Thursday, January 30, 2020

Adventure of the Speckled Band Essay Example for Free

Adventure of the Speckled Band Essay Compare how James Watson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Create Fear and Tension in Talking in Whispers and The Adventure of the Speckled Band  In the novel Talking in Whispers and the short story The Adventure of the Speckled Band both Watson and Doyle use fear and tension within their stories to get the attention of the reader. Both authors create fear and tension but they create it in different ways and they use different writing techniques to create fear and tension one reason for this could be that the stories were written at different periods of time. The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was written towards the end of the 19th century and is set in Victorian England, whereas Talking in Whispers by James Watson was written towards the end of the 20th century and is set in Chile. Both Stories however contain elements of fear and tension. In the course of my essay I shall examine the different ways that both authors use fear and tension to their advantage. James Watson creates fear and tension in the novel Talking in Whispers by using many different writing techniques. These techniques are very effective in creating fear and tension. Watson uses techniques such as juxtapositioning, identifying the reader with the characters, chapter endings, direct speech and inter-chapters. These all, when used correctly create fear and tension.  The fear and tension created by James Watson when he uses juxtapositioning is very effective as it gives you one scene and in the next paragraph you get a total contrast of it. This surprises the reader, which builds up suspense and a feel of uncertainty. An example of juxtapositioning from Watsons novel would be. The crowd thundered its joy.  From tomorrow all will be different.  Andres knew for certain his friend Horacio was dead  From this example you can see that the crowd thunders with joy is a scene of hope, promise and joy but then immediately afterwards you get a scene of violence, horror and despair Andres knew for certain his friend Horacio was dead. This all helps to build up tension and fear.  Watson makes you feel sorry and sad and angry for characters if anything happens to them. Watson does this by identifying the reader with Andres. What Watson does is he lets you into Andres mind he lets you see his feelings he lets you feel his pain he lets you know his sorrow. An example of this technique would be near to the end of page 12. Jordan Clement GCSE English Coursework 4/27/2007  I should have let myself be taken theres no honour in this, skulking in brambles with only a scratch to show for my bravery.  From this example you can see Watson lets you know what Andres is feeling and thinking. From the sentence I should have let myself be taken we know that Andres is not a coward and will not back down to the CNI (Chiles secret police) we also know from this that Andres is going to try to avenge his family and friends. This starts to build up the fear and tension within the novel. Another main way James Watson builds up a lot of tension and fear within Talking In Whispers is by using chapter endings. What James Watson does is he leaves you at a pinnacle at the end of most chapters which makes the reader want to read on and see what will happen to Andres or Isa and or Don Chailey this is a very effective way to build up tension within a novel a works very well in this particular novel. A good example of chapter endings would be the end of chapter three. All youll be needing is a cool head, lots of luck and he leaned forwards with exaggerated secrecy. And a porters uniform  This creates tension because you want to know what will happen next, you want to know what the importance of the porters uniform is, and you want to know will Andres get caught. This makes you want to read on and it makes you think what will happen to Andres. This technique builds up fear and tension throughout the novel.  In Talking in Whispers Watson uses other common techniques of writing which all helps in building up fear and tension, he uses techniques such as similes, imagery and metaphors. His mind stayed where it was, unmolested, a little black box inside something nothing could get at. Resting like a mouse in hole.  The simile like a mouse in a hole portrays Andres mind when he was being tortured. They could hurt his body but they couldnt touch his mind it was resting like a mouse in a hole. The sentence resting like a mouse in hole also uses imagery as well as using a simile the simile creates the image of his mind being a mouse resting in hole unaware of what is happening to Andres body. In the torture scene on pages 105 106 Andres calls his torturers not by their names but by names that reflect their personality he calls his torturers snake and the hog the names are metaphors, which lets you know the personality of the characters. Snake for example is a cunning and devious animal and extremely deadly. This again is another type of imagery it lets you see pictures from words. This way of writing is very effective when it comes to creating fear and tension. Jordan Clement GCSE English Coursework 4/27/2007  Another way fear and tension is created in Talking in Whispers is by telling you what is happening in Chile at the time. This does not move the story any further forward with Andres it just tells you the evilness of the Junta. This technique is called  Inter-chapters and is very effective in causing the reader to perhaps fear the Junta.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Tom and Huck Dont Live Here Anymore Essay -- essays research papers

What went wrong in America’s Hometown? Two murders within 6 weeks from each other committed by teenagers is a major problem presented in the heart of America. When Ron Powers heard of these crimes, one happening in his hometown, Hannibal, MO, his eyes were opened to this problem of today’s children and traveled back to find out just what went wrong. Growing up in Hannibal, considered by many to be ‘America’s Hometown’, the author never experienced greed, hate, or envy as a child. The most responsibility he had was being a traffic officer and save children from getting hit by passing cars as they crossed the street. What baffles Ron Powers is what has happened to today’s youth, what has changed in the way children are raised these days that create this loss of innocence, which is why he set out to try and find out what happened through interviews in Hannibal. I feel he successfully expresses his ideals on society through memories of his own compared to the two recent murders and everything he finds out through the interviewing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tom and Huck Don’t Live Here Anymore: Childhood Murders in the Heart of America is about Ron Power’s reaction to the two murders in 6 weeks. He travels back to Hannibal to piece together what reasons were behind the reckless brutality of the children murderers. He begins with character development, explaining who these children were and the events pieced together of what they have done, along with a brief history of e...

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Using Corn-Plastic as an Eco-Friendly Packaging Material

Using Corn-Plastic as an Eco-Friendly Packaging Material Introduction: For the purpose of this project, I chose to use sheets of corn-plastic as a wrapper for Big Kahuna Burger. The wrapper would be by inches and less than a millimeter thick. The reason I chose sheets over boxes was because sheets can be stacked by the thousands making shipping more efficient and producing less material in land fills. The material of this wrapper is corn-plastic, or by it’s scientific name, polylactic acid.Polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA) is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as cornstarch, tapioca roots, chips or starch, or sugarcane. This is an environmentally practical material for an assortment of reasons; It is biodegradable, non-harmful to people or the environment and it comes from natural, renewable resources. â€Å"The United States uses 20. 8 million barrels of oil per day, 10 percent of which goes solely to the production of conventional plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [sources: CIA World Factbook, Jewell].Bioplastics like corn plastic, however, don't require oil and, as a bonus, their manufacture releases fewer toxins and greenhouse gases. † (Howstuffworks. com) Pre-Production: †¢Harvesting of corn requires fossil fuels to run tractors and other machines †¢Fossil fuels required to ship to factories. Production: â€Å"First, the harvested corn crop is soaked and ground so that the endosperm can be separated from the gluten and fiber. This step is typical in grain crop harvesting, too.Next, producers add enzymes to the starchy endosperm, which converts the endosperm into a simple sugar called dextrose. Then, the addition of bacterial cultures causes the sugar to ferment into lactic acid in the same way brewers use fermentation to produce beer. The resulting acid consists of lactide molecules, which bond into long chains called polymers. At the end of this process, bioplastics produce rs have pellets of polylactic acid plastic, which can then be spun off into fibers or melted to take just about any form. (Howstuffworks. com). †¢Low energy and pollution in manufacturing process. Distribution: †¢Due to thin sheets, thousands of sheet wrappers can be shipped in a single box, making distribution highly efficient. †¢Less fossil fuels used in the distribution process. Utilization: †¢Although is a biodegradable material, it provides a stable water proof protection for food. †¢Wrapping sandwiches of different sizes with the same wrapper as apposed to having different sized boxes for each means less material used. Disposal: Takes a month in a high-humidity composting environment at 140 degrees Fahrenheit to decompose. †¢Can’t be recycled with PLE plastic. †¢After decomposition, turns back into its original form as earth that has zero affect on the environment and no pollution. Cons of Bioplastic: †¢It can only be decomposed i n commercial decomposition plants that require large amounts of energy. †¢ Cannot be recycled with regular plastic. A small amount of bioplastic in a traditional recycling plant can contaminate a much larger portion of reusable plastic, preventing it from being usable. Commercial composters in the Northwestern United States only accept bioplastics from food service operations, not households. (This is not a problem for big Kahuna Burger. Solution: †¢PLA wrappers at Big Kahuna Burger will be disposed of in a special bin and then sent to a commercial composter. This may cost more, but as the bioplastic industry grows and matures, cheaper and easier composting will be available. References: †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"What is corn plastic? † How Stuff Works. July 2011.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Share Price Earnings Ratio And Foreign Exchange Rate Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2709 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? The stock market has become an important market which plays a vital role in the economy that develops capital formation and sustaining economic growth. Stock market is a listing stock and a statistic reflecting the composite value of its components. It is used to represent of its characteristics of its component of stocks, in which it have the same commonality such as trading in the same stock market, belong in same industry or having similar market capitalization. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Share Price Earnings Ratio And Foreign Exchange Rate Finance Essay" essay for you Create order In the securities market, either primary or secondary market, the price of equity is influenced by a number of factors such as the dividend per share and earnings per share (Gompers, Ishii and Metrick 2003). With the movement of the equitys prices, it will subsequently affect the stock market index performance in a country. Stock market indices are used as indicators for the performance of the stock market as a whole. A stock market index can be based on a stock exchange or on only a sample of stocks. Stock index is the general behaviour of stock prices by measuring the current price behaviour of representative group of stocks in relation to a base value set at an earlier point time. The indices can simply computed on the simple average closing price basis while others are derived using a weighted average method. In Bursa Malaysia, all the indices were calculated electronically on minute by minute basis which are made it available immediately to stock broking companies and o ther real time market information subscribers. BACKGROUND OF STUDY In this study, it will determine the correlation of earnings per share (EPS), price-earnings ratio (P/E Ratio) as well the foreign exchange rate (USD/MYR) with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) performance. It is subsequently important for this research to be conducted in order to give some thoughts and idea, perhaps to the manager and investor in making decision. On the other hand, there are many investors sometimes make speculation on the stock market which regard bearing huge losses. 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT This study is to determine the relationship between the macroeconomic variable which is foreign exchange rate (USD/MYR) and fundamental variables (EPS and P/E Ratio) with the stock market index in Malaysia market, which is the KLCI. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY This study will attempt to identify the most influencing factors or determinants towards the changes on Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). The main objectives of this study are: To determine the significance correlation between the macroeconomics variables and the sector market index performance that will be measured through Bursa Malaysia sector index which are KLCI with the selected macroeconomic variable which are the Foreign Exchange Rate (USD/MYR) and the fundamental variables which are Earning Per Share (EPS) and Price-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) To provide evidence regarding the relationships of macroeconomic variables and the stock market index in Malaysia market so that all of the information can give new knowledge about this matter. LIMITATION OF STUDY This study is based on the data collected from the secondary sources. This has produced a difficulty in finding the appropriate data, journals and articles. The information needed is not easy to access due to unavailability of the data especially during the using of Internet services. Some of the information is unpublished through the online network. Besides, the data gained is also not updated. SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY To complement the past literature in this area to provide knowledge about this matter. To help the investors to predict the future stock market movement from the past data gathered. To help better understanding about the importance of the correlation between the macroeconomic and fundamental variables with the stock market index, KLCI. SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this study would cover the Bursa Malaysia stock market index that include Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) of the company listed in the Bursa Malaysia and also the selected fundamental variables (EPS and P/E Ratio) and the macroeconomic variable, foreign exchange rate (USD/MYR). Time horizon of this study is cross-sectional studies, which the data will be gathered just once over a period. This study will use the monthly basis data from the year 1997 until 2007 as a time frame for this study. The selection on the 10-year duration of time frame as there is different market sentiment happened during the period for instance the financial crisis. It would be a good comparison to see the absolute correlation between the variables with different market condition. DEFINITION OF TERMS KLCI Kuala Lumpur Composite Index The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) is a capitalization-weighted stock market index introduced in 1986. Previously, it is known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) that consists of approximately the top 100 companies which listed on the Malaysia bourse. Currently, it is now known as the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI which was implemented on the 6th of July 2009 that comprises the largest 30 companies listed on the Malaysian Main Market by full market capitalization that meet the eligibility requirements of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Ground Rules. Basically, the KLCI is used to provide a performance indicator for the share prices in the Malaysian market. Earnings Per Share (EPS) Earnings Per Share (EPS) generally is considered the single most important variable in determining a shares price. Besides, it is also a major component of the price-to-earning valuation ratio. The EPS shows the amount of money to which a shareholder would be entitled in the event of the companys liquidation and it is only applies to common shares. EPS serves as an indicator of a companys profitability, which a portion of companys profit allocated to each outstanding share of common share. Basically, EPS can be calculated by dividing a companys total earnings by the number of outstanding shares. Bursa Malaysia Bursa Malaysia is a stock exchanged located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where equities, derivatives, and other financial securities are trade on a daily basis. It operates a fully-integrated exchange, offering the complete range of exchange-related service including trading, clearing, settlement and depository services. Today, Bursa Malaysia is one of the largest bourses in Asia with just under 1,000 listed companies offering a wide range of investment opportunities to the investors. Companies are listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad Main Market and ACE Market. Bursa Malaysia is committed to maintain an efficient, secure and active trading market in assisting the development and enhancement of the Malaysian capital market. Price-Earnings Ratio Price-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) is short for the ratio of a companys share price to its per-share earnings. For the calculation of the P/E, it may be calculated simply by taking the current stock price of a company and divide by its earnings per share (EPS). Most of the time, the P/E is calculated using the EPS from the last four quarters. Companies that are not profitable may probably have a negative EPS, pose a challenge when it comes to calculating their P/E. Theoretically, a stocks P/E will tells how much investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings. Historically, the average P/E ratio in the market has been around 15-25. This fluctuates significantly depending on the economic conditions. If the P/E is on the higher side when compared to the industry averages, it means the market is expecting some positive events from the company as far as earnings are concern Foreign Exchange Rate (USD/MYR) The foreign exchange rate specifies between two currencies on how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. In this study, the measurement used is RM per unit of US$. The US$ rates used are the average of buying and selling on inter-bank rates. ORGANIZATION OF PROJECT PAPER This project paper consists of few chapters that come with various parts under each of the chapters. The following are the contents of each chapters covered in this project paper: Chapter 1: Introduction, Background of Study, Problem Statement, Objective of Study, Limitation of Study, Scope of Study, Significant of Study and Definition of Terms. Chapter 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework. Chapter 3: Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Data Sampling and Data Collection. CHAPTER 2 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW An efficient capital market suggest that the security prices will adjust rapidly to the arrival of new information, and therefore the current security prices fully reflect all available information. The semi-strong efficient market hypotheses asserts that security prices adjust rapidly to the release of all public information that includes all non-market information such as earnings and dividends announcement, price to earnings (P/E) ratios, dividend yield ratios, price book value ratios, stock splits, news about the economy and political news ( Reilly and Brown, 2006). According to Gompers, Ishii and Metrick, 2003, in the securities market which comprise of the primary and secondary market, the movement of the stocks price is influenced by the factors that include dividend per share, earnings per share and also the price earnings ratio. It shows that these variables subsequently have correlation to the stock market index performance. Basu (1977) found that there is a relatio nship exists between historical PE ratios and the subsequent risk adjusted stock market performance. Such relationship runs against the semi strong form EMH as it suggests that investors could employ publicly available PE ratios to predict future rates of return. Maghyereh (2002) investigated the long-run relationship between the Jordanian stock prices and selected macroeconomic variables, again by using Johansens (1988) cointegration analysis and monthly time series data for the period from January 1987 to December 2000. The study showed that macroeconomic variables were re ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡ected in stock prices in the Jordanian capital market. The impact from both factors for instance the micro and macro-economics have significant relationship on equity pricing in the stock market which subsequently affect the performance of the stock market index. Corwin, 2003 said that declining dividends and earnings in the market may have negative impact on equity pricing and vi ce-versa. According to Maysami, Lee and Mohamad (2004), the stock prices should reflect expectations about future profit and corporate profit generally reflect the level of economic activities. If the stock prices accurately reflect this underlying fundamental, then the stock prices should be employed as leading indicators for future economic activities and not the way around. Therefore the study on the causal relations among the macroeconomic variables and stock prices are important in the formulation of the nations macroeconomic variables. Islam (2003) conducted the studies in examining the short run dynamic adjustment and long term equilibrium relationships between the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index and the selected macroeconomic variables (interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rates and industrial productivity). He found that the existence of the short runs (dynamic) and the stable long run (equilibrium) relationships between stock returns of Kuala Lumpur stock market an d that selected macroeconomic variables by using the monthly data from January 1990 to June 2002. Kasman (2003) investigated the relationship between stock prices and exchange rates by using high-frequency data of exchange rates and aggregate stock indices of Turkey. His result indicate that the existence of long run stable relationship between stock indices and exchange rates. Through the employment of Hendrys (1986) approach which allows making inferences to the short-run relationship between macroeconomic variables as well as the long-run adjustment to equilibrium, they analysed the influence of interest rate, inflation, money supply, exchange rate and real activity, along with a dummy variable to capture the impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In a study of the impact of dividend and earnings on stock prices, Hartone (2004) argues that a significantly positive impact is made on equity prices if positive earnings information occurs after negative dividend informat ion. Also, a significantly negative impact occurs in equity pricing if positive dividend information is followed by negative earning information. Docking and Koch (2005) discovers that there is a direct relationship between dividend announcement and equity price behavior. Al-Qenae, Li Wearing (2002) in their study of the effects of earning (micro-economic factor), and interest rate (macro-economic factors) on the stock prices on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, discovered that the macro-economic factors significantly impact stock prices negatively. 2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK There is a classical theory that explained the correlation between the macroeconomic and fundamental variables with the stock market index, KLCI. This study tries to look at the possibility of the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables in Malaysia market. Dependent variable: Bursa Malaysia Stock Index: FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. Independent variables: EPS, P/E Ratio and Exchange Rates (USD/MYR). To be clearly seen, below is the schematic diagram to show the relationship between the dependent and independent variables: Figure 1: Relationship Diagram Independent Variables Dependent Variable Earnings Per Share FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI P/E Ratio Foreign Exchange Rate Base on the schematic diagram above, it can be elaborated that the performance of FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI are determined by the earnings per share (EPS), price-earnings ratio (P/E Ratio) and the foreign exchange rate (USD/MYR). The dependent variable (FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI) will reflect in any changes in independent variables (EPS, P/E Ratio and foreign exchange rate (USD/MYR). CHAPTER 3 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Introduction After gathering all the information from introduction and literature review, it may now proceed with the methodology and data that need to be discovered deeply. Perhaps, it is to get the accurate information from the real sources. To achieve this, it needs to know and understand the study very well and explore the appropriate method for the research. Data Analysis The statistical tool that will be used in this study is the Multiple Linear Regression Model as well as the t-test analysis from the SPSS software to identify the correlation and relationship between the independent variables with the dependent variable. Multiple Linear Regression Model aids in understanding how much of the variance in the dependent variable is explained by a set of predictors. This type of analysis is also to trace the sequential previous that cause the dependent variable through path analysis. With that, this model is more appropriate to be used since it can explain the correlation between the dependent and independent variables much better. Besides that, the t-test analysis will be use as a test of the hypothesis generated that the difference between the two responses measured on the same statistical unit. In this research, there will be three hypotheses to be tested using the regression to see whether it is applicable in FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, which are: Hypothesis 1 H0: There is no significant correlation between EPS and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. H1: There is a significant correlation between EPS and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. Hypothesis 2 H0: There is no significant correlation between P/E Ratio and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. H1: There is a significant correlation between P/E Ratio and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. Hypothesis 3 H0: There is no significant correlation between foreign exchange rate and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. H1: There is a significant correlation between foreign exchange rate and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. 3.1 DATA SAMPLING This study will focus on the performance of the Malaysian stock market index, which currently known as the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) between the year 1997 to 2007 in monthly basis. Prior to the year 2009, the KLCI is basically consists of approximately the top 100 companies which listed on the Malaysia bourse. On 6th of July 2009, the KLCI was transformed into the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. It consists of the 30 largest companies by market capitalization instead of the previous 100 stocks in the KLCI. Despite the change, KLCI will still continue to be the index for the Malaysian stock market. The sample of this study would be the fundamental variables, which are the average EPS and P/E ratio to the KLCI as well as the macroeconomic variable, foreign exchange rate from the duration selected. 3.2 DATA COLLECTION Data concerning on the macroeconomic and fundamental variables and the Bursa Malaysia stock index will be gathered to see whether there are any correlation between these variables with the performance of KLCI as being the main objective of this study. The secondary data regarding the index will be collected from the Bank Negara Malaysia includes the stock market index, KLCI. For the independent variables that include foreign exchange rates, earnings per share and price-earnings ratio, the data will be collected from Monthly Statistical Bulletin published by Bank Negara Malaysia, OSK Investment Bank Database and also from the DataStream Tool.