Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck - Coursework Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck Coursework Essay Of Mice and Men was set in the 1930s in North California. This was a time of economic hardship due to the Wall Street Crash. Men were forced to leave their families and find work on ranches. Pay and working conditions were poor. Men scraped by, spending any extra money they had gambling or in one of the many whore houses. This is where Steinbeck drew his inspiration from; he spent time on the ranches experiencing the hardships experienced by the workers. The book is about these workers and the extremely lonely lives they led. It also exposes underlying themes of racism and how badly the disabled were treated. This was a time when people looked after number one, as there was nobody else to do this for them. The two main characters are somewhat different, as they travel and work together, looking out for each other. This was very unusual because life would have been hard enough without the extra responsibility of looking after another person. The two main characters have just been evicted from their work in a town called Soledad (which means loneliness). They are the only people in the book whose names Christian names are actually used. It shows that nobody makes the effort to make friends enough to be on first name terms. This is symbolic of the loneliness of each of the characters and shows how unusual the two main characters are. The two main characters are called George ands Lennie. There is very little information about them in the book. They work for their keep on the ranches. Lennie is slightly brain damaged and has a very limited memory. He is an enormous man and Steinbeck often compares his actions with those of a large, clumsy animal using similes and metaphors: Dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. These are intended to subtly give the reader the impression that Lennie is big and clumsy, like an animal that does not know its own strength; Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water. George is exactly the opposite of Lennie. He is small, dark and quick, and is cautious about his surroundings; The small man stepped nervously George is always on the look out and he knows how to look after himself. The town they had just come from was called Weed which could signify that they were unwanted, like a weed, there: they were forced out of there because Lennie made a mistake. He had grabbed a woman and she said that he had raped her. George is very much the dominant figure in the relationship and makes all the decisions. At the very start you can tell this because Lennie copies George in the way he looks and acts; Lennie, who had been watching imitated George exactly. This suggests that Lennie looks up to George and wants to be just like him. This is quite sad really as he has ended up nothing like him. Lennie hates to make George angry, like a dog that hates to make his master angry. George feels responsible for Lennie. He is like a father figure to him, and he knows that Lennie would never be able to survive without him. He feels a sense of duty because Aunt Clara told him to look after Lennie. The other reason they travel together is George, though he doesnt like to admit it, enjoys Lennies company and he doesnt want to let go of the American Dream. They share the dream of owning their own place with a few animals; livin off the fatta the lan'. George knows it is very unlikely to happen but Lennie still believes and always likes to hear the story of how its gonna be. This is painful for George and he is reluctant to talk about it. You can tell it is important to Lennie because he forgets anything he is told but he remembers the dream. George and Lennie are always dreaming of the future. When George and Lennie arrive on the ranch, the ranch hands and the boss are suspicious of their relationship. They suspect that George is taking Lennies stake for himself; I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin his pay away from him? They cannot see why someone else would travel with someone who would restrict them unless they were getting paid. They are lonelier than George and Lennie, and have no real concept of friendship. Despite having Lennie as a companion, George is also lonely. He is alone in his responsibility for Lennie. In a way it is more like speaking to an animal than a human when speaking to Lennie because George knows that whatever he says to him will be forgotten and mean nothing. From the very beginning we get a hint of this by the way Lennie is made to seem more like a responsibility than a friend to George. Lennie is made to seen like an animal, like a terrier that doesnt want to bring his ball back to his master, maybe signifying that he is like a pet that always needs looking after. Steinbeck also uses George playing solitaire as a metaphor for his loneliness; George cut the cards again and put out a solitaire lay, slowly and deliberately. George lays the cards out like he has done it many time before. Solitaire is a single player game (and solitaire is derived from solitary), this shows that Lennie is not capable of acting like an adult and so George must play on his own. George is held from having his own life by the responsibility of caring for Lennie. He continuously tells Lennie how life would be without him; how he could have a girl and a decent job: God amighty, if I was alone I could live so easy The truth though, is that George would be even lonely without Lennie. It is ironic at the end of the book that George should be so upset by the death of Lennie, because then he realiz es that he will have to spend all the rest if his time alone. You never know what you have until it is gone. One of the ranch workers, Candy, features heavily in the book. He tries to join the friendship of George and Lennie. Candy is extremely lonely. He has been working on the ranch for many years and due to his disability. He is unable to leave because he knows that no other employer would take him on. The only reason he has got work now, is that he suffered the injury to his hand on the ranch. He has seen many men come and go but he cannot move on. Candy knows he will probably die on the ranch. Candy is very talkative because he is so eager to make friends. He warms to this gossip because he on his own when all the workers are in the fields. As soon as he meets George and Lennie he engages them in conversation, hardly letting them speak. He lets out all the opinions, about Curley and his wife and the other ranch hands that he has formed and never had anybody to tell them to. In fact the only sort of a friend he has is an old dog. The dog is old, has no teeth and it stinks. The dog is used to symbolise Candy: old and useless. The dog is also used as a foreshadowing device for Lennies death. When Carlson tells him that he should kill the dog he tries to stop him by making up excuses: Maybe itd hurt him, and tries to put the inevitable off; wants to spend just one more day with the dog by killing it in the morning. The only reason Candy had left to live was the dog so in a way Carlson killed a part of him. The dog is also used as a second foreshadowing device for what George has to do to Lennie in the conclusion of the book. Lennie, unlike the dog, however will be killed by the only person he trusts in the world. This will come from the pressure of other people. In the early 20th Century, blacks were heavily persecuted because of their colour. The stable buck is called Crooks and is discriminated because he is a black; Spose you couldnt go into the bunkhouse and place rummy cause you were black. He is kept apart from the other ranch hands because of his race. He is very nervous when Lennie enters his room. This is because crooks has his own living space away from the other men. The only people he sees are probably going to insult or hurt him so he is immediately on guard when someone comes in to his room. He is also discriminated against because of his crippled back, which means that he cant work in the fields like the other men. Crooks reveals his past to Lennie in his barn. The irony that his father used to own his own ranch and once he used to lead a comfortable life must be extremely painful for him to relive when he thinks about his present lonely self. That is probably why he is so bitter towards the other men who are treating him so harshly. Crooks is always dreaming of the past; Remember when I was a little kid on old mans chicken ranch. The other men would probably dream of having their own space but Crooks is so lonely he would rather be with other people; A guy ne eds somebody to be near him. All Crooks has for company is a small collection of books that he reads over and over again. It must be very lonely being on your own all the time when he thinks about what it had been like when he owned his own ranch. Sometimes he almost goes crazy with loneliness; Maybe if he sees somethin, he dont know whether its right or not. He cant turn to the other guy and ast him if he sees it too, He is only admitting this because he knows that Lennie is not listening, and even if he was, he couldnt remember and repeat what was being said anyway. Crooks is proud and doesnt want to admit that he is lonely or that the men are getting to him by calling him names and abusing him, If I say something, why its just a nigger saying it. When someone calls somebody something enough times a person will start to absorb the names and start to believe that there is some truth to what the person is saying about them. Crooks is treated like an animal. One Christmas time they let him into the bunkhouse and made him fight. The word let is used like letting an animal in for a treat. He then leaves after his fight, for his own room. The men just use him as entertainment. His life is always under threat because he means nothing them. Curleys wife plays a very prominent role in the book as she brings the death of Lennie and herself. She is not given a name through the whole book. This signifies how little everyone thinks of her. She is referred to as jail bait and slut by all the ranch hands. This is due to the manner she has adopted to befriend the men. She constantly flirts with any man she meets and being pretty at the same time, she is bound to get herself into some sort of trouble. She acts like this because she is lonely and it is her way of attracting attention to herself. The problem is that all the workers are afraid to talk to her because they fear what Curley would do to them if they did. Curley is always looking for a fight to show how much of man he is. If he got just the faint scent of her cheating on him he would fight. Nobody want to get on the wrong side of Curley because they know he is a good boxer and because he is the bosss son he can probably get anyone canned if he wants, In reality, Curleys wife doesnt actually like Curley and even admits to Lennie: I dont like Curley. She married him to show her mother that she could be independent and to get back at her for the letter that could have been her big break that she thinks her mother stole. Curleys wife is dreaming of what could have been, how she could have been in the movies and what a lifestyle she could have had. The marriage between Curley and Curleys wife is not based on love but on sexual attraction Curleys wife is also very lonely, that is why she is always skulking around the bunkhouse with the men. She needs someone to talk to; She uses the excuse that she is looking for her husband. In the end her loneliness is the end of her when she tries to talk to Lennie (much the same way as Crooks let out his thoughts to him). The climax of the book starts in the barn. The scene begins with Lennie worrying about his puppy which he has just killed accidentally. Curleys wife enters, as usual looking for someone to talk to. She begins telling Lennie her life story. All through the book she has been portrayed as a spiteful woman; foolin around with other guys, causin trouble., but here her true character comes out. Lennie ends up telling her about his love for soft things so she lets him stroke her hair. The other men can resist her charms but Lennie is not clever enough to know. Lennie strokes it a bit too vigorously and her panic affects Lennie. He breaks her neck by accident, then thinks that if he hides the puppy, which is used as a foreshadowing device to Curleys wifes death George will be more likely to let him tend his precious rabbits. This is sad and ironic, as Lennie cannot grasp the enormity of the thing he has just done. Curleys wife seemed peaceful after her death; the ache for attention were gone from her face. She was realised from her prison on the ranch and was now free and happy. When George hears, he despairs, for Lennie has ended their chance of achieving the impossible American Dream. One of the themes of this book is certainly loneliness. The people are segregated into groups. Age, disabilities, race and sex separate many people. Also the time of economic hardship forced men to look after number one. It made it very hard for the men to form friendships as they have very few responsibilities. The book is about the unusual friendship of George and Lennie who have nothing in common with each other apart from they share the American Dream. That is all that keeps them going. It is extremely sad when George is forced to kill Lennie because he was all that George had left. It was ironic because George had always spoken about what life would be like without Lennie; how he could be free. Now he had his wish he was devastated that he had had to kill the only friend that he had in the world.

An analysis of “The Flea” by John Donne

An analysis of â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne Close Reading This close reading, is an analysis of â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne. â€Å"The Flea† is a love sonnet that uses a flea as a reason for the writer and the woman to get together. The flea is the main image of the poem, through which all of the metaphors and puns are woven around. When it comes down to it, the poem is about trying to get the woman in the poem into bed. The writer never comes out and just says that he wants to have sex with the woman, but that is exactly what a marriage bed is for. He does not want to scare her off with the blunt truth that having sex with him would be a terrible mistake. This close reading will demonstrate all of this and more by going through the poem line by line looking deeply into what each line is saying and how it is demonstrating it. In the first stanza, Donne uses extended metaphors to get his point across about the flea. The first stanza speaks of how the writer and the woman become one after being bitten by the flea. This stanza begins with â€Å"Mark but this flea, and mark in this,† which directs the attention of the woman towards the flea. He uses an apostrophe by speaking to a person outside the poem who cannot respond. â€Å"How little that which thou deniest me is,† she denies his sexual advances which means little to her. â€Å"It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be,† the flea bites them both causing their blood to mix together inside the flea. Blood is used both literally and figuratively throughout the poem, which makes it a pun. Literally, that flea really does contain two peoples blood. Metaphorically, when two people procreate we call it mixing fluids, and the writer plays with this double meaning. The mixing of the blood cannot be a sin, or shame, or lose of virginity therefore; neither should it be for their other bodily to mix together, â€Å"A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead.† â€Å"Yet this enjoys before it woo,† the pleasure of the flea is a pun. The flea literally enjoys her blood, however to the writer, it also enjoys her in the erotic way like he wants to. â€Å"And pampered swells with one blood made of two,† the flea is lucky to be filled with their blood. This flea becomes larger in size with blood from both subjects. The flea has joined them together already by mixing their blood together which is more than he is asking of the woman, â€Å"And this, alas, is more than we would do.† The writer expresses shame and sadness for this flea. He speaks of the flea like it has sinned in its blood sucking ways which is more than he is asking the woman to do so they should just have sex. The act of the biting flea happens prior to seduction; it accents the completion of gratification prior to the procreative stimulation indicated by woo, pampered,† and â€Å"swells. Hence, the poem changes its gesture of passion and focuses on the sexual pleasure, following a notable order; solicitation, swelling, copulation, then fulfillment. The flea, particularly enjoys the pleasure of sucking both male and female bodies. As a result of, the outburst alas, the writer regretfully indicates the flea can do more than he can do. In the second stanza, the writer asks his woman, â€Å"Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,† as the woman moves in to kill the flea, he asks her to halt from the killing. The writer explains to the woman if she would please reserve the three lives which are now mixed within in the flea. The writer may be concluding that the three lives within the flea represent a father, mother, and baby. He constructs another analogy in this line, â€Å"Where we almost, yea more than married are.† In this he argues, their blood is mixed within the flea therefore they are no more than married. â€Å"This flea is you and I,† the flea has both of their blood inside it. â€Å"Our marriage bed, and marriage temple,† the flea is their sex and religion. Also, their supposed marriage is an extended metaphor which stems from the pun on two kinds of blood: literal blood and family relations. Mixing of bloodlines is what happens when you get married. The writer confesses â€Å"Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met.† In spite of the fact that their parents object is not a reason for them not to have sex. He is suggesting that even though they cannot be in a romantic relationship, it should not affect her decision not to make love, â€Å"And cloistered in these living walls of jet.† Although their parents protest with resentment towards their romance, and she will not make love to him, contained within the flea is a place of religious solitude, where they are united as one. The writer extends the metaphor further by saying neither of their parents would approve of the union. The flea is compared to a church or cloister with black walls, in which the marriage ceremony takes place. Donne writes, â€Å"Though use make you apt to kill me,† even though you are almost certainly going to kill me. â€Å"Let not to that, self-murder added be,† he requests that she not kill the flea because she would be killing herself, the flea, and him. â€Å"And sacrilege, three sin in killing three,† and by killing the writer, the flea, and herself, she will commit three sins of theft and perverting what is sanctified. Since the flea is a temple of religion, should she kill this flea? Returning to the metaphor, the flea contains their lives, the writer alleges her of trying to commit a deadly sin by killing the flea. She would be killing him and committing suicide herself. Furthermore, she would defile the institution of marriage, by killing the marriage temple. In the final stanza, â€Å"Cruel and sudden, hast thou since, the writer calls the woman sadistic and rash in her actions to kill the flea without thinking. The regard to the woman as cruel means she is likely to take pleasure in the flea’s pain. The writer has redefined the flea. The flea has become a depiction of his own pain which he has endured because of her prohibition of sex. Through her prohibition she has been lacking of affection or sympathy. Alike the flea, she has behaved towards him lacking pause in denying him the gratifications of sex. The writer speaks to the woman through rhetorical questions, â€Å"Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence,† has she sinned by spilling the blood of the innocent? Has she damned herself to hell by persecuting the flea? Oh, no! She kills the flea, but the magnificent rhetoric about the blood of innocence compares with the insignificance of a dot of blood on her fingernail. â€Å"Wherein could this flea guilty be, except in that drop which it sucked from thee?† What could the flea have done so badly, except sucking a little drop of blood from them? â€Å"Yet thou triumph’st and sayst that thou/ Find’st not thy self, nor me the weaker now. The woman retaliates, celebrating her success in killing the flea, makes neither him, nor her any less noble. The writer responds, â€Å"Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;† it is true, and learn how false your fears are. False fears is an example of alliteration which highlights her concern about the losing her innocence. The writer closes with, â€Å"Just so much honor, when you yield’st to me. Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.† When she surrenders to him, she will lose no more integrity than when she killed the flea. Yieldst is a small pun. The writer wants the woman to yield to his twisted rationality of his argument. He also wants her to yield to him sexually. He also uses a simile which associates the conservation of her own life when the flea dies to the conservation of her honor after she gives him what he wants. .

Child Abuse: Social Problem Definition and Analysis Essay -- Child Abus

Social Problem Definition and Analysis INTRO: Child abuse and neglect are a serious problem in the United States. Every day, many children’s well-being and safety are harmed by the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect that their parents and caregivers inflict upon them. DEFINITION: There have been and currently are numerous definitions of what constitutes child abuse and neglect and they vary across time and space. Up until the 1880’s, children were the property of their families and, as such, it was only up to the families to decide how to care for them and whether they would live or die. Today, although it is recognized that parents and caregivers have the right to raise their children according to their own views and beliefs, when those views and beliefs come in conflict with the protection of children from harm or access to basic needs, society has the right to intervene for the welfare of the minors. In the United States, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) provides the most basic and universal definition of child abuse and neglect. Under this definition, abuse is â€Å"any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation† and neglect is â€Å"an act or failure to act that presents an imminent risk or serious harm†. Under this definition, a child is anyone under eighteen years old who is not emancipated. Although there is a main federal definition of child abuse and neglect, other more in-depth definitions exist within states that, while having variation within them, also share some commonalities. Within these commonalities, child abuse and maltreatment is separated into 4 categories: physic... ...Child Abuse and Neglect. (2008, April). . Child Welfare Information Gateway. National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp. (n.d.). Web. 21 March 2015. http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics National Network to End Domestic Violence | Family Violence Prevention & Services Act. (n.d.). Web. 18 March 2015. http://www.nnedv.org/policy/issues/fvpsa.html PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: POLICY DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE. (2001). . Washington, DC: U.S. Government. PROTECTING CHILDREN, STRENGTHENING FAMILIES: REAUTHORIZING CAPTA. (2008). . Washington, DC: U.S. Government. Summary of Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (CAPTA Reauthorization). (n.d.). Web. 12 March 2015. http://www.naswdc.org/advocacy/issues/letters/070103_abuse.asp The Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. (2003, June 25). . Children's Bureau.

REVERSIBLE BONDED STRAIN GAGE :: essays research papers

ABSTRACT For accurately measuring thermal strains, particularly on large structures where welded strain gages cannot be used, a reversible bonded strain gage was developed. Basically it is a special polyimide strain gage which is same on both the base side and cover side so that it can be used both ways. It can be used to measure strains at temperatures under 250oC (482oF) of a structure made of aluminum alloys or composites (to which its difficult to weld a strain gage).These gages can be can be peeled after taking required apparent strain measurements in a furnace and can be attached reverse side up at a required point on a structure. To measure mechanical stresses on structures at high temperatures it is essential to measure apparent thermal stresses accurately in the first place. In practice, several strain gages in a pack are used to obtain calibration data. The apparent strain and gage factor change of all the gages in the pack are assumed to be same which is not so in practice, in spit e of great efforts to reduce scatter of apparent strain. Since reversible strain gages can be reattached to the test structure after taking apparent strain readings, the error caused due to apparent strain scatter (by using different strain gages) can be reduced to great extent. In this paper the thermal characteristics of the reversible strain gage – repeatability of apparent strain, gage-factor change, creep, drift and the output for a given mechanical strain – were investigated. INTRODUCTION There are several problems associated with elevated temperature measurements, static or dynamic, the basic one being that alloys useful as strain gages at these temperatures are also excellent temperature sensors. Firstly, installation of the strain gage is a problem and secondly the apparent strain and change in gage factor makes it very difficult to measure the actual strain. In aerospace industry we come across a lot of situations when very accurate strain measurements at high temperatures are required, but in spite of a lot of improvement in new high temperature strain gages most of them are welded types. Hence, they cannot be used on materials like aluminum alloys or composites. In this paper, a reversible bonded strain gage is described for use at temperatures under 250o (482oF) that can be applied to a structure made of materials commonly used in aerospace industry like aluminum alloys and various composites. Aircraft wings are often subjected to high temperature and high acou stic noise level and the application of reversible strain gages to accurately measure the stresses is the main motivation behind choosing this paper for review.

Lockean Philosophy in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels Essay

An Exploration of Lockean Philosophy in Gulliver's Travels  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   Ricardo Quintana asserts in his study Two Augustans that even "though Swift as a traditional philosophical realist dismissed Lockian empiricism with impatience, he recognized in Lockian political theory an enforcement of his own convictions" (76). It may be argued, however, than when two contemporary authors, such as Locke and Swift, are shaped within the same matrix of cultural forces and events, they reveal through their respective works a similar ideology. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the parallels between Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Swift's Gulliver's Travels, using textual evidence and literary criticism; and second, to compare the methods prescribed by Locke and Swift for education, taking into account some cultural views in the eighteenth-century. The first half of the eighteenth-century, sometimes referred to as the "Age of Reason," marked a "new era in parent-child relations, based upon a confluence of political and religious currents" that radically altered the accepted social attitudes towards children (Braverman 37). The revision of the late seventeenth-century political and cultural perspective gave rise to a new philosophy that regarded children as more-or-less inherently good and virtuous. This milder view differed from earlier beliefs that portrayed children as fallen creatures, who embodied original sin derived from Adam and Eve's Fall. Commenting on Locke's Thoughts, Lawrence Stone observes the following in his extensive study The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500-1800: [Locke's] book coincided with the overthrow of Divine Right Monarchy, the rejection of the doctrine of P... ...versity of California Press, 1968. Ezell, Margaret J. M. "John Locke's Images of Childhood: Early Eighteenth Century Response to Some Thoughts Concerning Education." Eighteenth-Century Studies. Winter. 1983: 139-55. Locke, John. Two Treatises of Government, The Works of John Locke. Vol. 5. London: Thomas Teggs et al., 1823. Locke, John. Some Thoughts Concerning Education, The Works of John Locke. Vol. 9. London: Thomas Teggs et al., 1823. Quintana, Ricardo. Two Augustans: John Locke and Jonathan Swift. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978. Setten, Henk van. "Some Thoughts Concerning Education by John Locke, 1693."The History of Education Site. 1-2 pp. Online. Internet. 23 Sept. 1999. Available: http://www.socsci.kun.nl/ped/whphistedu/locke/locke_intro.html Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.   

Mother to Son

Langston Hughes’s poem entitled â€Å"mother to Son† is a poem of nurturing, love, and discussion of thoughts. The mother as the narrator of the poem shares her thoughts about life. She said that life is not an easy journey.   She relates her life to a stair, which was not a crystal or a beautiful and genuine gem. As what she is trying to tell her son, life is a never-ending journey with full of mysteries, fear, struggle, pain, success, and meaning. The mother saw her child giving up on something so she told him not to think about the negativities for it was the challenge of living. From the beginning of the poem, the narrator already took place as the authority and judge. As she stated her case, she already concluded many things around her journey and life. However, every insight that was imposed as personal justifications by using the words â€Å"for me†. It means that the conclusion is an opinionated discussion. Everything is logical but deep. The narrator reaches her hand towards her son as she wanted him to become a better person like the way she treated her life during her childhood until she became an adult. Her transition from being a soft-spoken mother to an imposer and going back to a nurturing and loving mother is a also a significant idea within the poem as she used the word â€Å"son† in the beginning, â€Å"boy† in the middle and â€Å"honey† in the latter part of the poem. The word â€Å"son† showed her literal relationship with her child. As she used the word â€Å"boy† it shows that the narrator became an imposer, but as she went used the word â€Å"honey† she imposed a more intimate relationship with her child – her love, nurturance and acceptance of her son’s weakness. Through this, the relationship of mother and child became an educator and student relationship but soon goes to a more intimate relationship that moulds the mother and the son to be intact. In terms of the symbolisms, elements, and images within the poem, the author used the images that can be seen within the house such as carpet, stair, and floor. It shows the true essence of motherhood because literally or logically speaking, mothers are made to nurture the home and the family. By looking or analyzing the images alone, it can be seen that narrator is a woman or a mother to be specific because it embossed the responsibilities of a woman within the house. There are also ironies within the poem such as dark and light, climbin’ and landin’, and fall and climb. The author showed a balance justification of strength and weakness towards the mother’s personality showing that she was not a perfect person, but trying to become a better one for her child. The author succeeds his attempt to incorporate both negative and positive aspects of life, which is a sensitive issue especially if a child is part of the situation. His attack was simple but complete. He stated everything a mother and child should know within a short poem that distinguishes him to become an effective moralist poet. The passage â€Å"Life for me ain't been no crystal stair† was the main thesis of the poem. At the end of the narrator’s discussion, she showed in what she is trying to say about life by restating the main argument of the poem. This attack shows her responsibility to give her child a goof faith or belief how life is going to be as he went to his own journey. She pushed her son to climb the stair without thinking of the negative aspects of life but always on the positive side of everything because negativities are part of life but it was not the only reason for living. Work Cited Hughes, Langston. Mother to Son. (n.d.) 5 December 2007.

Guna Fibres Case Analysis Essay

Problem Statement The problem that the firm Guna Fibres is facing is that they lack sufficient cash flow from operations to meet their day-to-day financial obligations. Guna Fibres has become dependent on a revolving line of credit from the All-India Bank & Trust Company and due to increasing operating expenses and costs of good sold Guna Fibres is no longer able to remain solvent based on their current financial practices. Situation Analysis Guna Fibres is a textile manufacturing company located in India that is subject to seasonal swings in demand as well as an increasingly competitive environment. Guna Fibres has historically utilized a line of credit from All-India Bank & Trust to finance the purchases necessary to fulfill the spike in demand that occurs each summer. Historically, Guna Fibres would zero out the balance on this line of credit in October, per the banks policy. At the end of 2011, Guna Fibres found themselves running a balance on their line of credit beyond October and was subsequently denied any more credit until the firm could demonstrate solvency to pay the balance off. To examine their company’s financial position Malik and Kumar created a financial forecast for the month-to-month operations of the company in an attempt to demonstrate to the bank that they firm could indeed pay off the loan. Analysis of the monthly forecast based on the assumptions of Guna Fibres current operating practices revealed that Guna Fibres would not be able to pay off the line of credit by the end of the year and in fact would owe a balance of 3,858,000 Rupees to the bank by December 2012. Based on the information contained in Malik’s forecast it is certain that the bank will not be willing to extend any more credit to Guna Fibres as currently there is no clear plan for the firm to pay its short term debit obligations. Examining Guna Fibres financial statements and business practices yields  some insights into possible sources of the firm’s cash flow problems. First, by looking at Guna Fibres historical income statements one can clearly see several trends that are concerning. While gross sales have increased from 2010 to 2011, Guna Fibres has seen the firm’s cost of goods sold out pace gross sales. Additionally, due to managerial decisions to increase quality control and expand relationships with other firms, operating expenses have increased as well. The end result for Guna Fibres is that despite their sales growth the firm experienced decreasing EBIT and decreasing new profit. At the time of this analysis Kumar and Malik have also been presented with several proposals that could possibly ameliorate the company’s current financial woes by addressing policies that are currently creating financial strain on the company. By taking closet look at Guna Fibres forecast several other concerning trends reveal themselves. Due to historically significant lag times in shipping product, Guna Fibres typically carries 60 days worth of inventory creating a storage problem in the company’s warehouse as well as a balance sheet problem as a significant portion of the firms working capital is tied up in inventory. Compounding the inventory issue is that typical collection times for accounts receivable are over 48 days, with 40% collected in a month and the remaining 60% collected in 60 days. This gap requires Guna Fibres to rely on the bank to pay for the inventory on hand. Guna Fibres has 2 cash management policies that could be impacting their ability to pay back the bank loan. As a matter of policy Guna Fibres pays out a 500,000 Rupee dividend to shareholders each quarter, the organization’s philosophy being that the cash is safer with shareholders than with the firm. Additionally, Guna Fibres keeps 750,000 Rupees as cash on hand. Looking at the financial forecast for the beginning of 2012 one can clearly see that Guna Fibres is expected to be running at a net loss for the first quarter yet still pays a dividend and continues to maintain the same cash balance. At the same time Guna Fibres projects that it will be necessary to increase their financing needs from the bank. Addressing Guna Fibres current situation is of great importance as they  currently have a cash flow problem that will find them shuttered and unable to fund day-to-day operations. In each of the aforementioned areas there is room for improvement by changing some of the company’s policies and procedures. Major Strategic Alternatives Utilizing the monthly forecast financial statement provided by Guna Fibres, Exhibit 1, it is necessary to create a statement of cash flows to begin to assess how the company’s capital is being managed through the working capital accounts of the firm. Exhibit 2 shows the breakdown of cash flows on a monthly basis based on the forecasted information provided by Guna Fibres. There are several important insights to point to instability within Guna Fibres. The first trend that is concerning is that according to Guna Fibres forecast, they will require a positive cash flow from financing activities through the month of June 2012 just maintain operations. Certainly, if this was to be presented to the bank there would be no chance that they would be willing to extend credit as Guna Fibres will not be able to zero out the debt balance in the coming months. Examination of Exhibit 3 shows the statement of cash flows for Guna Fibres for year ending in December 2012. Note the highlighted the cell that indicates the change in short term notes payable for the year in the amount of 2,704,000 Rupees. Based on the current projections not only will Guna Fibres not pay off the balance but also they will accrue a larger balance by the end of the year. Notice that while the total cash flows from financing is only 704K Rupees the reason for the decrease is that a dividend in the amount of 2,000,000 was paid to shareholders. In addition to the concerns about Guna Fibres reliance on the line of credit is the dearth of cash flow from operations, only 330k Rupees for 2012. Changes to Guna Fibres cash management policy could help to reduce the problems that Guna Fibres is currently facing. By examining Guna Fibres policy of paying shareholder dividends each quarter as well as their policy of keeping 750K Rupees on hand at all times one can begin to see where these policies place additional pressure on the firm to borrow. Examine Exhibit  4, which is Guna Fibres Statement of Cash Flows if they had decided not to pay a dividend. Notice the highlighted cell indicating that change in notes payable for year ending in December 2012 have decreased to 626,000. Overall, net change in Cash Balance remains essentially the same demonstrating that a large portion of Guna Fibres financing needs in 2012 are to fund paying a shareholder dividend. As stated by the firm, Guna Fibres believes that funds are more secure in the hands of the company’s shareholders. However, this assumption is likely based on the belief that dividends are paid out of net profit where the shareholders can earn a return elsewhere in the market place. In this case it is unlikely that the shareholders will find investments that return in excess of the 14.5% debit service that is being paid to finance their dividends in addition to the fact that the dividend payments are threatening to cause Guna Fibres to shut down, as they will no longer be able to finance operations. Guna Fibres could then draw cash from their cash accounts to begin to pay down some of the balance that remains on their notes payable. Similar to the issue with Guna Fibres dividend payments, even in months when Guna Fibres posts a net loss they maintain a cash balance of 750K. By utilizing Guna Fibres cash accounts to cover operating expenses in months where Guna Fibres suffers a net loss this would reduce Guna Fibres reliance on outside funding even more as can be seen in Exhibit 5. Please note the highlighted change in change in notes payable down to 275K Rupees as a result of covering net loss with cash as opposed to financing. Examination of Guna Fibres forecast as well as looking at some of the proposals regarding changes in operations elucidates another solution that would not require Guna Fibres to make such drastic changes to its dividend and cash balance policy. According to R. Sikh, improvements have been made to Guna Fibres shipping operations so much so that it is no longer necessary to carry 2 months of inventory. The implication for R. Sikh is that carrying 30 days less inventory will free up space in the warehouse; however, due to Guna Fibres current financial situation this change could have a great impact on the firm as a whole. Note the highlighted sections on Exhibit 6. Exhibit 6 models the impact that moving to a policy of only  holding 30 days of inventory would have on Guna Fibres financials. Note the yellow highlighted row, which indicates the new inventory levels versus the levels present in Guna Fibres original forecast (exhibit 1). As a result of the decrease in carried inventory, t he orange highlighted section indicates a decrease in total assets, as total assets are in part a product of inventory levels. Finally, the decrease in total assets results in a greatly reduced reliance on the line of credit from the bank as less capital is tied up in inventory at any given time, this effect can be seen in the green highlighted row. Note 2 very important effects: 1. That changing to Sikh’s shipping plan for the month of January would allow Guna Fibres to zero out the balance of their notes payable for 30 days as required by the bank, and 2. That based on the forecast Guna Fibres will be able to return to their expected cycle of zeroing out the credit line by the end of 2012. Due to changes in the shipping policy Guna Fibres will need to modify their ordering policy as demonstrated by the purple row. Here the purchases in period (t) are determined by the forecasted gross sales in (t+1). Feasibility of Sikh’s plan seems to be high as he indicates in his memo that new inventory procedures could be put in effect for January. Guna Fibres is also considering a proposal from L. Gupta that was originated on direction from Kumar to determine the efficiency impact of switching to a level production method. According to Gupta, under level production Guna Fibres will need to purchase a consistent INR5 million per month. Gupta suggests that this will provide several benefits to the firm, it will ease labor unrest and employee dissatisfaction by creating a stable workforce, decrease the risk associated with machine downtime during the peak-manufacturing season, and finally Gupta indicates that level manufacturing will decrease manufacturing costs by 5%. While the benefits described by Gupta are significant, modeling the impact on Guna Fibres financial forecast reveals some concerns. Note the highlighted sections on Exhibit 7 with the yellow indicating the new level purchasing quantity and the adjusted Direct Labor and other Manufacturing costs indicated with blue. Concerns arise when looking at inventory in the months of July and August where both of these months will see Guna Fibres stocked out of product during their peak-selling season. Additionally, it is important to note the  purple row indicating the balance of Guna Fibres line of credit. Not only does it not zero out the balance in 2012 under the new manufacturing system, but is also ends the year with a balance of more than 10 million Rupees. Decision Criteria In deciding which course of action Guna Fibres should take in response to their current crisis it is first important to determine the top priorities to maintain operations. Secondary to that Guna Fibres should make a determination as to which alternative yields the outcome that will be the most sustainable. As a result of the current crisis that Guna Fibres is facing, the first priority in determining a course of action is to implement the plan that will satisfy the bank immediately. Due to Guna Fibres reliance on their line of credit this must be restored for operations to continue. Specifically, the plan chosen must satisfy 2 conditions: 1. It must allow Guna Fibres to zero out their balance with the bank as soon as possible so that the bank will be willing to continue to extend credit as Guna Fibres prepares for the next season, and 2. Guna Fibres must demonstrate that they will be able to consistently meet their obligations to the bank in the future, ie. be able to zero out the balance in October 2012. Tertiary concerns are related to the sustainability of the business over the long term, as such looking at how changes in policy could make Guna Fibres more susceptible/resilient to labor problems, shipping delays, etc. Analysis of Alternatives Analysis of strategic alternatives one involves looking to see how eliminating dividends in 2012 as well as utilizing Guna Fibre’s cash balances to cover net losses each month would allow the firm to fulfill the primary criteria identified above. Referring to exhibit 8 note that the values have been adjusted as such that Guna Fibres is no longer paying a dividend and that cash is being used to cover net losses, adjusting Guna Fibres policy of keeping their cash balance at a INR 750K. Examining the yellow highlighted row one can see that these changes improve both the monthly balanced carried on the line of credit as well as improve on the year-end balance, (see highlighted section exhibit 5). Unfortunately, even  the implementation of both of these measures is unlikely to satisfy the bank. First, the models do not show that Guna Fibres will be able to zero out the balance on the account either in the short term or at any point next year. While the model shows a comparatively incremental increase in notes payable at years end, it shows that Guna Fibres is still unable to meet their debt obligations and the bank will be unlikely to extend any further credit. As far as the secondary criteria, this does not seem to be a solution for the long term for Guna Fibres. While it slows some of the bleeding in the coming year, the fact remains that the firm cannot meet their financial obligations and will likely find themselves in a deeper hole next year these are the only changes implemented. One benefit of the proposed changes to cash management would be that it could be accomplished without major procedure overhaul and could provide an immediate benefit to the firm. Conversely, ceasing dividends and spending the company’s cash balance would indicate to shareholders and employees that the company in bad financial health and could create a morale problem. Sikh’s proposal to capitalize on improvements in shipping times to improve inventory tracking had some unintended consequences that could be very beneficial for Guna Fibres. By carrying only 30 days worth of inventory at a time Guna Fibres is able to dramatically reduce the amount of capital that is invested in their inventory. In turn this reduces total assets and as a result lowers the necessary borrowing from the bank. Implementing Sikh’s plan immediately would satisfy both of the banks necessary conditions. As can be seen in Exhibit 6, the change in inventory policy would allow the balance of notes payable to be satisfied in the month of January and that Guna Fibres will be able to pay zero out the balance again in the fall as historically expected. Additionally, due to the improvements in shipping it is likely that this plan can be implemented in a manner that is sustainable and not simply a â€Å"Band-Aid† solution to deal with symptoms of the underlying pr oblem. Finally, there are benefits and drawbacks of this plan that need to be acknowledged. As it relates to the tertiary criteria mentioned above. The greatest benefit beyond the ability to continue operations is that doing  so will not compromise the company’s dividend payments or cash balances. This should have a positive effect on company morale and continued shareholder and employee engagement. One of the possible drawbacks is that the 30 day inventory policy will reduce some of the slack in the system and the incidence of a mechanical or raw materials delay could result in stock outs for Guna Fibres. Additionally, moving to a just in time inventory system will require Guna Fibres to have very accurate projections for the next periods demand as the firm will want to avoid stock outs. While these concerns will need to be taken into account, they are subordinated to the primary need, which is to demonstrate a viable financial model that will satisfy the bank. The final proposal to shift Guna Fibres to level production fails to satisfy the immediate needs of the bank as well as the long-term requirements of being able to zero out the line of credit. Exhibit 7 clearly shows that this policy will create an increased reliance on the bank’s line of credit to maintain operations as well as create inventory stock outs during the busy season for Guna Fibres. This proposal may yield some insights for the long term for Guna Fibres as Gupta is able to demonstrate decreases in manufacturing expense as well as benefits to morale and resilience to labor and manufacturing problems. However, at this time, this plan does not satisfy the immediate need of Guna Fibres. Comparing the three proposed plans it is clear that adopting Sikh’s new inventory management system is the ideal solution as it is the only plan that is likely to satisfy the bank. Additionally, Sikh’s plan is sustainable and does not involve the firm treating symptoms and actually addresses the underlying issue. Recommended Solution Based on the given analysis of the proposed solutions, Guna Fibres should implement the inventory management plan that was proposed by Sikh. Based on Sikh’s memo inventory procedures can be implemented immediately and this course of action should be chosen. Even in the presence of minor delays or transitional problems, the sustainable nature of this plan should be enough to persuade the bank that Guna Fibres will be able to pay their debit obligations going forward. The biggest area of concern will be the  importance of accurately projecting demand for the next period as having 30 days less inventory will eliminate Guna Fibres ability to rely on extra stock when demand exceeds their projections. Efforts to address these concerns could include developing a more communicative relationship with the distributors that Guna Fibres sells to gain better information for making their projections. An additional concern that needs to be addressed are how the change in inventory policy will impact Guna Fibres suppliers and if they will be able to accommodate the changes to the firms ordering policy. It is also important to keep in mind that if Guna Fibres implements this policy they still have the flexibility to cut their dividend or reduce their cash balance to cover and periodic cash flow problems. By demonstrating that new inventory plan to the bank with the additional contingency of potentially cutting cash or the quarterly dividend, Guna Fibres should be able to resume operations and a relationship with the bank.