The Color Purple - Character Analysis of Celie :: Alice Walker

In the color purple, we can see how Celie develops an identity for herself throughout the novel. At first we can appreciate how Celie does not longer believe in herself and looses all trust she had on herself. When Nettie gets older, about 12 years old, their father Fonso tries to get to Nettie, but Celie protects her and lets Fonso rape her instead of him raping Nettie. This at the beginning shows that Celie has enough strength to take decisions that will affect other people, however, this strength starts to disappear as the story continues. Celie is at most 14 when Mr.____ marries her. She does no talk about "making love" but instead refers to sex as "he gets on top of me and does his business". That shows how little Celie believes on herself as she thinks that Mr.____ could do sex without her. Then the story changes direction and the discrimination against Celie starts to be present. When Mr.____ beats her she does not try to fight back, but instead she remains passive to what is happening. On the other hand, Celie continues to work as the perfecto maid of the children and keeps the house perfectly clean and tidy. This shows that indirectly she does not like being beaten (obviously) but she does not say anything because of the fear she feels for men, she instead reacts to it in a way which shows the big heart Celie has. When Shug comes to Mr.____Â ´s house Celie starts to feel something that she had never felt. She start to feel emotions for Shug. As the relationship between Celie and Shug develops, Shug shows Celie that life, freedom and having an identity should be the best present for a black woman which is condemned and trapped for ever after on the cruel and racist society of those times. To begin with, Celie obtains freedom as she escapes from Mr.____ with Shug, then, she realises that life can be much better when you do not depend on any one else, and so Celie does no longer depend on any one but on herself.

Gender roles Essay

Gender roles refer to the set of social, attitudinal and behavioral roles, norms and expectations that, within a definite culture, are also formally or informally required or widely measured to be socially appropriate for persons of a precise gender identity. They are constructed for a variety of genders in order to channelize their energies towards some socially intended goals, which are either frequently shared or affixed from many of the experimental differences in behaviors, attitudes and personalities, amid various genders, come naturally, a lot of of these characteristics are, either in part or wholly, socially constructed, therefore, a product of socialization experiences. Qualities of a meticulous gender identity do not need to be imposed through rules and norms, while artificial roles have to be ‘enforced’ on people throughout some kind of psycho-social mechanism. Gender roles of a particular sex may not always be in accordance with the normal or biological traits of that gender, and they may turn out to be too strict or constricting so as to cause in the oppression of that gender. This is because of the potential of the gender roles to manage the behavior of people that these roles have been tremendously politicized and manipulated with the ruling forces, for several millenniums now, resulting in severe oppression of every gender of humans. Gender has numerous valid definitions, but its here in reference to an individual’s inside sex or psychological sense of being a male or female irrespective of one’s (outer) sex identity as determining one’s sexual organs. We find three major genders: masculine (inner male identity), feminine (inner female identity) and neutral (a balance of inner male and female identity). In conclusion gender roles of women have been enforced on them through force, and have thus been extra visible. Men gender roles are difficult to enforce but are indirectly enforced. References Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review 352-365. Connell, Robert William: Gender and Power, Cambridge: University Press 1987.

Studying The Bankruptcy Of Orange County Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2920 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The case of bankruptcy of Orange County in 1994 emphasize the importance of using duration and Value at risk (VAR) to assess portfolio risk and avoid future bankruptcy. Duration and VAR analysis provide deeper understanding about the underlying risk of the Orange County Investment Pool which was heavily leveraged and interest-pledged through reverse repurchase agreements and other derivatives in the pool. Some VAR estimation, including historical simulation method, delta-normal method and Monte Carlo simulation will be used to calculate worst possible loss. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Studying The Bankruptcy Of Orange County Finance Essay" essay for you Create order The EWMA will be used to provide more accurate estimation of the volatility to improve the accuracy of VAR estimation. Background: On Dec 6, 1994, Orange County declared bankruptcy after suffering losses of around $1.6billion from a wrong way bet on interest rates 7.5 billion investment pool. This pool was intended to gain some returns from the investing the money which is raised from taxes and other government incomes. It was implemented a bet that the interest would decline or stay low by Citron (the portfolio manager). Because of the steadily declining interest rates from 1989 to 1992, the portfolio performed extremely well before 1994 and earned millions of above average profit. However, in 1994, the government suddenly declared policies which included raise the interest rates from 3.45% to 7.14% to prevent high inflation and overheating economy. This increase in interest rate caused the portfolio suffer 1.6 billion loss and further lead the bankruptcy of Orange County. Section 1: The heavy leveraged and interest-pledged portfolio In order to sustain above average returns, several investment tools are used by Citron to leverage the $7.5 billion funds into $20.5billion investment. In detail, reverse repurchase agreements allow Citron to use the securities which had already purchased as collateral on further borrowing and then reinvested the cash into new securities (Jameson, 2001). Besides the heavily leveraged risk, the portfolio also encounters significant risk from the unexpected interest movement. Firstly, these repurchase agreements values significantly depend on the change in interest rate. In detail, its value decrease as the interest rate increase and increase as the interest rate decrease (P=). Secondly, $2.8 billion of derivatives, including inverse floating-rate notes, dual index notes, floating-rate notes, index-amortizing notes and collateralized mortgage obligations, are used to increase the portfolio bet on the term structure of the interest rate (Jorion, 2009). Thirdly, median term maturities which had higher yields (5.2%) than the short term investments (3%) were used to increase the return of the portfolio (Jorion, 2009). However, by using longer term maturities, the portfolios sensitivity to interest change will significantly increase. Clearly, by doing these, the portfolios value will be significantly impacted by the movement of the interest. Section 2: Duration of the portfolio and its application Duration of the portfolio Hull (2009) defines the duration as a measure of how long, on average, the holder of the instrument has to wait before receiving cash payments. It measures sensitivity of price changes with changes in interest rates. Duration can be calculated by weighting average (the weight is the proportion of portfolios total present value of cash flow received at time t) of the times. In this case, the portfolio was heavily bet on the interest, therefore, duration might be a good measure for the portfolio. In the $7.5 billion portfolio, median term maturities (5 years), rather than short term maturities (1-3 years), were used to increase the return. By doing this, the duration of the portfolio significant increased. In other words, the portfolio exposed higher risk of interest rate movements. In December 1994, the average duration of the securities in the portfolio was 2.74 years. It means 1% change in interest would cause 2.74% change in portfolios prices. M oreover, Citron leveraged $7.5 billion equity into a $20.5 billion portfolio. This means that a 2.73 leverage ratio (20.5/7.5). In other words, for every dollar of the pool invested, the pool borrowed extra $1.73. For a leveraged portfolio, the effective portfolio duration = ordinary duration * leverage ratio. Thus, the effective portfolio duration of the portfolio is 7.4 (2.74*2.7). Estimation by using duration The response of portfolio prices to change in interest rate: In 1994, the interest rates went up by about 3.5 ( and the 5 years bond yield was 5%, therefore, the loss of the portfolio equals 1.85 (7.5*7.4*3.5%/1.05) which is slightly larger than the actual loss of 1.64 billion. This slightly difference between the loss estimated by duration and the actual loss might be caused by that the duration applies to only small changes in interest rate. As a first order approximation, duration cannot capture the information that two bonds with same duration can have different change in price for large change in interest rate (different convexity). So, convexity (second order approximation) which can capture this information should be added into the estimating model. Through adding this (convexity factor), the estimated loss will slightly less than before, and will more close to the actual loss (1.64 billion). Thus, duration seems to have the ability to accurate measure the portfolios sensitivity to interest rate change. Section 3: Value at risk (VAR) Value at risk (VAR) In order to estimate the underlying risk of the portfolio, VAR which measures the worst expected loss over a given horizon under normal market conditions at a given confidence level could be used (Jorion, 2001). Because the portfolio was heavily bet on the interest rate, its return and risk are significantly depending on the change of interest rate. In other words, the change of interest yield multiplies the modified duration and portfolio value could be used as an approximation of the change of portfolios value. Thus, the change of interest yield could be used in the 3 simulation methods as the only factor that contribute the change of portfolio value. Non-parametric approach (no need to identify variance-covariance matrix) Historical simulation approach The historical simulation accounts for non-linearity, income payments, and even time decay effects through using marking-to-market the whole portfolio over a large number of realizations of underlyi ng random variables. VAR is calculated from the percentiles of the full distribution of payoffs (Jorion, 2001). By using actual price, the method captures Greek risk (gamma, vega risk etc.) and corrections of securities (already exist in the real historical data) in the portfolio, and it does not rely on some specific assumption, such as the underlying stochastic structure of the market (the pre-requests of estimating volatility and mean). Moreover, it can account for fat tails distribution besides normal distributions (Jorion, 2001). (Figure 1) The root-T approach will be used to transfer the monthly VAR to yearly VAR in all the 3 approaches. Its success significantly relies on the some specific assumptions, including the monthly yield changes of the portfolio are identically and independently distributed (iid distribution) and the return has a constant variance (Cuthbertson and Nitzsche, 2001). However, in the real world, stock returns always has time varying variance and th ere are some autocorrelation factors exist (thus, not independent). Therefore, as the T increase, the error of the transformation will significantly increase. The VAR will be calculated through sorting the monthly yield change and picking the worst daily yield change at 5% percentile (see details in CD). However, in this case, the increase in yield will cause decrease in portfolio return, therefore, the worst daily yield change should be picked at the right hand side of the histogram (see figure 1). The VAR equals 1.24 billion annually (0.36 billion monthly) which is less than the actual loss (1.64 billion). This inaccuracy might be caused by the problems exist in historical simulation method. Firstly, the success of the method significantly relies on the assumption that the past price can represent the future price information. However, the assumption is not realistic to some extent because of the existence of market efficient. Secondly, simple historical simulation method may m iss the information of temporarily elevated volatility, such as structural breaks and extreme value (Butler and Schachter, 1996). In this case, the historical simulation method cannot capture the extreme value (1.64 billion loss) which is caused by 6 suddenly decreases of interest rate. Parametric approach (need to need to identify variance-covariance matrix) Delta normal approach The delta normal method is particularly simple approach to implement. It takes account simple variance-covariance matrix and then forecast the total variance of the portfolio (volatility). Then, The VAR can be calculated through the formula: VAR = MD*Portfolio Value*=7.4*7.5*0.4%*1.65/(1.005)=0.35 billion (monthly) = 1.21 billion (annually). Delta normal method is slightly less accurate than the historical in the case. This might caused by that the change in yield does is a fat tail distribution (Kurtosis =6.9, Skewness = -0.44) rather than a normal distribution (Kurtosis =6.9, Skewness = -0.44 ). Thus, the model based on the normal distribution will underestimate the proportion of outliers and hence the value at risk (Jorion, 2001). In addition, the portfolio contains a lot of derivatives instrument. This will cause the method inadequately measures the risk of nonlinearity. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) (the theoretical most powerful method) Unlike historical simulation, through specifying and stimulating a stochastic process for financial variables, Monte Carlo simulation covers a wide range of financial variables (volatility and stochastic variables) and fully captures correlations of securities (unlike HS, need to define the matrix) in the portfolio (Jorion, 2001). It does not only account for a wide range of risks, such as nonlinear price, volatility and model risks (the same as historical simulation), but also incorporate time variation of volatility (structural breaks and extreme values), and fat tails. Moreover, it can capture the structure changes in the port folio as the time pass (Jorion, 2001). In theoretical way, MCS should be the best method in estimating VAR. The MCS VAR is about 0.295 monthly, through using the root-T rule, the annually VAR is about 1 billion (see detail calculation in CD). There are also some limitations of Monte Carlo simulation cause the estimated error between the estimated loss and actual loss. Its success significantly relies on the specific pricing model for underlying assets and stochastic processes for the underlying risk factors. In this case, the pricing formula is Brownian approach without drift may not accurately capture the actual value change of the portfolio. This might be one possible reason that the estimated loss is not equal to the actual loss. Moreover, the problems may exist in the sample used to derivate the underlying risk factors. For example, MCS will generate less accurate estimates then delta normal method when the risk factors are jointly normal and all payoffs are liner (Cuthbertso n and Nitzsche, 2001). Why MCS (theoretical best method) shows the worst estimation in this case MCS seems to have the least accurate estimation (more closer to the actual loss) in this case. This might be caused by the portfolio used in MCS are treated as one asset which is only impacted by the interest yield. Three factors, including the correlation between all the securities in the portfolio, the underlying risk factors of these securities and the different price formula should be used for each security, are ignored in the powerful approach (Tardivo, 2002). On the other hand, compared with the MCS, historical simulation does not need to define the correlation matrix, because the data has already captured the information. In addition, underlying risk factors also contains in the actual data. Thus, in the case with limited information, historical simulation provides more accurate estimation. Section 4: EWMA In realistic world, the variance of the time series is varying overtime. Thus, the simple unconditional variance (simple variance/standard deviation) may not provide unbiased estimation of the volatility. This will further result in inaccuracy estimation of the VAR. in the case, In the case, the simple variance (volatility) are calculating through assigning the same weight on all observations during Jan 1953 and Dec 1994. This may lead to biased forecasts of VAR because the Fed dramatically increased/decreased the interest rate during this time period. In order to improve the accuracy of estimating VAR, Exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) will be used to provide more accurate estimation to the volatility at a specific time (conditional standard deviation) (Cuthbertson and Nitzsche, 2001). EWMA method allows more recent observations to have stronger impact on the forecast of volatility than the old observations. In practical way, the recent data are given more weights th an the old data. By applying this model, volatility in practice will be more impacted by recent events and the impacts on volatility will decline as time pass (smaller weights apple to the event) (Brooks, 2002). Through applying the EWMA model, the monthly standard deviation for the six months before December 1994 is 0.348%. The next 6 months volatility could be forecasted through using the formula:. In addition, the actual monthly volatility could use the change in yield as approximation. According to RiskMetrics, the optimalshould be 0.97 (Brock, 2002). ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Forecast volatility (%) Actual volatility (%) Range of the possible volatility at 5% confidence level ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Volatility at june 1994 0.35 ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Left side (-1.65) Right side (1.65) Forecasted volatility ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Jul-94 0.35 -0.26 -0.57 0.57 Aug-94 0.34 0.08 -0.56 0.56 Sep-94 0.35 0.47 -0.57 0.57 Oct-94 0.34 0.20 -0.56 0.56 Nov-94 0.34 0.31 -0.56 0.56 Dec-94 0.34 0.04 -0.55 0.55 Generally, the EWMA approach does not fully capture abnormal volatility change in 1994. In detail, the actual volatility change more volatile than the forecast one (table 1). The inaccuracy involve in estimating the volatility may result in that the calculated VAR is significantly different from the actual possible loss of the portfolio (table 2). If the forecast volatility is used to calculate VAR, manager should aware that the calculated VAR is only an approximation and it cannot capture all the volatility change information. For example, in this case, the actual volatility in Sep-94 is significantly larger than the forecast one. This may cause manager to underestimate the risk in the time period and then holding the portfolio unchanged as before. It is also support by Mahoney (1996) who empirically support that the EWMA volatility has inaccuracy problems. Table 1: ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Forecast volatility (%) Actual volatility (%) Left side (-1.65) Right side (1.65) Volatility at June 1994 0.35 ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Forecasted volatility ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Jul-94 0.35 -0.26 -0.57 0.57 Aug-94 0.34 0.08 -0.56 0.56 Sep-94 0.35 0.47 -0.57 0.57 Oct-94 0.34 0.20 -0.56 0.56 Nov-94 0.34 0.31 -0.56 0.56 Dec-94 0.34 0.04 -0.55 0.55 On the other hand, VAR calculated based on EWMA volatility can still be used as a benchmark to assess the portfolios risk. All of the actual volatility is in the boundary of the forecast volatilitys 5% tail cut off (on both sides *1.65). That is to say, although there are significant differences between the forecast and the actual volatility in this case, portfolio manager may still not underestimate the underlying risk at 5% confidence level (normal distribution). In addition, if better models are used, including GARCH, EGARCH, and GJR , the VAR can provide more precise estimation of the worst possible loss. Table 2: ÃÆ' £Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Forecasted VAR(*-1.65) monthly Actual VAR monthly Forecasted VAR annually Actual VAR annually Jul-94 -0.302 0.227 -1.045 0.786 Aug-94 -0.297 -0.070 -1.030 -0.242 Sep-94 -0.301 -0.410 -1.044 -1.420 Oct-94 -0.298 -0.174 -1.034 -0.604 Nov-94 -0.298 -0.270 -1.031 -0.937 Dec-94 -0.293 -0.035 -1.015 -0.121 Section 5: Backtest EWMA model In order to test whether VAR can be used as s a benchmark to assess the portfolios risk, the backtest should be used to test whether EWMA can capture the actual change in interest yield at the 5% left tail cut off level (normal distribution). Practically, if all of the actual changes in interest yield are within the forecast volatilities boundary (the forecast volatility multiply 1.65 at right hand side and -1.65 at the left hand side), the EWMA model can be considered as providing accurate estimation at 5% confidence level. According to figure 2, there are 4 outliers (Aug-89, Jan-92, Feb-94 and Mar-94) are outside the forecast. This will cause manager to over/under estimate the underlying risk of the portfolio. Figure 2: forecast volatilities boundary and actual change in interest yield Section 6: Whether the portfolio should be liquidated in December 1994 Miller and Ross (1997) recommend that the portfolio should not be liquidated until the maturity of the structural notes. This is because after the Orange County bankruptcy, the interest rate fell from 7.8% to 5.25% during Dec 1994 to Dec 1995. If it did not announce the bankruptcy, this decrease in interest rate could help the County to recover 7.4*7.5*2.55%/1.05= 1.32 billion losses. However, the problem is that in Dec 1994, how the managers would know that there would be a decrease in interest in 1995. Jorion (1997) suggest that because it is impossible to predict suddenly interest rate decrease, holding the assets in order to recover value in the next years is speculative and risky. Given this change in yield is a normal distribution, the probability of 2.55% decrease in interest can be calculated through P(=P(-6.223). According to the normal statics table, the probability of such large decrease in interest is less than 1%. Thus, the rational managers would not expect suddenl y large decrease in interest rate. In order to minimize to further loss, it is reasonable to liquidate the portfolio on Dec 1994. In addition, as the portfolio is interest pledged, some interest futures, such as the T-bond futures, could be shorted to hedge the portfolio in Dec 1993. Long cap could also a good choice to generate profit when interest rate exceeds the strike rate. This could partially compensate the massive loss. Conclusion The orange countys heavy leveraged and interest-pledged portfolio suffer massive loss in 1994 because of the suddenly increase of interest rate. Through examining this case study, the Duration and VAR are important measurement of risk to avoid future bankruptcy. Compare the duration estimated loss with the actual loss, Duration (plus convexity) of the portfolio seems to have the ability to accurately measure the portfolios sensitivity to the change in interest rate. In addition, all of the VARs calculated through three approaches, including historical simulation, delta normal, and MCS, are less than the actual loss. The theoretical best approaches (MCS) does not provide the most accurate estimation because of ignorance of some important factors, such as the correlation between all the securities in the portfolio, the underlying risk factors of these securities and the different price formula should be used for each security. The backtest of EWMA (4 outliers) suggest that there are some risk in using VAR to measure the worst possible loss in the real world.

The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison Essay - 1753 Words

Racism is a social construct that has plagued America since its conception and is something that continues to do so to this day. In America’s earliest times racism presented itself in the concept of slavery. When that was abolished it presented itself in the Jim Crow Laws and separate but equal. Today racism presents itself in more discreet, sinister ways like mass incarceration, or the recent rash of police shooting of unarmed black teenagers. However, the most sinister way that racism affects us today and the way it infects those in Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye is the importance that is placed on the all-American family and how this excludes African Americans. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye details how American ideals often contradict with the reality of what goes on in America and how vast the difference is between the two especially when it comes to race. In The Bluest Eye there are two principle families there is the Breedlove family, and then there is the family of the narrator, Claudia. Both the families were black, they were of the same socioeconomic status, they lived in the same area, and they both were grappling with the Eurocentric ideas of beauty that presented itself in the 1940s. However, there is one principle difference, while Claudia’s family is filled with love, support, and the overall care that is expected in a family dynamic, the Breedloves have none of this. Claudia had a mother who took care of her when she was sick, a father who was outragedShow MoreRelatedThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison1720 Words   |  7 Pagesof The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison, criticizes the danger of race discrimination for any kinds of situations with no exception. The purpose of the paper is explain how pervasive and destructive social racism was bound to happen in American society. The intended audiences are not only black people, but also other races had suffered racism until now. I could find out and concentrate on the most notable symbols which are whiteness, blue eyes and the characterization while reading the novel. Toni MorrisonRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison1587 Words   |  7 Pagessaid, â€Å"We were born to die and we die to live.† Toni Morrison correlates to Nelson’s quote in her Nobel Lecture of 1993, â€Å"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.† In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, she uses language to examine the concepts of racism, lack of self-identity, gender roles, and socioeconomic hardships as they factor into a misinterpretation of the American Dream. Morrison illustrates problems that these issues provoke throughRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison956 Words   |  4 PagesHistory of Slavery Influenced the Characters of The Bluest Eye Unlike so many pieces of American literature that involve and examine the history of slavery and the years of intensely-entrenched racism that ensued, the overall plot of the novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, does not necessarily involve slavery directly, but rather examines the aftermath by delving into African-American self-hatred. Nearly all of the main characters in The Bluest Eye who are African American are dominated by the endlessRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison1189 Words   |  5 PagesA standard of beauty is established by the society in which a person lives and then supported by its members in the community. In the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, we are given an extensive understanding of how whiteness is the standard of beauty through messages throughout the novel that whiteness is superior. Morrison emphasizes how this ideality distorts the minds and lives of African-American women and children. He emphasizes that in order for African-American wom en to survive in aRead MoreThe Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison1095 Words   |  5 PagesSocial class is a major theme in the book The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison is saying that there are dysfunctional families in every social class, though people only think of it in the lower class. Toni Morrison was also stating that people also use social class to separate themselves from others and apart from race; social class is one thing Pauline and Geraldine admire.Claudia, Pecola, and Frieda are affected by not only their own social status, but others social status too - for exampleRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison2069 Words   |  9 Pagesblack/whiteness. Specifically, white people were positioned at the upper part of the hierarchy, whereas, African Americans were inferior. Consequently, white people were able to control and dictate to the standards of beauty. In her novel, ‘The Bluest Eye’, Toni Morrison draws upon symbolism, narrative voice, setting and id eals of the time to expose the effects these standards had on the different characters. With the juxtaposition of Claudia MacTeer and Pecola Breedlove, who naively conforms to the barrierRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison1103 Words   |  5 Pages Toni Morrison is known for her prized works exploring themes and issues that are rampant in African American communities. Viewing Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye from a psychoanalytical lens sheds light onto how, as members of a marginalized group, character’s low self-esteem reflect into their actions, desires, and defense mechanisms. In her analysis of psychoanalytical criticism, Lois Tyson focuses on psychological defense mechanisms such as selective perception, selective memory, denialRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison Essay1314 Words   |  6 PagesThe Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, encompasses the themes of youth, gender, and race. The African American Civil Rights Movement had recently ended at the time the novel was written. In the book, Morrison utilizes a first-person story to convey her views on racial inequality. The protagonist and her friends find themselves in moments where they are filled with embarrassment and have a wish to flee such events. Since they are female African Americans, they are humiliated in society. One of Morrison’sRead MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison1462 Words   |  6 PagesBildungsroman literature in the 20th century embodies the virtues of different authors’ contexts and cultures, influencing the fictional stories of children’s lives around the wo rld.. The Bluest Eye is a 1970 publication by Toni Morrison set in 1940s Ohio in America, focal around the consequence of racism in an American community on the growth of a child, distinct in its use of a range of narrative perspectives. Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid is a novel set in post colonial Antigua, published in 1985Read MoreThe Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison992 Words   |  4 PagesSet in the 1940s, during the Great Depression, the novel The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, illustrates in the inner struggles of African-American criticism. The Breedloves, the family the story revolves around a poor, black and ugly family. They live in a two-room store front, which is open, showing that they have nothing. In the family there is a girl named Pecola Breedlove, she is a black and thinks that she is ugly because she is not white. Pecola’s father, Cholly Breedlove, goes through humiliated

The, R B And Jazz Singers - 1442 Words

â€Å"Rage to Survive, The Etta James Story† as told by Etta James, and written by David Ritz, is a biographical telling of the history of the soul singer who, through a series of crashes and comebacks, became one of the most famous blues, RB and jazz singers in history. Born in Los Angeles, California, Etta James, or as a young child known as Jamesetta Hawkins, was born January 25th, 1938 to Ms. Dorothy Hawkins who was just fourteen, and an absent father. This is a solidified fact, the place and date of birth and the woman Jamesetta was born to. However, this is the only question that could be answered about her life with certainty. It would take a lot of writing to try and explain every piece of the puzzle, Jamesetta had a complex,†¦show more content†¦When Mama passed away during Jamesetta’s preteen years, her whole world completely flipped, and she lost touch with the safe lifestyle Mama had built for her. Being some what of a local celebrity, singers who w ould come to L.A. began to enter her life, and in a nut shell, she grew up much quicker than her time. Dorothy, still coming in and out of her life, stopped causing her fear, but curiosity. The more notice Jamesetta got for her voice, and the more people from the industry that involved themselves in her life, the more curious she got for this lifestyle that Dorothy had, which was wildly similar to that of those in the industry. â€Å"†¦she lead this mysterious nightlife that, to me, seemed fearless-going out to dangerous places with dangerous people. Dangers and fears and excitement all ran together in my mind† (p.14). She suddenly would want to stay with her mother on her wild nights, and do things like her and observe the behavior. She tried to please her mother in that way, though she never could. Her mother never bat an eyelash in her direction. She dropped out of school and started to hit the road with other singers, playing small town gigs, getting her name out the re. At fifteen, she met Johnny Otis, who took her in, â€Å"discovered her† and started to put her name in lights. But with a name like Jamesetta, you picture a young girl with chubby cheeks, which is really what she still was. But the pressure to shed that exterior was high, and it was whenShow MoreRelatedMusic Genres826 Words   |  4 Pagesand blues tells a story of heart ache, finding love and being very emotional. However, both are emotional nonetheless. Despite some differences on the surface, gospel music and RB are actually lot alike in the sense they constantly reinvent themselves and continue to grow worldwide. Gospel music is very soulful just like RB and can make you feel good and take you to other place when you hear the music. Gospel can reach a very large audience because there is no style restriction when it comes to thisRead MoreThe Impact Of Ray Charles On American Culture1164 Words   |  5 Pages The impact that Ray Charles has had on American culture is nearly indescribable. Although unable to see, he was successful in making his artistic visions come to life by fusing the sounds of blues, gospel, jazz, and RB, making him one of the leading soul artists of the 1950s. The legendary musician is recognized for being a pillar in the industry, credited with making strides in desegregating musical genres. Although he composed many of his early hits, Charles is considered to be an interpreterRead MoreOrigins Of Today s Music1546 Words   |  7 PagesToday s Music While blues and jazz are musically different, they play a similar role in the in the musical genres that is heard today. Today, music is divided into many genres such as hip-hop, easy listening, country, rock and roll or classic rock, etc. Pure blues or jazz is hardly thought of, as those two genres are not heard as often in today’s music. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the difference between blues and jazz music. Blues and jazz are musical genres, or stylesRead MoreImpact of Rhythm and Blues on African-American Culture Essay905 Words   |  4 PagesRhythm and blues, also known today as â€Å"R B†, has been one of the most influential genres of music within the African American Culture, and has evolved over many decades in style and sound. Emerging in the late 1940s rhythm and blues, sometimes called jump blues, became dominant black popular music during and after WWII. Rhythm and blues artists often sung about love, relationships, life troubles, and sometimes focused on segregation and race struggles. Rhythm and blues helped embody what was uniqueRead MoreMost Influential Jazz Singer, Billie Holiday693 Words   |  3 Pagescultural movement specifically in creative arts such as music and literature. Jazz represented the flavor and zest of African American culture in the 1920s-1940s. Bi llie Holiday had a great impact on the Harlem Renaissance because she was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She performed with other great jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Jo Jones, and Henry Allen. Her career as a jazz singer was an incredible and thriving one, however, it was shortened because ofRead MoreEssay about Ray Charles Robinson1095 Words   |  5 Pagesborn in the southern city of Albany, GA on September 23, 1930. He was a prolific, multi-talented singer, pianist, bandleader, and composer who, when on stage captivated his audience not only by his musical ability, but also because he was a blind, African American man. He was given the nickname â€Å"the Genius† for his capability of combining the music of gospel, jazz, pop, country and rhythm and blues (RB), known as â€Å"soul music.† Charles began going blind at around age five, and hadRead MoreRock N Roll Essay1927 Words   |  8 Pagesmusicians from the African American culture created a new genre of music called â€Å"ragtime† which heavily influenced jazz artists. During the 1920’s jazz was one of the most popular genres and was largely listened to by African Americans (Brackett, 14). An example of a jazz musician that was popular at the time was Jelly Roll Morton, an African American ragtime and, one of the first, early jazz pianists and composers. During the 1920’s the music industry developed a category for African American and ruralRead MoreThe Blues, By Bessie Smith And Billie Holliday1744 Words   |  7 Pagesstyle from the rural Southern African-American origin (â€Å"Jazz in America†, n.d. ). It usually had secular content, which is disparate from how it was when it first began. Blues music originated in plantations, where slaves sung, using it as a mental escape method from their oppression. Even though it started off in a simple way, it eventually turned into a serious entertainment. Bessie Smith and Billie Holliday, two well-known blues female singers, became hit sensations. Blues started in the SouthRead MoreEssay on History of African American Music1267 Words   |  6 Pagesbrought their music. During the next decades, black popular music flourished, developing into several key genres and moving steadily into mainstream American culture† (20). As they did, music began to grow into three obvious styles: ragtime, blues, and jazz. Starting this new era was ragtime. As pianos became common in saloons, clubs, brothels and middle-class homes (Woog 22), ragtime became very popular. Pianos were one of the main instruments, although a piano could have also been accompanied by bongoRead MoreErykah Badu Essay1138 Words   |  5 Pages Erykah Badu (1971-present) When I was younger my mom always played music loud around the house while cleaning up. She kept stacks of cds in the car. Majority of the time we listened to female rb artist. Growing up I was exposed to female singers like Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu ect. The song I always enjoyed singing was â€Å"Tyrone† because it’s funny. The live performance for this song is very entertaining too because she’s a great performer and the band is great. Badu is very lyrical

Revised Corporate Finance and Investment †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Revised Corporate Finance and Investment. Answer: Introduction: Australia is among the few countries in the world regarded to have a good business environment. It has the most transparent and well-regulated business environments since the state has a stable economy, the high currency of the dollar employed by businesses and even political neutrality are among the reasons encouraging many companies to thrive in Australia. In Australia, various business entities have risen due to these factors for instance companies, trusts, partnerships, sole traders and joint ventures (Australian Bureau of statistics, 2010, p. 3). Australia has a proven economic resilience and stability in growth has provided a more conducive environment for business activities. It is because of the low risks environment provided due to the above-mentioned factors. Also, the country has an open market that is highly competitive and diverse. Hence, enabling many businesses to thrive in the region. In addition, the country is located in rapidly advancing areas of the world which is Asia pacific region, with strong political, trade and economic connections. Studies reveal that Australia is ranked to be the best place globally to run business activities. In addition, the country also has a large sized population that has a capacity of providing adequate labor both skilled and unskilled labor force hence facilitating the thriving of many businesses, an example of the Business in the regard is Qantas Airways (Smith and Paglia,2005, p. 8). In this regard, a strong Australian dollar will reduce the costs denominated in foreign currency. The costs of international currency are in US dollar for instance used in acquiring external spare parts, capacity hire and air craft purchases. They affect all segments of business including domestic, regional and international sectors. Other sections involving the cost of production entails airport charges, navigation of route, and utilization of overseas airspaces and coordination of these offices (Eitenman, David, and Stinehill. 2007, p. 30). Qantas an airway enjoys the benefit of a strong Australian Dollar such that most of the costs are paid in Australian Dollar which in this regard, has the highest rate of the exchange rate. Some of the expenses include those one paid on-road vehicles that are operated by Qantas (Moffete and Stonehill, 2009, p. 5) Currency fluctuation involves a shift in the value of the currency which affects the operation of various businesses either negatively or positively depending whether the change in the money has increased in value or reduced in value. Currency fluctuation has led to rise in the Australian dollar value which has impacted companies like Qantas in a positive way. Reasons being; the Australian dollar is up there in amount in comparison to other currencies. Qantas being in Australia benefits positively in the regard (Bryman and Alan,2003, p. 44). The rise in dollar value affects passengers mix: The total number of passengers in this regard is not affected by the mix of passengers. Rise in cost of Aussie dollar results to many travels from Australia than those coming in Australia. The process is good for the Qantas since the demand segment is strengthened that it has highest befits in revenue penetration. Concerning the issue, the exposure to exchange rate determines critical elements such as fuel price and interest rates which have a direct impact on the way the airway is operated. The leadership has to be guided by these factors in determining the charges subjected to the Qantas basing in mind that at the end of the day, profits have to be realized (Levi and Maurice. 2005, p. 23) The approach targets at converting long-term foreign currency borrowing to a shorter term of between 1 to 12 years. It is done to those currencies in which the company anticipates to have adequate net surplus cash flow. The revenue should be able to meet the actual deposit and debt utilized in the swap. Also, forward foreign exchange contracts are being used to hedge the currency from the foreign states. In the regard, the process has denominated borrowing with those currencies that have chances of creating a reasonable net cash flow. Also, both foreign exchange contracts and currency ways are utilized in the buying and selling of properties and equipment when denominated in a different currency (Sumbart ,2008, p. 18) Qantas as an organization also considers the approach of employing ways such as interest rate swaps, rate agreements, and options in controlling and managing interest rate risk exposure. The methods are utilized accordingly to help in balancing floating interest rates. To control currency risk, the company also has laid down policies that are strictly followed to the latter. It also carries out transactions with many customers from various regions targeting in reduction on the effect of risk in credit exposure. In this regard, studies show that in the year 2005, trade counterparties doubtful debt amounted to $1,027.9 million (Wilson and Alan, 2003, P. 32) Fluctuation on currency has an effect on exchange complexities This is because variations in money affect production of costs such as energy prices the economy at large and its interests rates. It also has a profound effect on revenue effect.it is due to the fact that as long as other home airfares are not adjusted to the standard exchange rate movement the shift will be impacted negatively to the currency of Australia such that it has lowered the Australian Dollar revenue (Frankfort-Nachimas and Chava.2011, p. 32). Despite the fact that doing business outside the country is barricaded by fluctuation in exchange rate, Qantas Airways is not profoundly affected by the issue due to the reason being, the currency in Australia is up there in comparison to other countries' money. Whenever the currency fluctuates, it results to fall in aggregate demand. In summary currency fluctuation in a reduction manner, have a negative impact on the cost of production such that the cost involved in production increases. Currency fluctuations resulting in an appreciation of the currency also impact the operation of a business such that the net exports decreases and also the cost of production are lowered in this process (European Commission, 2000:HTTP/ec.europa.eu). The organization has employed both external and internal approaches to managing the impacts to mitigate the risks. Some of the external methods include the use of: These external approaches are based on the financial derivatives. Organizations in this regard are proactive focusing on the future economic changes that might occur in the process of carrying out their routine activities targeting to realize achievements. They are therefore able to conduct both pre-selling and buying exercise of a given amount of currency at a defined rate in the future to avoid any changes that might occur in future that otherwise could affect the operation of the business. The company in this sense uses the current currency value in carrying out the future business activities hence when the time comes, whether changes have been manifested in the currency of the business or not affected by those changes (Pike and Richard.2013, p. 66). On the other hand, there is the utilization of international strategies in the business. They are used by an organization with the target of minimizing the currency risk group in the organization sphere itself. Companies in this sense have been able to utilize the features of its trading relationships without impacting the external money markets which prove that the process is natural to achieved by the organization. Some of the commonly employed approaches that are external in this regard entail; netting, matching and the choice of invoice currency (Bryman and Alan., 2007, p. 13). Creates unstable position for a business Organization facing sharp fall, are said to be unstable due to the fact that previous sales vary profoundly to the next new sales. In this regard, the sales registered in the next period to fall to a great extent and sharp reduction. In Swire group, studies indicate that the severity of the global economic downturn had a negative influence on Cathay Pacific from the second part of 2001 onwards and, while recently, it has impacted the level of property rentals. In this regard, a high debt of HK$16,756 million has been registered, according to the research conducted. The report on the company further reveals that gearing had also remained low at 22% despite a HK$6,802 million drop when the evaluation of the properties was conducted. Studies show that organizations such as Kiwi Group had the same crisis. In this regard, the organization had reported a net profit of $ 58 million, a large margin drop from the previous year $131 million profit (James, 2005, p. 12). Sharp fall has led to cut costs of production and even loss of jobs. Research also indicated that Qantas underwent a similar crisis which forced the organization to make a significant restructure of systems. The organization was forced to cut 500 jobs and also signaled for the shutting down of some parts of the company. The company encountered a drop of 83% drop in comparison to last year. Hence, need to make adjustments to save the company from collapsing (Gunther, 2010, p. 1). Other companies have been able to offer stiff competition to the Swire group. Swire group is facing stiff competition from Chinese airline due to sharp fall instances by the organization. The organization also has encountered fewer premium class passengers (Steve, 2013, web; HTTP/en.m) Whenever a sharp fall has been registered, there is need to carry out hedging to control more losses from being incurred. Methods in this consideration aim at managing the risks of finances of an organization to minimize the risks. Various approaches are used by different companies as an approach to the issue of hedging. These methods are as discussed below: To begin with, organizations have adopted the strategy of back to back hedging that involves an open position in the business in which the company is immediately closed. The approach is achieved by, for example, purchasing the commodity on the direct market. It is usually utilized in the case. Another approach to hedging is tracker hedging. The method involves a pre-purchase strategy employed by the organization where the open position decreases as the date of closer maturity become closer. An appropriate example is the retail price of the commodity when it is influenced by its longtime wholesale price subjected to it (Elizabeth, Oltheten and Wasp, 2012, p. 353). Thirdly, delta hedging is another approach utilized to mitigate the financial risk of an option. The commodity in this instant is acquired with an inverse price movement. The organization may also employ risk reversal approach that entails buying a call option and releasing a put option. Business may even approach on hedging process by using an investment that targets at decreasing undesired risks through matching of cash flows (Jorion and Philippe, 2009, p. 45). Conclusion To conclude, Swire group in investing in the Qantas will only succeed if adequately managed, dealing with issues to do with currency fluctuations and functional approaches to risk management. Also, the matters to do with hedging need to be put into consideration. Mechanism needs to be put in place to ensure that the organization does not encounter the issue to do with sharp fall that otherwise may result in the collapse of the business. References Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2010, Doing business in Australia. Hong kong: Australi Bureau of statistics. Bryman and Alan. 2004, Managing Risk in international Business Finance. Thomson: Thomson business press. Eitenman, David and Stinehill 2007. Multinational business finance. Thompson south western: Pearson Education. Elizabeth, Oltheten and Wasp. 2012, Financial Markets. New York: Great River technologies.,. European Commission 2008, an organization for economic Development and corporation. Business report. New york European Commision. Frankfort-Nachimas and Chava, 2011, New Research methods in social sciences. New York: S.t Martins press. Gunther, Kalenbock.2010, New Approaches to hedging. Armsterdam: Brill. Jorion and Philippe.2009, Financial Risk manager handbook. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Levi and Maurice. 2005, International finance. New York: Routledge, Moffete, Michael, and Arthur, 2009. Stonehill. Fundamentals of Multinational finance. Boston:Addison-Wesley. Pike and Richard. 2013, Revised Corporate Finance and investment. New York: Prentice hall Smith, Williams, and John. Paglia. 2005, The link between price and profit Margin in the globalmarket. Business Report. New York: The Glozialo Business Report.Steve, Creedy.2013, Qantas to Hike fuel charges. Hongkong: web. Summary, Daniel.2008, Corporate strategies of currency risk management. New york: Changshuschool. Thomas, Ian. 2003, Reseach methods and organizational studies. Unwin Hyman: oxford University press. Wilson and Alan. 2003, Marketing research, an integrated approach to marketing. McGraw Hill:Pearson Education.

Case Study of Gillette Company-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Case Study of Gillette Company. Answer: This paper aims to discuss the Gillette Company which launched the first blade system in 1998. The Company embraced technology and it introduced the five-blade system to outdo its competitors (Nye, 2016). However, the three-blade system was the significant element of the Gillette Company. Also, the three-blade system was introduced to minimize the irritation which was caused by the three-blade system when shaving. Therefore, the Gillette has its pros and cons in the marketing strategies as discussed in this paper. To begin with the pros, The Gillette embraced a new technology to improve the designs in the market. Through the strategy of embracing new technology Gillette would maintain its customers. The Gillette employed the strategy for success by launching the five-blade system to reduce the irritation caused to the customers when using the product (Dhebar, 2016). The marketing plan for the Gillette became more aggressive when they launched the new products. Therefore, the Gillette made a high profit and tried to outdo its key competitors in the market. On the other hand, the Gillette has cons in the marketing strategies as outlined in this paper. Due to the new technology, the Company was obliged to retrain the staff for them to understand the technology (Barrow Stowers, 2013). At the same time the Gillette minimized the loyalty for the customers hence the market share declined. Also, the aggressive marketing rollout strategy caused the Gillette to incur costs in advertising the products. Also, the Gillette received criticism due to the campaigns held when marketing the products (Stowell, Stowell,Grogan Grogan, 2017). The launching of the Fusion Razor was a significant failure for the Gillette. In conclusion, the Gillette has employed good marketing strategies to help in attracting and maintaining the customers hence increase their satisfaction. Despite the marketing strategies, the Gillette has experienced challenges. However, there are many clients who are satisfied with it References Barrow, C., Stowers, D. (2013).U.S. Patent No. D674,547. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Dhebar, A. (2016). Razor-and-Blades pricing revisited.Business Horizons,59(3), 303-310. Nye, J. V. (2016). What do we really know about durable goods monopolies? The Coase conjecture in economics and its relevance for the safety razor industry. InThe Elgar Companion to Ronald H. Coase(pp. 222-234). Edward Elgar Publishing. Stowell, D. P., Stowell, D. P., Grogan, C. D., Grogan, C. D. (2017). The Best Deal GiIlette Could Get? Procter Gamble's Acquisition of Gillette.Kellogg School of Management Cases, 1-18.