Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Art - Essay Example Reproductions of his work appear on posters, calendars, mouse pads, and other widespread consumer items. Even those works not immediately known today are quickly recognized by his unique style and approach, such as his painting Wheatfield with Cypress. Wheatfield with Cypress is an example of Van Gogh’s work while he was a resident at Saint-Remy hospital for the mentally unstable. It is a member of a series of paintings in which Van Gogh explored an image or a theme. Whether it was this painting or another one of the series, he wrote to Theo that the trees â€Å"are always occupying my thoughts, I should like to make something of them like the canvases of the sunflowers, because it astonishes me that they have not yet been done as I see them. The tree is as beautiful of line and proportion as an Egyptian obelisk. And the green has a quality of such distinction. It is a splash of black in a sunny landscape, but it is one of the most interesting black notes, and the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine† (cited in Wallace, 1969: 144). His fascination with the trees themselves as well as their contribution to the landscape overall is evident within this painting. The image depicts an initially confusing scene. The brightly lit landscape is covered by a swirling mass of clouds in a sky that seems eternally blue. The scene depicts a golden wheatfield not far from the hospital in which Van Gogh stayed in southern France (Wallace, 1969). The field is interrupted by a set of wind-swept green bushes in its center to provide balance and a pair of flame-like cypresses standing proudly to one side. This is backed by small green foothills and then blue-tinged mountains rising to back the cypress trees. In the extreme foreground, a glimpse is given of a spring-green field filled with wild flowers in the bottom right corner. Another vividly green bushy area surrounds the two cypress trees, providing a solid base to the narrow

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Starbucks is a premium coffee wholesaler which has strayed from its original service of coffee. The advent of newer technology has diminished the Starbucks experience. Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairmen, sent a memo on February 14, 2007 addressing this problem to the president and chief executive officer of Starbucks, Jim Donald. In the memo, Schultz voiced his opinion on how the rapid expansion of Starbucks is causing him to revaluate the company’s values between how it operated when it began and where it is heading in the future. Starbucks isn’t the same neighborhood store as it was when it was established and no longer shows the passion for coffee that they had in the beginning. â€Å"I have said for 20 years that our success is not an entitlement and now its proving to be a reality. Lets be smarter about how we are spending our time, money and resources. Lets get back to the core† (Schultz). Along with its expansion, Starbucks has been trying to utilize new technologies to improve the product they sell to consumers. Starbucks changed their espresso machines from manual to automatic to speed up service and efficiency. These machines â€Å"blocked the visual sight line the customer previously had to watch the drink being made, and for the intimate experience with the barista† (Schultz). People no longer have that intimate connection with the people making their coffee, or to the finished product. The employees are also more disassociated from their work because of these new machines that speed up production. Starbucks also incorporated flavor-locked packaging to supply the demand for fresh roasted coffee. This is a great service to the customer because it keeps coffee grounds or beans fresher longer, yet the effectiveness of the flavor-locked bags contributed to the loss of aroma, â€Å"perhaps the most powerful non-verbal signal†, in Starbucks (Schultz). The romance of Starbucks is lost with these improvements and the unforgettable scent is lessened along with its heritage. Starbucks is still a coffee-loving company, and consumers are still receiving the coffee delicacies they want, but at what cost to tradition. https://sites. google. com/site/hollymadalyn/writing/Starbucks-Research-paper SYNOPSIS Starbucks Corporation, originally founded in 1971, but purchased by Howard Schultz in 1987, is the market leader in selling gourmet coffee (Starbucks, 2008). Starbucks main objective is to establish itself as the most respected and recognized coffee brand in the world (Fact Sheet, 2008). Starbucks has accomplished this objective and experienced much success through their competitive strategy of clustering several stores within the same community and through their distinctive competencies of roasting and selling the quality coffee while providing high quality customer service. The question is, can Starbucks continue their market share growth with rising competitors? Should they focus more on their international operations? Can they continually reinvent themselves to maintain their strong brand image in the long run? PROBLEMS. †¢ Overall economic downturn can affect Starbucks’ market share if management neglects to address competitors’ strategies with lower priced offerings as consumers are becoming more conservative in spending their discretionary income. †¢ Loss of identity and authenticity focused upon the foundational Starbucks experience, which, if unaddressed by management, can result in dissatisfied customers, loss of sales, and decreased market share. †¢ Considering the economy and increasing domestic competition within the U. S. , Starbucks must address their less profitable international operations. SWOT ANALYSIS[1] INDUSTRY EVALUATION In the past two decades, the coffee industry has experienced a significant increase in the demand for premium coffee. Today, about one in five Americans drinks some type of espresso-based coffee drink each day. The average yearly coffee consumption per capita in the U. S. is around 4. 4Kg. Among these coffee drinkers, the average consumption is 3. 1 cups of coffee per day, with men drinking approximately 1. 9 cups per day, and women drinking an average of 1. 4 cups per day (Coffee Research [continues].

Migration Out of Appalachia :: Interview Description Essays

Migration Out of Appalachia Many people who experienced it can tell about the impact that the migration out of Appalachia had on people in the 1950’s. One person that has told his story about the migration is Gary Hicks, who is currently a pump foreman for the City of Elizabethton. Born in 1939, Gary is now over 60 years old. He graduated high school and entered the real world in the 1950’s. At that time finding a job wasn’t very easy for anyone in Southern Appalachia. In a tape-recorded personal interview, he told of his migration experience and a search for a job. Lack of work forced many people in Elizabethton in the fifties to search for jobs in the more industrialized North; however, they found Detroit disappointing. Gary told of when he experienced the lack of work directly. He said, "Back when I got out of high school in the fifties just about everybody was leaving here and going to different places to find work." He also told how this made him feel: Well, it felt like I was gonna have to hit the road cause I was gonna have to find work. I worked at a service station during the time I was going to school and to make any money you needed to have work at the plants down here, which is North American Rayon or Bemberg. If you didn’t have a job there, why you didn’t have a very good job. With little to no work available, people were looking for jobs elsewhere and many were looking in the big cities. One reason for the migration was the economic problem many people in Appalachia were facing (Brown 70). It seemed many of them had no choice but to leave their poverty stricken lives in search of a better economic way of life (Brown 61). Industrialized towns became very appealing to them (Brown 61). Opportunities were much greater in the larger cities (Brown 61). They knew that industry meant jobs and money, and Appalachia wanted to be a part of it (Brown 73). These things influenced Gary to move to Detroit where he came to realize that a great difference in wages was occurring between Elizabethton and Detroit. Gary said: Started out - I don’t remember what I started out but I was making $2.10 there at that time, and that was good wages for back then cause I didn’t start making that again until after I left up there and come back here.

Les Miserables

Page One The theme of this book is the importance of love and compassion, and social injustice. Three genres that affect the theme in Les Miserables are: Historical Research, Literary Analysis and Creative Element. The historical research gave you knowledge of the author, and what was going on when Victor Hugo was writing this book. The literary analysis allowed you to get content from the book and provided examples of the theme. The creative element allowed you to present it as how you pictured it. While doing the historical research I found out about Victor Hugo’s love life.It revealed that he had had an affair with a girl named Juliette while being married to Adele. He chooses to spend his life with Juliette instead Adele. In Victor’s life he was involved in politics and he had shared his views by being mayor in the book. The literary analysis provided examples from the book to show that the book had romanticism through tragedy. In the book Eponine dies for Marius by blocking the bullet that was headed towards him because she loved him. Jean Valjean dies because Cosette is taken away from him, because she has found another male figure in her life.The creative element had me put the facts I learned from the historical analysis of the author and the examples from the book from the literary analysis and put it in my own view. The genre that interested me the most was the Historical research because I found out about Hugo’s life that had me understand his views on topics. The most challenging genre was literary analysis because I had to provide 4 pages of evidence. Historical Research Paper Victor Hugo is a famous worldwide literary, that gained his fame through two of his major works The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables.Victor was born in Besancon in 1802. Since he was young he had a calling for literary. At age 13 he had won numerous awards for his poems. During the 1820’s he was claimed as one of the leading figures of th e French Romantic movement. Later his rank was greater due to his play â€Å"Hernani†. During the 1830’s Hugo focused in theatre. In this time he was having problems with his wife, Adele, so he began a relationship with an actress in one of his plays, Juliette Drouet. This relationship lasted fifty years. In 1841 he turned his focus on public and political issues, by becoming a Peer of France.Hugo started out as a monarchist, troubled about order being maintained. At first, Hugo welcomed and supported Louis Bonaparte. He later realized that his moral and political goals were not the same as his political associates. In 1851, after trying in vain to oppose the coup d’etat of the 2nd December, he and Juliette escaped the country to avoid arrest, and fled to Brussels. In his time there he published the mainstream of the works he is known for: Les Miserables, La Legende des siecles, William Shakespeare, L’Homme qui rit, and many others.One book very well know n today is Les Miserables, which shows some of Hugo’s beliefs on the social and moral issues of the time. Victor Hugo had accomplished many things in his lifetime. Starting out as studying in law to becoming known as the heart of French Romanticism for being a poet, playwright, and novelist. Literary Analysis Victor Hugo once wrote â€Å"To die is nothing; but it is terrible not to live† (p. 345). The tragic elements in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables enhance the plot, with many deaths and tragic scenes through the book.Most of these encounters happen to be for their loved ones and others are just heroic moves. These examples come from Fantine, Eponine, Javert, Fauchelevent, Cosette, and Valjean. In the beginning of the story, the first tragic part is Fantine having to leave her daughter behind in order for her to survive. She had turned to prostitution to survive at first, and this showed the damage that nineteenth-century French society cruelly affects the less f ortunate. After Jean Valjean idea factory is set she decides to work there but they do not allow kids.She has to suffer and leave he daughter behind with strangers who to her seemed friendly and caring, to make sure Cosette has a good life. Fantine though gets very sick through malnutrition because all her money was going toward Cosette, but the shock of Jean Valjean being a criminal had killed her (p. 103). Then we find out that Cosette is being mistreated by the Thenardiers, She is treated worse that their dog, the dog is given more attention and care. The money that Fantine was sending the Thernadier is used for their own purposes. As Cosette get older, she becomes their slave and maid, doing whatever they command.It was sad seeing how badly a little innocent girl was being treated, because she did not deserve it, and couldn’t do anything about it being so young. As the treatment escalates overtime, Jean Valjean takes her away from the family and rescues her. â€Å"He exp ects you no longer† (p 165). This line has Marius in tears knowing he was to late. His father was expecting him, but he couldn’t hold on any longer and died. Marius has mix emotions at first, he started out mad because his father left him, but then he finds out that he didn’t leave him by choice.He left him because he was forced to and becomes devastated for not coming any sooner and for being angry with his father. â€Å"Did you see a musket aimed at you? † â€Å"Yes, and a hand which stopped it. † â€Å" That was mine. † (p. 288) These lines represent the amount of love Eponine had for Marius, she would even risk her life for him. When the bullet was directed towards Marius, Eponine stood in front of it. Its tragic for someone to take a bullet to save someone else life, but even worse, when the guy you risked your life for doesn’t feel the same way towards you.The only thing that she asked of him was a kiss on her forehead. There was also a point when Cosette was near death. When she and Jean were running away from Javert, she becomes so cold and weak. If it weren’t for Fauchelevant she would have died then and there. Because Jean had saved his life he felt he had to return the favor and help him hide out in convent. After sometime Fauchelevant dies of old age and leaves his position as gardener to Jean. Javert is so preoccupied with enforcing society’s law and morals that he doesn’t notice he is living by mistaken beliefs.Though when Valjean finally gives Javert proof that a man is not essentially bad because the law says he is, Javert is unable to turn Jean in. When Javert couldn’t turn in Jean, he commits suicide, because he couldn’t live with himself. Javert could not live because he felt like he would live a dishonorable man by not turning in Jean, but Jean gave him a different point of view on criminals, which change his beliefs. One of Jean biggest fears was losing Cose tte, and his fear shortly became reality. Cosette at first views herself as ugly but as she grows older her beauty starts to show, and she and others notice it as well.When Cosette stumbles across a young man named Marius, upon seeing each other they both can feel a connection. When Jean sees them looking at each other he starts to go out alone and has Cosette stay home. Then shortly he relocates them somewhere else, but their love is inseparable, and they both find each other again. When Cosette and Marius got together Jean delighted Marius, but when they get married Jean told him the truth about being an ex-convict. This had changed Marius view on Jean and he did not want his self or Cosette engaged in any activity with Jean.Jean’s fear had come true and he had lost Cosette to another man. This caused him to be very depressed with his self and unhappy in life because she was the one who taught him how to love and was the only one who had loved him and stood by his side thro ughout his life. Through this moment in time, Valjean became very depressed and lonely, that caused him to give up on life. He felt that no one cared for him anymore, but he was wrong. After Marius found out that he received all his money lawfully, he figured out that Jean was never really a bad guy, but misunderstood for the actions he had made long ago.When they go to his house they see how old he looks and sick and knew he was dead. â€Å"His white face looked up towards heaven, he let Cosette and Marius cover his hands with kisses; he was dead†. Javert, Fantine, and Eponine die, when they have finally realized that their dreams are not going to come true. Jean Valjean had died of old age and being lonely which caused him to not have the will to live. But then Cosette returns and he is happily ready to go. Though their deaths, other characters had changed their ways for the better. JEAN VALJEAN Creative Element: Journal Entry April 28, 1833- My last journal.I have had an i ncredible journey by always living on the run. Looking back at my life I could have had a normal life but I choose a different path. Although I look back and notice some stupid decisions I have made I wouldn’t have changed any of them. No one understands my life story. I started out as an innocent typical man, going to prison for stealing bread in order for my nieces and nephews to survive and have food. But then my time in prison affected me by changing my opinions on society. The criminals in prison had gotten to me and convinced me to hate society for what it has done to me.I had been committing action that I wasn’t proud of, but then I met Myriel who changed me forever, because she was the first person that loved me, so I promised her that I would become an honest man, and this was my turning point. My life was finally headed in the right direction. I managed to transform a town into a manufacturing center, which has taught me how to have compassion and generosity towards people. In my lifetime I have taken care of my own family, spent nineteen years in prison, then spent time recreating myself, then raising an incredible girl Cosette.After losing Cosette I had given up hope in living, but as soon as she came back I felt content with the adventurous life I have lived. I am a very old man and think my time is due and all I have left to say is â€Å"To die is nothing; but it is terrible not to live†. Works Cited † Victor Hugo. † 2012. Biography. com 28 Apr 2012, 03:34 http://www. biography. com/people/victor-hugo-9346557 â€Å"Victor Hugo. † Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"World Biography. † Victor Hugo Biography. Web. 28 Apr. 012. Self-Review Page This was a very time consuming project due to its length and requirements. Throughout this essay I had strengths and weaknesses. I also had to make many decision on the topics that I choose to write about, because I choose each topic for a reason. My strengths in this project were providing evidence in the literary analysis. Another strength of mine was I sympathizing and understanding Jean Valjean and being able to express that by writing a journal entry in his perspective for the creative element.Some of my weaknesses were providing enough information throughout the essay without repeating myself, and following all the instruction by tying them altogether. I have explanations to each of the topics I have chosen. I choose to write about Victor Hugo for the historical research because I believe that you need to know the background of the author to know where his points of views are coming from. As for the literary analysis I chose to write about tragedy because throughout the book there are very sad instances and some of those moments include death.

Shades of Gray

Shades of Gray Characters Will Page – Will is a twelve year old boy who has brown hair and eyes. He is pretty clever and tries to outwit others. He is very loyal and compassionate. He is very sad and angry. He had lost his whole family due to the Civil War. He is the last surviving member of his immediate family as a result he comes to live with his aunt and uncle. Meg Jones – Meg is a ten year old girl and she is Will’s cousin. Meg is very curious and she is always asking questions. Meg does a lot of chores to help her parents care for their home. Meg has not been to school because of the war so she can not read. Uncle Jed Jones – Uncle Jed is a tall strong man with a broad chest and muscular arms. He has dark hair with a full dark beard. He is a wise man who believes in himself and doesn’t worry about what others think. He gets Will to think for himself and teaches him many lessons. He chose to not fight in the war with the Confederate soldiers. He did not feel that there was a reason for the war. Many people think he is a coward because of this. Summary Twelve year old Will Page is a grieving and angry boy when Doctor Martin takes him to his relatives in the Piedmont region of Virginia. Will's family lived in Winchester, Virginia and had been wiped out in the Civil War. His father fought bravely in the Confederate Army, his sisters died of a disease that Will is convinced was carried by the Yankees and his mother died soon afterward. Will is grieving for the lose of his whole family. He is angry with the Union Army for causing the war that took everything from him. Will’s Mom had asked that Will be sent to live with her sister. Uncle Jed refused to take sides in the war and Will's family considered him a traitor and a coward. He does not to live with someone he does not respect. But he must follow his mother’s wishes. When he first sees his aunt he is reminded of his mother. Aunt Ella resembles his mother. Then he meets Meg his younger cousin and she looks like his younger sister. He thinks it may be okay here and then he meets hi uncle the coward who wouldn’t fight for Virginia. How is he ever going to be able to live in this man’s home? Will lived on a plantation in the city of Winchester. He lived in a comfortable home. Will's family had slaves and the slaves did all the real work on the plantation. Will is not used to manual labor and now, living with his aunt , uncle and cousin he needs to work hard everyday. His pride will not let him admit to weariness or dismay in how hard the work is on the farm. His uncle can sense the feelings Will has towards him. Uncle Jed has Will work along side of him and he gives him responsibility. Working along side his uncle, Will comes to a begrudging admiration of his skill and wisdom. Will also learns to trust his own instincts. Meg can be Will’s salvation from his uncle. She loves to talk and ask a lot of questions. He admires what a hard worker she is. Meg also doesn’t act like most girls Will has known. He begins to like walking and talking with Meg. Will finds out that Meg can not read. There has not been a school since the war started. Will begins to teach Meg to read. Throughout the book Uncle Jed teaches Will little lessons on how to be an honorable man. Will begins to understand that the price his uncle and his family paid for their beliefs was almost as great as the one Will's family paid. Will was so wrapped up in what he lose that he didn’t see what his uncle lost. Will has the opportunity to move back home to his city. At first he really wants to go but then he realizes he is home. His mother was right when she sent him there to live. Setting This story is set at the end of the Civil War. Around the year 1867 in the Virginia Piedmont. Will moves from the city of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley to a farm in the Virginia Piedmont. Will had lived a life of leisure with slaves that cared for the home and grounds and did all the cooking. When he moves in with his aunt and uncle he needs to learn how to work. The family has a lot of chores that need to be done to take care of the farm. They also have traps for catching rabbit and gardens to grow vegetables. Will fishes so they can have fish for dinner. The family does not have a horse so they must walk everywhere they go. They do not wear shoes because it is summer time. They have a pasture and a buckwheat field. But a lot of the area is woods. They have a springhouse that keeps things cool. Will needs to chop wood for the fire so they can cook dinner.

Writing Prompts 101

Writing Prompts 101 Writing Prompts 101 Writing Prompts 101 By Simon Kewin Even if you are not a professional writer you probably already heard about writing prompts. They represent a very effective tool for any writing project, so its a good idea to know how to use them. What Is A Writing Prompt? If you’re a fiction writer, you may want to consider using writing prompts to kick-start your creativity. A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. The prompt could be a single word, a short phrase, a complete paragraph or even a picture, with the idea being to give you something to focus upon as you write. You may stick very closely to the original prompt or you may wander off at a tangent. You may just come up with rough, disjointed notes or you may end up with something more polished and complete, a scene or even a complete story. The point is to simply start writing without being held back by any inhibitions or doubts. Here are four good reasons for writing to prompts : Sometimes it’s hard to start writing when faced with a blank page. Focusing on an unrelated prompt for a while helps get the creative juices flowing. If you write for just ten minutes on a prompt, you should then find it easier to return to the piece you intended to write. You may also find that if you stop trying to think so hard about what you wanted to write and switch you attention to the prompt instead, the words and ideas for your original piece start to come to you after all. The things you write in response to a prompt may also end up as worthwhile material in their own right. The prompt may give you ideas from which a complete story grows or you may get fresh ideas for another piece you are already working on. It’s often surprising how much material you come up with once you start. Writing to a prompt regularly helps to get you into the habit of writing. This can act as a sort of exercise regime, helping to build up your â€Å"muscles† so that you start to find it easier and easier to write for longer and longer. Prompts can be a great way to get involved in a writing community. Sometimes writing groups offer a prompt for everyone to write about, with the intention being for everyone to come up with something they can then share. This can be a source of great encouragement, although knowing that others will read what you have written can also inhibit your creativity. Examples of Writing Prompts The following are twenty writing prompts that you could use to spark your imagination. If you want to use one, don’t worry about where the ideas take you or whether what you’ve written is â€Å"good†. The point is just to get into the flow of writing. You can come back later and polish if you wish to. It was the first snowfall of the year. He hadn’t seen her since the day they left High School. The city burned, fire lighting up the night sky. Silk. She studied her face in the mirror. The smell of freshly-cut grass. They came back every year to lay flowers at the spot. The streets were deserted. Where was everyone? Where had they all gone? This time her boss had gone too far. Red eyes. Stars blazed in the night sky. He woke to birdsong. ‘Shh! Hear that?’ ‘I didn’t hear anything.’ He’d always hated speaking in public. She woke, shivering, in the dark of the night. The garden was overgrown now. He’d never noticed a door there before. She’d have to hitch a ride home. ‘I told him not to come back too!’ His feet were already numb. He should have listened. Where To Find Writing Prompts Online The internet is a wonderful source of writing prompts. There are sites dedicated to providing them which a quick search will turn up. Examples include : CreativeWritingPrompts.com WritersDigest.com Creative-Writing-Solutions.com Perhaps even more valuable are the lists compiled by authors and websites. Here are some suggestions: 200+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You There are numerous blogs that offer a regular writing prompt to inspire you and where you can, if you wish, post what you’ve written. Examples include : SundayScribblings.blogspot.com DragonWritingPrompts.blogspot.com There are also many other sites that can, inadvertently, provide a rich seam of material for writing prompts – for example news sites with their intriguing headlines or pictorial sites such as Flickr.com that give you access to a vast range of photographs that can prompt your writing. If you’re on Twitter, there are users you can follow to receive a stream of prompts, for example : twitter.com/writingprompt twitter.com/NoTelling twitter.com/writingink Another idea is just to keep an eye on all the tweets being written by people all over the world, some of which can, inadvertently, be used as writing prompts. How To Make Your Own Writing Prompts You can find ideas for writing prompts of your own from all sorts of places : snatches of overheard conversation, headlines, signs, words picked from a book and so on. Get used to keeping an eye out for words and phrases that fire your imagination, jot them down and use them as writing prompts to spark your creativity. You never know where they might take you. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidHow to Punctuate with â€Å"However†Capitalizing Titles of People and Groups

Neo-Impressionism and the Artists Behind the Movement

Neo-Impressionism and the Artists Behind the Movement Neo-Impressionism has the distinction of being both a movement and a style. Also known as Divisionism or Pointillism, Neo-Impression emerged in the late 1800s in France. It belongs to the subdivision of the larger avant-garde movement called Post-Impressionism. â€Å"Whereas the Impressionist painters spontaneously recorded nature in terms of the fugitive effects of color and light, the Neo-Impressionists applied scientific optical principles of light and color to create strictly formalized compositions,† according to Brittanica.com. What makes Neo-Impressionism stand out? Artists who employ the style apply separate colors to the canvas so that the eye of the viewer blends the colors together rather than the artists on their palettes. According to the theory of chromatic integration, these independent tiny touches of color can be mixed optically to achieve better color quality. A glow radiates from the minuscule dots, all the same size, that are packed together to create a specific hue on the Neo-Impressionist canvas. The painted surfaces are especially luminescent. When did  Neo-Impressionism Begin? The French artist Georges Seurat introduced Neo-Impressionism. His 1883 painting Bathers at Asnieres features the style. Seurat studied color theory publications produced by Charles Blanc, Michel Eugà ¨ne Chevreul and Ogden Rood. He also formulated a precise application of painted dots that would mix optically for maximum brilliance. He called this system Chromoluminarism. The Belgium art critic Fà ©lix Fà ©nà ©on described Seurats systematic application of paint in his review of the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition in La Vogue in June 1886. He expanded the contents of this article in his book Les Impressionistes en 1886, and from that little book his word nà ©o-impressionisme took off as a name for Seurat and his followers. How Long Was Neo-Impressionism a Movement? The Neo-Impressionist Movement spanned from 1884 to1935. That year marked the death of Paul Signac, a champion and spokesman of the movement, heavily influenced by Seurat. Seurat died in 1891 at the young age of 31 after likely developing meningitis and a number of other illnesses. Other proponents of Neo-Impressionism include the artists Camille Pissarro, Henry Edmond Cross, George Lemmen, Thà ©o van Rysselberghe, Jan Toorop, Maximilen Luce and Albert Dubois-Pillet. At the beginning of the movement, Neo-Impressionist followers founded the Socià ©tà © des Artistes Indà ©pendants. Although Neo-Impressionism’s popularity waned in the early 20th  century, it influenced the techniques of artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Henry Matisse. What Are the Key Characteristic of Neo-Impressionism? The key traits of Neo-Impressionism include tiny dots of local color and clean, clear contours around the forms. The style also features luminescent surfaces, a stylized deliberateness that emphasizes a decorative design and an artificial lifelessness in the figures and landscapes. Neo-Impressionists painted in the studio, instead of outdoors as the Impressionists had. The style focuses on contemporary life and landscapes and is carefully ordered rather than spontaneous in technique and intention Best Known Artists of the  Neo-Impressionism Movement Well known artists include: Georges SeuratPaul SignacCamille PissarroHenry Edmond CrossGeorge LemmenThà ©o van RysselbergheJan TooropMaximilen LuceAlbert Dubois-Pillet

Saurophaganax - Facts and Figures

Saurophaganax - Facts and Figures Name: Saurophaganax (Greek for greatest lizard-eater); pronounced SORE-oh-FAGG-an-axe Habitat: Woodlands of North America Historical Period: Late Jurassic (155-150 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 40 feet long and 3-4 tons Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Large size; bipedal posture; overall similarity to Allosaurus About Saurophaganax Between the time the fossils of Saurophaganax were discovered in Oklahoma (in the 1930s) and the time they were fully examined (in the 1990s), it dawned on researchers that this large, fierce, meat-eating dinosaur was most likely a giant species of Allosaurus (in fact, the most notable reconstruction of Saurophaganax, at the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, makes use of fabricated, scaled-up Allosaurus bones). Whatever the case, at 40 feet long and three to four tons, this fierce carnivore almost rivaled the later Tyrannosaurus Rex in size, and must have been much feared in its late Jurassic heyday. (As you might expect, given where it was unearthed, Saurophaganax is the official state dinosaur of Oklahoma.) However Saurophaganax winds up being classified, how did this dinosaur live? Well, judging by the profusion of sauropods discovered in its stretch of the Morrison Formation (including Apatosaurus, Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus), Saurophaganax targeted the juveniles of these enormous plant-eating dinosaurs, and may have supplemented its diet with occasional servings of fellow theropods like Ornitholestes and Ceratosaurus. (By the way, this dinosaur was originally named Saurophagus, eater of lizards, but its name was later changed to Saurophaganax, greatest eater of lizards, when it turned out that Saurophagus had already been assigned to another genus of animal.)

Managerial accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Managerial accounting - Essay Example ad mainly formed strategic partnerships with major players in the Chinese dairy, beverage and food industries gaining rights to major Chinese dairy and beverage brands. China was an important market for Group Danone owing to which the company along with Peregrine formed a Singapore registered company to invest in Joint Venture keeping 51% shares while Wahaha and employees had 49% of the shares. However the main motive of the Joint Venture is mentioned below: Yanni Yan (2000) mentions that control is a multidimensional factor which plays an important role in the capacity of a firm to achieve its goals which refers to the process by which one person or group influences to varying degrees, the behavior of another through the use of power and authority. However the main purpose of control and influence in joint ventures is to ensure that the benefits are realized and objectives are achieved. Further it is mentioned by Aimin Yan and Yadong Luo (2001) that the extent of control refers to the degree to which each party in the venture exercises its control in the management of the joint venture. Schaan (Aimin Yan and Yodan Luo, 2001) during his study identified wide range of control mechanisms available to parent firms including the ventures board of directors, formal agreements, appointments of key personnel, planning process, and reporting relationships. It is also further stated that variety of informal mechanisms are also effective for exer cising parent control through setting up integrative structures between the venture and the parent, running training programs for personnel’s and inviting managers to attend the corporate business meetings. It is pertinent to mention that according to a study, higher performance occurred when the multinational parents assumed a more relaxed attitude toward control otherwise in case of tight control by foreign partner; the ventures performance is likely to be suffering (Aimin Yan and Yodan Luo, 2001). However in case of Wahaha and

Macgiavelli's Relationship To The Coca-Cola Company Research Paper

Macgiavelli's Relationship To The Coca-Cola Company - Research Paper Example The current business world is growing very first, and the customer's demand is highly increasing and becoming more sophisticated. The existing companies are facing a big challenge on how to cope with this sophisticated custom demand; the first growing technology, competency and resources. For the companies to solve the above challenges, there is need for an alliance that is the only solution to the first growing market. The strategic alliance will enable the companies to access new markets, obtain cutting-edge technology, expand geographic reach, and cope with the first competition being experienced (Hoskisson et al., 186). These alliances have allowed most organizations to compete more effectively and have also enabled these companies to be in a good state with the increasing technological and organizational complexities that have currently come into play in the today’s market. Strategic alliance has contributed in changing the dynamic and structure of the today’s competition in the whole world. In general, strategic alliance is whereby two companies come together to obtain a common interest which might not be easy to obtain individually (Botten, 298). MACGIAVELLI'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE COCA-COLA COMPANY The Coca-Cola Company has ventured into the alliance strategy to outdo his rivals in the market. However, according to Machiavelli, a prince who is self-sufficient is better of as he is always ready to meet any enemy at the battlefield. This is because he is always armed with his army. The argument is a contradiction with the approach the Coca-Cola Company is taking. This approach of forming alliances is helping the company to prosper in the today’s market.

The Petrochemical Industries in Qatar Research Paper

The Petrochemical Industries in Qatar - Research Paper Example The two products have made the country to be the second highest per capita income country in the world. It has 26 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves. Oil and natural gas exports are the main source of income generation. Its firm policy in the field of economy is to expand the sources of income and try to make the economic growth stable by making use of its natural resources and developing gas field and petrol chemical industries. The country has had success in the establishment and the operation of a massive industrial base. This has led to the country becoming the major producer of natural liquefied gas and other petroleum products. This has boosted the country’s income and the development of its economic structures. Oxidation coupling of methane is one of the methods used in petrol chemicals in Qatar. There are different technologies that are used in its operation. This paper will look at the technologies and each of the pros and cons of the technologies. In conclusion, the best technology that should be used in Qatar chemical industries will be recommended. One of the processes is the oxidation of methane enhanced by thermally optimised reactors and immediate separation. There are a few conversion schemes of methane which have a capacity to offer a simple and economic production of liquid fuels that are transportable from many natural gas fields in the world. For example, production of C2 hydro carbons by oxidising methane has been restricted because it has a low yield. In order to solve this problem, a system known as novel multi bed system has been designed by mesoscopic devices. This offers a low cost and high yield oxidation. This also assists in applying the same design in other processes of oxidation resulting in the same benefits. There is also increase in conversion and selectivity for the oxidation coupling of methane. (Tonkovich 1993) However economic practicability of oxidation coupling of methane should have a high activity

Themes The suffering body by compare the work 2 artist Louise Essay

Themes The suffering body by compare the work 2 artist Louise Bourgeois and Francis Bacon in different and similar approach under the theme of Suffering Bo - Essay Example Artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Francis Bacon (listed in their fields respectively) recognize and accept these changes and interpret them in their artworks. Art began around 15 000 BC, often favouring drawing over colour in forms such as cave paintings. There have been changes from emphasis on geometrical shapes such as mosaics and arches, religious and gothic-based, in which art evolved from it's two dimensions and was practised in sculpture format, the Victorian and art Nouveau-influenced craft movements in which art became decoration through to Dada in which the art was taken off the canvas - new materials and exhibiting practises were used to encourage stronger responses from the audience. Subject matter had changed from communicative, to aesthetic, to political, social and emotional. Dada was the jump-off point for performance art. The origin is said to be found in 1917 in Zurich, where several notable Dadaists, spoke nonsensical words to complement nonsense acts to protest the Great War and the importance f art in general: "...No more cute art in frames, no more static art that only makes the Philistines richer." An integral part f the ritual f performance art is it's ephemerality - it is not static like most artworks. After it is finished nothing will be the same again and nothing is left. Performance art is described as unprecedented and because f its originality, it is difficult to censor. It is very relevant to its time because f the short period f time needed between the process f conception and performance and political, social and philosophical views can be explored in-depth such as in the 1970's and in the 1980's in which "Queer Theatre" was founded in which homosexual issues were dealt with. It occupies an environment with specific objects and actions for a specific amount f time and because f the brevity and intent f the artwork, everything present has a meaning. Performance art also brings another change to the world f the artwork - the role f the audience. It is made to be watched and experienced in the moment specifically for those who witness it, therefore, the audience has a much more integral part. As the audience is generally small, there can be much interaction between them and the artist and the experience is much more direct and the message is more vigorously felt because f the proximity and actuality f the piece. What happens on stage can affect the audience and the artist more directly views their response. The audience can be loud, angry or irritating and what the audience does can affect the actors on stage unlike with other fixed artworks, whatever the audience does, (aside from vandalising it) the artwork will not change. Louise Bourgeois is a forerunner in performance art. His performance works are often structured around the confines f the artist's own body and often have a deeply impacting affect upon his audiences because f their graphically disturbing nature. For example, in 1977, he created the illusion f cutting off one f his arms with a small axe after stuffing meat into a shirtsleeve fitted with a prosthetic hand. In 2000 he impounded himself in a small cell-like confinement, without

Illegal immigration of Mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Illegal immigration of Mexico - Essay Example Tighter border control would be the first necessary solution for the problem of illegal immigration. Tighter border control must be enforced through increased manpower and the integration of better technology into the system. According to Krikorian, the current state of manpower for border control has only one man guarding an entire mile of the borderline. (Krikorian 2006) It is of no surprise then that illegal immigrants can sneak in during their watch. The government must thus appropriate sufficient funds to employ additional border guards. Increased manning of the Mexican border, however, would not be sufficient by itself to effectively tighten border control and decrease the number of illegal entries. An increase in manpower must also be accompanied by an upgrading of the currently technology, such as sensors and floodlights, for example, that are being used in border control. The construction of heavier and taller fences with adequate lighting to replace the weak wire fences tha t litter the borderline is one basic upgrade that would already be of much help. Although this upgrade would come at a cost, it would be worth it because the economic costs being borne by the government and the citizenry as a consequence of illegal immigration far outweighs the cost of such upgrades. Second, a national verification system accessible to prospective employers must be set up to ensure secure verification of a prospective employee's legal status. Right now, illegal immigrants are easily entering employment with the assistance of a black market catering to the manufacture of false identification papers. Since the documents that are being required for employment can be readily falsified, employers sometimes unwittingly employ illegal immigrants. As such, there is a need to set up a secure and comprehensive database of all citizens, legal immigrants, and foreign nationals with work permits so that companies and employers can verify the work eligibility of an applicant. According to Mazzolia and Simpson, such a system was already proposed much earlier upon the enactment of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act but was left unimplemented to pacify interest groups who objected to such a system as intrusive of personal privacy. (Mazzolia, 2006) This intrusion on pers onal privacy would supposedly occur since the open access to such a system would allow an employer to verify the records not only of his applicants but also of his next-door neighbor. While such abuses are indeed possible with the proposed system, the effectivity and necessity of implementing such a system justifies such a sacrifice. According to Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies, a similar pilot program launched in 1997 succeeded not only in detecting illegal alien applicants but was also shown to effectively dissuade illegal aliens from seeking employment in such establishments. (Vaughan 2006) With such a high probability of success, we cannot afford to forfeit the use of such a system for privacy concerns that can actually be tempered by limiting the extent of personal information that would be available in the

Themes The suffering body by compare the work 2 artist Louise Essay

Themes The suffering body by compare the work 2 artist Louise Bourgeois and Francis Bacon in different and similar approach under the theme of Suffering Bo - Essay Example Artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Francis Bacon (listed in their fields respectively) recognize and accept these changes and interpret them in their artworks. Art began around 15 000 BC, often favouring drawing over colour in forms such as cave paintings. There have been changes from emphasis on geometrical shapes such as mosaics and arches, religious and gothic-based, in which art evolved from it's two dimensions and was practised in sculpture format, the Victorian and art Nouveau-influenced craft movements in which art became decoration through to Dada in which the art was taken off the canvas - new materials and exhibiting practises were used to encourage stronger responses from the audience. Subject matter had changed from communicative, to aesthetic, to political, social and emotional. Dada was the jump-off point for performance art. The origin is said to be found in 1917 in Zurich, where several notable Dadaists, spoke nonsensical words to complement nonsense acts to protest the Great War and the importance f art in general: "...No more cute art in frames, no more static art that only makes the Philistines richer." An integral part f the ritual f performance art is it's ephemerality - it is not static like most artworks. After it is finished nothing will be the same again and nothing is left. Performance art is described as unprecedented and because f its originality, it is difficult to censor. It is very relevant to its time because f the short period f time needed between the process f conception and performance and political, social and philosophical views can be explored in-depth such as in the 1970's and in the 1980's in which "Queer Theatre" was founded in which homosexual issues were dealt with. It occupies an environment with specific objects and actions for a specific amount f time and because f the brevity and intent f the artwork, everything present has a meaning. Performance art also brings another change to the world f the artwork - the role f the audience. It is made to be watched and experienced in the moment specifically for those who witness it, therefore, the audience has a much more integral part. As the audience is generally small, there can be much interaction between them and the artist and the experience is much more direct and the message is more vigorously felt because f the proximity and actuality f the piece. What happens on stage can affect the audience and the artist more directly views their response. The audience can be loud, angry or irritating and what the audience does can affect the actors on stage unlike with other fixed artworks, whatever the audience does, (aside from vandalising it) the artwork will not change. Louise Bourgeois is a forerunner in performance art. His performance works are often structured around the confines f the artist's own body and often have a deeply impacting affect upon his audiences because f their graphically disturbing nature. For example, in 1977, he created the illusion f cutting off one f his arms with a small axe after stuffing meat into a shirtsleeve fitted with a prosthetic hand. In 2000 he impounded himself in a small cell-like confinement, without

Homicide in England and Wales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Homicide in England and Wales - Essay Example Table 1. Select data on crime, figures and Source: Home Office 2010, p. 31 Based on Table 1 which was taken from Table 2.04 of Home Office (2010, p. 31), violators for the offence of manslaughter was 739 in 1997, 750 for fiscal year 1998-99, 766 for 1999-00, 850 for 2000/01, 891 for 2001/02, and 1,047 for 2002/03. According to the statistics in the document, the offence count for manslaughter has been decreasing for the period 1999 to 2002/03. Beginning 2003/04, however, the trend was reversed. Instead of an increasing offence count for manslaughter, we have instead a generally decreasing victim count. The victim count for manslaughter decreased from 1,047 in 2002/03 to 904 in 2003/04, to 868 in 2004/05, to 764 in 2005/06, and to 758 in 2006/07. The count for manslaughter slightly increased to 774 in 2007/08 but it decreased to 657 in 2008/09 that is way below the count in 2006/07, decreasing further to 615 in 2009/10. The offence for manslaughter decreased by 6% in 2009/10 compared to its level in 2008/09. The count for attempted murder generally followed the trend for manslaughter. The count for â€Å"attempted murder† in 2009/10 at 588 is much lower than its count in 1997 in 652, even if the count for â€Å"attempted murder† increased by 2% from its count of 576 in 2008/09 to its count of 588 in 2009/10. As of 2007/08, the offence â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† remains high because the offence remains in several thousand cases. However, we should note that the offence count for â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† in 2007/08 level at 9,962 is close to its count in 1997 at 9,340. More important, however, we must note that its count of 9,962 in 2007/08 is about half to far less than half of the offence count in a total of four years or from 2002/03 to 2005/06. The offence count for â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† in 2007/08 at 9,962 is also way below than its count of 12,822 in 2006/2007. Further, it is very imp ortant to point out that the count for the offence â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† has been consistently decreasing since 2002/03. It is also important to emphasize that the consistent decrease in the count has been going on for at least five years. The data appears to suggest that both the offence of manslaughter, the offence of attempted murder, and the offence of â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder† are all on the decline. Meanwhile, the offence count for â€Å"possession of weapon† consistently increased from 1998/99 to 2004/05. Beginning 2005/06 until 2007/2008, there is a consistent decrease in the offence count but it does not seem substantial because the offence count was not restored close enough to its count level during and near the period 1998/99. The figures in Table 1 validate an important point against capital punishment or the death penalty. Although capital punishment has been abolished in England and Wales, the abolition of the death pen alty did not present an obstacle for many important crimes or offence to be reduced. According to Radelet and Lacock (2009, p. 490), criminologists have been interested whether capital punishment is really effective in deterring crime or if the absence of death penalty would increase the crime rate and incidence. Table 1 from Home Office (2010) provides an important answer. As shown by the data and by our discussion of the offence count in manslaughter, â€Å"attempted murder†, and â€Å"threat or conspiracy to murder†, the absence of a death penalty will not imply an absence

Impact of the Affordable Care Act Essay Example for Free

Impact of the Affordable Care Act Essay Impact of the Affordable Care Act on North Carolinas Uninsured Health insurance is one of the most important benefits a citizen can have in America. Some Americans who work acquire health insurance through their employers. But then, there are Americas who do not work and therefore, are unable to have health insurance. The Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama and the United States Congress, (North Carolina’s Institute of Medicine, 2012). This paper will focus on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on North Carolina’s uninsured. With the rising cost in health care and high co-payments pertaining to medical conditions, some people cannot afford health insurance. With the loss of jobs and losing their livelihood, some people cannot afford insurance. Individuals who work with small businesses do not have health insurance because these small businesses cannot afford to provide health insurance benefits for their employees. Some people just do not work and therefore, do not have health insurance. This whole uninsured population is the ones who do not seek health care when they have health issues or have chronic medical conditions, and also do not practice preventative care. According to the North Carolina’s Institute of Medicine (2012), there was 1.6 million (19%) uninsured people living in North Carolina in 2010 and According to Milstead (4th edition, 2013), this group of uninsured whose income was below federal poverty level included pregnant women, children 18 years old and under, parents who were employed or unemployed, adults without children, disabled and the elderly population. By 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) offered much new coverage for the uninsured population. It required states to offer Medicaid insurance to working families whose income was below the federal poverty level of 138%, that is $30,429 for a family of four ( Milstead, 2013). According to North Carolina’s Institute of Medicine (NCIOM), For a family making above the federal poverty level, but not enough to afford  health insurance, the ACA provided subsidies to help them purchase private insurance through new insurances that was created by the ACA. Before ACA, Medicaid only covered children, parents, pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly. Now in 2014, it is available to all adults making below the federal income level (NICOM, 2012). This population of insured people will now receive health services, preventative services, and prescription drugs and so on. By 2014, with the Affordable Care Act in effect, according to (NCIOM, 2012), almost 800,000 of people living in North Carolina that were not insured will be insured. 41% of this population will obtain insurance through private insurances and 59% through Medicaid. With this amount of surplus in insured patients, health care workers and professionals will be in greater demand, especially primary care providers. This may cause a longer wait period to see ones’ primary provider or a specialist. There will also be a decrease in treating preventative care. North Carolina is aware that there will be a shortage of medical personnel’s with this demand. They have to find the funds to educate and have enough health care providers to ensure that the workforce is available to meet the state’s demand of insured people. The health care workforce, who are the primary workers, include doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, physicians’ assistants, psychologists, psychiatrists , medical assistants, nurse midwives, and licensed practical nurses. This workforce, in a broad spectrum, ensures that patients receive optimal quality care, treat and teach preventative care, manage chronic illnesses, both physically and mentally. To be able to increase the medical workforce in order to meet the health care needs of the population, North Carolina’s schools and universities have increased their students’ class capacities. Some of these schools including Duke University School of Medicine, The UNC Chapel Hill Department of Pediatrics/ UNC Hospitals, the nursing programs at UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina University and many others have received funding from the ACA and other agencies. Other groups are responsible to offer loans and scholarships in the effort to attract students into the medical field. Rural training is also available to students as well. (NICOM, 2012). North Carolina is also  encouraging a diversified form of teaching and is encouraging minorities to be a part of the medical workforce. They believe that patients will adhere to practicing better health and lifestyle changes if they are told to do so from someone of their own race. North Carolina is taking appropriate steps to be able to meet the health care needs of its insured people. The State has taken steps to expand the medical team workforce through offering scholarships and grants to different universities. This is to enable patients to receive access to good quality health care, both in the urban and rural areas. Community centers infrastructures are been redesigned to meet the needs of the insured population. Health insurance companies are responsible to provide health benefits such as low co-payments according to the plan an individual or family signs up for (NICOM, 2012). Health insurance companies are also responsible to be able to help pay for prescriptions drugs, outpatient care, emergency care, hospitalization, and preventative care practices. According to( NICOM, 2012), North Carolina is not a healthy state, but with the introduction of the ACA, they are planning to become a healthy state in the year 2020. The ethical implications of the Affordable Care Act are giving the citizens of North Carolina a right to have health insurance. No one should avoid going to the doctor when they are sick because they cannot afford it. Everyone should have a choice to practice preventative care medicine. According to the Whitehouse.gov, pre-existing conditions will no longer be a barrier to obtaining health insurance. Individuals and families will receive tax credit support to pay for their coverage. All in all, the Affordable Care Act has given all Americans the right to have health insurance. References North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM). Examining the Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in North Carolina, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.nciom.org The Affordable Care Act: Immediate Benefits for North Carolina. Retrieved www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/healthcare-facts Milstead, J. Health Policy and Politics, 2013.

A report on the Implementation of Standard Costing

A report on the Implementation of Standard Costing In current years, various tools such as activity-based costing, the balanced scorecard and target costing have been used in the business community. However, traditional management accounting systems continue to be widely applied. One example is standard costing, which has been used on a wide front during the last century. The purpose of this paper is to examine the widely use of standard costing system. Despite it is less relevant than newer accounting methods, standard costing is far from obsolete. Because of its simplicity, flexibility and affordability, standard costing remains a favorite cost accounting method among accounting and finance professionals. Introduction: In todays time of rapid technologic change, tough global and domestic competition, total cost management is central to sustained corporate profitability and competitiveness. The management focus today is to minimize cost. The cost leadership strategy does not mean compromise on either quality or technology or product differentiation. Low costs are no advantage, if the customers are not willing to buy the product of low cost firm. Cost management has to be driven with customer as the focus. The survival way for any company is how to manage its product/service cost, quality and performance. The customers are continuously demanding high quality and better performance products/services and at the same time, they want the prices to fall. The shareholders are also demanding a required rate of return on their investment with the company. Thus, cost has become a residual. The challenge is being able to manufacture or provide service with the stipulated cost framework. Thus, cost management has to be an ongoing continuous improvement program. Standard Costing In recent years, various tools such as activity-based costing, the balanced scorecard and target costing have been used in the business community (Kaplan Cooper, 1998; Kaplan Norton, 1996; Ansari et al1997). However, traditional management accounting systems continue to be widely applied (Brewer, 2000). One example of traditional management accounting is standard costing. Standards can be used with either job order or process costing system to provide important information for managerial planning, controlling, and decision making. Standard costing assists in setting budgets and evaluating managerial performance. The major motive to use standard costing is because it facilitates product costing estimation (Ask Ax, 1997). Ask and Axs study is supported by a study conducted by Puxty and Lyall (1989), which reported that 76 percent of the UK commercial and industrial companies operate a standard costing system. Although it is used widely, people recently criticize it could not provide the information needed in todays competitive environment. Despite the criticism, there are few signs that the use of standard costing tends to decrease. The survey from Ask and AX (1997) showed that 12.6 % of the companies investigated stated that they would abandon standards but on the other hand, 9.9 % stated that they would like to convert to standard costing system. The History of Standard Costing The standard costing system was developed in the early 1900s. According to Drury (1992), it was the scientific management principles recommended by F.W. Taylor and other engineers. Scientific engineers built up information about standards to set up the best way to use labour and material resources within manufacturing. Engineers used the standards to provide information for planning the flow of work so that the waste of materials and labour was minimized. Interestingly, engineers did not consider standards as a tool to control financial costs at that time (Drury, 1992) The first thoughts of using standards as a tool to control costs came from G. Charter Harrison, who designed the first standard costing system. Started in 1911, Harrison worked for the Boss Manufacturing Company, Illinois, in USA makers of work gloves. It took him a few years before he published the first set of equations for the analysis of cost variances (Solomons, 1968) Harrison was not the only person on the standard costing scene. In 1908 and 1909 Harrington Emerson supported the development of an information system specifically directed towards the achievement of efficiency objectives. Emerson stated that information about standards allow managers to differentiate variances that are due to controllable conditions and variances that are caused by conditions beyond managements control (Solomons, 1968) Traditionally standard costing systems are used in order to support the manufacturing industry. Today standard costing is widely used by all kinds of industries. The Purpose of A Standard Costing System: The purpose of cost and management accounting is to provide financial information to managers to help them to plan activities, control the activities and see the financial implications of any decisions they make take (Hussey Hussey, 1998). Standard costing systems provide cost data that can be used for many different purposes. Ask and AX (1997) have identified several fields of application when it comes to a standard costing system. Their survey has the following reasons/purposes why a company may use a standard costing system: Product Costing 82.4% Inventory Valuation 64.8% Variance Analysis 56.0% Budgeting 45.1% Transfer Pricing 31.9% Drury (1996) gives a wider view of the purposes. He states that the main purpose a standard costing system can be used are: To help in setting budges and evaluating managerial performance. To act as a control device by stressing those activities which do not match to plan and thus alert decision-makers to those situations that many be out of control and in need of remedial action. To provide a forecast of future costs that can be used for decision making purposes. To simplify the task of tracing costs to products for inventory evaluation purposes. To provide a challenging target with individuals are motivated to achieve. There are many advantages with standards. Calculations are easier made and an effective performance controls are enabled, which provide opportunity to savings. Critique Against Standard Costing Systems Standard costs are major elements within the management accounting area. They were used when organizations conditions were stable, standardized products were produced and labour and material costs were the major costs components. But todays business environment is different. The difficulties in the manufacturing process are increased when products are many and product series are short. (Ask Ax, 1997) When difficulties increase, it has more complicated interpreting of variances. Moreover, it could be difficult to tie the variances to the particular persons or the particular areas. Also, when the manufacturing conditions become more complex, the amount of fixed costs increases. Therefore, fewer opportunities will influence the total costs in the short term. Managers have less interesting to manage by using traditional thinking on how costs are influenced by volume. As shown above, standards may be difficult to set in todays dynamic conditions. A standard costing system may be expensive to maintain and the additional record-keeping may become a burden to managers and they lose confidence in the system. (Hussey Hussey, 1997) Richard Fleischman and Thomas Tyson claimed that standard costing cannot provide adequate assistance in the areas of construction strategy and operational management. (Fleischman and Tyson, 1998) Don Hansen and Maryanne Mowen describe standard costing system as potentially dysfunctional. (Hansen and Mowen, 2002) These criticisms have contributed to the dismissal of standard costing, especially for large companies that have more sophisticated method such as Activity Based Costing (ABC) and target costing. Mike Lucas even questioned that whether it is still appropriate for college accounting programs to teach this topic. (Lucas, 1997) Global Acceptance of Standard Costing While academics pointing out the weaknesses of standard costing, people observed that this accounting tool continues to be widely used throughout the world. Studies showed that in developed countries the standard costing using rate is as high as 73% in the U.K. and 86% in Japan. (Garg, Ghosh, Hudick and Nowacki, 2003) More specifically76% of 303 accountants in the U.K. and 73% of 85 finance and accounting specialists in New Zealand use standard costing. (Guilding, Lamminmaki and Drury, 1998) The authors also found that accountants viewed modern costing and production management tools as having no impact on how widely standard costing and variance analysis are used. A study by Maliah Sulaiman, Nik Nazli and Norhayati Mohd Alwi of companies doing business in Malaysia found similar widespread dissemination and persistence of standard costing: 70% of 66 local firms and 76% of 21 Japanese are using standard costing. These studies reveal that standard costing does not overemphasize cost control; however, it is linked to quality management. In addition, the Lucas and Sulaiman studies have shown that companies use historical performance instead of predetermined engineering standards on actual costs. Instead of using newer and costlier systems, companies chose to reconfigure existing system with more precise schemes, implying that firms have adapted standard costing to their specific needs and have not abandoned it. Swiss Chalet Standard Costs System: System Description In order to demonstrate that standard costing is far from obsolete. I examined the standard costing system at Swiss Chalet, one of the biggest Canadian restaurant chains. The collected data of this study consists of in-depth interviews with employees working with standard costing at different divisions within Swiss Chalet. The study about the standard costing in U.K., Dubai and Malaysia is also used. First opened in 1954, Swiss Chalet now has more than 190 restaurants across Canada and United States serving their signature rotisserie chicken and a variety of other menu items. In the beginning of each month, Swiss Chalets area manger will send standard costs to each Swiss Chalets store. The standard costs are generated through historical data and area managers analysis based on each stores current situation. Then, management in each store can project materials, labor and overhead costs by reviewing the standard costs established for each of these cost elements. Then computer generate the variances and make managers recognize the differences between the actual activities and resource consumption and the expected activities and resource consumption. When the variance is significant, this is a signal for investigation, Managers will try to discover the cause and exert influence to correct it. Therefore, cost control and performance evaluation is the main purpose of Swiss Chalets Standard Costing System. According to Mann-Whitney U test Statistic13, inventory costing is the key function of standard costing for industries in U.K, Dubai and Malaysia. Also, Mann-Whitney U test suggests that the industrial-sector companies in U.K. use standard costing to a greater extent than the service sector for the functions of cost control and performance evaluation, costing inventories and computing product cost for decision making. Also, in only one instance has this pattern reverted toward the service sector: the use of standard costing as an aid to budgeting. These findings are consistent with those of other studies of industrial sector companies in Malaysia and the U.K. (Marie Rao, 2010) Material Standards: Swiss Chalets direct material components have three categories: foods, liquor and disposals. Foods include chicken, potatoes, ribs, and vegetables. Etc. Liquor includes wine, spirit and other non-alcohol beverages. Disposals include food boxes and bags to wrap food. Also, the standard cost of non-value-added materials such as discount materials, food wastes and voidable orders are also included for the purpose of reduction or elimination. When area mangers determine the standard cost, historical cost, stores current performance and cost-benefit trade-offs are involved in making quality decisions. When all quantity and price information has been gathered, component quantities are multiplied by unit prices to yield the total cost of each component. These totals are summed to determine the total standard material cost of one unit of product and the total standard material cost. Information about direct material of each component, their specifications (including quality), their quantitie s and total standard material cost are listed on a bill of materials. This average of historic usage method is consistent with statistics of service sectors in Dubai, U.K. and Malaysia. According to Mann-Whitney U test Statistic, 76% of service sector in Dubai and 63% of service sector in Malaysia use average of historic usage to set up labor and material standards. On the other hand, nearly nine out of 10 industrial sector respondents in Dubai employed standards based on design/engineering studies, which is comparable to Japanese companies in Malaysia (81%). These firms appear to be significantly more scientific in their approach to standards setting compared to the service sectors, which predominantly used average of historic usage method. Labor Standards: The procedures for developing labor standards are similar to those used for material standards in Swiss Chalet. Swiss Chalet has four types of works in the front of the house: servers, hosts, managers and bar tenders. They also have three types of people in the kitchen: cooks, line cooks and pre cooks. The standard costs of each type of worker in each specific time range are identified. Because they are in the restaurant business, labor requirement is different during the different period of the day. Therefore, their labor standards are specifically identified in each hour. Their managers salaries are also counted into the labor standard costs although they are fixed overhead cost. Labor rate standards reflect the wages and fringe benefits paid to employees. Because employees in the same position are paid different wage rates based on their experiences in the restaurant business, a weighted average rate is computed and used as the standard. After labor tasks are analyzed, an operatio ns flow document is prepared that lists all the necessary activities and labor costs in each time range. Overhead Standards: Swiss Chalet store has two types of overhead costs: utility costs and maintenance costs. (Managers salaries are included in the labor costs). Utility costs include rent, gas and hydro, etc. Maintenance costs include equipment repair budget, sanitary service and pest controls, etc. Area managers use historical data, store situation and market price to determine the overhead standard costs. Swiss Chalets managers review the standard every month. Slightly more than half of Dubai industries (52%) conduct reviews semiannually, consistent with Japanese respondents in Malaysia (55%). On the other hand, domestic Malaysia firms in the U.K. were apt to review their costing standards annually at a rate of 35% and 68%, respectively. (Marie Rao, 2010) Material Variance: Store managers do the inventory count every week and then input direct material cost they used of each component, their specifications (including quality), their quantities and total standard material cost into the computer system. The computer system generates the price variance and quantity variance. Store managers usually can not do much about the price variance because they are not able to control prices. Head office has purchasing contracts with their suppliers with fixed prices in the yearly basis. The only price they can control is vegetable prices, which have seasonal fluctuation. Managers are able to influence the price according to the price variance. Quantity variances are considered the responsibility of the person in charge of the kitchen. When the quantity variance is too big, managers have to think about the efficiency of the material usage, weather experienced employees are well allocated in different shift and weather further training should be provided. Labor Variance: When employees start to work and when they leave the store, they input their password into the computer system. Computer system automatically records their working hours and generates labor rate variance and labor efficiency variance. If the labor cost is bigger than 29% of the total costs, head office will give a warning to the stores, demanding them to reduce the labor costs. Therefore, managers have to balance the use of experienced workers and inexperienced workers in a specific task by using labor efficiency variance and labor rate variance. Using highly skilled highly paid individuals for lower-level jobs could cause an unfavorable labor rate variance, accompanied by a favorable labor efficiency variance. Therefore, Swiss Chalet examines variance where the variance exceeds a given percentage of standard. In Dubai, 39% of industrial companies and 50% of service companies base their costing decisions on managerial judgment, compared to roughly half of U.K. companies and one fourth of local and Japanese companies in Malaysia. However, 35% of firms in Dubais industrial sector and 29% in its service sector answered when the variance exceeded a given percentage of standard, which is similar to the rates found in the Malaysia and U.K. studies. (Marie Rao, 2010) II Usefulness and effectiveness of the System: The major advantage of standard cost system in Swiss Chalet is that it highlights and allows management to manage by exceptions, that is, it allows management to concentrate on the areas where there are inefficiencies. It also allows company management to understand the quality expected and costs that will be incurred in the preparation of each dish and what impacts deviations from these standards will have on costs and profits. When the variance is significant, this is a signal for investigation, Managers tries to discover the cause and exert influence to correct it. In the Swiss Chalet store I visited, costs are under control; productivity is high; workers are achieving bonuses based on team activity goals and employee morale is high in a work environment typically viewed as tedious. The system is highly controlled and automated. The process is effective and the standards they set are appropriate and attainably. Although their standards are developed from past and current information, environmental, seasonal and economic factors are considered for the period in which the standards are to be applied. Swiss Chalets material, labor and overhead standard costs are changed every month. For example, recently, Swiss Chalet eliminated many non value added labor movements, their labor time standards changed very soon accordingly. Swiss Chalets standards can be reached or slightly exceeded approximately 60% or 70% of the time with reasonable effort by workers. Their standards allow for normal, unavoidable time problems or delays. Their standards represent an attainable challenge and are able to motivate workers performance and at determining how effectively and efficiently workers are performing their tasks. III Recommendation: Process changes: Under current system, area managers are the only people who do the standard costs setting. I believe that area managers could cooperate with purchasing manager, accountants, marketing managers and store managers to determine which choices are most appropriate. The cooperation will help the company better balance the interrelationship of cost, quality, quantity and selling price. Under the current system, standard costs of each type of worker in each specific time range are used to calculate the total labor standards. However, workers salaries are different even in the same position because their experiences are different. Therefore, each individuals salary and individual numbers in one specific time range used to calculate the standard labor costs should be identified for managers better understand the standards and better improve their labor arrangement and improve their labor efficiency. Computer System change: Swiss Chalets current computer system is good, but still not highly automated. They still use fax to transit data and information within the organization are not highly shared within one portal. Therefore, I believe Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) will make their work process more effectively. EPR system provides a much higher level of accuracy to gathering cost information. With most manufacturing processes being automated and operated with little direct labor, ERP system has the advantage of keeping an accurate record of overhead cost pools at all levels in an organization. ERP has greater capacity to accurately allocate costs and it is important for developing accurate standards. Standard costs can be prepared with, for example, the sub-module mySAP.com Financials under ERP system. Intermountain Health Care, Inc.s Standard System According to Mr. W.V. Rosqvists research paper Intermountain Health Care, Inc, (IHC) Satandard Costing System Methodology and Implementation, the IHC Standard Costing System is able to manipulate the procedure costs in any way desirable to provide meaningful groupings for analysis. The Standard Costing System provides hospital management with a tool for meeting increased cost pressures in the health care environment. The system is useful for pricing services, but it is also important to monitor productivity and analyze costs and profitability. IHC is a not-for-profit hospital chain with 22 hospitals in the intermountain area and head office is in Salt Lake City. They have a complex approach to determine detailed standard costs for every procedure in the hospital. IHCs standard costing system was designed to link the hospitals financial management and case mix reporting system to provide significant information in the area of following: Cost/Profit Studies: the ability to determine cost and profit at each of levels, such as patient, physician, medical specialty, payer and employer. Marketing: to make complex decisions regarding the competitive market forces such as pricing, contracting and physician retirement. The analysis gives hospital the advantage to determine the financial impact of changes in volume. Departmental Productivity: to monitor the department performance to help variance analysis and goal setting. Utilization of Hospital Service: the ability to alter utilization, which depends on the ability to analyze current patterns and associated costs. Cost Comparison: To compare costs to other hospitals to help managers to identify and learn the efficient methods. Competitive Analysis: To study competitor information and make reasonable judgment of its costs. It will allow a significant view of the impact of price completion on all the competitors. It will help IHC to determine the extent to which it should compete on prices with other hospitals and with nontraditional health care providers, such as outpatient surgery centers. The IHC approach to standard costing provides detailed costs for every individual charge item in the hospital. Fixed and variable costs are maintained for every item in broad categories: labor expense, supply expense, depreciation and hospital overhead. After the implementation, their standard costing system is able to: provide full standard fixed and variable costs for management purpose in making pricing and marketing decisions; maintain a management reporting system compatible with existing system; provide an approach to compare hospitals and departments; provide accuracy while allowing easy and rapid maintenance. (M. V. Rosqvist) The Future of Standard Costing: According to Cheatham and Cheatham (1996), many accountants do not know that a redesigned standard costing system can provide the important information that they need and updating their system is an easier process than adopting a new system. They also point out that standard costing system combines managerial, financial and operations accounting, which make it as a control system. But the possible replacement is only cost accumulation system. Critics against the standard costing system questioned whether the system is useful in the manufacturing system of today. As we demonstrated above, it is still a widely used method, due to the fact that it provides cost information for many different ways in addition to cost control. A lot of companies adapted their standard costing system to report on these variables that particularly important to them. In companies where an activity-based system is implemented, standard costing is still essential when it comes to controlling the costs of unit-level activities. Other criticism comes from that overemphasis is on the price and efficiency, which would make quality aside. Also, volume variance to measure utilization of capacity ignores overproduction and unnecessary build-up of inventory. In this situation the fact that variance analysis is not locked in to a set of variables is ignored. Used variables can be changed when the need arises. Examples of this are presented below. (Cheatham Cheatham, 1996) To use standards on the functions of raw material ordering and inventory levels, which give information about the effectiveness of suppliers. Because the objective is to deliver orders as placed, any variances are undesired. Price variances can be combined with a quality variance to prevent purchasing managers from only focusing on price but do not pay attention to quality. Raw materials inventory variances indicate an inventory build-up, because more material purchased than used, by reverted conditions. This is in line with a just-in-time theory. Further criticism is about the non-focus of continuous improvement. But, standards based on engineering studies or historical data are not a necessary part of a standard costing system because standards can be changed by a lot of methods. Examples are listed as below. (Cheatham Cheatham, 1996) Use last periods results as standards. The last periods result has to be representative; otherwise it needs to be revised. It is also achievable to use a base period that comparisons are made. Use benchmark as something outside companies. To compare with competitors or with the leader of the industry. Use predetermined cost reduction by reducing the standard cost for every period by a predetermined amount to achieve constant improvement. Finally, the reporting system of the standard costing system may be revised. In the traditional way internal completion often arises. By revising the reporting system, cooperation among workers, managers and departments can be supported. Conclusion: Despite it is less relevant than newer accounting methods, standard costing is far from obsolete. However, redesign and update the standard costing system to adapt the new environment may be necessary. Because of its simplicity, flexibility and affordability, standard costing remains a favorite cost accounting method among accounting and finance professionals.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation :: Summer Vacation Essays

How I Spent My Summer Vacation My boyfriend, Greg and I felt it would be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with our friends. We were going on a three day camping trip with long time friends, another couple, Chris and Heather. Chris is the go-with-the-flow type of guy but only if Heather allows him to do so. Heather is a very kind person who looks out for others. She just crosses that line of being concerned to being motherlike. See we spend a lot of time with them, but it's like other people's children, you can go home and leave them, this time we couldn't. You maybe asking yourself why would we decide to go camping with such people . . . I just don't know. This question would overwhelm Greg and me for the next two weeks while planning this getaway. Greg looked more pessimistically at the trip then I did. I thought if you go looking for a bad time, the only outcome will be a bad time. Realizing that we could be each other's only sanity from Heather's overpowering behavior and Chris's childlike mind, we made up little cues to give each other if we needed to getaway. We stocked up on interesting reading material to get lost in and relaxing alcoholic beverages to take off the edge. We packed up the trucks and we were off. Chris's friend from work recommended the campsite so we decided to follow him since he had the directions. We traveled up interstate 84 east bound over the Newburgh Beacon Bridge and made our way to the State Taconic Parkway. Now, this is where Greg and I looked at each other in agreement that the trip was going to go only down hill from there, the parkway that we had gotten ourselves onto by following Chris was for passenger cars only. We both had commercial trucks. About fifteen minutes on the highway we passed a State Trooper, thank God he didn't budge from where he was sitting. Through that hour on the parkway we must have passed four Troopers, none of whom pulled us over. Finally, and I mean finally, we arrived two and a half hours later at our campsite. All four of us got out of the trucks to observe where we were going to spend the next three days with each other, Greg and I actually found some humor with our surroundings.

Alienation and the Search for Identity

Modernist literature reached its peak between 1900 and 1920’s. Alienation was one of its characteristic themes. Described as either the separation from the self or from the world, alienation, soon, will drive an individual to look for his/her niche in this world. The concept of alienation will be examined through the literary works of Frost, Hemingway, and Hurston. Robert Frost was known for his works depicting realities of rural life. This, he clearly portrayed in his poem Out, Out. The title was elicited from the end of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player.That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. We see here in Macbeth and in Out, Out the fragility and the seemingly insignificance of life. Life was taken and it was gone in the world. Frost used narrative to create a clear and objective picture of each event in Out, Out. This poem illustrates the difficulty of life in farmlands. The poem begins with the introduction of the snarling and rattling sound of the buzz saw. It implies the danger it can bring to anyone near it, most especially to the boy operating it.The scene was described as beautiful and pleasing. From the yard was the view of five mountain ranges, each one behind the other. The family and the scene seemed to be the world in which the boy’s life revolved around with. Nonetheless, the family was too busy too relish all these. Soon, the boy’s sister was finished preparing supper. When she summoned everyone to eat, the boy lost attention of what he was doing and the saw accidentally cut through his hands. The boy knew too well that even though he was young, he was fulfilling an important role in the family.He foresees a grave future if loses his hand and so he tells her sister to tell the doctor not to cut his hands out. It was seen that the boy was more con cerned with his responsibility in the family than his self. If he loses his hand, he knows that he will be of great burden to his family. He will feel alienated from the family who does hard work everyday. By the end of the poem, the boy dies after the removal of his hand and this served to be his escape from estrangement. His family, on the other hand, since they were alive, continued with their concerns.Earnest Hemingway is known for his simple and short sentences bearing complex ideas. One of his classic short stories is Hills Like White Elephant whose main theme revolved around the conflict between the intentions of two people. The story occurred beside a train station in the Ebro River valley in Spain. Hemingway used the third person point of view limiting the readers to read the thoughts of the main characters. Through the exchange of words between the American and the woman named Jig, the readers will soon realize the issue that they were discussing.Aside from the discussion, the use of symbolism enhanced the mood of the story and complemented the words spoken and feelings of the main characters, especially those of Jig. The story begins with the description of the scene: ‘.. there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Here, the opposing directions suggest that one is in the midst of perplexity and is needed to decide before long. Following this, the two main characters were introduced. Through their dialogue, it was implied that the characters were discussing about abortion.The day grew hotter which indicated the pressure that builds within the characters. The narrator describes the observation of Jig: The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees. The natural imagery f ormed leads the readers to Jig’s emotions. She sees her current state as the fertile field along the river.On the other hand, in the shadow of the clouds across the field, she sees the despondency abortion will bring to her life. The American wants Jig to pursue abortion so that he can continue with his senseless life of drinking and relentless travelling. Jig, conversely, prefers to deviate from the usual and start settling down. Jig knows what she wants but feels having no sense of self-government. It is as if the American has the last say for whatever she does to her own body. Jig may have her reasons for these. The story concludes with the couple waiting for their train turning up in five minutes.Zora Neale Hurston is a renowned anthropologist and writer of African-American Literature. Her short story Sweat is about a strong woman who has endured fifteen years of hardship from his husband Syke. The story is in narrative form and the use of the third person point of view j ust like the two other literary works mentioned above, created an impartial and rich picture of the scene and the characters. The use of symbolism and allusion provided added meaning to the dialogues. Delia Jones was described as a hardworking woman who worked all week to be able to earn a little.She had been able to put up their house and provide for herself and her husband. She was the representation of goodness in the story while Syke, her husband was the image of evil. Syke was brutal to his wife; he wanted Delia dead so that he could remarry. The townspeople knew what Delia was going through but they remained indifferent. Nothing could help Delia but herself. Her unyielding faith in God had kept her moving on each day of her life. One day, Syke brought home a box containing a six-foot rattlesnake. Delia was furious. Her husband wanted to scare her to death; it pleased him when he sees her terrified.One day the same snake will be the one to reap the life of Syke. Syke was drunk and did not know that the snake escaped from the box. He jumped to the bed where the snake was and it all happened. The snake bit him and then he died. Those fifteen years of marriage and suffering from Syke came to an end. After years of being separated from herself and the world, she was finally free. Free from brutality and distress; she was alive again. She can have what was left of herself and start a new life. Syke’s death served as the solution to Delia’s seclusion from herself and the world. The death of one brought back the life of the other.In the works of Frost, Hemingway, and Hurston, the use of the narrative form and the third person point of view were observed as to have enhanced the ideas presented. Symbolism and the use of figures of speech paired with the dialogues between characters have enabled readers to see the thoughts of the protagonists. In these three literary works, alienation brought the same feelings to the person affected. Fear and wretched ness were felt by the boy in Out, Out; by Jig in Hills Like White Elephant; and by Delia in Sweat. Their lives and decisions are influenced by the world that surrounds them.Both the boy and Delia were able to escape alienation. It was through death that they were able to avoid the feeling of nothingness. In the case of Jig, Hemingway gave the reader the opportunity to conclude the story. Would death be the key for this one, too? References: Frost, Robert. 1916. . Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†. 1927. May 31 2009. . Hurston, Zora Neale. â€Å"Sweat†. 1926. .