Rocking Horse Winner Essay Example for Free

Rocking Horse Winner Essay Lawrence son of a coal miner and a school teacher, was born and grew up in Nottinghamshire, England. Lawrence was rejected for the military service in World War 1 because of lung trouble. This story took place just years after World War 1. It took place near London; London’s Richmond Park. There are a couple of characters in this story. They are Paul, Hester, Paul’s father, Bassett, Oscar Creswell, Miss Wilmot, Paul’s two younger sisters and Chief Artist. In the story â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner† Lawrence uses the setting, the point of view and tragic irony to illustrate the theme that Paul was on quest to gain wealth, but lost his life. Lawrence chose London because of the different things going on in the city such, as the major races he mentioned that took place in England. â€Å"The child had never been to a horse race meeting before, and his eyes were blue fire. †(Lawrence p. 105). The horses that raced were Daffodil who came in first, Lancelot who came in second and Mirza who came in third. Lawrence wrote this story in omniscient third person point of view. This young women artist earned several thousand pounds a year, but Paul’s mother only made several hundreds, and she was again dissatisfied. † (Lawrence p. 261). Paul’s mother wanted to make more money, so she wanted to be the first in something but did not succeed. The tragic irony was when Paul picks the winning horse in the Derby but he loses his life. â€Å"But, poor devil, poor devil, he’s best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking horse to find a winner. † (Lawrence p. 266). The money he had combined was about eighty thousand pounds which is the equivalent of a million dollars today and that became his misfortune. In the story â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner† Lawrence uses the setting, the point of view and tragic irony to tell the story. The theme of the story is a quest to find a winner. â€Å"But, poor devil, poor devil, he’s best gone out of a life where he rides hid rocking horse to find a winner. † (Lawrence p. 266). Before Paul died he is on a quest to find a great prize, luck that will let him win money to bet on horses and win to help his mom. Paul dies while he riding his horse like a knight on a quest to find a winner.

Julius Caesar Essay: The Character of Brutus -- Julius Caesar Essays

The Character of Brutus in Julius Caesar      Ã‚   â€Å"Et tu Brute?† Caesar’s simple statement sums up Brutus’ round character in the development of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Brutus was thought to represent no threat due to his nobility and his loyalty; however, these qualities are precisely why the story is such a catastrophe.   What stemmed from these traits is the last expected outcome.   Caesar’s surprise was so immense, he could only mutter these last few words.   Brutus’ honorable nobility, his loyal patriotism, and his naà ¯ve and idealistic manner define Shakespeare’s tragic hero.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Honor is an underlying foundation of Brutus and can be clearly seen during the play’s dramatic speeches.   Brutus himself makes his honor apparent in his orations.   After the assassination of Caesar and during the funeral speech, Brutus asks the people of Rome, â€Å"Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman?   If any, speak; for him I have offended†(act III, sc ii, ln 29-32).   This in Brutus proves he is noble as he cares and protects the welfare of the people and Rome as a whole.   He is torn between his sense of duty with Rome and his friendship with Caesar.   In the end; however, he must rationalize his actions to save face and conform to both sides of his conflict.   Furthermore, Brutus tries to prove his nobility to virtually everyone. When Brutus utters his last words, he tells Caesar his intentions, â€Å"I killed thee with half so good a will†(act V, sc v, ln 50-51).   His honor is always persistent and never fails to prevail at even the most taxing and awkward situation.   Brutus considers his honor in every aspect and choice in his life and often rules over his own accord.   Accordingly, many people, including his enemies, were very m... ...t categorized with his honor, his loyalty to Rome, and his naive and idealistic disposition.      Works Cited Bloom, Harold. William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Chelsea House Publisher; Connecticut, New York, & Pennsylvania. 1988, Pg. #33 - 36 Boyce, Charles. Shakespeare A to Z. Roundtable Press, Inc.; New York. 1990, Pg. #78 - 80 Durband, Alan. Shakespeare Made Easy: Julius Caesar. Barron's Educational Series, Inc.; New York. 1985. Ludowyk, E.F.C. Understanding Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press; New York. 1962, Pg. #184 - 187 Morner, Kathleen & Rausch, Ralph. NTC's Dictionary of Literary Terms. National Textbook Company; Illinois. 1991, Pg. #225 - 227 Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Dover Publications, Inc.; New York. 1991. http://student.cscc.edu/ENGL/Engl264/traglex.htm. Shakespearean Tragedy. 11-29-01. Yahoo.   

Ford Motor Company Case Essay

Ford Motor Company Case 1. Does Ford have too much cash? 2. How does VEP work? 3. What are the alternatives for distributing cash? 4. What problems is the VEP plan designed to solve? 5. As a shareholder, how would you approve the VEP? Would you elect cash or stock? Q.1) Does Ford have too much cash? Exhibit 6, 8, and 9 (figures in $ millions) provides selected balance sheet items for Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrylser. The given information indicates that Ford carries the highest amount of cash and marketable securities among the three companies. In 1999, Ford had $25,173 of cash and marketable securities while General Motors and Daimler-Chrylser have only $12,140 and $9,163. Comparing at an industry level, we as a team inferred that Ford may be carrying too much cash. Ford competes in an industry that is notoriously sensitive to the economic cycle, and generally companies in cyclical industries have to keep cash in reserve to cover up for cyclical downturns. However, high amount of cash in the balance sheet does not necessary signal that a company’s future earnings has a high potential of growth. A company sitting on cash tends to lose the opportunity to gain high returns generated from expanding business or investing in new projects. Keeping excess cash in the bank would be a mistake when the company could use the cash to earn a higher return than the company’s cost of capital. It is important to note that although Ford holds the highest amount of cash, both Ford’s earnings per share of 5.86 and stock price of $51.38 are lower than General Motors and DaimlerChrysler in 1999. Ford’s higher debt to equity ratio during this period may be the reason that caused the company’s cost of capital to increase and eventually decreasing the stock price. Q.2) How does VEP work? The main function of the Value Enhancement Plan (VEP) consists of both the options of stock repurchase and a stock exchange. Through this plan, shareholders would exchange their existing common stock and class B shares,  one-for-one for new Ford common and new class B shares. Moreover, shareholders would receive either $20 per share in cash or the equivalent value in new Ford common shares based on Ford’s price in July 2000. Shareholders who did not make an election would be treated as if they made a $20 all-cash election. Meanwhile, if the cash option was oversubscribed, the $20-per-share payment would be distributed pro rata to ensure that the company distributed at most $10 billion. Dividends on the new shares would be reduced such that shareholders who elected stock only would get the same dividend payment on their package as the quarterly $.50 per share currently being paid. A third option the company offers to the shareholders allows them to receive a combination of ca sh and stock worth of $20. Q.3) What are the alternatives for distributing cash? Share Repurchase – Institutional shareholders urged Ford to conduct share repurchase over paying dividends. But Ford preferred receiving cash dividends since that provided the family members with liquidity without having to sell Class B shares and run the risk of diluting family’s control. (Ford had 1.15billion common shares and 70.9million Class B shares outstanding. The family retained a 40% vote as long as it owned 60.7 million shares. Reduction below 60.7million until 33.7million would reduce the family’s voting power to 30%. Below 33.7% of Class B shares’ ownership, all privileges would be lost) Mr. Ford had said that the family had agreed to take its portion of the distribution in the form of new common shares, not cash. The family thus would have tens of millions of common shares to sell for liquidity purposes without reducing their holding of Class B shares. Pay Dividends Uniformly– W.r.t. the Value Enhancement Plan, dividends on new shares would be reduced as there was a $10billion limit to distribute cash. Dividends with incremental growth in value are absent. Ford wants to keep a large amount of cash to itself because of the uncertainty associated with the cash flow. It has the option to distribute the cash in the form of dividends. Shareholders were taxed on cash dividends at ordinary income rates whereas gains realized on shares that were repurchased received capital gains treatment. There were no cash deductions for the company in the above two methods. Hence both the  procedures were same for the company. 4. What problem is the VEP plan designed to solve? The primary reason why Ford designed the VEP was that Ford believed its stock was undervalued and the undervalued stock was limiting the company’s ability to use its stock for acquisitions or to attract, retain or incentivize employees. Ford thought the VEP would enhance the value of its outstanding shares because the recapitalization will highlight its cash reserves and cash flow generating capacity, and also indicates management’s confidence in the future of the business. In addition, Ford believed the adjustments in the employee incentive plans by the recapitalization will tie Ford management’s compensation even more closely to the performance of its stock price. Additionally, as a part of VEP, Ford announced the Visteon spinoff was not only designed to allow Ford to focus on its core business but also give Visteon a chance to build its client base outside Ford. However, some analysts and shareholders (TIAA-Cref, Calpers) argued that the VEP was designed to av oid a risk that Ford could face due to a share buyback. Because a share repurchase would reduce its voting right in the company, the Ford family considered VEP as a suitable option. 5. As a shareholder, how would you approve the VEP? Would you elect cash or stock? At face value the VEP seems to be a good idea; return value to stockholders in the form of cash, without having to compromise control over the company. As is gleaned from the case, Ford has approximately 23 billion dollars in cash reserves with the proposed VEP set to return up to 10 billion USD back to shareholders. Executive leadership tout flexibility,liquidity and alignment as advantages of the proposed project, however, a couple of valid questions have been raised (two institutional investors in particular). The proposed VEP if successful would see the cash reserves of the company reduced by 10 billion, this drastic reduction in cash will send mixed signals to analysts and the market as a whole. It could be perceived as a ploy to return money to shareholders in anticipation of a wind down or poor run of performance. Though flexibility and realignment is mentioned, that does not seem to be the case.The program only allows owners of both common shares and class B shares the opportunity to obtain liquidity  without having to lose control of their class B shares. The program will have the Ford family exchanging their common shares for the new stock in addition to the $20 or new stock options. This is particularly a welcome boon (as the case alludes to their need for liquidity to handle settlement of divorces and estate taxes). If the stock of Ford is perceived undervalued then the advice would be for the shareholder to accept the VEP as the share price increases in an addition to the opportunity to reinvest in the additional new common stocks. In conclusion we would not approve of the VEP as we believe the benefits of the program does not benefit all stockholders, rather the pros are stacked in favor of the Ford family. On the contrary a common stockholder will accept the VEP and accept cash payme nt if the stock was perceived to be overvalued and further stock options if the stock was perceived to be undervalued. The End†¦.

The Theory Of Crime Causation - 871 Words

One of the important goals to criminology is to create valid and accurate theories of crime causation. A theory could be defined as a statement that explains why a certain circumstance does not happen. A valid theory should always have the ability to predict future occurrences of the circumstance in question and also have the ability to be tested (Siegel, 2013). Even though there was talk on the code of law and how crime should be handled from years ago, according to Siegel, the science of criminology is somewhat new. Back then; people believed that individuals who did not fit in with the society would automatically be labeled as witches or someone who was possessed by something that was not human. Cesare Beccaria was one of the first to theorize that crime is a product of a person’s choice and can be controlled using methods of deterrence. Since then, criminologists have expanded on the idea and have developed new ways as to why people commit crime; all including theories suc h as biological, psychological, and sociological causes for crime (Siegel, 2013). Biological theories of crime made the assumptions that physical traits can lead an individual to criminal activities. Biological theories of crime causation were initially based on the assumption that delinquency is inherited. Physical attributes were known to pass down from parent to child. Over the time, the biological theories tended to emphasize more on the fact that offenders have different reasons to explain whyShow MoreRelatedThe Theories Of Crime Causation Essay1414 Words   |  6 Pages Theories of Crime Causation Dolores Jackson Williams Colorado Technical University Juvenile offender 1. Biological theory states that the individual will have certain traits will be transmitted from parent to children through genetics and not from social learning. 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But, we also need toRead MoreThe Theories Of Crime Causation1076 Words   |  5 Pages This paper will examine the three main theories of crime causation which comprise the Criminological Theory as well as provide some examples of each. The three main theories of crime causation are biological, sociological and psychological. Each of the three theories have come a long way since their inception and continue to be updated due to new findings through technological and medical advances. It also must be noted that these ar e theories and due to various factors and drawbacks to eachRead MoreThe Biological Theory Of Crime Causation1082 Words   |  5 PagesCrime causation is a complex and daunting field. For centuries, philosophers have pondered the meaning of the concept of cause as it pertains to human behavior. Examining why people commit crime is very important in the ongoing debate of how crime should be handled and prevented. 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According to this theory, the choice whether or not to commit a criminal act is the result of a rational thought process that weighs the risks of paying the costs of committing a crime, against the benefits obtained. In other words, if the benefits--monetary or otherwise--outweigh the risks of sustaining the costs