Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The House On Mango Street Character Analysis - 760 Words

Facing Maturity Maturity is reaching to the point where one asks themselves who they are as a person and who they want to be. It’s when one starts searching for the answers. Maturity is when one becomes their own best friend, their own priority. It’s when one knows what is and who is good for themselves and to protect them. In the novel The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros the narrator, Esperanza, reveals her story about how she tries to find her true self. As she enters womanhood, she develops her identity and changes drastically as she gets a better understanding of her sexuality, heritage, and her as a person. In Cisneros’ House on Mango Street, Esperanza evolves from an insecure girl to a mature young lady as she becomes†¦show more content†¦When Esperanza wears the shoes, she gets comments from boys and men for the first time of her life, which shows her pleasure of wanting people to notice her. Overall, Esperanza changes from being self-c onscious to confident. Esperanza also evolves as she becomes aware of her responsibilities. In the beginning of the story, Esperanza was only concerned with her own desires. This is displayed in the vignette â€Å"The House on Mango Street† when she wishes for a â€Å"real house that would be [theirs]...[their] house would have running water...real stairs...like the houses on TV†¦[their] house would be white...a great big yard†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (4) This portrays the American Dream. The way Esperanza describes the house she dreams of having one day, displays her insecurity at being poor since she has never lived in a house where there was running water or more than one bathroom. Moreover, dreaming of this house shows how desperate she is to escape her neighborhood because she does not want to be identified with, in her eyes, an ugly house. Esperanza is so invested in having a beautiful house instead of an ugly house, that she isn’t thinking about anyone but herself. However, Esperanzaâ€℠¢s maturity becomes evident when she starts to accept the responsibilities of a woman. For instance, in the vignette â€Å"Mango says Goodbye Sometimes† she says that â€Å"[she] [has] gone away to come back.Show MoreRelatedThe House On Mango Street Character Analysis1048 Words   |  5 Pagesworld. It usually isn’t an encouraging judgement though. Throughout the book, The House on Mango Street, the message of judgement of others being cruel is revealed. This isn’t just in Esperanza, the main character, but everyone in the book. It is important that everyone in the book progresses and matures as a person because, it causes everyone to become more together. This all proves the claim of, The House on Mango Street portrays an aspect of maturity by showing that what people imagine about othersRead MoreThe House On Mango Street Character Analysis706 Words   |  3 Pagescome to be. The main character, Esperanza from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, i s an excellent example of that; Esperanza is an insecure young Latina girl who is shaped by her family as she grows up. In the novel, Esperanza has the perspective of life from the experience of living in poverty. Esperanza dreams of a perfect home with amazing flowers and enough rooms that everyone in her family would each have one. However, she moves to the house on Mango Street, and reality is so differentRead MoreThe House On Mango Street Character Analysis1116 Words   |  5 Pages000 people in the United States move annually. In the book The House on Mango Street the main character Esperanza and her family are included in this number. They Come very poor roots, and they dont have much money. They move often, one day dreaming to live in a real house, one they dont have to share, one with their own yard, with stairs that are not hallway stairs, etc. They finally move into this beaten up house on Mango street, Her family is in love with it and act like its their dream, however Read MoreCharacter Analysis of Esperanza in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros1207 Words   |  5 PagesEsperanza, a strong- willed girl who dreams big despite her surroundings and restrictions, is the main character in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Esperanza represents the females of her poor and impoverished neighborhood who wish to change and better themselves. She desires both sexuality and autonomy of marriage, hoping to break the typical life cycle of woman in her family and neighborhood. Throughout the novel, she goes through many different changes in search of identity and maturityRead MoreThe House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros766 Words   |  3 Pageswriting a literary analysis on â€Å"The House on Mango Street† by Sandra Cisneros. This story takes place in the center of an over populated Latino neighborhood in Chicago, a city where many of the poor areas are ethnically segregated. This novella uses two main symbols shoes and trees. Later in the literary analysis I will explain what these mean to the main characters. There are three main characters in the novella Esperanza, Sally and Nenny (short for â€Å"Magdalena†). The House on Mango Street tells the lifeRead MoreAnalysis Of The House On Mango Street 1367 Words   |  6 PagesBaker ENG 102 – 2006 14 April 2017 Esperanza’s Mango Street The House on Mango Street is a short novel that packs a strong and deliberate message. At first, when reading the first few chapters, one assumes that this book is going to be a simple story about some young girl’s life, but as the reader continues to read on, that perspective about the story changes because of the story’s complexity. The House on Mango Street has received many praises amongst critics for its well-definedRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The House On Mango Street1163 Words   |  5 PagesEzra Collins English 9: Tetlak Literary Analysis: The House on Mango Street November 3, 2017 Remember Where Your From The House on Mango Street On average 40,093,000 people in the United States move annually. In the book The House on Mango Street the main character Esperanza and her family are included in this number. They Come very poor roots, and they don t have much money. They move often, one day dreaming to live in a real house, one they don t have to share, one with their own yard, withRead MoreWorld History Essay1533 Words   |  7 PagesSummer Reading Assignment Name: ____ __________________ 10th Grade The House on Mango Street Before returning to school next school year, you will need to read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and complete this assignment. This organizer is intended to guide your reading and focus your thoughts in preparation for the discussions, summer reading quiz and writing assignments you will engage in when you return in September. By carefully completing this assignment overRead MoreEssay on House On Mango Street1074 Words   |  5 Pagesdegradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza’s stories were about women’s dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel’s in distress].CLICHamp;Eacute;, it’s ok though. It’s relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escapeRead MoreThe Development Of Girls1172 Words   |  5 Pagesthe ideal that Western culture has insisted upon†¦ long legs, long arms, small waist, high round bosom, and long neck† (DuCille 217). Society has perpetuated a culture where girls strive to be perfect – craving this Western ideal of beauty with a big house and nice c ar. Society has also created a stereotype women are expected to fit into. Philosopher Marilyn Frye explains oppression and describes how, â€Å"There is a women’s place, a sector, which is inhabited by women of all classes and races, and it is

Sunday, December 15, 2019

CAD/USD Exchange Rate Free Essays

The Canadian dollar has significantly appreciated against the U. S. dollar since the beginning of 2000. We will write a custom essay sample on CAD/USD Exchange Rate or any similar topic only for you Order Now The CAD/USD exchange rate (currency in USD) increased from 0. 686 to 1. 015 as of March 18, 2011. There was a trend of CAD appreciation in 2003-2008, followed by a rapid depreciation in the second half of 2008. Since the beginning of 2009, CAD has risen sharply and has been trading about at par with USD for the last two years. The recent CAD appreciation was caused by a number of factors and lead to certain economic consequences, which are discussed next. Causes of the Canadian Dollar Appreciation Appreciation of the Canadian dollar in the last years can be explained by internal factors, such as performance of Canadian economy and interest rates, and external factors, such as commodity prices and weakness of the U. S. economy. State of Canadian economy. Canada has been quickly recovering from the recent recession. For the year 2010, real GDP grew 3. 1%, following a decline of 2. 5% in 2009. Strong economy makes Canada an attractive target for investors who seek secure returns. This raises the demand for the Canadian currency and, therefore, pushes the exchange rate upward. This argument is supported by the exchange rate fluctuations in the above graph. The Canadian dollar was rising as the economy began to recover in the late 2009. State of the U. S. economy. Rise in CAD/USD exchange rate can be largely attributed to depreciation of the U. S. dollar. The U. S. dollar has historically been a safe investment target for many investors. However, now this situation is changing and demand for the currency is falling. The U. S. economy has been facing serious difficulties in the recent years. The country’s trade deficit was almost $500 billion in 2010, a 33% increase from 2009. The U. S. s also the world largest borrower with a $4,453 billion of foreign debt. Weak economy and high uncertainty are turning investors away from the American dollar, which is supported by its depreciation against other major currencies. Commodity prices. As Canada is a large producer and exporter of raw materials, the Canadian dollar is strongly affected by commodity prices. Many commodity prices, especially gold and copper, have been rising recently, making the associated industries more profitable and strengthening the Canadian economy. Strong economy, in turn, attracts more investor, and the Canadian dollar appreciated due to increased demand. Interest rate differentials. The U. S. Federal Reserved has lowered the interest rate to current 0. 25% since 2008 in order to stimulate the economic growth. Canada currently has a higher interest rate of 1% and thus attracts more investors for its short-term assets. Demand for the Canadian dollar increases and puts an upward pressure on the exchange rate. Consequences of the Canadian Dollar Appreciation Effect on trade. The exchange rate has an important impact on Canadian trade performance, especially with its largest trading partner, the U. S. The Canadian economy significantly relies on its export activity, but stronger Canadian dollar makes the country’s exports more expensive to foreigners and can decrease the trading volume. According to Statistics Canada, exports to the U. S. fell in 2009 by 36. 4%. Exports then increased slightly in 2010, but still the amount was around C$73. 6 billion under the 2008 level. To prevent their exports from falling and keep their market share, Canadian companies have to lower their price and sacrifice some profit. However, decline in exports should not be attributed only to the currency appreciation. The U. S. economical health and trade agreements also affect the trading activity between two countries. On the other side, Canadian importers benefit from the currency appreciation. Canadian manufacturers can acquire materials, machinery and equipment at a lower cost, which leads to increased capital investment and productivity growth. Thus, strong currency is harmful to exporters and beneficial to importers. The dollar appreciation decreases Canadian export and increases imports, which negatively affects the trade balance and lower GDP’s growth. However, lower import costs offset negative consequences of export decline, and the total effect of the currency appreciation becomes muted. Effect on industries and provinces. Not all industries are affected evenly by the currency appreciation. Manufacturers that heavily depend on exports of their production are affected the most. Such industries include forestry, transportation equipment, and machinery. Imported inputs, however, should also be taken into account when assessing the total effect of the appreciation. Industries that use high imported content in their production are less hurt by the rising dollar. For example, transportation equipment industry highly depends on export, but it also has high ratio of imports to production and can profit from cheaper imports. On the contrary, industries that heavily rely on exports but use low foreign content in production, such as forestry, are affected most adversely. The same logic applies to Canadian provinces. Highly export-oriented provinces such as Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia are influenced significantly by the currency appreciation. Effect on unemployment. Rising Canadian dollar makes labour costs comparatively higher and increase the total production costs in export-oriented industries. Profit margin falls, and manufacturers decrease their labour force. They also add more machinery and equipment as the imported capital become more attractive due to the appreciating dollar. For example, in 2010, manufacturing sector experienced a loss of 37,000 jobs compared to 2009. This decrease in employment can be partially explained by the stronger dollar. Effect on productivity. Stronger Canadian dollar can have a positive impact on the country’s productivity. Productivity greatly affects the country’s living standard. Improved productivity results in higher output, profits, wages and, eventually, the standard of living. As exchange rate increases, Canadian output becomes relatively less competitive in international markets, and domestic companies start to lose their profits. Competition among manufacturers gets more intense, and companies try to retain their profits by increasing their productivity through investment in more efficient machinery and equipment. Companies’ capital to labour ratio rises due to lower cost of imported equipment, and increased use of capital leads to improved productivity in the long run. With lower exchange rate, Canadian firms are more profitable and have more money for capital investment, but with stronger dollar, imported capital and materials become relatively cheaper. On the other hand, higher exchange rate makes Canada less attractive for foreign direct investment because of relatively higher labour costs. The extent of this effect is limited, but the country still loses potential productivity gains. It is important for Canada to increase its productivity and relative competitiveness for the long-run strengthening of the economy in order to make the effects the currency appreciation less severe. To conclude, the appreciation of the Canadian dollar caused by a number of factors has a considerable effect on the country’s trade balance, industries, employment and productivity. However, these causes and consequences should not be considered in isolation but rather interdependently, and fundamentals such as economic performance of Canada or the U. S. should be taken into account. How to cite CAD/USD Exchange Rate, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Business Corporates Report Business Report

Question: You need to do an essay (covering the materials in your class notes) - considering accounting, conceptual framework (prudence) and a critical analysis of the existing system and what is working, perhaps why the system is not operating at optimum level - consideration of the role that executive remuneration (eg bonus) may be a contributing factor but also more detailed discussion of other reasons also. Please do this by referencing corporate reports of company(s) of your choice to demonstrate your understanding. Answer: Introduction: Caltex- a company associated with oil and lubricants is the largest retailer and transport fuel suppliers have petroleum branches all over the world. The corporation was started in the year 1936 as a joint venture between the company of Texas and the standard oil company of California. It sources and refines around 61 million barrels of crude oil in a year and supplies almost Australias transport fuel (2014). As per the Australian Securities Exchange Caltex is the only marketing and oil refining company. As per the reports up to March 2015, half of the Caltex was owned by the Australian shareholders and the rest by the Chevron. It operates the largest retail network of oil in Australia. By August 2012, it has two petroleum refineries in Australia. The company has both managerial and non-managerial heads. Generally, the company basically focuses on executive directors rather than non-managerial directors. The part given to the executive directors is to run and direct the company effic iently (Gibbs 2014). This study investigates about the position of non-executive directors of the company. In the given case after analyzing the annual report of the company we came to know that the company needs to present an audited report to meet the certain queries of the public. Analysis of Remuneration Report of the company: Before giving any decision let us understand the meaning of Directors Report. It is made in order to get an idea about the companys financial position, its structural capacity and so on. In the present case after analyzing the directors report from companys annual report 2015 we got an idea about companys market position. We can see that company has made certain changes in his management during the year. The remuneration structure of the directors is cited below: As per companys policy non-executive directors are entitled to get remuneration with an increase of 3% during the year. After summarizing the balance sheet of the company we can get a basic idea about companys turnover during the year. As per the given data we can easily see that the companys market position according to balance sheet is not good in comparison to last year balance sheet. The investment made in joint ventures shows a huge downfall of 15,715 thousands of dollars. It does not create a good impact on companys goodwill. But if we look through the income statement we can see that the company has a good provision to meet with the net loss in their joint venture during the year in comparison to past year. Earlier the company had a negative balance but now it has a positive balance of 1,326 thousands of dollars. If we compare both the reports we can get a brief idea that the company is trying to obtain profit in order to receive bonus payment which is not beneficial for the c ompany in the long run. Issues regarding Remuneration: According to the law the company can increase the remuneration of its director up to 11% after passing a resolution in the meeting. This amount does not include non-executive directors. In case of non-executive directors the company is necessary to pay an amount which cannot exceed 3% of the net profit. In this case the company has increased the required percentage according to the guidelines as prescribed by the board. The company can give further benefits to the non-executive directors based on their effort and time given to the company. Non-Executive directors have an increased role in the company so proper attention is needed to be paid towards them otherwise they can lead to weaker governance by advancing their self interest ahead of companys interests. While comparing the financial statements of the company we can assume that non-directors of the company have created some kind of self-interest because of this reason the financial statement is not matching. As per Australian Acc ounting Board the company has to make certain disclosures in their cash flow statement. In the given case the company has disclosed all the relevant disclosures in their statement, all the necessary details of cash outflow and inflow have been mentioned by the company in a relevant manner. So, it can be said that non-executive directors are not damaging the companys control in the market. Consolidation of the records as per GPFR method: It should be noted that a form of differential financial reporting has been integrated under the Australian Accounting Standards as a body in Reporting concept. A reporting entity should be prepared for General Purpose Financial Report, which complies with the AAS. On the other hand, non-covering business organizations must prepare the Special Purpose Financial Report, which is in less observance with the Australian Accounting Standard. There are quite a lot of companies, which depends on the Australian Accounting Standard so that it can evaluate the future significance of profitability under the reporting concept within the aspects of AAS. To facilitate the profitability of a business entity a changeover has been made which covers the differential aspects of reporting framework in accordance with the GPFRs (Deegan 2013). It is noteworthy to denote that the makers of financial statements and their accountants should constantly assess whether the current fiscal reporting structure is appropriate and if essential may take required steps to guarantee gentle operation of business entity. GPFRs are intended to meet the needs of the users who are not in the desired point to control the financial report modified to meet up the needs of the users. Consolidation of Inventory: Inventory means goods or material which a company holds with the purpose of resale in the next year. It takes into consideration the carrying cost of the material, valuation of inventory, forecasting of demand and inventory, and so on. The reason behind keeping an inventory is to manage scale of economies, uncertainties and seasonal demand. Demand and supply keeps on changing so the company needs to keep a track record of the stocks to meet the proper demand. As in the given case the company has an opening balance of 14,574 thousands of dollars for the year 2016. After looking the other annualized report the company has a good stock to meet its demand during the year in case of crisis. The company has not overvalued or undervalued its stock to ascertain extra profit. So, it can be said that the act of the company is as per the law. Hence, the company is not trying to create any false profit. Consolidation of Accounts receivable: An important framework denotes that the companies record their accounts receivable in the financial statement, which is based on the sales record. It should be noted that overstating the accounts receivable might straightforwardly inflate the dimension of a company balance sheet. According to the Australian Accounting Standards Boards, companies usually report their assets at their actual cost but they re-examine and make necessary arrangements over time based on an assets changing fair market value (Kang and Gray 2013). Accounts receivable are recorded in the form of current assets in the financial statement and hence, overemphasizing the receivable of accounts will result in unadjusted thus carrying an inflated value of the originally reported accounts receivable. It should be noted that the carrying value or the fair market value of outstanding accounts receivable is the sum of actually recorded accounts receivable deducted by the sum of incalculable or doubtful accounts. Any incalculable accounts receivable are unpaid obligations by consumers becomes a part of a write off expenses for the enterprise. However, it should be noted that not considering any uncollectible customers accounts, overstating accounts the accounts receivable would understate the bad debts operating expense of an organization. Hence, those bad debts expenses might have been reported under the companys income statement in the form of subtraction from revenue. Therefore, overstating the accounts receivable will indirectly overstate the net income of the company reported in the financial statement (Chua et al. 2012). When net income is near to retained earnings at the end of the financial period, retained earnings in the form of equity in the balance sheet is also overvalued. It is noteworthy to denote that companies have on few occasions have referred to the accounts receivable for calculation of cash flow statement. Nevertheless, business entities avoid having overvalued accounts receivable when they decide to write off those, which are deemed uncalculable. Consolidation of Transfer Pricing: Transfer pricing means a method to set off the price of goods and services in between the subsidiary company to its parent company. It is the tool to avoid tax avoidance in the company. As per the companys given data we can see that there is a huge difference in the tax structure of the company. If we look into the share of net profit of associated entities we can see that the company has more than three times the value from the previous year. To this we can say that the company has maintained a good track record with its associated entities but overall if we look into the total of tax expenses we can see that the company has a high percentage increase in the tax amount. This can burden the company of paying the amount out of its profit. In order to cut off the amount the company may not show the actual value of it profit or may represent wrong financial statement during the year. So, the company has to keep a track on the expenses to accumulate the profit during the year. The property plant and the equipment column are maintained as per the AASB norms by the company. The PPE analysis from the annual report clearly state that the company is able to maintain a sufficient amount of the net carrying amount in compared to the year 2014. The PPE amount for the year 2015 has been observed to be $ 2,602,865 and in the year 2014, it was only $ 2,363,672. In the cash flows from then investing activities of the company, it had been observed that Caltex Australia Limited was able to increase the Net proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment (Hu et al. 2015). This increase was an amount from $ 25290 to $ 43095.The PPE of the companys composed of the various types of the components such as the inclusion of freehold land at cost and the Accumulated impairment losses. The property of the company also takes into the account the cost of the building at both cost and the various type of accumulated depreciation on the impairment of losses. In this section then company was seen an increase in the losses by an amount of 2% (Laing and Perrin 2014). Hence, the company needs to considerably improve the amount of the impairment on the losses. The PPE value also takes into account the various types of the cost related to the lease hold property both at the cost level and the accumulated amortization of the same. Hence, it can be observed that the company adheres to then various type of the guideline provided by the AASB conceptual framework. Under plant section of the company the company is observed to maintain the plant and the equipment both at cost and Accumulated depreciation and impairment losses (Yao et al al. 2013). Liabilities leases intangible assets notes look for evidence of any leasing Contingent legal liabilities where companies have had to pay out legal obligations due to issues From the liabilities and the leases analyses of the company, it can be stated that the company is observed to increase the leasehold property value from $ 74,762 in the year 2014 to $ 76,423 in the year 2015. The various type of the leased assets for the company are grouped under the PPE of them company (Chalmers et al. 2012). The intangibles of the company are seen to be decreased from an amount of $ 157,473 to $ 163,035. The intangibles of the company further states that the companys year endings intangibles was observed to be $ 779000 (Pawsey and Crase 2013). The intangible of the companys groups and the assets was further observed to $ 8101000 which represent the amount of the money paid to Scotts for the purpose of the customer relationship and meeting the criteria for then for the purpose of the various types of the trade requirements. In the statement showing the reconciliation of the net profit of the company it has been observed that the company is seen to be amortization of the various types the intangibles. The decrease in the intangible of the company is observed due to the impairment of the software by $12 million in the year 2015 (Russell 2014). Implementing Prudence Method: Prudence is a method where we cannot overestimate our revenues or underestimate our expenses. In other words it can be said that it is done only when we want to record the revenues which are certain and expenses which are probable. In case of Caltex after examining the given report we came to know that the company has tried to adopt this method so that they can ascertain the actual value of their assets and liabilities during the year. This method somehow becomes useful to them. Conclusion: After analyzing the whole annual report of the company we can conclude that the company has not adopted any wrongful means of business. Certain changes were made by the company during the year so that the company can earn the profit in the future. The company has maintained its goodwill by adopting all the fair means of business without harming any other entities. The market value of the company keeps on fluctuating during the year. If we compare the past historical records of the company we can easily get an idea about the fluctuating financial condition of the company. Not only the historical records if we look the sales figure of the company we can say that during the year company sales were affected by 0.7% in comparison to the last year which is not so high but can affect the companys profit margin. As per the data the company has a huge amount of RCOP during the year in comparison to the last five years record. So, somehow the company is trying to manage the situation and it is expected that the company will overcome the margin in the near future. It manages to promote the confidence of investors by ensuring them that the company is dealing in an informed market. They meet all the disclosures based on the listing rules of ASX. Reference list: Deegan, C., 2013.Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Kang, H. and Gray, S.J., 2013. Segment reporting practices in Australia: Has IFRS 8 made a difference?.Australian Accounting Review,23(3), pp.232-243. Chua, Y.L., Cheong, C.S. and Gould, G., 2012. The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on accounting quality: Evidence from Australia.Journal of International Accounting Research,11(1), pp.119-146. Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K. and Howieson, B., 2015.Issues in financial accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU. Goh, L. and Gupta, A., 2015. Remuneration of Non-Executive directors: Evidence from the UK.The British Accounting Review. NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSSELF-INTEREST: FIDUCIARY DUTIES AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE(Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia). Chalmers, K., Clinch, G., Godfrey, J.M. and Wei, Z., 2012. Intangible assets, IFRS and analysts earnings forecasts. Accounting Finance, 52(3), pp.691-721. Hu, F., Percy, M. and Yao, D., 2015. Asset revaluations and earnings management: Evidence from Australian companies. Corporate Ownership and Control, 13(1), pp.930-939. Laing, G.K. and Perrin, R.W., 2014. Deconstructing an accounting paradigm shift: AASB 116 non-current asset measurement models. International Journal of Critical Accounting, 6(5-6), pp.509-519. Pawsey, N. and Crase, L., 2013. The mystique of water pricing and accounting. Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics and policy, 32(3), pp.328-339 Russell, M., 2014. Capitalization of Intangible Assets and Firm Performance. Yao, D.F., Percy, M. and Hu, F., 2013. Fair values and audit fees: Evidence from asset revaluations in Australia.