Saturday, January 25, 2020

The Contrast of Character Between Cleopatra and Octavia Essay -- Compa

Abstract Between the characters of Octavia and Cleopatra there exists a "moral contrast" (Bree 110) -a conflict of Roman ideals and Cleopatra's foreignness. Throughout the tradition of Cleopatra, authors, including Plutarch, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Fielding, as well as filmmakers such as Mankiewicz, have separated Cleopatra from Rome and Octavia because of her combination of political power and sexuality: "The notion of Cleopatra that we have inherited identifies her primarily as being the adversary, the Other. Her otherness is twofold. She is an Oriental, and she is a woman†¦" (Hughes-Hallett 4). If Cleopatra represents the 'Other', then Octavia exemplifies Rome itself. She embodies all of the characteristics of a proper Roman wife: beauty, grace, wisdom, and above all obedience to her husband. Octavia is Antony's celebrated wife throughout the literature although their relationship is dispassionate, while Cleopatra's "otherness" prevents her from attaining the respectable title of Ant ony's wife despite their love. Octavia acts as a character foil for Cleopatra, highlighting Cleopatra's foreign nature and her sexuality, which the Romans find unattractive and unacceptable in the character of a woman. Plutarch: The Life of Marcus Antonius I begin my study of the comparison of Cleopatra and Octavia with Plutarch's The Life of Marcus Antonius, a so-called "historical text." Although Plutarch's writing is perhaps our most trusted source on Cleopatra, his "factual" manuscript is by no means unbiased. Plutarch, as we will see with Shakespeare, Mankiewicz, Dryden, and Fielding in the ensuing pages, presents Cleopatra as the opposite of Octavia. While Octavia represents the Roman ideal of a woman, Cleopatra is a self-seeking Egyp... ...2013. Web. 26 June 2015. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2062 Fielding, Sarah. The Lives of Cleopatra and Octavia. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010. Web. 19 June 2015. https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/studies_in_english_literature/v039/39.3gadeken.html Hughes-Hallett, Lucy. Cleopatra: histories, dreams, and distortions. New York: Harpercollins, 1991. Loomba, Ania. Gender, race, Renaissance drama. Oxford University Press, 1992. Web. 9 June 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/438273?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Excerpts from "The Life of Marcus Antonius." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Gutenberg.org Web. 14 June 2015. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/674 Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat, and Ed. Paul Werstine. Simon & Schuster, 2005 The Contrast of Character Between Cleopatra and Octavia Essay -- Compa Abstract Between the characters of Octavia and Cleopatra there exists a "moral contrast" (Bree 110) -a conflict of Roman ideals and Cleopatra's foreignness. Throughout the tradition of Cleopatra, authors, including Plutarch, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Fielding, as well as filmmakers such as Mankiewicz, have separated Cleopatra from Rome and Octavia because of her combination of political power and sexuality: "The notion of Cleopatra that we have inherited identifies her primarily as being the adversary, the Other. Her otherness is twofold. She is an Oriental, and she is a woman†¦" (Hughes-Hallett 4). If Cleopatra represents the 'Other', then Octavia exemplifies Rome itself. She embodies all of the characteristics of a proper Roman wife: beauty, grace, wisdom, and above all obedience to her husband. Octavia is Antony's celebrated wife throughout the literature although their relationship is dispassionate, while Cleopatra's "otherness" prevents her from attaining the respectable title of Ant ony's wife despite their love. Octavia acts as a character foil for Cleopatra, highlighting Cleopatra's foreign nature and her sexuality, which the Romans find unattractive and unacceptable in the character of a woman. Plutarch: The Life of Marcus Antonius I begin my study of the comparison of Cleopatra and Octavia with Plutarch's The Life of Marcus Antonius, a so-called "historical text." Although Plutarch's writing is perhaps our most trusted source on Cleopatra, his "factual" manuscript is by no means unbiased. Plutarch, as we will see with Shakespeare, Mankiewicz, Dryden, and Fielding in the ensuing pages, presents Cleopatra as the opposite of Octavia. While Octavia represents the Roman ideal of a woman, Cleopatra is a self-seeking Egyp... ...2013. Web. 26 June 2015. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2062 Fielding, Sarah. The Lives of Cleopatra and Octavia. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010. Web. 19 June 2015. https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/studies_in_english_literature/v039/39.3gadeken.html Hughes-Hallett, Lucy. Cleopatra: histories, dreams, and distortions. New York: Harpercollins, 1991. Loomba, Ania. Gender, race, Renaissance drama. Oxford University Press, 1992. Web. 9 June 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/438273?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Excerpts from "The Life of Marcus Antonius." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Gutenberg.org Web. 14 June 2015. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/674 Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat, and Ed. Paul Werstine. Simon & Schuster, 2005

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Clarkson Lumber Case Essay

Clarkson Lumber Company is a classic example of a privately held company that has experienced a rapid growth in sales and has reached a point where it is facing a shortage of cash to sustain the expected growth in sales in the following years. The owner, Keith Clarkson, bought out his partner’s interest in the company in 1994 for $200,000. His partner, Henry Holtz, took a note for the $200,000 with an interest rate of 11% and was repayable in the semi-annual installments of $50,000 beginning June 30, 1995. The note was taken to give Mr.  Clarkson time to arrange for the necessary financing. Mr. Clarkson seems to be running the company well, evident by the constant growth in sales year after year. However, the company is running low on cash on hand, and needs some form of financing to reach the expected sales of 5. 5 Million in 1996. Moreover, the borrowing limit set by the Suburban Bank has been reached, prompting the bank to ask Mr. Clarkson to guarantee the loan personally. Mr. Clarkson has been in communication with another bank, Northrup Bank, which might be willing to extend a line of credit of up to $750,000. Analysis There are several reasons for Mr. Clarkson’s need to rely on borrowing despite good profits. Although the profits are good, they are not good enough in our view. The Net Profit Margin has been close to 2% since 1993 (Exhibit D). The cost of goods relative to the sales is high and is keeping the profit margin low. In other words, the costs have increased at a faster rate than sales. The Cost of Goods Sold is consistently around 75% of sales. Secondly, the Return on Assets is roughly 5% in 1995 (Exhibit D). This ratio is kept low due to a high total assets figure. Total assets are also inflated due to the liabilities taken in the form of trade credits by Mr. Clarkson The company is keeping a high volume of inventory in stock as shown by its Inventory Turnover ratio average of 6%. The Average Collection Period has jumped from 38 days to 48 days since 1993 (Exhibit B). Thus, the limited amount of cash inflow is largely tied in inventory, and payments on loans. Mr. Clarkson has been unable to take full advantage of the trade discounts (2% if paid with in 10 days) during the last two years ‘due to a shortage of funds arising from his purchase of Mr. Holtz’s (his partner) interest in the business and the additional investments in working capital associated with the company’s increasing sales volume’ (Case, Pg 2). And even though Mr. Clarkson has been able to use the credit from Suburban Bank of up to $400,000 to finance the increase in sales, the ceiling has also forced the company to use cash to fund itself and pay off loans. The current and quick ratios both support this fact (see Exhibit D). Based on the pro forma sheets there is an additional $251,000 needed to attain the goal of $5. 5 million in sales. Also, since part of the agreement is to break off from Suburban National Bank, the line of credit has to cover the 399,000 covered by the loan. With about $650,000 line of credit used, the remaining $100,000 of the new loan could be used to pay off Mr. Holtz and enable Mr. Clarkson to take advantage of the trade discounts by paying his suppliers back in 10 days; thus achieving the sales target with lower cost. Recommendations We recommend Mr. Clarkson to seriously consider taking the new line of credit. The line of credit will enable the company to take advantage of the trade discounts and pay off previous debt. Lowering the costs should be a high priority and it might be worth while to consider holding less inventory (if it does not affect the service and quality clients expect). Mr. Clarkson should identify and prioritize the high profit margin products/services the company offers and focus on those. The company would also do well to try to reduce the Average Collection Period to with in 30 days. As far as Northrup Bank is concerned, we recommend that the bank extend the line of credit but makes sure that the company does not reach the ceiling again. A high proportion of the credit line would be used in the beginning but that is due to the line of credit covering the previous loan, Mr. Holtz interest and some immediate financing for inventory purchases. In the foreseeable future though, once the company sheds the loans it carried and get more streamlined, it will start increasing its cash gradually. Mr. Clarkson’s business references are excellent and the company has always paid its bills on time. Therefore, the company is not a risk and the line of credit should be approved.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

My Internship Pursuit Essay - 1733 Words

Initially when I was looking for an internship, my goal was to find one that complemented my double major in criminology criminal justice and psychology. During my search, I found some reputable organizations, but quickly discovered that they either required an extended training/orientation period or were not compatible with my schedule. Thus in finding the Urban Education Leaders Internship Program (UELIP) of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), which primarily focuses on an interest in education and public policy, I was skeptical that my interest in criminal psychology would be met. However, I quickly learned that this was not the case. Not only did my internship with DCPS indirectly appeal to my major, but it also provided†¦show more content†¦After investigating these cases, I would organize them using an Excel spreadsheet by the type of discrimination to see which types occurred most frequently within the past three school years. Exploring these different c ases of discrimination also interconnected with the teachings from my Sociology and African American studies classes, in which both inform the numerous ways in which minorities are discriminated against. Lastly, my internship built on the concepts that I gained from CIVICUS. In CIVICUS, we learned much about civility and persevering in a multicultural society, both of which I had to incorporate while at DCPS. In the Office of Human Capital, there exists much diversity, which aligns with the clients that DCPS aims to assist. More specifically, within the LMER team, I worked with supervisors who though were coincidently all lawyers, came from different backgrounds and had distinct personalities. Thus I had to figure out how to balance the pluribus with the unum. From BSCV 301, I learned that balancing unum (commonality) and pluribus (diversity) is integral to succeeding in a multicultural environment. 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