One of which will be trained in order to be able to drive the truck to deliver the goods to the customer. They will be employed from the Philippines. Their job will require them to be able to cook and clean, also two of the workers will be required to be able to drive . the cost of them getting their license will be covered by the business. Also they will be required to clean the kitchen at various times throughout the day. At the beginning of the day in the morning and at the end of it. They will be paid 500qr a month. Their wage is so low because all of their accommodation will be provided and they will not need any transport to get to and from work. Also all of their needs for their accommodation will be provided such as beds and other furniture. For the cooks visas it will cost 2000qr for each cook. Once the business has grown then I will employ more cooks and their wages will be increased. The total amount for the first year of running the business for their wages will be 40,000qr all together. This includes their visa costs. The cost for each employee will be 8000 Qatari riyals this includes the cost of the visa and the cost of employing them for 12months. I will be managing the day to day running of the business, this includes supervision of the production of the products, the financial and ensuring that the quality of the businesses products is up to standard. Physical Resources Some of the physical resources required by the business include things such as stoves, benches and the villa fit out. The physical recourses are very limited due to the fact that land is unable to be purchased by a non-Qatari resident or person. Also because it is a home delivery catering service. It will also only need minimum physical resources because the premises is only a kitchen and an office down stairs and will have accommodation for the staff up stairs. The following is the physical rescourses of the business: Oven 5 2500 12 500 Floor coverings 10000 10 000 Kitchen Benches 7000 7 000 Fridges 5 2000 10 000 Cooking equipment 15000 15 000 Vehicle 1 69276 69276 Deposit on rental villa. Plus first months rent 1 40000 40000 Total 163776 Quality Quality is an extremely important aspect for any business. This is because if your quality is not to standard then your product or service will not be successful. To ensure that my company has its quality up to standard it will have checks on the product after each stage of the production process. If the product is not to the quality and standard required it will be disposed of and the product will have to be re-cooked. An example of this is if the spring rolls have not been cooked for long enough or not cooked correctly then they will be disposed of. There will be Strict Quality control of the produce of the business and what leaves the business to be supplied to the customers. There will be strict standards as to how the products are made, how the appearance of the products looks. There will be specific standards as to how the premises of the business is to be kept it is to be cleaned regularly in order to make sure the products are of a healthy standard. Quality assurance is what a company gives its customers to assure that its product is of a good quality. An example of this is money back guarantee if the quality of the product is not as good as what the business said it would be. For my business The Peoples Catering Co. it will have a money back guarantee or the next catered meal will be free up to the value of the previous meal. Also another way to make sure that my products are of good quality is through having feedback cards for the customers. These will have questions on them such as, what did you think of your catered meal for your function? What could The Peoples Catering Co. do to improve your catered meal next time you order? These customer feedback cards will be entered into the computer and into the customers file. This is so next time the business caters for the customer it will be able to make their order as to how they want it. Financial Resources There are only a few places for a person to gain finance for starting their own business. It can often be hard to get finance also because the bank or who ever you are seeking finance from may think your business is a risky business. Therefore they may choose not to finance your business. The main place where people seek finance to start their own business is from the banks. If they are unsuccessful in gaining finance from the banks they usually seek finance from business angels. Business angels are people or companies that loan money to someone starting up a new business. In return they usually expect a share of the business. The following are different ways of acquiring finance: * Bank loan is a borrowed amount of money and is repaid with interest in fixed installments over a fixed period. Bank loans are the most common types of loans. This is because you receive money quickly and makes it easier to budget. There are also disadvantages of bank loans. Such as the interest rates, this is because they may be high therefore the person or business that gets the loan may have to pay back a large amount more then what they borrowed. * Owners savings: usually is used to fund some of the business but another loan is usually taken out to fund the rest of the business. If the business is solely opened on owners savings takes along time to build the business up and takes the owner a long time to start the business. An advantage of this is that the owner does not repay the money and does not pay interest. * Money From friends and family: money from friends and family is usually used as a last resort for money. This is because it can cause problems with friends and family. Also usually they lend you the money expecting a share of the business and/or expecting it to be repaid. * Venture Capital/ business angels: are business people who are willing to invest in new businesses. The businesses are usually risky or are businesses that are unable to acquire a loan. In return they usually expect a share of the business. Some advantages of this are that you dont have to pay back the loan, there is no interest, and also they can be used as a last resort if you are unable to acquire a loan elsewhere. A disadvantage is that you loose a share of the business therefore you may loose some of the control of the business. * Government Grant: is money received from the government. It is only received from the government to encourage small businesses and to try to reduce unemployment. Also a main time in which they are handed out is when there is a high rate of unemployment. An advantage of this is that there is no interest and there is no need to repay the loan. A disadvantage of this is you must fit the criteria to receive the loan also it is very bureaucratically. It is a very long process to apply for the loan, because it is issued from the government and are very strict on following the government money. * Bank over draft: Is a short term way of financing. It is where the borrower takes out more money out of their account then what actually exists in their bank account. It is only a small loan and is paid off at the end of the month when new funds are deposited into the account which the overdraft was taken from. Some advantages of this are that you only pay interest when you are overdrawn ober your overdraft. Also it is a facility in which you can use on demand if you wish to use it once it is approved. Some disadvantages of Bank over drafts is that if you exceed your over draft limit very high charges will be incurred. Also the bank can ask for the money back at any time. * Trade credit: Is a short term from the supplier of the goods that are received by the company and are invoiced and are to be paid back in the future after a certain time period, such as 30 to 60 days. An advantage of this is that you do not have to pay for the goods up front, you are given a certain amount of time to retain the money for selling the goods and then being able to pay for them. A disadvantage of this is that this is a loan therefore you may be charged interest on the payment. Also then you areliable in having to sell the goods in the given time period in order to be able to pay for the goods you have received from the supplier. Only a few of these options are available to my business. Such as a bank loan, owners savings, money from friends and family, bank overdraft and trade credit. This is because government grants are unavailable in Qatar. Although there is still venture capital available it would not be suited for my business because it will be in a very low profit margin to start with therefore it would be harder to split the funds amongst different owners. Although this is true if there is no other option of gaining finance then the business will seek finance from venture capital. The Peoples Catering Co. will try to seek finance from the bank because it is the best option and is a more stable option. Also I will be able to keep more control over the business then I would if I was to use venture capital. One of the reasons a bank loan is more suitable for me is because of the availability of it. it is easier to obtain and also being able to find someone who provides venture capital the sources are lim ited. If a bank loan is acquired I am able to own a 100% share of the business. Where as with Venture Capital the person supplying the finance for your business would usually expect a 51% or more share of the business. This would mean that they would acquire the majority of the businesses profits and would have more control over how the business spends its money. Costs Start up costs of the business: Start up costs of a business is the costs that are incurred by the business. They are the costs of the set up of the premises. What is to be paid for quantity Price of product in QR total oven 5 2500 12 500 Floor coverings 10000 10 000 Kitchen Benches 7000 7 000 Fridges 5 2000 10 000 Cooking equipment 15000 15 000 Rent 25000 25 000 Deposit for rental property 10000 10 000 Advertising 12500 12 500 Insurance 3740 3 740 Motor Expenses 1 62976 6 2976 Working visas for cooks 10000 10 000 Overall total 178 716QR Running costs of the business: Running costs are the day to day expenses of keeping the business running and to draw in customers. The following are some of the running costs of the business: What is to be paid for quantity Price of product in (QR) Total(QR) Rent 25000 25 000 Electricity and water 1000 1 000 Insurance 2240 2 240 Supplies 1500(February), 1000*3(March-May), 500*4(June-September 6 500 Wages 2500 2 500 Total 37 240 For the cash flow I have discovered my figures from various sources. The information is from the internet, insurance places and from previous experience. Sales income: I have worked out my sales income based on that the customers will be paying 1500qr for the catering service for each function. I have gathered the pricing information on how much the customers expect to pay through my market research. For the first month I am working the sales income on having 10 customers for the first month. Then for the following month I have based the increase on 6 people for the second month of trading and then small increases of customers. Then in the summer which is the quiet times where not many people stay in Qatar the inflow of income is much less. Then at the end of this time period the sales increase dramatically to how they were before the summer due to people returning to Qatar. An example of this is during Ramadan for the evening meal of Iftar. This is because a lot of people tend to entertain for this meal. Also during the Christmas time period because people entertain and order catered food. Wages: The wages are based on the rate of pay that a Filipino cook would get in Qatar which is a minimal wage. It is 500qr a month for each cook. For the first month that the cooks arrive there is a fee of 1500qr for each cook for their workers visa which will be paid by the company. The cost is based on having 5 cooks working in the business. Also one of the cooks will need to have their drivers license so they are able to deliver the catering to the premises of the customer. The accommodation for the cooks would be provided also all the bills for the electricity and water and bedding will be provided. Monthly Rent: The monthly rent is based on the rental price of a villa in the West Bay area near Rainbow Roundabout. It will have a monthly cost of 25000qr. I have found out this information through previous experience and what I have heard from friends and what they are paying. The reason I have chosen this area is due to that there are large villas in this area that consist of up to 13 bedrooms. This would be ideal for the business because the cooks could live upstairs of the villa. Therefore I will not have to find other accommodation for them. Also it is in an ideal area due to there is many middle to upper class residents living in this area. It is also near the main shopping centre in Doha. Loan repayment: The loan that will be acquired will be of an amount of 400 000qr. This will be secured on a 7 percent interest rate which has been provided by HSBC. This will be paid back in lump sum payments of 10 000qr. This will start to be paid back in may after 3 months of trading when the business is has secured enough money to be able to cover the costs of running the business. If the interest rate is 7% the annual interest rate would be 28000, the loan will be paid off over 4 years. Therefore there will be monthly repayments of 1000qr starting from May in the first year of trading. It will be paid off within 49 payments after the first repayment. Electricity and water: The electricity and water was based on the average house price for the electrical and water bill. The average household electrical and water bill is 850qr. Therefore I have added an extra 250qr onto this cost due to the fact that the villa is larger and there will be a catering business running from the villa, also there will be 5 cooks living in the villa aswell. Therefore there will be more use of the water and electricity. Advertising: The price is based on what I have found on the internet that advertising companies charge in Qatar. It will be paid in 2 lump sum payments of 12500qr at the beginning of the year and in June. Motor expenses: The motor expenses are based on the price of purchasing a Chevrolet pick up. It will cost a total of 69 276qr I have found this information from the local Chevrolet Dealer. It will be paid off during the year each month of evenly distributed repayments. There will only be one company vehicle because this is all that is needed to make deliveries. I have chosen this vehicle instead of van because it is more practical for Qatar. I found out this price from the dealer. Cost of sales: I have worked out that for every sale the business makes that it will cost 500qr for the supplies to produce the product. this is because each meal set of meals will cost around 1500qr and I worked out that it would only be about 500qr. Fit out of villa: The fit out of the villa will cost around 40 000qr. I found this figure through adding all the costs of what is needed to fit out the villa and it added up to just under 40 000qr. So I rounded it up to allow for any damages to equipment needed for the fit out such as tiles and bench tops and other fixed assets for the villa. Supplies: The supplies include things such as cooking utensils and other items that are needed to provide the catering service. The start up cost of the supplies will be 15000qr. This is because all of the initial cooking utensils and accessories need to bought before the business can start trading. Then in February the cost of the supplies will decrease down to 1500qr. Then in the following month it will decrease to a 100qr a month from March through till May. Then from June till September the cost of the supplies will decrease again to 500qr. Cashflow analysis A Cashflow is used to determine the financial expenses over a certain period of time. It can be used by businesses and for personal finance structures. It can also be used as an estimation as to what the business or person thinks they will spend their finances on over a certain period. It can be used to determine how much finance is needed to be gained through a loan or to budget what finances you currently have. My Cashflow shows that the business will use all of the loan that is to be obtained. It will be used to get the business up and running. Once the business is established it will be earning enough money to keep the business running in a profit margin. The Cashflow shows that in the first year of trading the company would gain 325 000qr in sales. This figure is predicted to increase in the second year of trading, due to the fact that the business will be better known around Doha due to it would have been running for a year. Profit and loss account A profit and loss account is used to determine if the business will be making a profit or loss without external funding other then sales. it is used to determine if the business will be successful or not. In the first year of trading businesses are expected to be in a loss. This is because there is a lot of extra cost involved such as getting the premises fitted out in order for it to be appropriately equipped to run the business in. also there is a lot of advertising involved in order for the public to gain awareness of the business and its services. It is at the end of the second year that business are usually expected to either break even or to be making a profit. If not the business is usually closed down. This is due to the business is considered to be unworthy of being able to make profit and to be successful. ICT There are many different ways that a business may use ICT to improve efficiency. This can be done through using programs such as Microsoft word, excel, access, publisher, power point and Sage. Also programs such as flash and Dream Weaver Mx can be used to create websites to advertise your company. These programs are all used to improve the efficiency of the business. These programs are specially designed for creating spreadsheets, advertisements, letters, official documents and records. Microsoft word: Microsoft word is used for creating documents such as records, letters and progress reports of businesses. It is a program for creating written documents. It is a computer based program that was created on the basis of the typewriter. It is more useful then a type writer because you can save your work and if you make a mistake you dont have to retype the whole document. Microsoft Excel Microsoft excel is used for creating spread sheets such as cashflow forecasts, breakeven charts and balance sheets another official documents. It is useful to create documents such as these because it is simple to use and there is functions in the program that can alter the data with a small change if you change 1 cell it will automatically change the rest if it is required. It is highly used in businesses both small and large. Publisher: Publisher is a computer application that is used to design or create business flyers to advertise the business, also to create official business letters. This can be useful due to the fact that the business can keep a standard letter head with their logo and business details on it and can create the letter at the bottom and do not have to redesign the letter head every time they create a letter. Power Point: Power point is used to create a slide show or visual aids for when a presentation is held. For instance it may be used as a visual aid for a presentation produced to the bank in order to acquire a loan or to a potential supplier who may be interested in supplying to your business. Sage: Sage is a computer program that is designed specifically for the use of businesses. This helps with the accounting that a business may have to do. Also it works as a computerised filling system for the business which can be used to keep the business organised and keep customer and employee profiles. Flash: Flash is a program where you can create animated logos and animation clips which can be used on the companys website or in their advertisements that are on television. Dream Weaver MX: Dream Weaver MX is a program which is used to create websites. This can be useful for a business because they can have information about their business. Also things such as customer feedback sheets can be placed on the site and many other details that you wish your customers to be able to view. The above programs can be very useful to the business if they are used in the correct way. My business The Peoples Catering Co. will use Microsoft word, excel, publisher, power point, Dream Weaver MX and Flash to help run my business. These are the basic programs which are required in order to run the business efficiently. These programs will improved efficiency through making it easier to sort out documents and to find documents. Without these programs the business would have to sort out its customer logs and do all of its reports by hand. If this was to be done one simple mistake in the document would mean it would have to be thrown out and started all over again. Where if a mistake is done on the computer you can simply go back and change the error. Also by using programs such as word creating general letters is much easier due to you can have the letter typed up and just edit the names, dates and amounts on it and then hand it out to your customers, suppliers or who ever is in ne ed of the document to be handed to them. If this was not to be done on the computer the letter or document would have do be written out fresh every time one is needed to be handed out. I will not use programs such as Sage to begin with because it is a very expensive software program and is unnecessary for a new business to be using it. Once the business is making a profit and develops and becomes a large business that is a leading competitor and has hold of a large majority of the market then specialist programs such as Sage will be purchased.