Microeconomic Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Microeconomic Questions - Essay Example How would, therefore, their profits differ from each other? 11 Is the elasticity of demand useful in terms of predicting the new equilibrium price and quantity in a market following a shock to the supply curve? When there is an increase or a decrease in the supply, the effect on the market is dependent on the elasticity of demand. The more inelastic is the demand curve, the less amount of quantity is sold as well as the price changes keeping all other things equal. When the demand curve is more elastic, the more changes in quantity bring fewer changes in price in a situation of ceteris Paribas. The magnitude of the effect of the supply side shock is not independent of price elasticity. In a situation of inelastic demand firms have the ability to raise prices as they will have to suffer from only a small drop in demand conditions. The responds of the producers as well as the consumers can affect the supply side shocks. The supply of fast food is elastic. The lesson from the elasticity concepts is more elastic is the curve, the more quantity changes and the more inelastic is the curve the more price changes. The elasticity is not only useful in order to predict the events of the markets but also to analyze the policies of the government. If a new subdivision is built near the shopping complex of a fast food company, the price of hamburger is not rise as much as the sales mainly because the fast food company is too small to generate such a demand that have the potential to increase the price. The elasticity of demand is of course useful in predicting the new equilibrium price as well as quantity because the shift or the trend of the demand curve because of the shock can be judged by the value of the elasticity. Under perfect competition, describe the long and short run outcomes if a demand curve were to shift to the left. A large number of small firms comprise the market for perfect competition. Each firm is small compared to the entire market. The comprising firm s set the identical products. The customers as well as the firms are well informed about the prices. There are no barriers to entry for other firms to enter into the market. In the short run the firms can change only the variable factor namely labor. The other decisions are predetermined. In the long run the firms have the potential to change their scale. In the short run when the existing price is less than the average cost curve it is better for the firm to close down. When the price is above the minimum point of average total cost, the firm makes profits. In the long run when a certain firm makes profits, new firms enter into the market. In the long run unlike monopoly or oligopoly it is not possible for a firm in perfect competition to earn economic profits. In a situation of perfect competition, the firm will be able to earn only normal profits and the demand curve will touch the total average cots curve at the minimum point. The firm must decide whether to continue with the bu siness in the long run and cover up the expenses. The decisions in the long run are based on the dependence between the price and the average cost curve in the long run. If the price is greater than or equal to average cots, the firm will continue to operate and close down otherwise. The above diagram represents a situation under perfect competition. In this case there is leftward shift of the market demand curve due to some reasons. The initial equilibrium price

Human Resource Accounting and Indian Practice

Human Resource Accounting and Indian Practice Abstract Traditional acting practice treat expenses incurred on procurement, development, and maintenance of human resource as revenue expenditure and debit this to profit and loss account but now it is being increasingly realized that this expenses are incurred to get future benefit and as such should be capitalized and reflected in the balance sheet. This can only be achieved through introduction and implementation of human resource accounting. The study focuses on how human resource accounting has evolved over the period and how human resource accounting is used in today business application particularly in the Indian context. In addition the study also assesses how human resource cost is treated by the accounting standard and try to discuss alternative treatment. Through the study of Indian companies, the paper will propose ways through which human resource accounting can be introduced in India and become more popular than the current application. Introduction The world has witnessed a transition from manufacturing to service based economies. Before 1960s most economies relied on manufacturing sector to sustain growth but the past few decades have witnessed growth in service based economies. The fundamental difference between manufacturing and service sector lies in the nature of their asset. In manufacturing, physical assets like material, plant, equipment and machinery are very important (Johanson and Mabon, 1998). On the other hand for the service sector altitude and knowledge of employee is of utmost significance. For service firm such as information technology (IT), value of physical asset is considered less worth compared to skill and knowledge of its personnel. Similarly, in academic institution, hospital, audit firm, accounting firms etc the strength of the firm depends on skill and services offered rather than physical asset. Therefore the success of service organization depends on the quality of the work force i.e. competence, kn owledge, motivation, and skills. People in the business world today cite human resources as the common greatest asset. However employee value is rarely reported on the financial statements. This may have resulted from capitalist system that tends to glorify capital resources with a lukewarm emphasis on human resources. For this reason management of business enterprises have been rewarded on the basis of their utilization of capital asset without reference to value of workers. In fact business valuation has been a manifestation of this system. The common measurement of return that are used to value business include return on investment, return on asset or return on capital. In these cases there is no reference to the value of human resources. In service based economies it is important for employee to be recognized as part of the total worth of a firm. In estimating the worth of human capital it is vital to employ some method of quantifying human knowledge, skills, motivation and contribution of human aspect in organization process. Human resource accounting represents this process of measuring or quantifying human resource. Definition of human resource Leon. C. Megginson defined human resource as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talent, altitudes and belief of an organization workforces as well as values, altitude and belief of the individuals involved. Definition of human resource accounting One of the definitions of human resource accounting comes from American Accounting Associations Committee on Human Resource Accounting that defines human resource accounting as the process of identifying and measuring data about human resources and communicating this information to interested parties. Therefore human resource accounting involve measurement of all cost associated with recruitment, selection, induction, training and development of workers as well as the economic value of people in a firm. Flamholtz has a similar definition as he define human resource accounting as the measurement and reporting of the cost and value of people in organizational resources. Human resource accounting has also been defined as the system of recording of transactions relating to the value of human resource i.e. the cost of acquisition of their knowledge and utilization of the energy for production of goods and services in the most profitable manner and thereby achieving the organization goals (bassi, et al 1997). In general human resource accounting may be defined as the process of identifying data about human resource, recording investment made in them and measuring their cost and value. It also involves presenting the information in a significant manner in the financial statement to communicate their worth with changes over the period and result obtained from their utilization to users of financial statement. There are no statutory requirements which demand companies to furnish human resource accounting related information in their final statement. The company act of 1956 had no provision for HRA. The subsequent accounting bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India have not yet drafted standard or measurement dealing with accounting and reporting of human resource accounting. While most organization give qualitative pronouncement on importance of human resource very few make effort to give quantitative information about human resource. Currently some organizations are furnishing additional report beyond what is required by statute. One notable statement that has gained wider acceptance among many firms is the corporate social responsibility report. This is due to recognition that the traditional financial reporting does not give sufficient information about organization performance. In India some companies have recognized the value of human resource and include related inf ormation in their annual report, they include Infosys, steel authority of India (SAIL), Bharat Heavy Electrical ltd (BHEL), Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation of India Ltd, Mineral and Metals Trading Corporation of India, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, Associated cement Companies Ltd, Madras Refineries Ltd, Oil India ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, and the Cement Corporation of India (Punita 2007). Historical development of human resource accounting Human resource accounting can be traced back in the medieval European practice of calculating the expected future earning of a prisoner versus the cost of keeping him. At that time a prisoner was considered as the general property of capturing side and therefore after a victory a decision had to be made on whether to capture a prisoner or kill him depending on cost benefit analysis. If expected benefit outweighed the cost the prisoner was capture but if cost were greater than benefit he was killed. For instance in 1964 Sweden and Austria agreed upon the following price list (figures given in taler) Field marshal 20,000 Colonel 1,000 Cavalry captain 200 Infantry captain 150 Non-commissioned officers 16 Private 8 Though this was a rough measure, it highlights the fact that human resource has value and such value can be measured using appropriate basis. Development of human resource accounting as a detailed and systematic activity began in 1960 by Rensis Likert. Likert defends long-term planning by strong pressure on human resources qualitative variable, resulting in greater benefit in the long run. He defined human resource as to include all such assets as a firms human organization, its customers, loyalty, shareholders loyalty, supplier loyalty, its reputation among the financial community and it reputation in the general society (bowers, 1973). William potty made the first attempt to value the human beings in monetary terms. He was of the opinion that labor was the source of wealth and must be taken into consideration when making an estimate of wealth. From 1960s the behavioral scientist started a real work of studying about human resource accounting (Flamholtz, 1969). This development can be dividend into five stages according to Flamholtz. Stage one (1960 1966) during this era there was increased academic interest in the area of human resource accounting. At this time most people focused on deriving human resource accounting concept from other theories such as psychological theory and economic theory of capital. Stage two (1966 1971) at this stage the focus shifted to developing different models for human resource accounting. The model developed covered monetary, non-monetary value and cost of human resource. The objective of developing such model was to help the firm in managing their human resource and assessing human resource asset in a realistic manner. The main contributor to the study at this era was Roger Hermanson. During his ph.D studies, he studied the problem of measuring the value of human resource as an element of goodwill. Thereafter researchers who were inspired by his work continued to develop methods and concepts of accounting for human asset. Stage three (1971 1976) there was rapid growth in research in the area of human resource accounting. The field gain more acceptance and wide spread interest. During this era most researchers tried to evaluate how human resource accounting could be applied in businesses. A notable experiment was that of R.G. Barry which gave substantial contribution to researchers (Boudreau, 1996). Stage four (1976- 1980) during this era there was minimal research in the field of human resource accounting. This was due to the fact that there were complex issues that needed further exploration and deeper empirical research than the simple model developed earlier. The other reason for slow growth in human resource accounting at this time was unwillingness among many organizations to offer sponsorship for research in this area. Stage five (1980 onward) the shifting from manufacturing to service economies in many developed countries renewed the interest in the area of human resource accounting. In addition the realization of the usefulness of human resource in facilitating growth, profitability and survival of the business contributed to the renewal of interest in the field. Unlike in the previous studies where the main interest was academic with few practical application but since 1990s the focus shifted to application of human resource accounting to business management. Various models which incorporate both tangible and intangible asset have been developed to suit the specific need of the organization. At this time most organization began using human resource accounting as part of financial and managerial accounting practice. Objectives of HRA systems Its basically adopted to treat human resources as assets, to generate human data about names, to assign value to human assets in the balance sheet. The objectives include: Provide information for making management decisions about acquiring, allocating, developing and maintaining human resources in order to attain cost effective organization objective. To develop methods of ensuring human resources cost and value and to allow management personnel to monitor effectively the use of human resources. Provide a system of asset control i.e. whether assets are conserved, deflated, or appreciated (Boedker et al 2008). Aid in the development of management principals by classifying the financial consequences of various practices. Develop a theory that will explain the nature and determinants of the value of people to enterprises. Significance of human resource accounting A well defined human resource accounting can help the management to become more efficient, in addition it is useful in internal reporting and to external users of financial statement. Usefulness in internal reporting Helps in planning Human resource cost acting provides cost information required in human resource planning process thereby facilitating preparation of future forecasts and budget (booth 1998). Help in decision making human resource accounting provides data in areas where alternative option exist e.g. whether to acquire a trained employee or develop one from within, or whether to retrench or retain an employee. Instead of applying non-monetary measures of potential ability, the economic value of recruits will be better criteria for selection and optimization of the expected value of the organization human resource and subsequent valuation of adequacy of return on investment in human resource. Helps in capital budgeting the present technique used in capital budgeting decision consider the human dimension as a qualitative factor. This is not realistic in the present scenario where huge investment is being made in development of employees and therefore human resource accounting system would justly assess the impact of capital budgeting on human and non-human asset. Helps in control human resource accounting help to ensure that human resource objective are attained objectively and efficiently as it provide information necessary to implement the control function. The standard cost of acquisition and development is compared with actual cost incurred and the variance if any is analyzed to identify the possible lapses in personnel management function (Scarpello and Theeke, 1989). Helps in performance evaluation the present convention of measurement of return on investment ignores the changes in human resources and this encourages mangers to use their human resource to include their short term objective. Inclusion of human resource input would be a good performance measure as it would reveal the return on human asset. It helps in activity analysis measurement of human resource value would provide top management with new set of financial ratio for effective organization activities analysis e.g. ratio of human and non-human resources indicate the degree of labor intensity. Higher labor intensity could be used as a result of outdated technology requiring the utilization of high proportion of labor or employment of unwarranted existing labor (Tang, 2005). Usefulness in external reporting In business creditors and other external users of acting information would find data in human resource useful as it would measure change in asset value over period of time thereby reflecting the correct measure of corporate growth. Capitalization of expenses relating to development of human resource also reflects a correct financial position and performance of the organization. The market value of share may reflect changes in value of human resource thereby enhancing the companys image among the competitors while increasing the confidence of shareholders. Usefulness in management of human resources Acquisition of human resource human resource accounting provide information for budget preparation for cost involved in recruiting, selecting and hiring human resource. Besides in selection process personnel executive needs data about economic value of a candidate in order to choose the one with the highest economic value. Allocation of human resource human resource accounting provide quantitative information about capabilities, skills and other personal attribute of employee which will help management in attaining a perfect allocation of organization human resources whereby employees are assigned jobs perfectly matching their own abilities in order to fully utilize their skills and capabilities. Maintenance of human resource presently organization use turnover rates to measure the extent of human resource observation. However such parameters are not adequate as they do not fully reflect the impact of turnover. With inclusion in human resource accounting the management may monitor the investment cost through human resource replacement cost which provides the economic magnitude of turnover rate as well (Drake, 1997). Evaluation and reward for employees as human resource accounting can provide management with changes in value of human resources over time both in monetary and non-monetary term, the figures will not only make possible the determination of salary and wages on the basis of employees value but will also provide a criterion to both the management and unions in negotiating any increases in compensation and reward payment. Training of human resource organization invests heavily on human resource development program without evaluating expected payoff of return because this outlay cost is considered as expenses rather than investment. Since human resource accounting involves treating this expense as asset the information about this cot and the benefit of this program would be evaluated on a rational basis. Case for and against human resource accounting Argument against human resource accounting Incase of high employee turnover rates there may be no basis for capitalization since there is no future benefits to carry asset status. If the definition of asset is future economic benefits the rights of which are owned or controlled by the firm then one may question whether human resources indeed are assets. Unless one is working in a slave society human resource are not owned in the convectional sense of the world, and therefore employees may be opposed to the capitalization because of the connotations that goes with it. The development of human resource accounting is necessary to provide a firm with accurate financial reports to guide its decisions. Its also needed to increase the validity of criteria of measurements used in organizations research. According to asset recognition criteria, an asset is the future economic benefits the rights of which are owned or controlled by an enterprise. Therefore as long as future benefits are expected to come from these training costs, they can be treated as assets. However, as Cea Garcia observes, this does not hold true in reality; There is a clear absence of correspondence between the real assets in the present firms and those recognized in the balance sheet, in front of a pure economic approach where assets is every instrument or way that can be used in production -distribution of a firms process or, in general, every category of economic value which can be transformed into goods or services or any instrument at the service of the firm or that the firm uses, regardless its juridical state, and also all those goods and rights that the firm does not own now but used to own or will own later on, by virtue of collateral contracts or agreement which may induce it. It may be argued that the rate of amortization and the rate of capitalization may coincide and therefore the net effect on the income statement may be as under convection human resources cost expense treatment. The period with which the employee will work for the enterprise is uncertain and therefore the amortization is subjective. Marvin Weiss (1972) discussed the argument for and against Human Resources Accounting argue that there is inability to determine the period of future benefits, the ownership status of such assets and inability to amortize such assets on an objective way. As Ebersberger (1981) argues, even where the logic of HRA is a plausible one must confront the issue of measurement. How does one place a value on an individuals head? How can one value commitment to an employer or ones ability to work as a team. The management may use human resource accounting to manipulate the workers. The manager may reduce the value of a worker as a way of punishment for perceived or real differences. There is an immense amount of power placed in the hands of the valuers of human resource. Any value placed on an employee may have irreparable damage on employees attitude. Managers may also transfer some workers near the end of the period to clean up their balance sheet. Employee may demand to be paid in accordance to their reported value particularly if they believe this would lead to a higher pay HRA may have a disastrous effect on the morale of the employee if his or her value reduces through depreciation. Moreover human beings grow, learn and mature at different rates and therefore a standard depreciation rate is inapplicable. Case for Human Resource Accounting Whereas there may be workers turnover, this may not be justification for expensing the cost of human resources. Failure to capitalize may negate the going concern concept. If an employer were to expect such high turnover then he would not incur expenditure on employee training and development in the first place! On average it is expected that workers will remain long enough for the firm to recoup its investment costs. Workers may not be owned as such but the convention of substance over form argues that what matters in transaction is the economic substance not the legal form. Leased assets are recognized in the books despite the fact that they are not owned. Human resource expenditure like training and development are incurred for workers who are in the process of learning and therefore they do not benefit the operations of the year in which the costs are incurred. For that reason it is inconsistency for charging such costs in the year of expenditure. Instead they should be capitalized and amortised over the years expected to benefit from the employees services. In pension cost accounting armotisation or accrual of expenditure related to employees is required. Such accrual methods take into consideration length of service and turnover rates. Whereas it is agreeable that armotisation rate are subjective, it must be noted that depreciation rates for the tangible assets are mere estimates based on assumptions. It is therefore no justification to prohibit capitalization and armotisation of human resource expenditure. Measurements in human resource accounting The main reason why human resource accounting have taken a long period to be incorporated in the companys final report is the difficulty or challenge of assigning monetary value to various human asset cost, investment and employees worth. There are mainly two methods that are used in assigning monetary value to employee cost, investment or worth. This includes: the cost approach the economic value approach The cost approach is based on the actual cost incurred by the company in relation with employees. The economic value approach considers human resource as asset and tries to identify the future earning resulting from use of human asset. The cost approach Cost is the amount of cash or equivalent given to acquire property or services. If property other than cash is given to acquire property or services the cost is the cash equivalent of property given. When property or the services acquired are sold or consumed the cost are matched with related revenue to determine the amount of net income or net loss. The cost of property or service that are acquired and are still on hand at any particular time represent asset. Such costs are also called unexpired cost. As asset are sold or consumed they become expired cost or expenses. Therefore in accounting cost incurred are recorded in the financial statement as either asset or expenses. Costs which are recorded as expenses in the current period include those which provide benefit during the current accounting period (Schwarz Murphy, 2008). for instance when machinery is purchased the portion of cost recorded as expenses include depreciation for the year (i.e. the benefit accruing from the use of asset in that particular year) while the portion of cost recorded as asset in the net book value (cost accumulated depreciation). Under costing approach various techniques that can be used to value human resource include Historical cost approach The actual cost incurred on recruiting, selecting, training and developing the human resources of the organization are capitalized and written off over the expected useful life of the human resource. Under this method the cost of acquisition i.e. recruitment, selection, hiring and training employees are capitalized and written off over the expected useful life of the employees (Flamholtz, 1999). If the employee decide to leave the employment before anticipated period of service then the amortized portion of cost remaining in the companys book is written off against the profit and loss account in that year. If the employee stays beyond the expected term of service then amortization of cost is rescheduled. According to Caplan (1974) the basic theory behind the historical cost method is that human resources value can be determined by accumulating the cost of investment. Human resource accounting in this respect involves a decision to capitalize rather than to expense costs incurred in t raining and development of employees. When referring to training cost, historical cost means the sacrifice necessary to hire and train people. The training concept is generally used to define three different issues which are difficult to distinguish in practice; they include capacitating, training, and development. Capacitating is the workers acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for his job. Training better adapts the worker to the job while development mainly focuses on promotion to higher job levels (Guzman 1996). Once capitalized the resulting balance should be amortized as an expense in the periods when the employee became a productive member of the organization and unamortized balances should be written off when the employee leaves the organization. Merits Easy to work and simple to understand. It follows the traditional concept of matching cost with revenue. It is favored because it is most similar to convectional accounting It can provide a basis of evaluating a companys return on its investment in human resources. Limitations Suffers from problem of historical costs accounting. The users of accounts may view these values as a measure of the potential usefulness of an employee. Difficulty in estimating use of human resources. One cannot tell when an employee may quit a job. The economic value of human resources may increase with experience, but armotisation reduces the reported value. It is difficult to reconcile the two. Ignores the aggregate value of employees potential services. People may learn things outside the organization which will be useful in their jobs yet these may not be taken in account. Training and development cost that are capitalized do not guarantee employee increased performance. Opportunity cost approach The value of the human resource is determined according to its alternative use. An estimate of alternative use of the human resource is required. The value of the human resource is the price that the alternative use is ready to pay for it. Opportunity costs are considered as an asset value when [they are] the target of an alternative use [Hekimian and Jones, 1967]. The alternative use is the alternative department. As a result, only scarce resources would have an alternative use. This approach suggests competitive bidding for scarce employees in an organization i.e. opportunity costs of employees linked to scarcity. The approach proposes the capitalizing of additional earning potential of each human resource within the company. The opportunity cost approach requires at least two departments or cost centers both desiring the services of the same person or a group of people. Limitations It cannot value employees who have no alternative use. The valuation of employees on alternative use and competitive bid is inaccurate and misleading. One may not have values in the alternative use but perfectly useful in one department. This valuation restricts alternative use within the organization. In real life there is alternative use outside the business and moreover alternative use within the business may not be identifiable because of constraints in an organizational environment. Standard cost approach The method was developed by David Watson. The approach advocates for a standard cost per grade of employees updated every year. Replacement cost can be used to develop standard costs of recruiting, training and developing individuals. Such standards can be used to compare results with those planned. Any resource produced should be analyzed and would form a useful basis of control. Under this method, standard cost of recruiting, hiring, training and developing per grade of employees are determined annually. The total standard cost for all personnel of the company is the value of human resources The problem is that the determination of the standard cost from each grade of employee is a ticklish process (Moore, 2007). Economic value added approach This approach utilizes the concept of present value. The value of human resource is considered as the present value of future benefit expected to be received from employees service (Lev and Schwartz, 1971). Various scholars have suggested a number of valuation techniques under the present value approach. The technique varies in terms of recognition of benefits. Some argue that the benefits to be discounted are the expected stream of payments that the firm will make to the human resource. In either case the human resource in it is seen as a future stream of benefits up to the date of death or retirement, discounted at an appropriate discount rate. This method is perhaps the most appealing because it incorporates the entire stream of benefits. However, present value approach suffers from the following limitations It ignores the possibility of a human resource leaving employment in the given organization other than through death or retirement. Having many reasons as to why people may leave an organization. Difficult to establish the actual benefits from employment because some of the determining factors like trade unions are out of organizations control. Teamwork is a thing more than the sum of the values of individuals. Present value approach does not reflect the contribution of the team as a whole. It ignores the organizations effect on the value of a human resource. The economic value of human resources may be of group, individual or the whole organization. The method for calculating economic value of human resource may be classified as either monetary or non monetary Monetary measures of human resource value Flamholtz model The Flamholtz model considers the value of human resource as the present worth of services likely to be rendered by an employee in future. When an employee moves from one position to the other at the same level or to different levels the profile of services offered will be different. The value of individual will therefore comprise of the present cumulative value of all possible services to be offered by the employee his career at the organization. The value of individual cannot be determined with certainty and is considered to have two dimensions. Conditional value of individual This is the amount that organization expects to realize from employee service during his productive life in the firm. It is mainly composed of three factors namely Productivity this include various services that employee is expected to undertake in his current position. Transferability this include a number of services that the employee is expected to offer in different position at the same level.

How does J.D Salinger use the character of Holden Caulfield to explore :: English Literature

How does J.D Salinger use the character of Holden Caulfield to explore the issues related to growing up? ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ was written in the late 1940’s and first published in a magazine in 1947. The novel is like a bildungsroman but only consists of two and a half days in the life of a 17 year old boy called Holden Caulfield, although he argues that the book is not about his â€Å"lousy childhood†. Holden seems to be very conscious of this and doesn’t want it to be â€Å"all that David Copperfield kind of crap†. Nevertheless the book is an insight into a young man’s mind. Salinger creates Holden Caulfield’s idiolect with all the colloquialisms and swearing, which resulted in the book being banned in many states of America. Holden is very open and does not refrain from sharing some of his views on society and the war. At the time of publishing, America was experiencing very rich, prosperous, affluent years. Hollywood was the worlds best film industry and something America was very proud of and enjoyed, â€Å"Everybody was on their way to the movies† but Holden â€Å"couldn’t stand looking at them†, this was a big dig at American society and became very controversial. Holden doesn’t hold back his political views either, â€Å"I’m sort of glad they’ve got the atomic bomb invented. If there’s another war, I’m going to sit right the hell on top of it†. Due to the contextual time of post WW2 this was deeply shocking and disturbed many people, the atomic bomb had killed millions of innocent people and thousands had relatives lost in the war. At this time America was very anti-communism but Holden hints anti-capitalist views, â€Å"Goddamn money. It always ends up making you feel blue as hell†, and he often wears a â€Å"red hunting hat† which could have easily symbolized a communist. This was also a contributing factor to the shock this gave American society. However these are just the views of a teenager and all is part of J.D Salinger exploring the confused, rebellious thoughts of someone growing up. Salinger explores the issues of growing up in many different ways. Most of them contradict themselves at some point as well, portraying the confusion and unsettled mind of an adolescence. One of these main issues is Holden’s longing to gain independence. This is seen from early on in the book and is carried on throughout. The first main example of Holden wanting to move freely with independence is when he decides he’d â€Å"get the hell out of Pency...not wait till Wednesday† when he is supposed to break up from his boarding school.

Figurative Language Essay

Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else, you are using figurative language. Figurative language is the use of language to describe something by comparing it to something else. It serves many linguistic purposes. It allows people to express abstract thoughts. It creates tone and communicates emotional content. The ability to use figurative language in writing can make a poem or story more enjoyable for the reader. Figurative language is taking words beyond their literal meaning and can come in many different forms, all to create a vivid picture of the written word. There are many ways to incorporate figurative language into writing, some of which come as naturally as speaking. A Simile uses the words â€Å"like† or â€Å"as† to compare one object or idea with another to suggest they are alike, such as â€Å"busy as a bee†. In Hart Crane’s, â€Å"My Grandmother’s Love Letters† he uses the simile â€Å"â€Å"liable to melt as snow† to describe the fragility of the letters that have been hidden away in the rafters. This use of figurative language helps the reader to visualize paper that may not be able to withstand someone touching it, but could also be used to convey the fact that not only is the paper old and fragile, but so is his grandmother. In writing, a simile would say you are â€Å"like something† whereas a metaphor would say â€Å"you are something†. A metaphor states a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison without using the words â€Å"like† or â€Å"as†. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Robert Frost uses a walk in the woods as a metaphor for making a decision in life, a situation that readers can easily identify with, therefore making it easier to imagine what they are reading. An implied metaphor is a metaphor that compares two things without being obvious. â€Å"There are no stars tonight, But those of memory† from Hart Crane’s, â€Å"My Grandmother’s Love Letters† is a good example of an implied metaphor. Personification is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are given to an animal or an object and sometimes are difficult to catch in a poem if you are not paying attention as in Robert Frost’s â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, where he uses the description of† the road wanting wear†. In the line â€Å"Loose girdle of soft rain†, from â€Å"My Grandmother’s Love Letters†, the rain is compared to a loose belt, which is a clear example of Personification and much easier to understand. Creating imagery for the reader helps to entertain, provoke thought or help the reader escape to another reality. Sometimes it can even be silly such as the repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds in a series of words. This usage of figurative language is called Alliteration and includes tongue twisters such as â€Å"She sells seashells by the seashore†. Many writers will use words that describe or imitate a natural sound or the sound made by an object to create imagery within the writing. This is called Onomatopoeia, and although it is a big word that is hard to pronounce, it is the use of small words such as snap, crackle, pop, buzz and creaked that help bring a story or poem to life. Another form of imagery that is used quite often is Hyperbole. This is the use of statements that are so dramatic and exaggerated that a person would not believe the statement is true. â€Å"I was so hungry that not only did I eat my dinner, I ate the plate and silverware too. † A synecdoche is a form of imagery that substitutes a whole object with one aspect of that object. It may also be used to replace a specific object with something more generalized. In â€Å"My Last Duchess†, Robert Browning uses this form of figurative language when he admits to having his Duchess murdered. Instead of saying he killed her, he makes the statement that â€Å"all of her smiles have stopped†. Figurative language is important when writing poetry, but how the poem is structured and what the theme of the poem is can also add or detract from the imagery the writer is trying to create. Robert Browning’s â€Å"My Last Duchess† is a dramatic monologue pretending to be a conversation, written in iambic pentameter, divided up in pairs of rhymes known as Rhyme Couplets, and with lines that do not employ end-stops. Instead, the writer uses enjambment, which is when of one line of verse carries over to the next line without a pause such as: â€Å"Her husband’s presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My personal opinion is that the use of enjambment makes it difficult for the reader to understand the ideas and imagery the writer is trying to convey. The theme of this poem is of arrogance, selfishness and jealousy and is lacking any wonderful imagery that could pull the reader in. This is an example of how a structure and theme can make or break the poem. I did not enjoy this poem due to how difficult it was to read, understand and envision. Another part of the structure that sets a poem apart from others is whether there is a rhyming pattern to it or if it doesn’t have a pattern at all. â€Å"The Road Not Taken† is a lyric poem with four stanzas of five lines each. A lyric poem is one that presents the feelings and emotions of the poet rather than telling a story such as the poem â€Å"My Last Duchess†. The structure of â€Å"The Road Not Taken† is a straight forward series of five line stanzas. Each stanza presents us with a single idea. The first sets up the metaphor which is then extended through the rest of the poem. I have found that I enjoy this structure and rhyming pattern making â€Å"The Road Not Taken† my favorite poem of the three that I read and chose to write about. Everyone is different in their ability to understand the written word, with some people needing things simple and full of imagery that brings the poem to life. Other people prefer a more complex poem that is not filled with fanciful images, but makes them think and analyze what they are reading. No matter what your choice of structure, figurative language or imagery is, they are all necessary to create an interesting piece of written work. Due to people and thought processes being unique to each reader, this explains why there are so many different types of poems that evoke different emotions.

Aprasia

l Burns: Understanding Nursing Research, 5th Edition Appraisal Exercises Critical Appraisal Guidelines for Qualitative Studies Research Article: Stress and nursing care needs of women with breast cancer during primary treatment: A qualitative study QUALITATIVE CRITICAL APPRAISAL GUIDELINES|KEY CONCEPTS INAPPRAISAL| Problem Statement1. Identify the clinical problem and research problem that led to the study. 2. How did the author establish the significance of the study? In other words, why should the reader care about this study? || Purpose and Research Questions1. Identify the purpose of the study. . List research questions that the study was designed to answer. If the author does not explicitly provide the questions, attempt to infer the questions from the answers. 3. Were the purpose and research questions related to the problem? 4. Were qualitative methods appropriate to answer the research questions? || Literature Review1. Did the author cite quantitative and qualitative studies relevant to the focus of the study? What other types of literature did the author include? 2. Are the references current? 3. Identify the disciplines of the authors of studies cited in this paper.Does it appear that the author searched databases outside of CINAHL for relevant studies? 4. Did the author evaluate or indicate the weaknesses of the available studies? 5. Did the literature review include adequate information to build a logical argument? Another way to ask the question: Did the author provide enough evidence to support the verdict that the study was needed? | 4. The author mentioned limitations of the study by a bias. Some women who were mentally unstable, or if the nurses felt as if they would be over whelmed with the interview were excluded. 5.The author did go into detail about the many things that are need for a patient with breast cancer. | Frame of Reference 1. Did the author identify a specific perspective from which the study was developed? If so, what was it? 2. When a researcher uses the grounded theory method of qualitative inquiry, the researcher may develop a framework or diagram as part of the findings of the study. Was a framework developed from the study findings? |1. The author did not mention a specific form which the study was developed. In my opinion it was developed to help with the coping of breast cancer in women. 2.The framework was to include the specific strain influencing the women affected during the time, the needs and expectations they had of the nurses. | Research Tradition1. Identify the stated or implied research tradition upon which the study was based. 2. Were the methods used in the study consistent with the research tradition? |1. There was not a stated research tradition stated but the implied one was phenomological research because it was based on real life situations. 2. The method used was consistent with the research tradition. The participants were interviewed and allowed to answer questions.They touched on many aspects of the strains when dealing with breast cancer. | Sampling and Sample1. Identify how subjects were selected. 2. At what sites were subjects recruited for the study? Did the sites for recruitment fit the sampling needs of the study? 3. What were the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the sample? 4. Were the selected subjects able to provide data relevant to the study purpose and research questions? 5. How many people participated in the study? Did any potential subjects refuse to participate? Did any of the participants start but not finish the study? |1.The 42 women were chosen by the nurses ate the hospital. They had to meet the following criteria early tumors, no further metastases elsewhere, no malignant pre-existing disease or neoadjuvant therapy, and the ability to understand the German language. Pg. 122. The patients were recruited while impatient in the hospital. That was a proper site for recruitment for this study because they were determining the stress and nursing care. 3. The inclusion was aimed at women with breast cancer in the stage of surgical procedures as primary therapy. The average ages of the women were 55 and the youngest person was 33 and the oldest was 79. g12 | Data Collection1. How were data collected in this study? 2. What rationale did the author provide for using this data collection method? 3. Identify the time period for data collection of the study. 4. Describe the sequence of data collection events for a participant. || Protection of Human Participants1. Identify the benefits and risks of participation addressed by the authors. Were there benefits or risks the authors do not identify? 2. How were recruitment and consent techniques adjusted to accommodate the sensitivity of the subject matter and possible vulnerability of participants? . How were data collection and management techniques adapted in acknowledgment of participant sensitivity and vulnerability? || Data Management and Analysis1. Describe the data man agement and analysis methods used in the study. 2. Did the author discuss how the rigor of the process was assured? 3. What measures were used to minimize the effects of researcher bias? 4. Did the data management and analysis methods fit the research purposes and data? || Findings1. Did the findings address the purpose of the study? 2. Were the data sufficiently analyzed? 3.Were the interpretations of data congruent with data collected? 4. Did the researcher address variations in the findings by relevant sample characteristics? || Discussion1. Did the results offer new information about the target phenomenon? 2. Were the findings linked to findings in other studies or other relevant literatures? 3. Describe the clinical, policy, theoretical, and other significance of the findings. Does the author explore these applications? || Logic and Form of Findings1. Were readers able to hear the voice of the participants and gain an understanding of the phenomenon studied? . Were elements of the research report easily found by readers? 3. Did the overall presentation of the study fit its purpose, method, and findings? 4. Was there a coherent logic to the presentation of findings? || Evaluation Summary1. Do the findings provide a credible reflection of reality? If so, how can the findings be used in nursing practice? 2. What do the findings add to the current body of knowledge? 3. State the conclusion of the critical appraisal of the study. || References cited in this appraisal that were not cited in the article: