Monday, September 30, 2019

Christian Views on Racial Harmony and Religious Freedom Essay

St. Paul taught Christians that other races and religions were equal in the eyes of God. â€Å"It is through faith that all of you are God’s sons in union with Christ Jesus. You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself. So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. It is because believers share a love of Jesus that they are equal, St Paul says. The Bible opens up with a description of God creating humans in his own image, therefore, Christians believe that everybody should be respected as God’s creation. This means that prejudice and racism are wrong. There are many more teachings in the Old and New testaments which reinforce this, like the Good Samaritan. Most modern Christians believe that people should be free to follow whatever they like, or none at all. There are, however, three different Christian approaches to religious freedom. Exclusivism: Some people are excluded from heaven. Jesus said â€Å"I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one goes to the father except by me. † Some Christians believe this means that only those who follow Christian beliefs can go to heaven. Inclusivism: Some Christians believe that while all religions can help to reach god, only Christianity has the complete answer. This is because Jesus taught that people should believe in him to get to heaven, and only Christians believe in Jesus as the Son of God. This is often the view held by Roman Catholic Christians. While other faiths should be respected, the right path should be explained to them. Pluralism There are many religions. Some Christians believe that all religions will lead to God, none is superior and none is wrong. People are free to followthe way that suits them best. These Christians do not regard the Bible as ‘the word of God’, but rather as holy writings like many other sacred books. These Christains do not think they should try to persuade people to change their religion.

Caste System and Religion of Aryans Essay

The second group was of priests, scholars and philosophers and were called Brahmans. These two groups struggled politically for leadership among the Aryans. In this struggle the Brahmans got to be the leaders of the Aryan society. The third group was named as Vaishyas and people of this group were farmers, traders, merchants and craftsmen. The lowest caste were Shudras and were considered as non- Aryans. Members of Shudras were laborers, peasants and servants of other castes. Vaishyas took control of many parts of the region and they made local people their servants. So with the passage of time the Vaishyas who were the farmers and craftsmen became the landlords and businessmen of the society. There was another caste consisted of local people and were called â€Å"Untouchables†. They were not considered as a caste infect. They were outcaste. They were used to perform the least desirable activities like cleaning toilets, dealing with dead bodies etc. They were disallowed to touch high caste and stand at some distance from high castes. This is not enough. Well, they have some other restrictions too. They were not allowed to enter holy places, schools and were not allowed to even touch the things belong to high castes. In some parts of Southern India, even the sight of untouchables was thought to be polluting so they were forced to sleep during the day and work at night. To remain an upper caste of the society, Aryans resolve some rules. The castes were to identify the occupation of people of that caste and some marriage restrictions were also imposed. Castes were unchangable groups. A person belong to one caste can never change his caste. One had to lived, married, ate and worked within one’s own caste. A everything has its own advantages and drawbacks. So the caste system of Aryans also benefited them in some aspects. Marriages within the caste ensured continuity of occupation as the sons usually followed the fathers occupation. This reduced unemployment and brought about perfection of several arts and crafts. Furthermore, since the caste system was based on the principle of division of labor, the Aryans were able to establish and maintain a sound economy. But soon caste system became a social evil. It suppressed an individual’s talent and became an obstacle for his personal development. It gave rise to untouchability and acted against the feeling of common brotherhood. Due to this injustice, many people left it and converted to Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. Religion Aryans seem to have believed in monotheism. They believed that God is one, but he is called by many names. The early Aryans worshipped phenomena of nature in the form of nature gods. They have male or female gods to which they were used to worship. Indra  was the god of strength, foremost in battle, always ready to smite dragons and demons and to destroy cities. He was the God of thunder, the rainmaker. Agni  considered as the God of fire and marriages were solemnized in the presence of fire. Fire was the purest of the five elements and was held in high esteem. Surya  (Sun),  Savitri  (a solar deity to whom the famous Gayatri mantra is dedicated). Varuna  was the god of water. He was the sustainer of plant and animal life. It was his responsibility to uphold the natural order. Soma  (god of intoxicating juice soma). Yama  the god of death and had a prominent place. Vayu   (the god of winds). Prithvi  was the goddess of Earth Usha, the goddess of Dawn. Although a large number of gods are referred to in the Vedas, yet they were polytheistic and believed that there is one god only but with different names. They believed in one god who is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the whole universe and called him Ishwar. Although, Aryans worshiped different signs of powers but yet they believe in only one god. So this can be concluded that they believe in monotheism. This concept is still present among Hindus. They worship Sun, Moon and many other powers as well as many gods. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://adaniel. tripod. com/historycaste. htm [ 2 ]. Dowling, Mike, â€Å"The Caste System of Ancient India at mrdowling. com,† available from http://www. mrdowling. com/612-caste. html; Internet; updated  Sunday, July 10, 2005  .  ©2009, Mike Dowling. [ 3 ]. http://indiansaga. com/history/aryans_religion. html

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Advertising Makes You Buy Things You Do Not Need!

Aim of this paper is to discuss the question whether advertising manipulates us to buy things we don't actually need. In other words, we would like to debate the issue of the impact of marketing and advertisement on our rational thinking and decision making process. Based on various examples, we would like to show that the statement can be proven to be true. We believe the statement can be denied only by either using different definition (understanding of advertising) or by argument that advertising manipulates only several groups of people that are vulnerable to be manipulated.Nevertheless, the previous statement only supports the validity of the statement. Man can argue that the behavior of the people depends on the individual personality, economic condition and the way a company advertises their product Ana ten Locknut offers given to ten product. Our point Is, Tanat tenure are various advertising techniques with various targets. Another big question is how can we Judge what kind of goods and services are necessary, and which good is bought only to show-off among their friends and relatives?What is a need, and what is Just a will? This paper will argue the manipulation via marketing exists and the advertisement is making us to buy things we do not actually need. We want to support the statement by using real examples, that are divided based on the common psychological effect or methods used to manipulate people's mind. We would like to stress the importance of psychology which is seen as a main tool used by advertising companies. Only via careful use of psychology are marketers able to create touching advertisements.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Management Theory and Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Theory and Practice - Essay Example The leaders, especially political leadership of the nations therefore, become major enabling elements of change. The paper would be discussing the leadership dynamics of Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of unified Germany. Angela Merkel, an exemplary leader of contemporary times Angela Merkel was an academician who had plunged into politics when efforts for unifying Germany had started with the fall of Berlin wall. Her party, ‘Democratic Awakening’ merged with Helmut Kohl’s ‘Christian Democratic Union’ in 1990. She was the last spokesperson for DDR, East Germany party. She had become the youngest federal minister in Germany in 1991 when she was made part of reshuffled cabinet of Kohl as federal minister, Women and Youth from 1991 to 1994. She was minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and Reactor Safety, 1994-98. She continued to excel in her designated ministerial position and rose within the party position to take up Chairpersonship of CDU i n Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 1993-2000. Her meteoric rise to General Secretary and later as Chairman of CDU had finally culminated in her becoming the Chancellor of unified Germany in 2005 (Mills, 2007). Her leadership has been unique in many ways. She was the only woman leader who had rapidly gained popularity in the otherwise male dominated political arena of Germany. Her leadership was also exceptional because she had become a major representative of former East Germany and a symbol of new unified nation that promoted a policy of non differentiation and non partisan. Merkel has defied the gender stereotype that makes it difficult for women candidates to excel in adverse conditions. Her leadership style, decision making model and her inherent leadership traits became her major strength in a volatile socio-political environment of new face of unified Germany. Leadership style The fall of Berlin Wall was momentous occasion in the history of Germany. It not only signified a new politica l equation of Germany on the world map but it also bespoke of the change that Germans were ready to embrace. Her fast track political career could best be attributed to her mixed style of leadership comprising of situational and transformational leadership style. She believed in taking advantage of the situation and ensured her position through strategic decisions that were designed to promote her long term goals of gaining political power. She did not hesitate to criticise her mentor, Kohl, in 1998 when he became embroiled in a major scandal involving donation. It was an opportune moment to gain political leverage which she took and became Chairperson of CDU, the major political party of unified Germany (Langguth, 2005). Merkel is a leader who intrinsically believes that dynamic reforms are needed to bring in constructive change for socio-cultural and economic stability of the country. Bass (1999, p9) argues succinctly ‘transformational leader emphasizes what you can do for y our country..’. Merkel introduced dramatic reforms in the foreign policy. Hill (2010) affirms that Merkel has displayed exemplary leadership initiatives in ‘five critical areas:Â  the economic crisis, social policy, global warming, foreign policy and, perhaps most importantly, in refashioning capitalism in the face of its near collapse’. It clearly shows her confidence in reforms for the wider welfare of Germany. Traits As a highly effective transformational

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Global warming Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global warming - Term Paper Example This essentially means that anything that is rich in carbon content and emits CO2 directly contributes to the global warming. There is a unique way in which the greenhouse gases interact with the sunlight that enables them to increase the temperature of the atmosphere. Sunrays reach the Earth but are not allowed to escape by the greenhouse effect. The sunlight is rich in energy and heat. As more of it is trapped in the atmosphere, the heat directly adds to the temperature of the atmosphere and the environment heats up. This is the fundamental reason why every successive summer is hotter than the preceding one. To much an extent, the natural disasters that have occurred in the recent years including the Katrina hurricane and the Tsunami can be attributed to the global warming. It so happens that with rise of temperature on the surface of Earth, the glaciers melt up. The water directly adds to the volume of water in rivers and seas. There has been a considerable increase in the water l evel in sea over the years as a result of the action of global warming, The added water becomes the root cause of tsunamis, floods and similar natural disasters. In addition to that, global warming is also causing several animal and plant species to become extinct. One such animal specie is polar bears that totally depend upon glaciers for their food, shelter and survival. They can only live in the habitat of a glacier. As the glaciers are melting away because of the global warming, so is the habitat of polar bears. Their life is endangered because of loss of habitat. If the carbon dioxide levels continue to increase at the present rate, it will not take the world long to become too hot to live in and the future generations would have to face the consequences of our environment-unfriendly practices. Since man is the fundamental cause of global warming, it is only man who can take measures to reduce it. In order to reduce the global warming, each and every individual assumes certain responsibilities. The easiest and indeed, the most effective way of reducing the global warming is more plantation. Trees are the biggest blessing of nature and have the most important role to play in reducing the global warming. In addition to planting more trees, it is equally important that we reduce the use of wood. A lot of wood is consumed into such unimportant purposes as making decoration pieces, making furniture or decorating the houses. All of these purposes can be achieved without the use of wood. In addition to growing plants, we can reduce the global warming by reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. This can be achieved by making use of solar energy instead of the conventional fossil fuels. Greg Craven, a high school teacher has written a book that has explored the issue of global warming in a unique way which is totally unlike the conventional way in which the issue has been discussed. The book shows a polar bear’s sad face on the cover page, which when fli pped over, shows the polar bear sitting in the chair which is burning on the back and the sides. In his book, (Craven) has explored the misunderstandings regarding global warming. In the start, Craven discusses whether people are panicked activists or mere skeptics of the global warming. Instead of relying on evidence to prove global warming a problem, Craven makes use of â€Å"confirmation bias† because it is a more objective way of showing global warming as a problem as compared to evidence. Craven believes that

Developing Manager Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Developing Manager - Assignment Example In this respect, it can be recognised that the company follows transformational style of leadership and management However, in the present competitive business scenario, the company is identified to face different unavoidable challenges relative to its employment aspect, ineffective customer services, lack of appropriate advertisement and pricing policies. The company also faced immense challenges in meeting the requirements of disabled customers. In this regard, there are several management and leadership styles that can be adopted by the company in order to effectively deal with the identified challenges and issues. Few prominent leadership styles that can be integrated by the company are discussed below: Leaders following authoritarian leadership style develop effective policies and ensure that the employees conduct their operations in accordance with the formulated policies. The leaders develop policies along with procedures on the basis of which employees should be managed. Additionally, the leaders are also entrusted with the responsibility of determining that the objectives are accomplished suitably. The leaders scrutinise the activities of the employees and in this regard, the employees are unable to perform in an autonomous manner (SAGE Publications, 2012). Contextually, this leadership might be suitable for Ryanair as the leaders will possess utmost authority is devising policies, values, missions and visions that are to be accomplished in order to ensure that the company performs effectively along with better profitability. However, this leadership style is identified to develop hostile situation due to conflicts, employee turnover and guarded communication among others. Res pectively, this leadership style might not be efficient in improving the productivity of the company owing to the challenges it faces presently (Warrick,

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Franchising--Just Dogs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Franchising--Just Dogs - Research Paper Example In the following report I have analysed the feasibility of marketing operations of opening a franchise of â€Å"Just Dogs† Gourmets Company in Washington, USA. I have analysed that the strategy of franchising will work if only the company works affectively on its promotion schemes and position strategies. The franchise will have to carry the same value proposition as laid down by the parent company and streamline its operations with it. In this way, the franchise will be able to gain innumerable benefits of the franchising strategy. SITUATION ANALYSIS Just Dogs! Gourmet is a dog food manufacturing company that specializes in all natural Dog treats and sells them through Bakeries throughout the United States. Handmade Dog delights and gourmet treats are the specialities of Just Dogs! Gourmet Company. As far as the franchising strategy and success of the company is concerned, it is counted among the Companies with the fastest growing franchises throughout the world. The company focus on providing the best Dog treats to the customers to ensure that every Dog in the target market is satisfied. Dog accessories are also some counted as the major products of the company. The company provides a lot of incentive for the franchisees in order to extend its business on the geographical landscape (Help, 2012). IT is also worth considering that the US pet food industry is growing at a very fast pace and only in 2009; the US people spent 12.6 billion dollars on the pets industry. This means that from an investors point of view, investing in a Dog food company for franchising is a very feasible job. Hence we have chosen the â€Å"Just Dogs!† Gourmet Company to analyse the prospects of franchising (Barnes, 2005). REASONS FOR CHOOSING JUST DOGS FRANCHISE OFFER: There are, in all 100000 dog food manufacturers in the United States and out of these only few offer appropriate franchising opportunities for business initiatives. Of these few people, we have chosen Just D ogs! Gourmet Company, because of the following reasons: The total investment that would be needed in establishing franchises $750000 to $150000. This counts a lot if the long term investment is considered. The franchising fee is only $25000 and the ongoing Royalty fee is 4%. The terms of Franchise agreement is 10 years which is enough to show the feasibility of a long term business solution considering the reputation of the company in the market (United States, 2011). Other than that, the company provides regular training facilities to the franchisee staff at its head quarters as well at the franchise vicinity. The company also offers a range of services to the employees at the franchise through toll free phones, Newsletters, meetings, guiding missions. The company also offers a strong marketing support to the franchises to ensure sales to full potential. Considering all these facts in mind we can easily conclude that the franchising offer of the company is a great business initiati ve opportunity. MARKET ANALYSIS We have chosen to open a franchise of Just Dogs! Gourmet in Washington, primarily because Washington seems to be a promising market for the business. According to reports, the total population of Washington is 6830038 while the number of housing units in the city is 2882677. According to reports, 65% of the households own dogs. This shows that the 1873740 houses can be the complete target market in the city. This figure is obviously optimistic and shows great prospects to the business. The

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Jails and Prisons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jails and Prisons - Essay Example (Champion, 151) The defendants who are kept in jails are individuals who have to serve a sentence for misdemeanor offenses, felons who have to do jail time as a condition of their probation and people who are awaiting trial and cannot make bail .(Bergman & Berman, 2008 ). Jails are also used to temporarily detain juveniles pending transfer to juvenile authorities. They are also used to retain mentally ill patients until they are sent to appropriate mental health institutions. .( Carlson and Garrett, 2007) Jails sometimes run community programs as alternatives to incarceration. Jails also hold offenders who are in contempt of court, are crime witnesses and are in protective custody. They also hold convicted felons who are going to be sent to state prisons.(Carlson and Garrett, 2007). Jails generally do not give emphasis to how inmates behave following release. There are exceptions e.g. alcoholic treatment programs and domestic violence programs that seek to reduce the likelihood of repeated domestic violence. However their prime focus is on safely managing people. (Goldstein, 2006). Prisons are long term confinement facilities housing felony offenders and parole violators serving sentences greater than one year. The federal and state government run such establishments and nowadays even private companies are allowed to take up the contracts for running prisons. (Caputo, 2004). Compared to jails, prisons are typically larger and range in custody level from minimum security to maximum security where the nation's most dangerous criminals are confined. (Caputo, 2004). Prisons are self sufficient and self contained. These self contained facilities have recreational yards, workout rooms, auditoriums for viewing feature films and small stores for the purchase of toiletries and other goods. (Champion, 2007) The functions of a prison according to Champion are to provide societal protection, punish offenders, rehabilitate offenders and reintegrate offenders by preparing them for reentry into society through vocational and educational training ,counseling and other institutional measures.(Champion , 2007) Provisions for death penalty are in place in state and federal prisons .Federal prisons may be minimum or maximum security. Maximum security prisons hold 52 percent of all state of all state prisoners .These are built to house dangerous criminals and to prevent them from harming security guards are one another. Minimum security prisons on the other hand have more freedom of movement, privileges and contact with the outside world . However it is the medium security prisons that hold 37 percent of all state prisoners. (Sellers, 1993) References: Bergman, P and Berman, S.( 2008). The Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System. Berkeley, CA: NOLO Carlson. M. and Garrett, J. S. (2007) Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory . Gaithersburg, MD: 2nd ed : Aspen Publishers. Caputo , G. (Oct 2004) Intermediate Sanctions in Corrections. USA: University Of North Texas Press

Monday, September 23, 2019

Participation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Participation - Essay Example What happens when a patient is in a vegetative state-- a state of coma as called in medical terminology? What is the significance of such life in its true sense? How many years the patient is likely to survive in such vegetative state? And many such issues can be discussed threadbare without bringing any personal opinion. It will be appropriate to quote some of the renowned authors, social reformists or medical experts to substantiate the arguments proposed. Only relevant quotes should be incorporated to highlight and strengthen the arguments. In-text citation is a must for the veracity of the arguments made in the essay. It should always be kept in mind that essay revolves around the thesis statement and the essay does not deviate from the main topic. (How to Write†¦) No easy is complete unless it takes into account diverse and opposite views. A full paragraph should be devoted in highlighting the diverse views on the subject. For example, in the topic of Euthanasia, misuse is a biggest apprehension in the minds of people. What are the remedial measures that can be devised to counter this threat? What legal formalities should be in place? What kind of people or committee should have been in charge to grant the euthanasia? Concluding paragraph summarizes main arguments already presented and reinforces the thesis statement from the arguments made. One can also discuss why paper topic is significant. Based on the above general outlines, any essay can be formulated logically in a concise and effective

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Electronic Medical Records and Safety Essay Example for Free

Electronic Medical Records and Safety Essay The article titled â€Å"Computer Security Experts Perspective on Electronic Medical Records† presents the views of an Information Technology (IT) security expert, Troy Thomas, on electronic medical records (EMR). Thomas is the Chief Security and Privacy Officer for KeyCorp which is the parent company of Key Bank. Thomas has a bachelors degree in Computer Information Sciences from Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH. Thomas asserts that the medical industry is slowly becoming computerized and, eventually, electronic medical records will be the norm. He points out that, however, getting from a highly distributed, paper-based model to a fully computerized EMRs model will be challenging. Changing to a more computerized EMRs model will introduce risks that the current paper-based model does not have and will solve some of the inherent risks associated with the current model. The current paper-based model inherently has the following risks: records are susceptible to fire, flood, mold, termites, decay, fading of ink, and misplacement of an entire folder or subsections. Paper records are easily copied or stolen, easily accessed by office personnel or people who just happen to be near an unattended folder of medical records. An EMRs model inherently has the following risks: computer equipment can fail or break, technology changes quickly, and information stored a long time ago may not be easily accessed at a future date. Information that was once stored can become inaccessible; information can be accessed by unauthorized individuals. Electronic information can be altered. Electronic components do not react well to fire, water, dust, dirt, humidity, being dropped, or being abruptly unplugged. To mitigate these inherent risks, modern computer centers have strict environmental controls to ensure that computer equipment is run in an optimal environment and is backed up and available at an alternative site (for disaster recovery purposes) and has proper security controls deployed to ensure that information can be accessed by authorized personnel only. Technology controls exist that can prohibit information from  being altered. For example, there are direct access storage devices that allow information to be written once and read many times. The inherent risks of the paper-based model and the EMRs model are vastly different but mitigating controls exist that can adequately address the basic inherent risks described thus far. Typical, practicing physicians, however, cannot be expected to set up a dedicated computer center with all of the environmental, phy sical, and logical access controls that are needed to adequately safeguard their patient records. Therefore, for true EMRs to be really secure, a model or protocol is needed whereby physicians store their patients medical records at a reputable and secure data center that offers the physicians an outsourced service for accessing and storing EMRs. Unfortunately, a centralized computing model introduces new inherent risks: for example, are the outsource agencies reputable and can they be trusted with patient medical record information? With medical record information coming in from multiple physicians, a unique patient identification number would be needed so that records could be appropriately combined within patient files. With so much information in one place, clear controls would be needed to ensure that the people accessing the information receive only the information that is truly needed. Ensuring that quality information is captured and maintaining patient privacy will be the most challenging aspects of EMRs. Computers dont improve quality. However, computers can make quality issues and mistakes much more visible and potentially harmful. The author highlighted that the EMRs journey will probably parallel some of the issues that exist with electronic voting where so many questions such as whether society can trust the vendors who sell the voting equipment. Can a vote be altered after it has been cast? How does society effectively centralize a highly decentralized model? Can foreign governments hack American voting equipment and influence an election? How is a persons voting history stored and secured? In the end, EMRs will be a reality in the healthcare industry. The benefits of centralized electronic patient medical records outweigh the risks associated with changing the model. Ultimately, it is a question of trust, not technology. Will physicians trust their patients to stay with them when their patient medical records are more easily transferred to another doctor? Will patients trust that their medical records are appropriately safeguarded against inappropriate access and that the information contained within their records is accurate and of high quality? Ultimately, Thomas believes the answer to these questions is yes in the long run.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Motive Behind Mergers And Acquisition

The Motive Behind Mergers And Acquisition INTRODUCTION Background Mergers and Acquisitions have gained substantial importance in todays corporate world. This process is extensively used for restructuring the business organizations. Some well known financial organizations also took the necessary initiatives to restructure the corporate sector of India by adopting the mergers and acquisitions policies. The  Indian economic reform since 1991 has opened up a whole lot of challenges both in the domestic and international spheres. The increased competition in the global market has prompted the Indian companies to go for mergers and acquisitions as an important strategic choice. The trends of mergers and acquisitions in India have changed over the years. The immediate effects of the mergers and acquisitions have also been diverse across the various sectors of the Indian economy. The Indian Economy has been growing at the fast rate and emerging as the most promising economy in the world. Be it in IT, RD, pharmaceutical, infrastructure, energy, consumer retail, telecom, financial services, media, and hospitality etc, there has been a sign of promising boom in the Indian economy. It is the second fastest growing economy in the world with GDP touching 8.9 % in 2010. Investors, big companies, industrial houses view Indian market in a growing and proliferating phase, whereby returns on capital and the shareholder returns are high. Both the inbound and outbound mergers and acquisitions have increased dramatically. According to Investment bankers, Merger Acquisition (MA) deals in India will cross $100 billion this year, which is double last years level and quadruple of 2005. Indias merger and acquisitions deal value in year 2010 reached almost US $50 billion which is three times of the deal value last year 2009. There were MA deals worth about $16 billion in 2009, down from close to US $40 billion in 2008. Definitions: Mergers: Mergers or amalgamation is combination of two or more companies to form as a single new company. In this process no fresh investment is made, however an exchange of shares takes place between the entities. In simple terms, a merger involves the mutual decision of two companies to combine and become one entity. Generally, merger is done between the two entities having similar size. Varieties of Mergers   Mergers can be of various types. But there are 5 main mergers varieties which are valued most in the corporate world.   Horizontal merger   Two companies that are in direct competition and share  the same product lines and markets.   Vertical merger   Two companies which are in the Value Chain. Market-extension merger  Ã‚  Two companies having same product but different target market. Product-extension merger  Ã‚  Two companies selling different but related products in the same market.   Conglomeration   Two companies with unrelated business/ industry.   Acquisitions   Acquisition means buying the ownership of one company by another company, often as the part of the growth strategy. Unlike in merger, acquisition is generally done by a large company to a small one. Acquisitions can be either friendly or hostile. Like mergers, acquisitions are actions through which companies seek economies of scale, efficiencies and enhanced market visibility. Acquisition is done either in cash or acquiring the stock of the target company or both. Distinction between Mergers and Acquisitions   Mergers and Acquisitions are often uttered as one and the same and considered to have the same meaning. But the terms merger and acquisition are two different term meaning.   When one company takes over another independent company and clearly established itself as  the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition. From a legal point of view, the  target company  ceases to exist and the buyer or the acquirer possesses the full control of the business and the buyers  stock continues to be traded, then it is acquisition.   Regardless of the type of the strategic alliance they all have one purpose in common. They are all meant to create synergy that makes the value of the combined companies greater than the sum of the two parts. Synergy Synergy  is the force that is obtained when two or more components meet together to produces an exceptional result which when done solely cannot be achieved. In a business synergy takes the form of enhanced performance, increased profitability and exceptional cost reduction. By merging, the companies hope to benefit from the following:   Staff reductions Economies of scale   Acquiring new technology Improved market reach and industry visibility Importance of the study When a company wants to expand, there are various ways its can do. They can achieve the growth either by capturing the market share or by growing through strategic alliances. The main objective of the merger or acquisition is to achieve growth and synergy, economies of scale and capture or expand the market share. Buzz of merger and acquisition often creates hype in the financial market about the acquirers stock price. While most empirical research on merger focus on daily stock return surrounding announcement date, a few studies also look at long term performance of term performance of acquiring firm after merger.  [1]  Not only that, the performance of the company as a whole is also a matter of question mark. Will the company be able to perform better than it is doing or not? Problem Statement Many firm prior to merger and acquisition have an expectation to create a synergy from merger and acquisition. The main motive behind MA is to create efficiencies in the business and expansion of the business. But they most of the time ignore the fact that the effect of merger and acquisition has direct correlation with the value of the acquirers company and the stock price. The other problem that is to be considered is the financial risk associated with the MA. Research Objective The objective of this study is to gain the deeper and clear knowledge of the merger and acquisition on the acquiring firm. It also aims at the financial risk that a company may face post merger/ acquisition asa well as the long term performance of the acquirer. The objectives are as follows: To examine the effect of EPS myopia on the return of acquiring firms in mergers. Evaluate the effect on the stock price of the acquiring company post merger and acquisition. Critically evaluating if the shareholders of the acquiring companies experience wealth effect as a result of MA. The expected long term performance of the acquiring firm. Study of the financial risk pertaining to the merger and acquisition. Research Question What is the motive behind Merger and Acquisition? What is the effect on the stock price of the acquirer pre and post MA? Does the buzz create the bubble effect on the market or is it long lasting? What is the wealth effect of the acquirer firm post and pre MA? What is the trend of MA in Indian market? Drivers of MA in India What are the effects of MA to the competitors? Effect of the tax to the government post merger and acquisition. Limitations of the Study No proper information on the companies is found except for their Balance Sheet and Income Statement. This study is based on secondary database, so errors in the data could affect the results of the study. External factors such as economic conditions, regulatory changes etc are not taken into consideration. An overview of the Study This dissertation is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the background information, problem statement, objective of the study, importance of study, research question limitation of the study. The second chapter deals with literature review. This chapter indicates the theoretical framework of the valuation method of Merger and Acquisition. It shows the detail description of the past research that has been done on the topic and discusses the outcome of the study. The third chapter deals with the research methodology of the dissertation. It deals with the Research method used for the data and information collection. It includes sample selection/design procedure, data collection and data analysis tools used in the dissertation. In this part assumptions had been made where there is lack of appropriate data and information. The fourth chapter deals with analysis and interpretation of the financial data that are used to achieve the objectives of the dissertation. This section mainly deals with the findings from the study and also focuses on the analysis and its results. The fifth and the last chapter of this dissertation present the findings of the study, recommendation of the study to the investors, financial managers regulators. It also concludes the suggestions for future research. Chapter II Review of the Literature 2. Literature Review Many authors and writers have written lot about merger and acquisition and its impact on the performance of the company as well as on the economy. A great deal of research has been carried out on the performance of the corporations involved in the merger and acquisition. When a company wants to jump start a long term growth or boost up the corporate performance, MA may seem to be the best option. Yet study after study puts the success rate of MA lies just between 20% and 30%. A lot of researcher had tried to explain the abysmal statistics, usually by analyzing the attributes of the deals that worked and those that didnt. What is lacking is the robust theory that identifies the causes of those success and failures.  [2]   2.1 Merger and Acquisition: Conceptual Review Farlex Financial Dictionary  [3]  has defined A decision by two companies to combine all operations, officers, structure, and other functions of business. Mergers are meant to be mutually beneficial for the parties involved. In the case of two publicly-traded companies, a merger usually involves one company giving shareholders in the other its stock in exchange for surrendering the stock of the first company Pratap G. Subramanyam (2005) has stated merger as in the term associated with the integration of one company into another. The merging company should exist thereafter and all its assets and liabilities get legally vested in the merged company. This means that the merger means amalgamation of the assets of the two or more companies to form a new company serving the similar or different purpose. 2.1.1 Recognition of amalgamation (merger) by Indian Statutory Bodies The Company Act of India does not define an amalgamation or a merger. Therefore, the term are being interpreted as being included in the term arrangement as defined in Section 390(b). This is vindicated by the fact that Section 394 talks about arrangement that are in nature of amalgamation of two or more companies. It is possible under Companies Act for two or more companies to amalgamate using the shareholder approval route under Section 293(1)(a) though such route is never adopted. The more appropriate route is to get court order under Section 394 of the Act, which has been specifically enacted to enable amalgamations. Section 390 This section provides that The expression arrangement includes a reorganization of the share capital of the company by the consolidation of shares of different classes, or by the division of shares into shares of different classes, or by both these methods Section 394 This section contains the powers while sanctioning scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation. Under the Income Tax(IT) Act, 1961 Section 2(1B) the word amalgamation in relation to companies means the merger of one or more companies to another company or the merger of two or more companies to form one company so that: All the property of the amalgamating company or companies before the amalgamation becomes the property of amalgamating company by virtue of the amalgamation. All liabilities of the amalgamating company or companies immediately before the amalgamation become the liabilities of amalgamating company by the virtue of amalgamation. Accounting Standard AS-14 defines amalgamations as those pursuant to the provisions of the companies Act or any other statute, which may be applicable to the companies. Therefore, it applies to all transactions that come under the purview of Section 391-394 of the Companies Act that relate to integration of two or more companies. AS-14 categorizes amalgamation into two categories: (a) amalgamation in nature of merger (b) amalgamation in nature of purchase. An amalgamation fall into former category if: All assets and liabilities of transferor company become after amalgamation, the assets and liabilities of the transferee company. Shareholders holding not less than 90% of the face value of the equity share of transferor company (excluding the shares held by the transferee company), become the equity shareholder of the transferee company by virtue of the amalgamation. The consideration for the amalgamation, receivable by those equity shareholders of the transferor company who agree to become the equity shareholder in the transferee company, is discharged wholly by issue of shares (except for fractional shares that may be settled in cash). The business of the transferor company is intended to be carried on by the transferee company. Acquisition is the mechanism by which companies change hands and through transfer of ownership of share or transfer of control. Acquisition means the purchase of or getting access to significant stakes in a company, often making such acquirer a major shareholder or force in the company. According to Dictionary of Financial Term  [4]  If a company buys another company outright, or accumulates enough shares to take a controlling interest, the deal is described as an acquisition. For example, if Corporation A buys 51% or more of Corporation B, then Corporation B becomes a subsidiary of Corporation A, and the activity is called an acquisition. A single investor may buy out a publicly-traded company; one calls this going private. Acquisitions occur in exchange for cash, stock, or both. Acquisitions may be friendly or hostile; a friendly acquisition occurs when the board of directors supports the acquisition and a hostile acquisition occurs when it does not. 2.1.2 The Acquisition and Takeover Code in India After the advent of the SEBI, introduced in 1994, there was a concerted attempt at formulation of a comprehensive framework under which acquisition and takeover could be made in existing listed companies. However the takeover code does not apply to unlisted companies and continue to be regulated by the provision of the Company Act. Listed companies are currently governed by the provision of Takeover Code, clause 40A and 40B of the Listing Agreement of the stock exchange and Section 108B and 108D of the Companies Act as regards acquisition and takeovers. Under the provision of Section 108B, corporate under the same management holding whether singly or in aggrete.10% or more of the nominal value of the subscribed equity share capital of the any other company shall, before transferring one or more such shares, give to the central government an intimation of its proposal to do with the prescribed details. Section 108D provides the similar provision wherein the Central Government can act suo moto of any transfer of a block share in a company. All the Sections under 108 are backed by Section 108G. Section 108G Applicability of the provisions of sections 108A to 108F.†The provisions of sections 108A to 108F (both inclusive) shall apply to the acquisition or transfer of shares or share capital by or to, an individual firm, group, constituent of a group, body corporate or bodies corporate under the same management, who or which† (a) is, in case of acquisition of shares or share capital, the owner in relation to a dominant undertaking and there would be, as a result of such acquisition, any increase†Ã‚   (i) in the production, supply, distribution or control of any goods that are produced, supplied, distributed or controlled in India or any substantial part thereof by that dominant undertaking, or   (ii) in the provision or control of any services that are rendered in India or any substantial part thereof by that dominant undertaking; or   (b) would be, as a result of such acquisition or transfer of shares or share capital, the owner of a dominant undertaking; or   (c) is, in case of transfer of shares or share capital, the owner in relation to a dominant undertaking. The SEBI Takeover Code brought in several new features into acquisition law which were not present in Clause 40A and 40B. The basic theme of the code is to provide for fair play and transparency in acquisition and takeover but at the same time to ensure that they are not stifled into extinction. 2.2 Differentiation of Merger and Acquisition In general Mergers and Acquisitions are used interchangeably, but they have a subtle differentiation in there meaning. Weston and Copeland (1992) distinguished merger and acquisition: merger as a transaction between more or less equal partners, while acquisitions are used to denote a transaction where a substantially bigger firm takes over a smaller firm. Their basis of distinguish was the size. But there are other factors apart from size that denotes the differences between merger and acquisition. Asquith Mullins (1986) define mergers and acquisitions on basis of share distribution. When two firms merge, shares of both are surrendered and new shares in name of the new firm will be issued. Unlike in merger, shares of the acquiring firm are not surrendered but traded in the market prior to the acquisition and continue to be traded by the public after the acquisition. The shares of the target firm cease to exist publicly. Motives behind Merger and Acquisition There are three major motives for the mergers and takeovers: Synergy, Agency, Hubris Synergy motive means that the sum total return/value from the integration of two or more companies should be greater than that from the individual company. Elazar Berkovitch (1993) suggests that the takeovers occur because of economic gains that results by merging the resources of the two firms. They even concluded that total gains from MA are always positive and thus can say that synergy appears. The agency motive suggests that takeovers occur because they enhance the acquirer managements welfare at the expense of acquirer shareholders. Elazar Berkovitch and M. P. Narayanan (1993) suggested three major motives for mergers and acquisitions: synergy, agency and hubris. The synergy motive suggests that the takeovers occur because of economic gains that results by merging the resources of the two firms. The agency motive suggests that takeovers occur because they enhance the acquirer managements welfare at the expense of acquirer shareholders. The hubris hypothesis suggests that managers make mistakes in evaluating target firms, and engaged in acquisitions even when there is no synergy. Khemani (1991) states that there are multiple reasons, motives, economic forces and institutional factors that can be taken together or in isolation, which influence corporate decisions to engage in MAs. It can be assumed that these reasons and motivations have enhanced corporate profitability as the ultimate, long-term objective. It seems reasonable to assume that, even if this is not always the case, the ultimate concern of corporate managers who make acquisitions, regardless of their motives at the outset, is increasing long-term profit. However, this is affected by so many other factors that it can become very difficult to make isolated statistical measurements of the effect of MAs on profit. The free cash flow theory developed by Jensen (1988) provides a good example of intermediate objectives that can lead to greater profitability in the long run. This theory assumes that corporate shareholders do not necessarily share the same objectives as the managers. The conflicts between these differing objectives may well intensify when corporations are profitable enough to generate free cash flow, i.e., profit that cannot be profitably re-invested in the corporations. Under these circumstances, the corporations may decide to make acquisitions in order to use these liquidities. It is therefore higher debt levels that induce managers to take new measures to increase the efficiency of corporate operations. According to Jensen, long-term profit comes from the re-organization and restructuring made necessary by takeovers.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Invertebrates In Soil Ecosystem Analysis

Invertebrates In Soil Ecosystem Analysis Invertebrates are the first animal evolved about 600 million years ago from single-celled microorganism, food eating microorganism. They evolved into countless forms and lead to the enormous diversity of invertebrates species that are found today. They are organism without backbone, however they have others way to produce structural support of bodies. As examples, leeches have a hydrostatic skeleton supported by sheets of muscles and internal cavity filled with fluid, while insects have a hard outer shell or exoskeleton. Scientist divided them into about 30 different groups (phyla). The phyla include echinoderms (urchins and stars), coelenterates (jellies and anemones), annelids (segmented worms), mollusks (snails and octopuses), and arthropods (insects, spiders, arachnida such as spiders and crustaceans such as crabs) (Saint Louis Zoo, 2011). There are several kinds of phyla can be referred in Figure 1. Some of them are aquatic animal and terrestrial animal, yet this paper will focu s on diversity of invertebrates in soil ecosystem only. They participate in tropic level and play vital role in nutrient cycling and decomposition of organic matter. They also interact with others organism and provide many services to the ecosystem. A small decrease in an invertebrate biodiversity may affect ecosystem as they contribute to the succession of above ground and ecosystem. Human activities which give negative effects to the soil invertebrate activities must be controlled. In meanwhile, there are also some practices can be implemented to the site/soil to eager their activities. Classification of Invertebrates An experiment was carried out by several groups of Nottingham students to study the diversity of invertebrates using soil palm sample. The table below indicates the result of my group. There are 9 kinds of animal invertebrates that have been found in the soil sample: The Invertebrates Found In Soil Palm Sample Based on the result, all the invertebrates are from phylum of arthropod. The invertebrates are diverse and made up from difference classes and orders. There are 3 kinds of classes which are Insecta, Arachnida and Myriapoda. Class Insecta give the largest percentage (64%), followed by class Myripoda (20%) and the lowest percentage is class Arachnida (16%). None of them comes from the similar order. There are only few organisms were found out. The total number soil invertebrates are 25. This happened because of several unknown factors such as less moisture. The soil sample looks like dry and non-sticky, therefore may proved that the moisture level is low and not really favor the soil invertebrates. However, more experiments should be done to determine the real factors the number of invertebrates are little. Next, the researchers have classified the diversity of invertebrates according to body width. There are microfauna, mesofauna and macrofauna. Microfauna such as nematodes usually live in water film and have width 0.1mm and below; mesofauna such as mites and springtails live in air spaces and have body width between 0.1mm to 2mm, while macrofauna such as earwigs, centipedes, and millipedes have width from 2mm to 60mm and above. Macrofauna are large enough and have ability create space by burrowing. (http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu, 2011). They exist at any stages of soil which contain appropriate space and nutrients such as in litter, on/between the surface of soil aggregates, on humus and around roots. Invertebrates that graze on bacteria such as mites always concentrate around roots while the litter is always inhibited by collembola and millipedes that break up the litter into smaller chunks (Ingham, 2011). The types of invertebrates are similar in all ground cover types, but the number s of invertebrates differs significantly. Bare soil show the lowest number of invertebrates due to it is easily exposed to the extreme temperature, drain drop and soil erosion (Kyle and Susan, 2007). Soil invertebrates inhabit a substrate that is more resistant to drought than most terrestrial habitat. Some of them are capable adapted to acidic, however many more organisms thrive in a neutral habitat causing an increase in diversity as pH approaches neutral (Rudd, 2009). Soil invertebrates present at several trophic levels of the soil food web as primary, secondary or tertiary consumers. They eat almost everything either live or death organism. They exist in multitude of ways in gaining nutrient. They may present as herbivores, carnivores, scavengers and parasites. As examples, herbivores like caterpillar and nematodes are feeds on plants. Nevertheless, nematodes are complex organisms which appear at several stages of tropic level. Some nematodes feed on the plants and algae (primary consumers); others are grazers that feed on bacteria and fungi (secondary consumers); and some feed on other nematodes (tertiary consumers) (Ingham, 2011). Next, carnivore can be represented by centipedes which feed earthworms by paralyzing their prey with poisoned fang and spider which traps their prey with web. The example of scavengers is millipedes, louse and earwigs which decompose plant matter such as leaf little and dead roots (Dr Alderson, 2011). Most of inverteb rates in soil are parasites. Ticks, tapeworms, leeches, mites and roundworms are just a few examples of the parasites. Some parasites live on the external surfaces of the hosts while the others live in the digestive tract or tissues of their hosts (Klappenbach, 2011). Next, soil invertebrates develop multiple interactions at large scale and contribute to the production of soil ecosystem services in many ways (Figure 3). The Advantages of Invertebrates Interact with Ecosystem Firstly, soil invertebrates participate in nutrient cycling as it interact with surface vegetation which supplies them the organic maters or compounds. Scavengers like millipedes and mites will return those elements into a broken down form. These broken forms will be recycling back into the environment, promoting humification and nourishing the plant with the nutrients like nitrogen and carbon. Soil invertebrates are responsible for the mineralization and immobilization of phosphorus and sulphur into the plants. They attribute regulation of leaching nutrients losses and prevent leakage towards low-lying aquifers, streams and oceans (Lavellea et.al, 2006). Soil invertebrates act as buffering system that allows an efficient local recycling of nutrients Next, invertebrates like ants, termites, earthworms help in formation of soil. They consume small aggregates of mineral particles and organic matter and then generate larger fecal pellets. These fecal pellets are coated with compounds from the gut and become part of soil structure. Charles Darwin has stated that soil invertebrates, earthworm can carry large quantity of soil from the lower strata to the surface and organic matter into deeper soil layers. This organism can form over the top 15 cm of soil within 10-20 years. It helps to hold the soil particle together and maintain it structures too (Clive, 2011). Invertebrates interact with plants as they support primary production such as genes and protection against pests and diseases for plant health and response to stress. The expert document that the expression in the leaves of three stress-responsive genes (coding for lipoxygenase, phospholipase D and cysteine protease) due to the existence of belowground invertebrate activities. However, they still cannot identity the mechanism involved which affects parasitic nematodes activity and arise beneficial in earthworms. Next, many experiments have shown significant enhancement of plant production in the presence of soil invertebrates such as collembolan, earthworms and combinations of organism termites and ants. Invertebrates capable improve tolerance to stressors or pest such as parasitic nematodes which feed on plant roots. This has been proved since 82% infested plant decrease within the presence of earthworms. Although earthworms do not affect the population size of nematodes, it causes the root biomass not being attacked by such parasite (Manuel et al, 2005). Besides, the soil invertebrates interact with carbon compound in climate regulation and also with soil for flood and erosion control. The soil invertebrates accumulate over long period of time and form humification. This process results the carbon compounds are sequestered into compact and consequently the carbons can be avoided from rapidly released into atmosphere in the form green house gases. Humification also transforms carbon compounds more resistance to further decomposition and thus slower green house gas released from soil (Lavellea et.al, 2006). Next, flood and erosion control can be regulated by building and maintenance of stable porosity through bioturbation and burrowing. Earthworms burrow, enhance soil aeration and form tunnel. This tunnel can absorb water at a rate 4 to 10 times greater than fields lacking worm (NCAT, 2004). Lastly, soil invertebrates do interaction with ecosystem as they are also responsible in production of water supply. Their participation may be in small-scale but are significant. Invertebrates such as millipedes in macrofauna create burrows and structural porosity in soils and thus generate water infiltrations. The variety of pore shapes and size may permit soils to store water within wide range, but the scientist not discovered yet about the amount of water infiltrated and stored (Lavellea et.al, 2006). Invertebrates are necessary to reduce water runoff, recharge groundwater and store large amount of water for dry spells. Soil invertebrates serve many benefits to plant, animal, and nature. Their present should not be disturbed by human activities because it may influence the presence and activity of organism. Unfortunately, the burgeoning human populations have destroyed the soil physico-chemical environment and the soils species through activities such as: inputs of chemicals, disposal of waste products in soils and physical modification or removal of soil by cultivation and erosion (Diana, 1994). Those activities may eliminate any invertebrates present on the topsoil and degrade their microenvironment. In addition, the metabolism of microorganisms and arthropods will be altered and this may destroy some layers of the primary food chain too. This happens when harmful chemicals have been passed up to the food chain and ultimately causes mortality or even extinction in the invertebrates. There are several site/soil management can be practiced to help improving invertebrates number and activities such as enhance nutrient and pest. Organic matter and nutrients in acceptable range can provide more foods to the invertebrates, though they may poison the organism in excess. This is similar to pest which is helpful for invertebrates to resist to pesticide in acceptable range only. Next, people must avoid excess tillage because it can bring advantages or conversely. Some farmers practice tillage because it can control pests, however it also affects decomposition rate of soil invertebrate when excess. The worst is it can reduce organic matter level to below 1% and renders them biologically dead. People also should keep the soil covered to avoid soil erosion that influence the existence of invertebrates at the topsoil especially. It can be done by covered it with plant residue or planting crops. Lastly, diversity cropping is beneficial because it also will increase the diversi ty of invertebrates. This happen due to differ plant have differ culture practice and thus leads to decrease of disease pressure. All the practices support the invertebrates to survive greater and functions more effectively (USDA, 2011). In conclusion, there are vast diversity of invertebrates can be found in earth including soil invertebrates. Their size are small which is may be less than 1mm but their interaction with nature bring much benefits to ecosystem. Their existence should not be bothered and people must conserve these species to avoid extinction via soil conservation. Soil conservation can promote better the viability and survivor of soil organisms including soil invertebrates. Loss of invertebrates diversity may affects soil processes and unstable ecosystem too as they are responsible in nutrient cycling, water supply and many more. People can manage the site/soil to improve the population of invertebrates by providing nutrients, pest and others to enhance invertebrates activities.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa Essay -- Literary Ana

Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help them have better success with the surrounding peoples and culture, but there is a lack of attendance in these schools. There are also many education issues in proper sexual practices that would help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, in a place i n the world were theses illnesses are at surprisingly high levels. The first part of this paper will discuss the education problems in the Dobe Ju/’hoansi with their school systems. There are also many divergent views about educating the public in sexual health practice, and the use of protection in general. This section will also cover the education problem in Mali related to poor nutritional and medical knowledge. The second part of the paper will cover differing views between western society and the native point of view in both the Dobe Ju/’hoansi and the people of Mali. The last part of the paper discusses some solution-oriented recommendations to the education problems and some of the steps that have already begun to take place to help improve conditi... ...nough. â€Å"If you pour all these resources into keeping kids alive, without following up on their long-term health through more extensive gardening projects and nutritional education programs, then you’re just wasting everyone’s time, money, and energy (Dettwyler 1994: 145).† In conclusion, the suffering from malnutrition as well as the lack of education in rural Africa are spotlighted in both Dettwyler and Lee’s books. Both anthropologists give an insight into the true nature of the many problems faced by the people and how they confront life and death in a completely foreign manner. Even though both areas suffer from similar problems, steps are slowing being taken in the right direction to help educate people by setting up programs and making better schools. Although both the societies and their issues differ greatly, both are advancing toward similar solutions.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Wife of Bath :: Essays Papers

The Wife of Bath In the "Wife of Bath's Prologue," she tells the other pilgrims that she has much experience since she has been married five times. She believes in experience rather than in writing. We can see this in the quotation: "Who painted the leon, tel me who? By God, if wommen hadden writen stories, As clerks han within hir oratories, They wolde had writen of men more wikkednesse Than al th merk of Adam may redresse." [Norton, 132] She is very upset about the painting of a man killing a lion. Her fifth husband always reads his book about wicked wives, and he amuses himself by telling her the stories; however, she doesn't like this. She is beautiful, powerful, energetic and relies on her experience, not on any writings or paintings. To highlight her strong and powerful appearance, she wears characteristic clothes. She puts strikingly big kerchiefs on her head, which seem to weigh about ten pounds, and she wears scarlet red stockings. She also wears a hat, and it is as broad as a buckler. Garters hold her red stockings, and her shoes are soft and new. There is a pair of sharpened spurs on her feet. This probably tells us that she has had many experiences with all husbands in her life. She wears a long wide skirt. Her face is as bold as her character is, fair complexioned, and red. On the journey, she walks slowly and sits down easily. Overall, she has been respectable throughout her life. Chaucer also describes her as being deaf in one ear with a gap tooth. It was very rare for a woman in the fourteenth century to travel as a pilgrim, talk about her experiences and thoughts in public and to be married five times. The Wife of Bath is an independent and powerful woman. She strongly believes in herself and in experience rather than in written authority, which are the texts written by men. She feels this way more after she marries her fifth husband. Her fifth husband always reads a book about wicked wives. He wants to control her; however, she doesn't like it. Therefore she takes a page out of his book that he always reads since the book affects him badly; then he hits her when he finds out about her disrespectful behavior. This is the reason for her deafness. She strongly believes she or women can write much better than men do.