Tuesday, January 28, 2020

A View from the bridge Essay Example for Free

A View from the bridge Essay The play is set in the Red Hook district of New York where a Sicilian community has set up, and where respect is everything. The play is set in the 1940s, in the great depression.  Eddie Carbone is the main character of the play, and one of Arthur Millers main concerns with him is his psychological state of mind. The play concentrates from the first word to the last full stop on the way Eddie clashes with his emotions, as his niece, Catherine, matures into a young woman and constructs a serious relation ship with an illegal immigrant who is staying with them. Arthur Miller was born on October 17th, 1915, in New York. Both of his parents were immigrants, but the family was quiet wealthy because of his fathers successful clothing business, until it was declared bankrupt following the crash at the stock exchange.  Miller then went to work as a warehouseman to earn money to go to the university of Michigan in 1934.  Miller whilst studding, Economics and History also took a course in playwriting and then became his main fixation. After his graduation in 1938, he became a journalist and wrote radio scripts. During World war two Miller worked as a ship fitter for two years, in Brooklyn Navy Ship yard, where almost all the workers were of Italian descendant.  His first stage play to be produced, The Man Who Had All the Luck, was a total failure when it was staged on Broadway in 1944. But in 1947 All My sons was an immense success. This was followed by another great success two years later, Death of a Salesman, this play was such a success it won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1953 he wrote The Crucible, which he wrote as his reaction to the hounding down on left wing sympathizers, which was the current trend in the United States of America, he himself was summoned. A view from the bridge was his next play. It was first produced as a one-act play in 1955, but an extended and modified in 1956 and then was presented at the Comedy Theatre in London.  Also in 1956 he divorced his first wife and married his second wife Marilyn Monroe, which in turn boosted his celebrity status. But this marriage was short lived and a divorce was settled in 1961.  Miller has continued to produce a number of successful plays and has written an autobiography Timebends in 1987.  The play A View from the bridge was thought up by Arthur Miller in the late 1940s, when he became engrossed in the lives and work of longshoremen in New Yorks Brooklyn harbour, and where he had previously worked. A lawyer friend of Millers told him a story he had heard of a longshoreman who had informed the Immigration board on two of his own relatives who were staying with him, he did this to break up an engagement between one of them and his niece.  The story ended inevitably in tragedy with the mans death.  Eddie is portrayed as an honest, hardworking man, however soon into the play his character changes,  and from the very few lines of the play the main character Eddie is trying to protect his niece Catherine from other men and save her for himself:  Catherine: But those guys look at all the girls, you know that. Eddie: You aint all the girls.  This clearly shows that Catherine is very special to Eddie and he will do any thing to protect her.  The further on into the play you go the more it becomes apparent that Eddie is emotionally unstable and is not ready to deal with his inner emotions, he turns out quiet nasty and an overall angry person towards life:  I aint starting nothing, but I aint goanna stand around looking at that  This aggression is directed at his wife Beatrice and a relative named Rodolpho who at this time has started dating his beloved niece.  The further on in the play Eddie starts to show his anger in other ways, mainly by insulting and talking about Rodolpho behind his back:

Monday, January 20, 2020

The Round, Flat, and Stock Characters of Rip Van Winkle :: Rip Van Winkle Essays

One particular criterion character effectively supports the central idea in â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† by Washington Irving. The character's type develops with the personality development throughout the story. Three types of characters: round, flat, and stock, appear in most stories. The round character displays a fully developed personality and full emotions. Flat characters, also known as supporting characters, do not develop fully or express complex emotions. A stock character, also known as a stereotype, fits an established characterization from real life or literature. With these three types of characters leading the reader through the story, the reader learns the events taking place as well as the changes in the character’s lives. The author keeps the reader informed of the changes affecting the characters throughout the narrative through style. When a character undergoes a fundamental change in nature or personality during the story, the character has dynamic style. H owever, a character without change defines a static character. Although all characters have a style and type sometimes understanding the differences appears complicated. A chart often helps establish a better understanding of character type and style.    The author uses one main character, at most, two; only the protagonist and the antagonist exist as major characters. â€Å"Rip Van Winkle†, Washington Irving uses one main character to play both the role of the protagonist and the antagonist. In paragraph three lines, six and seven, the reader meets the protagonist. â€Å"†¦a simple good-natured fellow of the name of Rip Van Winkle† In paragraphs five and nine, lines one and two, and one and four, respectively, the reader encounters the antagonist. â€Å"The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion for all kinds of labor.† â€Å"†¦Rip would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.† Even though, in both cases where the reader encounters Rip Van Winkle, Rip only counts as one main character. Characterization occurs when the author draws an overall picture of the characters. Characterization happens in two ways in literature, by description and personality. The auth or uses the words a story to describe a character or imply the appearance of the characters through the text of the story. Introducing the personality of the character to the reader in words give or describe the personality of the characters or the words used imply certain things about the character. The protagonist in â€Å"Rip Van Winkle† the reader first meets in paragraph three, lines seven and eight, â€Å"†¦ a simple good-natured fellow of the name of Rip Van Winkle.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Marie Curie

She discovered the mysterious element radium. It opened the door to deep changes In the e way scientists think about matter and energy. She also led the way to a new era for medical Knowles edge and the treatment of diseases-Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only y woman to win the award In two different fields (physics and chemistry).Curie's efforts, with her hush band Pierre Curie, deed to the discovery of polonium and radium and, after Pierce's death, the developed NT of Grays. She was fascinated with the work of Henry Becquerel, a French physicals who discovered t hat uranium casts off rays, weaker rays than the grays found by Wilhelm Roentgen. Curie took Becquerel's work a few steps further, conducting her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays remained constant, no matter the condition or form of the our annum.The rays, he theorized, came from the element's atomic structure. This revolutionary idea cream Ted the field of atomic phy sics and Curie herself coined the word radioactivity to describe the phone mean. Working with the mineral pitchblende, the pair discovered a new radioactive element in 1898. They named the element polonium. They also detected the presence of another radioactive material I n the pitchblende, and called that radium.In 1902, the Curies announced that they had produced a decide ram of pure radium, demonstrating its existence as a unique chemical element. With their Nobel Prize win, the Curies developed an international reputation for their scientific efforts, and they used their prize money to continue their research. Curie received another great honor In 1911, winning her sec nod Nobel Prize, this time In chemistry. She was selected for her discovery of radium and polonium, a ND became the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Examining the principles of the net present value - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1965 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? In this essay I would be elaborating on the principles of the Net Present Value and its advantages. Also writing about Internal Rate of Returns and comparing the two methods and analyzing it. When making and investment with regards to capital fixed assets such as plant and equipment the decisions are important given the significance of the capital outlay involved. In this essay we will be talking about two of the main methods which involves discounted cash flow methods Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Examining the principles of the net present value" essay for you Create order Net present value method ( NPV) Internal rate of return (IRR) However when it comes to these two methods the cash flow and the time value of money place a very important role Cash flow Cash flow is essentially the movement of money into and out of your business; its the cycle of cash inflows and cash outflows that determine your business solvency[1]when it comes to decision making you take into consideration the incremental cash flow ( cash flows that occurs directly as a consequence of taking on the project). This will depend on the prospect of the investment. Example Opportunity cost, Taxes, depreciation Time value of money Its the amount of interest receive for a given amount of money over the amount of time. Invest look for the best return that they could get in the fastest time as possible, therefore when making an investment this concept is very important, Net Present Value NPV is the method of discounting future streams of income using an expected rate of return to evaluate the current value of expected earnings. It calculates future value in todays money. NPV may be used to determine the current value of a business being offered for sale or capitalized.[2] NPV in project finance could be defined as the sum of present values (PVs) of cash flows expected from the project minus initial investment made. The formula for calculating NPV could be written as: frac{R_t}{(1+i)^{t}} Rt -net cash flow occurs at the end of each period 1 i Discount rate used to Discount the cash flow (DCF) t- Time period of the project There are two kinds of NPV Project NPV The cash flow used to calculate the NPV would be the future operational cash flows of the project less initial project capital costs Equity NPV The cash flow used to calculate the NPV would be the equity distributions minus initial equity investment However finance models are often presented in more detailed during construction period as opposed to during operations. For example we often find many project finance models have monthly calculations during construction and perhaps semi-annual / annual during operations. We might want to use XNPV instead of NPV, as returns the net present value for a schedule of cash flows that is not necessarily periodic. Discounted Factor in NPV A discounted cash flow (DCF) is the most fundamentally correct way of valuing an investment.[3] There are some basic information that should be needed for this valuating approach; Life of the Asset The Cash flow during the time period of the Asset The discount rate ( ex : the rate of interest) to apply to these cash flows to get the present value The rate used to discount future cash flows to their present values is an important variable when it comes to finance and calculating NPV, some of the important once are ;  Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Weighted average cost of capital (WACC)  Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Reinvestment rate  Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Target rate of return WACC A calculation of a firms cost of capital in which each category of capital is proportionately Weighted[4], Common stock, bonds, preferred stock and other long term liabilities are included. When finding WACC as an increase in WACC notes a decrease in valuation and a higher risk. However some may say its appropriate use higher discount rates to adjust for risk of Riskier projects. The WACC equation  is the cost of each capital component  multiplied by its proportional weight and then summing[5] Weighted Average Cost Of Capital (WACC) Where: Re = cost of equity Rd = cost of debt E = market value of the firms equity D =  market value of the firms debt V = E + D E/V = percentage of financing that is equity D/V = percentage of financing that is debt Tc =  corporate tax rate a companys assets are financed by either debt or equity. WACC is the average of the costs of these financing sources, By taking a weighted average we can identify how much interest the company has to pay for every amount it finances. This is the overall required return on the firm as a whole and determines economic feasibility of an expansion opportunities and mergers. It is a good discount rate to use for cash flows with risk that is similar to that of the firm. Reinvestment rate This can be defined as the rate of investment from a firm on average, when analyzing projects in a capital constrained environment its more appropriate to use Reinvestment rate than WACC as the discounting rate. This is often calculated by considering the return on an alternative investment that can be made if the current project is not taken. Target Rate of Return A method of pricing that estimates the desired return on investment to be achieved from the fixed and working capital investment and includes that return in the price of a product/service[6]this is used my monopolists or market leader The general outcome of the NPV is without paying taxes the maximum amount that a firm could pay for the opportunity of keeping the investment without making a deficit. NPV = Present Value Benefits Present Value Cost This could be easily modelled in a one shot occurrence project, however when it comes to mutually exclusive projects with unequal lives the theory may have to be altered. Mutually exclusive projects with unequal lives When comparing two mutually exclusive alternatives with significant different lives, The Net Present Value does not give the correct answer, therefore adjustments to the model is important. First thing when dealing with projects of this nature we need to find out if the project can be repeated and if so we must take this into accounts when estimating the projects profitability. The example that I have taken is from Greg MacKinnon, Sobey School of Business, Saint Marys University. In his example he has two brands of the same machine where Brand A costs more but lasts longer than Brand B. Example: Machine A costs $10,000 and increases profits by $5000 per year. The machine lasts for six years (at which time it breaks down and is no longer usable). Machine B costs $5500 and increases profits by $5000 per year. This machine is expected to last for 3 years. Assume that the discount rate is 10%. 7 According to the above calculations Machine A has the best Net Present Value and therefore ideally the best option would be to choose machine A. If this project had no repetition and was a one shot deal Machine A would be the correct option, however machines have to be replaced due to wear and tear and depreciation. To overcome this matter and to make the best deal there are two methods to compare these alternatives Matching Cycles or Replacement Chain ( Common life) Approach This is method of comparing projects of unequal lives that assumes that each project can be repeated as many times as necessary to reach a common life span; the NPVs over this life span are then compared, and the project with the higher common life NPV is chosen. find a common multiple of the two life lengths use this as the total project length for both alternatives, where each alternative is repeated the necessary number of times calculate NPV for both over this common time frame and choose the best alternative[8] if we take the previous example of Machine A and B six years is a common multiple of its lives. For Machine A, NPVA=11776.31 over six years. For Machine B, the cash flows over six years are: Year: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 -5500 5000 5000 5000 -5500 5000 5000 5000 these cash flows are equivalent to: Year: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 6934.26 6934.26 9 With the comparisons made with the matching cycles method Machine B is better than Machine A. 2) Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC) or Uniform Annuity Series (UAS) A method which calculates the annual payments a project would provide if it were an annuity.[10]When comparing a project of unequal lives the one with the higher annuity rate should be chosen EAC and UAS are the same. One term (EAC) is used when referring to problems of minimizing costs and the other term (UAS) is used when referring to problems of maximizing returns.[11] We know that Net Present Value of Machine A is 11776.31 and it lasts for six years. Therefore we are setting this model for six years annuity. 12 What this means is that the amount that you will receive per annum through the investment of Machine A will be 2703.93. Similarly a three year annuity for Machine B 13 Both methods would give the same decision as to which Machine is the better option to choose. These methods are valid only if it is reasonable to assume that the machines will be replaced as they wear out and tear. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) IRR is the rate at which the project NPV equals 0. It also provides the expected return rate of the project, assuming certain conditions are met.[14]Higher the rate of return more the investment looks promising. If all other factors are equal when comparing a project since Internal Rate of Return is a rate of quantity it indicates the efficiency, quality or the yield of an investment this is contrast to the NPV where it looks at the value or magnitude of the company. There are three ways of determining a project using IRR Graphically Using table of annuity factors Trial Error ( the most common one) When calculating IRR the most important thing is that all details should be equivalent to one particular period Calculating IRR Using Tables of Annuity Example A company is investing in a new machine costing 104,320. The current annual cash flow of the company is 20,000 per year in operating cost over the machine life of 10years. What is the IRR of the project? To find this we need to get the factor of IRR, afterwards we check it using the annuity table to find out the percentage Factor of IRR = 5.216 = The factor of 5.216 corresponds to the rate of return of 14% Trial and Error Method Take a discount rate and check the NPV. If its a positive answer recalculate at a higher rate till you get a negative NPV and then interpolate the two rates. Comparisons of NPV and IRR When it comes to mutually exclusive projects using IRR would not be the best method because it could rank it incorrectly. IRR NPV Project A 24% 1540 Project B 18% 1730 According to IRR method you should choose Project A but Project B has a higher NPV. Calculating IRR is hard since it may involve solving of a polynomial. More often than not the Trial Error method is use for calculation. IRR believes internal Cash flows are reinvested at the same rate, therefore it should not be used to compare projects of different durations, NPV assumes more realistic that they are reinvested according do debt and equity. Projects with mixtures of positive and negative cash flows can result in multiple IRRs, therefore its hard to find out which one is right or wrong Despite the positivity of NPV, executives prefer IRR because of its easier to compare in percentages than in currencies.