Divine Comedy †Pagans in Paradise Essay -- Divine Comedy

Divine Comedy – Pagans in Paradise In the beginning when God created humanity, it was said that He created all humans in His image of goodness (Genesis 1:27). Dante then adds in his Divine Comedy that God has instilled a certain predetermined capacity of goodness in each human being as He wills, which should be utilized fully during life (Paradise 3:84). It would then be assumed, in Dantean thought, that all humans have the choice to live fully to this capacity and assume a place in heaven upon death, to fail to utilize this capacity and suffer in Hell for eternity, or to sin and seek repentance at some point in their lives, allowing them to enter Purgatory. Yet, this statement seems to have certain restrictions when we first look at Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante’s Inferno shows virtuous pagans in the first circle of Hell and has the reader believe that one must be a Christian to enter Heaven, or Purgatory. As the reader continues into Paradise, he discovers that there are indeed some pagans who have rise n to Heaven, but only because they were allowed the mercy to be baptized after death. This idea seems unjust to those who have lived sinless lives without being given the choice to embrace Christ. It is understood that direct refusal of Christianity would result in an eternity in Hell, but for those sinless and virtuous people who lived before Christ or beyond the reaches of Christian teachings, it seems absurd to deny them entrance into Heaven. With careful examination of the Divine Comedy, it can be understood that the actual act of baptism and the embracing of Jesus Christ symbolize the ideas and significance each act represents and are not intended for the reader to take these acts for their literal meanings. The presence ... ...l salvation. Throughout the entire work of Dante’s Divine Comedy, pagans play an integral role. Pagans are present in each of the three parts of Dante’s afterlife and a pagan is even chosen to be Dante’s guide. The prevalence of these individuals suggests the idea that God loves all people and rewards those who have embraced the ideas and morals of the Christian religion and lived virtuously and without sin. Dante’s Divine Comedy provides enough basis to form the argument that one does not necessarily have to be Christian to enter Heaven, but only needs to embrace the ideals that Christ and baptism represent. Also, through using Emperor Trajan as an example of a virtuous pagan’s successful entrance to Heaven, it is seen that possession of these ideals along with the virtue of humility is what allowed certain pagans into Paradise and excluded others for eternity.

“Monsters” by Anna Quindlen Essay

Summary: â€Å"Monsters† by Anna Quindlen conveys through the extended metaphor, the simplistic nature of life; beginning with the intricate imagination during childhood which transcends into an individual coming to terms with reality as adulthood is embarked upon. The short story exemplifies the innocence of children who comprise of obsolete and unripe knowledge, demanding answers from their parents to fill the gaps in their thoughts and outlook. However the author portrays the dramatic imagination of a child accentuating the naivety of young, a symbol of childhood, which is further developed on processes of self-realization. The author entails this ideology by illustrating to the audience how she denies the fact that there are no ‘monsters under her child’s bed’, and continues to explore through the text the different metaphorical representations of â€Å"monsters† in our lives, which vary from major aspects such as creditors chasing an individual for money, or even something as petty as the failure of teenage love. The over-arching notion is that some things need to be learnt on ones’ independence as the individual embarks on processes of self-realization, shaping their beliefs and attitudes. Writing Prompt: Write an essay of 500-700 words in which you describe something you had to learn on your own, because it couldn’t or shouldn’t have been taught to you by someone else. Explain why the situation had to occur that way and its significance in defining something about yourself. Though one can say that your personal and societal context can influence the person you become, there is always a phase in life, in which an individual embarks on processes of inner progression, enabling one to understand the true being they have become despite their surroundings. In this stance, religion in my personal context was a major component in life, as my parents had enforced it upon me at a young age, expecting me to adhere to the religion of their choice, Jainism. However, after my family had migrated from India to a foreign society, which comprised of beliefs that were predominantly embedded with Christian roots, there was complexities in the  ways I tried maneuvering my religious beliefs to suit those of the Christian society. At first, it was an act of assimilation as I was embarrassed of Jainism and wanted to be like every other child in school, further encouraging me to neglect those religious values imposed by my parents, as I adopted the ways of the new religion a t my interest. I did not want to be a Jain, but only a pure Christian. It was one night, which changed my life, and my outlook on religion. It was the time of â€Å"Diwali† a Jain festival, where all my family and friends had gathered to celebrate the auspicious event. However, I refused to join with my ignorant and disrespectful attitude due to my belief of being a Christian. The ongoing celebrations, the youthful atmosphere, the joyful laughter, the harmonious chanting and the colorful sights had enticed my attention towards the Jain proceedings. I began to wonder, am I obliged to Christianity or am I obliged to Jainism? That very same night after undertaking processes of critical thinking and self-realization, I realized I was never obliged to any religion, I am allowed to be a Jain and still enjoy Christian rituals, or I am allowed to be a Christian and enjoy Jain festivals. The very simplistic nature of religion is that, no one forces you to be part of a certain religion; you can follow what you like at any point of your life. This opened my eyes, as religion, which had been a major component of life, suddenly was replaced with the notion of spirituality, which enabled me to connect with beings with similar interests around the sphere, without the need of following a religion. Indeed religion can be something that influences you based on your surroundings, however spirituality is a feeling and connection you develop with an object or a person who you may believe to be superior and satisfies your spiritual needs. It is a connection, which cannot be taught or influenced by anyone, because it is the bond you create with the inner centre of your mind and soul. Moreover, spirituality is not necessarily an object, it cannot be seen or touched, it is felt and embraced upon, and cannot be taught as it varies from person to person. It is embedded within a process of self-development, and spirituality seen by one person, but may not be seen by another. The situation had to occur this way due to the need of embarking on inner journeys in which would shape my identity and enable me to understand who I really was. The false assumptions I had about religion were cleared through this act and it opened up new pathways for me to continue my exploration in findings different beliefs, morals and culture that interests me. In relation to this, I as a person have changed from this experience, as I value every religion, respect every belief and enjoy the richness offered through the diversity of cultures evident in our world. Today, I am neither a Christian nor a Jain, but someone who follows the spiritualistic art of meditation, as this art form enables me to connect with superior beings beyond earth and my control. This process of self-realization has changed me into a compassionate and culturally tolerant person.

Classic Pen Case

ACC 341 Classic Pen Case Assignment You should hand in one page of analysis and two sets of supporting calculation. The first supporting calculation is an ABC system for Classic Pen, constructed by filling in the blanks in the following table. First allocate the total expenses in each row to the various activities, based on information in the case. Then choose a cost driver and calculate the rate per unit of the cost driver. Activities Schedule & Handle Production RunsSet up MachinesKeep Product RecordsRun MachinesTotal Expenses Indirect labor & related fringes14,00011,2002,800$28,000* Computer systems$8,000$2,000$10,000 Machinery8,000$ 8,000 Maintenance4,000$ 4,000 Energy2,000$ 2,000 Total activity costs22,00011,2004,80014,000 52,000 Cost driver# of runsSetup timeDL HoursMachine Hours Total quantity of cost driver150 runs (Exhibit 2)526 hours200010,000 Allocation rate per unit of cost driver146. 6721. 292. 401. 40 *This includes half of the $16,000 fringe benefits. The other half is associated with direct labor – don’t forget to include it in your ABC income statement! The second supporting calculation is an ABC income statement showing sales revenue minus each type of direct and indirect cost assigned to the four pen types. Add two lines at the bottom of the income statement: one line shows the operating profit per unit for each type of pen based on your ABC calculations, and the other line shows the operating profit per unit based on the traditional-income calculations in Exhibit 1 of the case. The analysis consists of answers to the following questions (about one-half page each). a)Your ABC analysis should show that purple pens are very unprofitable, while blue pens earn most of the factory’s profits. One of the managers at Classic Pen questions your analysis, saying, â€Å"I can’t believe there’s that much difference in profit per unit between the blue and purple pens. Purple pens sell for ten cents more than blue pens, and material costs are only five cents higher. Labor and machine-hour costs are exactly the same, setup time per run is the same, and we only do twelve production runs for purple pens, compared to 50 for blue pens. So how can the profits be that different? Write a paragraph explaining why per-unit profit is so much lower for purple than for blue pens. In the traditional income statement, overhead costs and indirect labor costs were not linked to the specific products that used them in the process of producing them. They were simply allocated to each uniquely colored pen by the amount of sales they generated, which didn’t take into account the amount of money and time that was spent on making them. This caused direct labor costs to be spread out among the products, regardless of how much the cost of producing them was. In the second income statement that was created in the problem, instead of basing these costs on sales they were based upon certain drivers, such as the number of runs and the amount of time preparing the machine and reports done for each product. This helped to allocate the costs of indirect labor and overhead specifically to the products that were using these resources, helping to give a more realistic picture of the revenue generated for a certain color pen versus the costs spent making them. The purple pens had high quality standards that they had to meet, which required a large amount of time spent on preparing the machines for their runs. It is this relatively large amount spent on indirect labor for purple pens, not the material costs, that causes them to turn such a lower profit than the blue pens. (b)The current overhead allocation rate at Classic is 300% of direct labor. A few years ago it was only about 200%. In the Bridgeton case we saw the overhead rate going up because products were dropped, and volume (and direct labor) went down while fixed overhead costs remained. But that is clearly not the case here! At Classic, new products have been added, and production volumes have gone up. If overhead costs are variable, the increase in volume and direct labor would increase total overhead costs but not the overhead rate. If overhead costs are fixed, the increase in volume and direct labor would leave total overhead costs unchanged and decrease the rate. So how can it be that the overhead rate has been increasing at Classic? Write a concise explanation. When Classic only had two different colored pens, overhead allocation rate was much lower because the number of direct labor hours making the products was lower than when the new products were added. As stated in the case, the amount of time spent on preparing the machines for producing the blue colored ink for pens was less demanding than that of purple or red. For the black colored ink used in the pens, the amount of direct labor spent preparing the machines was nearly non-existent because the vats didn’t need much cleaning out after switching from blue ink, as it did not really affect the quality of the ink color. By adding just two more ink colors, red and purple, the number of direct labor hours significantly increased, which also increased the overhead rate because production was largely increased. The additional colors increased the number of times the vats needed to be emptied out in order to make and produce all the different colors of ink, which added on to the direct labor hours. The red and purple inks also did not disguise residual ink left in the vat nearly as well as the black ink could, so not only were the emptying the vats more often, they were spending a great deal more time cleaning them out in order to meet the color quality standards needed in order to sell the pens.

Tuesdays with Morrie Novel Analysis

3) He lived in the late 1970s. â€Å"It is the late spring of 1979†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 3) Morrie is a sociology professor at Brandeis University. â€Å"†¦the senior class of Brandeis University†¦my favorite professor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 3) Morrie has a wife named Charlotte, and two sons named rob and Jon. â€Å"Morrie with his wife Charlotte; Morrie with his two sons rob†¦ and Jon. † (pg. 91) Mitch is about fifty one years old and lived in the 1990s. He is a sports journalist. â€Å"I earned a master’s degree in journalism and took the first job offered, as a sports writer. ’ (pg. 16) He has an older sister and a younger brother. â€Å"You have an older sister too right? † (pg. 94), â€Å"I do indeed have a younger brother†¦two-years-younger brother. † (pg. 95) Morrie’s fortune changed when he was diagnosed with ALS. â€Å"Morrie had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 7). ALS caused Morrie to â€Å"have trouble walking† (pg. ), and it caused him not to do a lot of other things like use the bathroom by himself. â€Å"Connie would wheel him to the toilet, then lift him from the chair and support him as he urinated into the beaker. † (pg. 49) His moral character also changed because he said, â€Å"Now that I’m suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer than I ever did before. † (pg. 50) Mitch’s fortune changes when the newspaper he works for goes on strike, â€Å"†¦the unions at my newspaper had gone on strike. † (pg. 44) His moral character also changes because Morrie â€Å"finally made him cry†. pg. 186). Mitch’s knowledge changes because he learns that â€Å"offering others what you have to give† will give you satisfaction. (pg. 126). He also learns how to find a meaningful life by â€Å"devoting yourself to loving others, devoting yourself to your community around you, and devoting yourself to something that gives you purpose and meaning. (pg. 127) I think that Morrie is a round character because we see different sides of him. We see a very emotional side like on page 185 when it says, â€Å"His eyes ot small, and then he cried†¦Ã¢â‚¬  we also see a carefree side like on page 5 when it says, â€Å"He would close his eyes and with a blissful smile begin to move to his own sense of rhythm. † I also think he is a static character because his personality, morals, or feelings didn’t change. I think Mitch is also a round character because we see different sides of him. We see a tough side on page 30 when it says, â€Å"I wear old gray sweatshirts and box in the local gym and walk around with an unlit cigarette in my mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We see an emotional side on page 186 when Morrie finally makes him cry. I think Mitch is a dynamic character because in the beginning of the story Mitch is more concentrated on his work. â€Å"In a few years, I was not only penning columns. I was writing sports books, doing radio shows, and appearing regularly on TV†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 16) Then in the middle of the story he didn’t concentrate on work because he went to visit Morrie every Tuesday. I think the most important lesson Morrie taught me was to appreciate everyday in every way. Morrie said, â€Å"The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted. (pg. 84) After reading this book I truly do realize that I take things for granted. I also think â€Å"detachment† really helped me. Morrie said, â€Å"Detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you let it go†. (pg. 103) I think Morrie is saying that you should feel one emotion for a sho rt period of time then let it go so you can experience another one. The first lesson to appreciate everyday in every way relates to the world. I think it relates to the world because like Morrie said, â€Å"We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don’t satisfy us. † (pg. 84) By concentrating on materialistic things, we don’t realize the love of our family and the world around us. I think the lesson â€Å"detachment† also relates to our world. Everyday we see and hear people talking about something that happened a long time ago, and they don’t experience another emotion because they are stuck on that one. Tuesdays with Morrie Novel Analysis 3) He lived in the late 1970s. â€Å"It is the late spring of 1979†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 3) Morrie is a sociology professor at Brandeis University. â€Å"†¦the senior class of Brandeis University†¦my favorite professor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 3) Morrie has a wife named Charlotte, and two sons named rob and Jon. â€Å"Morrie with his wife Charlotte; Morrie with his two sons rob†¦ and Jon. † (pg. 91) Mitch is about fifty one years old and lived in the 1990s. He is a sports journalist. â€Å"I earned a master’s degree in journalism and took the first job offered, as a sports writer. ’ (pg. 16) He has an older sister and a younger brother. â€Å"You have an older sister too right? † (pg. 94), â€Å"I do indeed have a younger brother†¦two-years-younger brother. † (pg. 95) Morrie’s fortune changed when he was diagnosed with ALS. â€Å"Morrie had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 7). ALS caused Morrie to â€Å"have trouble walking† (pg. ), and it caused him not to do a lot of other things like use the bathroom by himself. â€Å"Connie would wheel him to the toilet, then lift him from the chair and support him as he urinated into the beaker. † (pg. 49) His moral character also changed because he said, â€Å"Now that I’m suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer than I ever did before. † (pg. 50) Mitch’s fortune changes when the newspaper he works for goes on strike, â€Å"†¦the unions at my newspaper had gone on strike. † (pg. 44) His moral character also changes because Morrie â€Å"finally made him cry†. pg. 186). Mitch’s knowledge changes because he learns that â€Å"offering others what you have to give† will give you satisfaction. (pg. 126). He also learns how to find a meaningful life by â€Å"devoting yourself to loving others, devoting yourself to your community around you, and devoting yourself to something that gives you purpose and meaning. (pg. 127) I think that Morrie is a round character because we see different sides of him. We see a very emotional side like on page 185 when it says, â€Å"His eyes ot small, and then he cried†¦Ã¢â‚¬  we also see a carefree side like on page 5 when it says, â€Å"He would close his eyes and with a blissful smile begin to move to his own sense of rhythm. † I also think he is a static character because his personality, morals, or feelings didn’t change. I think Mitch is also a round character because we see different sides of him. We see a tough side on page 30 when it says, â€Å"I wear old gray sweatshirts and box in the local gym and walk around with an unlit cigarette in my mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We see an emotional side on page 186 when Morrie finally makes him cry. I think Mitch is a dynamic character because in the beginning of the story Mitch is more concentrated on his work. â€Å"In a few years, I was not only penning columns. I was writing sports books, doing radio shows, and appearing regularly on TV†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 16) Then in the middle of the story he didn’t concentrate on work because he went to visit Morrie every Tuesday. I think the most important lesson Morrie taught me was to appreciate everyday in every way. Morrie said, â€Å"The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted. (pg. 84) After reading this book I truly do realize that I take things for granted. I also think â€Å"detachment† really helped me. Morrie said, â€Å"Detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you let it go†. (pg. 103) I think Morrie is saying that you should feel one emotion for a sho rt period of time then let it go so you can experience another one. The first lesson to appreciate everyday in every way relates to the world. I think it relates to the world because like Morrie said, â€Å"We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don’t satisfy us. † (pg. 84) By concentrating on materialistic things, we don’t realize the love of our family and the world around us. I think the lesson â€Å"detachment† also relates to our world. Everyday we see and hear people talking about something that happened a long time ago, and they don’t experience another emotion because they are stuck on that one.

Financial Conservatism. Determinants of cash and leverage Dissertation

Financial Conservatism. Determinants of cash and leverage - Dissertation Example In this analysis, both cash conservative and leverage conservative firms will be taken into account. The essence of investigation of the two policies at the same is to find out if a firm can use leverage conservative policy in the place of cash conservative policy or vice versa. From the earlier analysis, the key reason why firms are motivated to adopt conservative financial policies is to protect them from the cost that is associated with missed out investment opportunities. The analysis of the literature will reveal that firms tend to maintain large cash reserves or do away with their debt capacity to make sure that they do not miss out investment opportunities. It is not rare to find firms exercising both policies simultaneously, though it is difficult to establish the reasons why they do so. All in all, according to major theoretical frameworks of capital structure, it is strange to find a firm that adopts high leverage policy having high cash balances in their capital structure. For instance, according to the pecking order theory, firms tend to result to eternal financing only after exhausting their internally available funds. Many researchers have covered this area of financial conservatism, especially regarding the rationale behind different accumulation of huge amounts of cash and cash equivalents as well as the repercussions of such policies (Ozkan & Ozkan, 2004; Mikkelson & Partch, 2003). However, the determinant of cash and leverage conservatism in UK firms has not been focused on. ... It is not rare to find firms exercising both policies simultaneously, though it is difficult to establish the reasons why they do so. All in all, according to major theoretical frameworks of capital structure, it is strange to find a firm that adopts high leverage policy having high cash balances in their capital structure. For instance, according to the pecking order theory, firms tend to result to eternal financing only after exhausting their internally available funds. Many researchers have covered this area of financial conservatism, especially regarding the rationale behind different accumulation of huge amounts of cash and cash equivalents as well as the repercussions of such policies (Ozkan & Ozkan, 2004; Mikkelson & Partch, 2003). However, the determinant of cash and leverage conservatism in UK firms has not been focused on. What’s more, most of the studies that have dealt with this area have been concentrated on the US firms, hence making it important to investigate w hether the puzzle regarding decisions of firms in relation to financial conservatism extends to the UK firms. As such, this study will focus on the UK firms especially because it is commonly known for observance of extreme debt conservatism, considering UK firms have the lowest leverage ratio, weighed against to other developed countries (Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This study will use leverage of firms or cash holdings to determine whether the firms are finically-conservative. The objective of this paper is to carry out an empirical study on the debt policies adopted by the UK firms, which particularly focus on the factors that influence large cash reserves and extremely low leverage. In effect, the paper will attempt to find answers to a number of research questions. First and

Capstone Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Capstone - Research Paper Example Other than this, by presenting the products at a competitive price, the reliability and loyalty of the customers enhanced over the organization of Wal-Mart that amplified its profitability and market share among other contenders (Wal-Mart, 2014). Apart from mission, the vision statement of Wal-Mart is to work in a coordinated way so as to lower the total cost of living of that target customers. Then, the customers might live a better life by spending lower amount on purchasing varied products. Such a vision proved extremely effective for Wal-Mart thereby expanding itself in more than 27 countries with over 11,000 stores. As a result of which, its total assets increased by US$ 204.751 billion in the year 2014. In addition, the objectives and views of both the internal and external stakeholders such as employees, board of directors, customers, suppliers and lenders are entirely similar to that of the mission statement of the organization of Wal-Mart. This means, the stakeholder’s desire to live a better life by paying less matches with organizational mission and so it acted as a boon for the organization by amplifying its opportunities and dominance. In addition, high respect and fair wage rate of the employees, also ac ted as another key factor that lead to the success of the organization in this age of competitiveness among others (Wal-Mart, 2014). Hence, it might be revealed from the above information that the vision and mission statement of the organization of Wal-Mart helped it to increase its strengths and opportunities that reduced its threats of substitute products, change of preferences of the customers etc. Bargaining power of the customers: the bargaining power of the customers is extremely high. This is mainly due to the presence of numerous rival players such as K-Mart, Dollar General, Lowe’s Food, CVS, Wal-greens and Sears etc. Therefore, in order to

Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction Assignment

Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction - Assignment Example This research will begin with The Profiles Interviewed Employees. The selected employees for the interview are Frank and Janet (these are not their real names for purposes of concealing their identity). Frank is a chief accountant to Nestle at the headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland. Frank has joined Nestle six years ago, by then as the cost accountant. Three years later, the management promoted him to the position of the chief accountant. Frank, therefore, has an experience of six years as the accountant of the company and three years as a chief accountant. Janet is the overall marketing manager of Nestle. Initially, Janet was the production unit supervisor for four years after joining the company, but because of her remarkable performance, the management promoted her to the general marketing manager and posted her at the headquarters in Switzerland. Janet has five years experience as a marketing manager. Start of the Interview Interviewer: Particularly concerning the number of years you have worked for this company, why have you not left this company to work for a different organization?   Interviewee: The main reason for my extended stay in this company is the motivation that I get from my employer. I have my own intrinsic motivation; that is, the internal desires to produce the best. The company has enabled me to develop positive attitudes towards my work through the extrinsic motivation it offers through bonuses, rewards, recognition, and promotions. Interviewee: Have you ever encountered any problem of receiving your benefits because of your race or gender? Interviewer: No, I think the company has very strict policies to counteract any form of discrimination among the workers. Interviewer: Do you believe that your working in this organization has a meaning? Interviewee: Yes, I do. Working for this company promises a bright future for me and my family. I am fully satisfied with working here because my job tallies with my profession. I am contented with what I receive from here, and I am ready to work here until my retirement age. Interviewer: Does Nestle provide you with opportunities to grow and develop as a professional and as a person? Interviewee: The company is excellent is providing the best opportunities for professional and personal development. The company has a program for allowing employees study leaves and grants financial support for employees who want to advance their careers. There is a pension scheme program where every employee is deducted a certain proportion of income and paid to them upon retirement. Interviewer: Are there any feedbacks you would expect to receive from your company in relation to your performance that you are not receiving? Interviewee: I think I receive