Financial Performance of Watley Company †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Financial Performance of Watley Company. Answer: Introduction In every business, there is always a concern for the financial performance and what measures are needed to improve the financial performance of the organization. There are many ways to analyse the business performance and among them ratio analysis is very useful as it helps to evaluate the performance of the current year as well it helps to compare it with the financial performance of previous years. In this report financial performance of the Watley Company has evaluated using the ratio analysis in part A and comments are made on the financial performance of the company in part B with some recommendation. Ratio Analysis of the Watley Company: Liquidity Analysis Liquidity analysis helps in ascertaining the short term financial health of the company and provides the information on how the company manages the payments in respect to the current liabilities. Some of the important ratios of the liquidity analysis are current ratio, quick ratio, and working capital ratio. In this report there is need to calculate the ratio for each category so current ratio has been selected (Bender, 2013). Current Ratio: It is very important liquidity ratio as it provides availability of the current assets over the current liabilities. Current ratio measures the liquidity performance of the company provides the information about the short term performance in respect to payment required to make to suppliers and other short term liabilities. Formula: Current Assets/Current Liabilities Watley Company Financial Data Years Financial Items 2014 2015 Current Assets 300,000.00 480,000.00 Current Liabilities 270,000.00 210,000.00 Current Ratio 1.11 2.29 Activity Analysis In order to carry out the business there is need to carry out various activities in order to have sufficient flow of cash and other resources in the business process. Some of the important activities that business performed to maintain proper flow of cash in the business are inventory management, debtors management and creditors management. In this respect some of important activity ratios are inventory turnover ratio, debtors turnover ratio etc. In this analysis debtors turnover ratio will be calculated to notice the performance of the company in respect to collection of outstanding amount form the debtors (Besley and Brigham, 2014). Debtors turnover ratio or accounts receivable turnover ratio: This ratio is very important from financial performance point of view as it provides information on frequently company collects their outstanding debt amount from their customers in order to have proper flow of cash in the business. Formula: Average Credit sales or Sales /Account Receivable or Debtors Watley Company Financial Data Years Financial Items 2014 2015 Account Receivable 160,000.00 260,000.00 Sales 3,290,000.00 3,520,000.00 Debtors turnover ratio 20.56 13.54 Profitability Analysis Profitability analysis aims to examine the earning capacity of the company through effective use of the resources of the company. Company procures various inventory and fixed assets to manufacture the desired product and services in order to supply them to the customers. Proper management of assets will help the company to earn the maximum sales revenue and provide increase in the profit for the shareholders. In order provide the profitability analysis, the return on asset ratio has been calculated as it is very important ratio in this segment (Brigham and Ehrhardt, 2007). Return on Assets: In this ratio return means the percentage of profit earned using the resources of the business. As the ratio is in relation of the assets, this ratio will provide information regarding the percentage of the profit earned on the assets of the company. Here profit means the net profit of the company and asset means total assets i.e. both fixed assets and current assets. Formula: Net Profit/Total Assets Watley Company Financial Data Years Financial Items 2014 2015 Net Profit 400,000.00 300,000.00 Total Assets 1,550,000.00 1,630,000.00 Return on Assets 25.81% 18.40% Solvency / Gearing Analysis Capital structure in the any business organization plays very important role in the profitability of the company. There are mainly two types of capital, debt capital and equity capital. Equity capital refers to the owner capitals and there is no fixed charge on this capital. On the other hand debt capital is the borrowed capital and company has charge on the profit in form of the interest. Debt equity ratio will be calculated in this analysis to check the percentage of debt as compare to equity capital (Henderson, 2015). Debt Equity Ratio: This ratio tells the percentage of debt capital as against the equity capital. Lower debt capital in comparison to the equity capital shows that company depends on the equity capital mainly and more profit available for distribution to the shareholders of the company. Formula: Debt /Equity Watley Company Financial Data Years Financial Items 2014 2015 Debt 200,000.00 200,000.00 Equity 1,080,000.00 1,220,000.00 Debt Equity Ratio 18.52% 16.39% Financial Analysis In this part, critical analysis of the above calculated ratios will be done: Current Ratio: Current ratio of the company was 1.11 times in year 2014 and it was increased to 2.29 times in year 2015 that indicates that there is significant increase in the current assets of the company as against current liabilities. So it can be said that liquidity performance of the company is very strong in year 2015 as compared to year 2016. Although, it can be said that in both years company has been successfully able to meet the current liabilities expenses. Debtors turnover ratio: The debtors turnover ratio is 20.56 times in year 2014 and it was further reduced to 13.54 times in year 2015 that indicates that company activity efficiency is reduced in year 2015 as compared to year 2014. Return on Assets: Company has earned the profit of 25.81 % in year 2014 and it was reduced to 18.40 % in year 2015. It can be said that profitability of the company in respect to return on assets was good but there has been too much decline in profitability percentage in year 2015 as compared to year 2014. Debt Equity Ratio: Debt equity ratio is 18.52 % in year 2014 and got reduced to 16.39 % in year 2015. It can be said that capital formation of the company was excellent in both the years and there is positive decline in year 2015 that shows positive change in the capital formation of the company. Recommendation and conclusion On the basis of the overall analysis it is advised to the company to make proper strategies to collect the accounts receivable in shorter period of time in order to improve the debtors turnover ratio. There seem that company profit has declined in year 2015, so it is advised to have proper control on the expenses of the company like cost of sales and salaries wages has increased a lot in year 2015 as compared to year 2014, that can be easily controlled if proper measures taken. References Bender, R. (2013). Corporate Financial Strategy. Routledge. Besley, S. and Brigham, E. (2014). Principles of Finance. Cengage Learning. Brigham, E. and Ehrhardt, M. (2007). Financial Management: Theory Practice. Cengage Learning. Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K. and Howieson, B. (2015). Issues in Financia Accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Java Programming Principles

Questions: Task 11.1 Discuss the principles, characteristics and features of programming in Java.1.2 Critically evaluate the environmental flexibility of programming in Java.Task 22.1 Design a Java programming solution based on the above scenario.2.2 Explain the components, data and file structures required to implement a given design.Task 33.1 Implement a Java programming solution based on a prepared design.3.2 Define relationships between objects to implement design requirements3.3 Implement object behaviours using control structures to meet the design algorithms.3.4 Identify and implement opportunities for error handling and reporting.3.5 Make effective use of an integrated development environment including code and screen templatesTask 44.1 Critically review and test a Java programming solution.4.2 Analyse test results against expected results to identify discrepancies.4.3 Evaluate independent feedback on a developed Java program solution and make recommendations for improvements.4.4 Create user documentation for the development of Java programming solution.4.5 Create technical documentation for the support and maintenance of a Java programming solution Answers: Introduction Java is an example of an OOP (Object Oriented Program) (Klein, 2005). So it must support all the basic principles of an OOP language (Okal, 2012). Thus the principles of java and hence of an OOP language is- Encapsulation: This means binding together of date and then putting them under a single block. In a car, there are a large number of systems that co-exist together(Mittal, 2013). Changing the gears does not turn on the headlights and bulling brakes does not accelerate the car. Hence all these systems are at the same place and are controlled by a single person (driver) but none is interfering with each other with their functioning. The basic example of encapsulation can be obtained from the classes that are used in java. These classes contain the entire block of code within them and no other program can access them unless specific rules are followed. If the methods of a class are declared private, them they cannot be overwritten(Lakkis, 2007). Also if a class is declared private, then the class can only be inherited and no object creation can be allowed for that class anywhere within the program. Hence that class and its methods are protected by encapsulation (Rebek, 2005). Inheritance: This is another OOP principle which enables the program to inherit the properties from another class (Flanagan, 2005). The inherited class is called the parent class while the classes that inherit the parent class are termed as child class. Now for inheritance the child class gets all the methods and variables of the parent class. Also the Object of the parent class can be created with the reference of the child (Raposa, 2003). There are two forms of inheritance-multiple, multi-level. In multiple inheritances, more than one class can be inherited at the same time. Consider an example in case of an airport an aircraft uses its landing gear to make turns, take-off, and land on the landing strip. Also it is primarily used for flying. In that respect the aircraft is a flying vehicle and it is also a ground-vehicle (since it can move on the landing strips) (Link and Frlich, 2003). Hence the aircraft inherits the properties of both these classes at the same time. This is multiple inheritan ces. In multi-level inheritances, only one class can be inherited a t a time. But there is a type of hierarchy.This means that if A class inherits B, then C inherits A, C gets the methods of A by default. Example golden retriever is a dog, which in turn is a mammal which in turn is an animal. So this makes Golden terrier a mammal, an animal, and also a dog (Cadenhead, 2012). This is termed as multi-level inheritance. Polymorphism: This word comes from the Greek words poly meaning means many, morph means form. Hence polymorphism means many forms (Eckel, 2000). This means that a single problem in java can be approached from three different ends. In a normal programming language, that does not implement any OOP principles (Link and Frlich, 2003), if we were to implement a stack for different data types, then we would have needed 3 or four different structures with different names. In each case the same algorithm is being used only the data types used are different. But in JAVA we can name all these under the same implementation of stack (Sierra and Bates, 2005). Hence our work is greatly reduced and we are also able to use the same name for different implementations of the same program. In JAVA polymorphism is simply implanted by the use of interfaces (Byrne and Cross, 2009). If a class implements an interface then it must implement the methods that are written in the interface. Characteristics of java: It is simple to code and decode. It is an object oriented programming language (Hubbard, 2001). It is highly secure. It can be implemented on any form of machine. The main reason for this is java compiles the program into byte code (Riccardi, 2001). Now this byte code file is not compiler dependent, hence the file can run on Windows, Linux, and Mac etc. It has in-built support for multithreading. The most important part of java program comes from its usage to code applets and hence is used extensively for coding websites. It can be used to code and run graphical applications. It is robust as it is error-free and has severe typing restrictions and also various run-time checking methods are used (Wampler, 2002). It supports the use of interfaces. It can be easily linked to any other program. There is inbuilt support for garbage collection and it has a very simplified exception handling capabilities. Task 1.2 JAVA provides a great flexibility to the programmers. Often when we create program, other people may change the basic functions created, or overwrite them. This may lead to crashing of the program (Horstmann, 2008). In JAVA, this problem is completely avoided by adding the prefix final; as a result this class or method to which the prefix is added cannot be altered in any way. Also the use of interfaces makes programming easier (Horstmann, 2005). Any class in java that implements the interface must overwrite the methods that are mentioned within the interface. Also the use of keyword abstract, allows the user to use declared methods without any sort of body. Also any class that inherits this abstract class must override this method within it. The garbage correction algorithm of java is also very unique and advanced. There is no need for releasing the allocated memories (as in case of C++), because in java, when the compiler cannot find the reference of any object it deletes the objec t any kind of variables that it was holding (Morelli, 2000). Also the exception handling capabilities of java is extremely helpful. In C, when there was an arithmetic exception like division by 0, the program used to hang and had to be stopped manually, but in JAVA, the program gives the location of the place and also the cause of the problem and exits the program. This is extremely helpful for debugging large programs. Task 2.1 The above task has told us to design a java program that can act as a student database manager. It must be able to take in the students first name, last name, their date of birth, their ID number, course enrolled by them, mobile number, their address etc (Lewis and Chase, 2005). Now the administrator must be able to view the details of any student he wishes. He must also be able to delete the entire database, or a single student, update and also enter the details of any student. In order to do all this with a JAVA program, we must first build a class named student that can contain these variables with data within it. This class can then be manipulated from the main class by creating an object for each student. Then all these objects must be linked somehow to form an entire list of students which are really classes with each one holding their own respective data. Also care must be taken to note that the entire system can only handle a maximum number of students. Task 2.2 In the given problem, we are describing a class named Student that has the variables for holding data like last name, first name, DOB, Address, mobile number, etc. All these variables have their respective data types like address is stored in a string, DOB in float, etc. Now, in the main program named, StudentDatabaseManagement an array of Student objects are created of size 200. This means that the database is capable of holding 200 students. This number can be increased or decreased by editing the array size of the object array in the main program. Now, we use a switch case algorithm which allows us to have many options like entering details of a student, clearing the database, deleting a student, viewing the students etc. In the main program, we have a special variable that is used to track the number the number of students. This number is incremented when a new student is admitted to the database. Now also in each student object there is a variable to track the number at which he / she has been admitted into the database. This is important because in case of deletion, a space in the middle of the array is empty (Deitel and Deitel, 2012). Hence, in such a case we must shift the students below that space to make the array a continuous one with no empty spaces in between. As a result the array can only be empty from the end. There should not be any gap in between the array to conserve the space. The algorithm required to shift the students one space above is located under the case that is responsible for deleting the students and it also decrements the variable that is used to track the total number of students in the array. Also, proper control checks are provided at each level so that the age limit for entry into the institution can be set. This is done by using a variable that holds the year after which the candidate must be born in order to take admission. If the year is before that specified a error message is displayed. Various exception checks are also p rovided so that proper data is entered into the proper cases. When the entire database is empty, then a proper error message is displayed and similar thing when the database is empty. Task 3.1 The code of the main program is given below. It consists of two classes namely Student, StudenyDatabaseManagement (main class). StudenyDatabaseManagement packagestudentdatabasemanagement; importjava.util.Scanner; public class StudentDatabaseManagement extends Exception{ public static void main(String[] args) { int index=0; int cases; boolean switching=true; intallowed_date=1988;//sets age limit for entry Student[] studentdatabase=new Student[200]; Student[] studentdatabasecopy=new Student[200]; for(int i=0;i10;i++) { studentdatabase[i]=new Student(); studentdatabasecopy[i]=new Student(); } Scanner s=new Scanner(System.in); while(switching){ System.out.println("Enter your choice:n1)Enter Studentn2)See all Studentsn3)see single Student detail"); System.out.println("4)Delete all studentsn5)Updaten6)Delete single studentn7)Exit"); System.out.println("Enter your choice"); cases=s.nextInt(); switch(cases){ case 1: { try { if(index==10){ throw new Exception(); } } catch(Exception a){ System.out.println("Database full"); } index++; studentdatabase[index]=new Student(); System.out.println("Enter the roll number of the student(max 10 digits):"); studentdatabase[index].stud_roll=s.nextInt(); s.nextLine(); System.out.print("Enter the last name of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_lastname=s.nextLine(); System.out.print("nEnter the course under which student is enrolled:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_course=s.nextLine(); System.out.println("Enter the month when student was born in digits:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_mon=s.nextInt(); while(studentdatabase[index].stud_mon12) { System.out.println("Wrong Data, Re-Enter:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_mon=s.nextInt(); } System.out.println("Enter the date when student was born in digits:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_date=s.nextInt(); while(studentdatabase[index].stud_date31||(studentdatabase[index].stud_date28studentdatabase[index].stud_mon==2)) { System.out.println("Wrong Data, Re-Enter:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_date=s.nextInt(); } System.out.println("Enter the year when student was born in digits:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_year=s.nextInt(); if(studentdatabase[index].stud_yearallowed_date) { System.out.println("Your ward is not admissable"); switching=false; break; } s.nextLine(); System.out.print("Enter the first name of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_firstname=s.nextLine(); System.out.println("nEnter the mobile number of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_mob_no=s.nextLong(); s.nextLine(); System.out.print("Enter the address of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_add=s.nextLine(); studentdatabase[index].stud_no=index; break; } case 2: { if(index==0){ System.out.println("Database Empty"); } else { for(int count=1;count=index;count++){ System.out.println("Name of student: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_firstname+" "+studentdatabase[index].stud_lastname); System.out.println("Roll no: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_roll); System.out.println("Course enrolled: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_course); System.out.println("DOB: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_date+"/"+studentdatabase[count].stud_mon+"/"+studentdatabase[count].stud_mon); System.out.println("Address: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_add); System.out.println("Mob no: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_mob_no); } } break; } case 3: { try{ if(index==0){ throw new Exception(); } } catch(Exception a){ System.out.println("Database is empty."); break; } int roll2; System.out.println("Enter student roll no:"); roll2=s.nextInt(); for(int count=1;count=index;count++){ if(studentdatabase[count].stud_roll==roll2){ System.out.println("Name of student:"+studentdatabase[count].stud_firstname+" "+studentdatabase[index].stud_lastname); System.out.println("Roll no:"+studentdatabase[count].stud_roll); System.out.println("Course enrolled:"+studentdatabase[count].stud_course); System.out.println("DOB: "+studentdatabase[count].stud_date+"/"+studentdatabase[count].stud_mon+"/"+studentdatabase[count].stud_mon); System.out.println("Address"+studentdatabase[count].stud_add); System.out.println("Mob no:"+studentdatabase[count].stud_mob_no); break; } } break; } case 4: index=0; break; case 5: { System.out.println("Enter the roll number to update the records"); int roll=s.nextInt(); for(int i=1;i=index;i++) { if(roll==studentdatabase[i].stud_roll) { System.out.println("Enter the roll number of the student(max 10 digits):"); studentdatabase[index].stud_roll=s.nextInt(); s.nextLine(); System.out.print("Enter the last name of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_lastname=s.nextLine(); System.out.print("nEnter the course under which student is enrolled:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_course=s.nextLine(); System.out.println("Enter the month when student was born in digits:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_mon=s.nextInt(); while(studentdatabase[index].stud_mon12) { System.out.println("Wrong Data, Re-Enter:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_mon=s.nextInt(); } System.out.println("Enter the date when student was born in digits:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_date=s.nextInt(); while(studentdatabase[index].stud_date31||(studentdatabase[index].stud_date28studentdatabase[index].stud_mon==2)) { System.out.println("Wrong Data, Re-Enter:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_date=s.nextInt(); } System.out.println("Enter the year when student was born in digits:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_year=s.nextInt(); if(studentdatabase[index].stud_yearallowed_date) { System.out.println("Your ward is not admissable"); switching=false; break; } s.nextLine(); System.out.print("Enter the first name of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_firstname=s.nextLine(); System.out.println("nEnter the mobile number of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_mob_no=s.nextLong(); s.nextLine(); System.out.print("Enter the address of the student:"); studentdatabase[index].stud_add=s.nextLine(); } } break; } case 6: { System.out.println(" Enter the roll of the student to be deleted:"); introlldel=s.nextInt(); for(int i=0;iindex;i++) { if(studentdatabase[i].stud_roll!=rolldel) { studentdatabasecopy[i]=studentdatabase[i]; } else { for(int j=i;j(index-1);j++) { studentdatabasecopy[j]=studentdatabase[j+1]; } for(int k=0;kindex;k++) { studentdatabase[i]=studentdatabasecopy[i]; }index--; break; } } break; } case 7: switching=false; break; } } } } Student package studentdatabasemanagement; public class Student { String stud_firstname; String stud_lastname; longstud_mob_no; int stud_roll; intstud_no; String stud_add; String stud_course; intstud_mon; intstud_date; intstud_year; } Task 3.2 In this program we are defining a special class that can hold the different data like DOB, first name, last name, address, etc. Now all these have different variables with respective data types. In the main program we are creating an array of 200 students (Shankar, 2013). Hence the net size of the database created is 200. But defining an array is not enough, in the switch case menu the case that is responsible for the entry of new students, for each student a new "student" class object is defined using the "new" keyword. All the objects created have a reference under the array of "student" classes. Hence each time we want to view a student, we are actually calling to see the data held by each of these objects. The students are tracked by a special variable called index. The value of this index variable gives us the number of objects in the database (Horstmann, 2012). Now this index is each time edited when we enter a new students details. At this point we increment index (Horstmann, 2013). Also each of the students has a number allotted to it called student_no. This is kind of a serial number that gets replaced during deletion. Task 3.3 Various control structures were used in the above program. These included looping systems like while, for loops and also other control statements like if, switch etc. The switch case, which was enclosed in an infinite while loop, was used to switch between the various tasks that were to be performed by the program. The infinite while loop ensured that the switch case statements were shown continuously. Also if the infinite while was not used then to view, enter or update the details of a student each time the program had to be restarted. This can be quite tedious, to say the least (Barnes, 2000). This infinite while loop was maintained by enclosing a Boolean variable (whose value was set to be true) within the condition of the loop. There was an exit condition among the cases that turned this Boolean value to false, hence when the loop tried to run the next time, it exited because while (false) is not allowed. In various cases, the if control statement was used, for checking various values, like if the date of birth was entered 31(by mistake), or the month was entered12 (by mistake). If they were not then (that means correct date and month were applied) then the control statement was avoided. Else the control was transferred to the statements written within the control loop (Keith and Schincariol, 2006). Task 3.4 Exception handling mechanisms are quite useful in java programs. There are many kinds of exceptions in java namely Arithmetic Exception, Array out of bounds exception, etc. They are used to detect the unwanted cases that may cause an error in the program, which in turn may result in crashing of the program. The exception handling capabilities of java are very unique. In case of other programming languages (like c), the program would have crashed if a fatal error like divide by 0 would have occurred. But in Java this does not occur. When java finds an exception in a program, then it stops the execution at that point and throws the exception to the exception handling mechanism. The exception handling mechanism copies the line number where it finds an exception and sends it to the user on the screen along with the cause of the error. Also in case of java we can define our own exceptions and hence not depend on the program to give its own values. Example the age of a man cannot be negati ve, hence in a program if someone entered a negative age then by setting up a proper exception, we can define a proper exception and hence the user gets an error when he/she is trying to enter the incorrect age.In this program, we have used exception handling capabilities of java to make our own exceptions. Here we have used the concept of exception handling at two places. These are checking if the array is full or if it is empty (Reiersl, Baker and Shiflett, 2007). This is quite important as we must make sure that the array is not full each time we try to enter a new student. This is important as if it was not checked, and then the compiler would throw us an exception for overstepping the array bounds. Task 3.5 In this programming an IDE was used. An IDE or Integrated Development Environment is a platform that is used extensively by programmers and software developers alike for development of particular software or even a program.Netbeans was the IDE that was used in the development of this project. The use of IDE has made programming very easy and comfortable. In normal case we could have coded the program in a notepad and then run the program on command prompt to see if there were any errors. But this can be difficult as the command prompt does not give us specific results to what the problem is. It merely gives us the error that was given by the exception handling part of Java runtime. Now for a beginner this can be quite difficult as he is not fully acquainted with all the programming terms. Also the command prompt window does not give any hint to what might have caused the error. But his use of an IDE eliminated all these difficulties. In an IDE, the lines that could an error are detec ted straightaway when they are written by the programmer. In case of using a command prompt, the programmer would have to wait until running the program to get the errors. Also the IDE reduce coding efforts by providing various suggestions according to which a thing can be coded. For example in Netbeans, if we write so and then press Ctrl+Spacebar on the keyboard. Then the written word transforms into System.out.println(). Also during writing variables for loops the available and valid ones were shown on pressing the hint button. Below a few screenshots of the program on Netbeans is shown.

Analytical Response Essay Sample

Analytical Response Essay SampleAn analytical response essay sample should be short and sweet, making the grade and highlighting the individual's strengths. It is not merely an expression of the author's personal views; rather, it is the writer's opinion on a given issue. An essay of this nature should be lively and original, capable of generating lively discussion. In fact, it should be able to capture and hold the attention of both student and professor.An analytical response essay sample should show a reader that the writer is eager to engage in discussion with them. The essay must clearly point out your point of view on the topic, while not being too overbearing in its coverage. Moreover, it should be logical and concise.There are essays out there that are too lengthy and are difficult to understand. You must avoid writing long essays. Instead, cut out portions that you think are superfluous and elaborate on those parts that you deem as crucial. This will prevent your essay from feeling like a muddle and will make it easier for you to write in the first place.Although essay samples are meant to be the same for everyone, there are some attributes that make an average reader really appreciate an excellent work of work. The first thing you should do is find a trustworthy copycat. The most commonly used plagiarism detection software should have enough features to catch plagiarism.While doing this, you should also research if your essay is unique in any way. You may want to see how similar it is to any other essay out there. Do not base your essay's topic or content around the same kind of topic that is being researched.There are lots of essay samples online for free. The best resource for you is a study guide with the answer to the essay questions. These help you organize your thoughts and make it more lucid.Your essay can be the best for you if you are able to make changes to it. It is possible to write more than one essay for different situations. You can mak e minor adjustments to each essay based on what changes would suit your needs.

Grendel A Philisophical Point Of View Essays - Beowulf, Geats

Grendel A Philisophical Point Of View Grendel follows the philosophical evolution, from solipsism to nihilism, of a socially isolated creature, a monster. It is an examination of human supernatural curiosity and its many dangers, specifically the tendency toward blind cynicism. Grendel is a censure of the rapid growth of this cynicism in twentieth century society and the consequent widespread distrust of abstract ideals. In investigating his own nature, the monster in the story destroys himself. He realizes that the universe is determined, accidental, and so he loses faith in his own importance. With time, he becomes a beast, until eventually his soul has wholly left him. He does not die for love, or for passion, or for freedom. His spirit dies instead simply, hopelessly, mired in boredom and anger, without courage or sadness. Grendel is dead long before his body fails him. He fades away, and the most important theme in this novel is that such self-destruction, though tempting, is not the only answer. Grendel's first defense against a brute universe is solipsism: the belief that the self can know only itself and that it is the only existent thing. As the novel clearly demonstrates, solipsism is a weak defense. However loudly a creature may declare its godhood, the universe continues to function independently. However a creature may deny the reality of outside factors, outside factors will continue to impose themselves upon his everyday existence. The main flaw in solipsism is that it contradicts every aspect of human experience. Grendel is justifiably unsatisfied and nervous under its tenuous cover. After his visit to the dragon, Grendel finds a more solid shield, nihilism: the belief that nothing has meaning; that life is a long series of accidents and is in itself an accident. As a philosophy, nihilism is complete. It provides an answer to every metaphysical why?. Whatever the concern, a nihilist can conclusively state, There is no way to truly know, but it does not matter anyway. As a system of values for a living being, however, nihilism leaves much to be desired. It destroys the self, quickly and totally, with a single fall of a cynical whip. Grendel is utterly unhappy, because his life is empty and devoid of meaning. Notice that he projects this meaningless onto the thanes. He ridicules their actions and their passions, rendering them absurd in the reader's eyes. In truth, Grendel has a certain respect for human beings. He envies their capacity to dissolve into pure belief, and most of the hostility he exhibits toward them is actually derived from hostility toward himself. The human hero Beowulf represents an alternative to hopeless nihilism and cynicism, an alternative that Grendel never finds. Beowulf is the embodiment of regeneration and purity. Though Grendel thinks he is insane, Beowulf is the only level mind in the entire novel. Beowulf completes the philosophical journey that shapes this novel by providing a perfect answer to Grendel's puzzle. The meaning of life is in its living. The justification of truth is in truth. The reason for beauty is beauty. It is too late for Grendel, however, as he has lost too much of himself. In the final battle he rejects Beowulf and all that the hero represents, and so Grendel's death, like his life, is merely an accident. Book Reports

What Is a Good ACT Aspire Score for a Sophomore

What Is a Good ACT Aspire Score for a Sophomore SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Being in 10th grade is a little like walking over a bridge. You're crossing from the less consequential testing of early high school to the world of high-stakes tests, like the SAT andthe ACT – tests that can affect your future. One of the ways you get from one side of this metaphorical divide to the other is by getting the chance to practice. For example, some students take the PSAT, which is meant to be a precursor to the SATthat they will take in their junior or senior year. Others take the ACT Aspire, a national achievement test that assesses how well students from 3rd to 10th grade are measuring up toCommon Core standards. The format, structure, and scoring of the ACT Aspire are all very different from the ACT. But, because it is designed by the same organization that creates the ACT, it can feel like a precursor to the real thing. So what’s a good score on the ACT Aspire for a sophomore? In this article, I’ll talk about different ways to think about what makes a good score, and how to tell where you rank based on the score you got. I’ll also discuss whether your 10th grade ACT Aspire score means for your future ACT score. How is the ACT Aspire Test Scored? Since the ACT Aspire is given in elementary, middle, and high schools, it stands to reason that scoring is a little different depending on your class year. I’ll talk specifically about how the test is scored for the 8th-10th graders who take it. ACT Aspire scores for each subject (English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing) currently fall between 400 and 460. When you take this test in high school, here's what you’ll get in your score report: Your 5 individual section scores. These are your scores for each subject section of the test. A composite score. This is an unweighted average of your English, Mathematics, Reading and Science sections scores. Note that this composite score doesn't include your ACT Aspire Writing section, which is only scored individually. Several different kinds of reports about your progress. These include humanities and STEM composite scores, as well as a reading ability prognosis. If you'd like to see an example, the ACT publishes a sample of what your report will look like. The report may also include reports about the PSI pressure of your various organs. It's not really vital information, but you can't accuse them of not being thorough. What’s a Good Sophomore Score on ACT Aspire? My assumption is that sophomore year, you’re curious about what a good score is for 2 reasons. First, you’re concerned abouthow you stack up against your peers. And second, you’re wondering how you’ll do when you take the ACT for real junior year. Luckily, ACT provides a pretty thorough data for the one year that this test has been administered. This makes comparing yourself to your peers and finding any academic areas where you are lagging behind very easy. However, this data also shows that the ACT Aspire is not necessarily a great prediction model for your future ACT scores. Now, let’s examine in detail what your ACT Aspire score can show you. Comparing Yourself to the Baseline One of the goals of the ACT Aspire is to give you, your teachers, and your parents a sense of whether you are as prepared for college as you should be at this point in high school. To answer this question, you can compare your ACT Aspire score to your scores from previous years, to make sure you are consistently getting higher scores in each subject. ACT Aspire also provides minimum benchmarks scores for each test section. Each benchmark is the lowest score you need to get to demonstrate that you are on the right track in terms of your on-grade-level learning. Here is a table that shows the ACT Aspire benchmark scores for each subject for the year 2015 for grades 8-10. This table shows that, for example, if you get at least 432 on the ACT Aspire Science section as a sophomore, you’re considered to be on track to have a high probability of future success in first-year college courses. On the other hand, if your score is below the 10th grade numbers on any of the test sections, then this means that you may need outside help to catch up in these academic areas. The important thing is to just keep growingevery year. (Image:Steven Depolo/Flickr) Comparing Yourself to Your Peers Another goal of national tests like the ACT Aspire is to examine how everyone who is taking the test at the same time compares to each other. Since ACT Aspire publishes data about how students taking the test scored, we can go through the data to see how you can tell where you stand when compared to your peers. Using Your Composite Score for Peer Comparisons The composite score that you receive from ACT is a very quick snapshot of how you did on the test. This average of your individual subject scores can give you fast information about how you did relative to your peers overall. One way to evaluate your composite score is to use this table of the composite scores for 9th and 10th graders in the past year: Grade Min 25% Rank 50% Rank 75% Rank 90% Rank 95% Rank Max 9 408 414 418 423 430 435 438 10 409 415 419 426 433 438 440 This table shows rangeof students'scores. The "Min" and "Max" columns show the lowest and highest composite scores. The percentile columns showthe score you'd need to reachthe given percentile, i.e. the score at which you'd be scoringhigher than that percent of other students. In other words, for 10th grade, the lowest composite score anyone got was 409. 25% of students scored below 415. This means that if your score was 415, you did better than 25% of the studentstaking the test. Likewise, 95% of students got below a 438. This means that if your composite score was 438 or higher, you fall into the top 5% of test takers (since you did better than 95% of everyone taking the test). So what do we learn from this table? If your composite score was 419, you would fall into the middle scoring range, the 50th percentile. This means that 50% of 10th graders did worse, and 49% did better, so everyone who scored 419 falls right in the middle. What does this mean for calculating a good ACT Aspire score for a sophomore? Let’s assume that a good score is roughly at or above the 75th percentile, in other words, scoring higher than 75% of your peers. In that case, a good composite score for the ACT Aspire for sophomores is 426 or higher. Many people climb, but not everyone can reach the top. Using Your Individual Test Sectionsfor Peer Comparisons The composite score is a useful way to eyeball your status. But to figure out where you’re strong and where you're weak academically, you need to look at the scores you got on individual test sections. This much more zoomed-in approach will give you a better clue about the subjects you are learning well and the ones you need to work on more. Now, I’ll go through each ACT Aspire test subject individually to see what a good score on it would be. ACT Aspire English Percentile Rankings Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank 400 1 415 9 430 47 445 92 401 1 416 10 431 50 446 94 402 1 417 12 432 53 447 95 403 1 418 14 433 57 448 96 404 1 419 16 434 60 449 98 405 1 420 19 435 63 450 98 406 1 421 21 436 67 451 99 407 1 422 22 437 70 452 99 408 2 423 25 438 72 453 99 409 2 424 28 439 75 454 99 410 3 425 31 440 79 455 99 411 4 426 33 441 81 456 100 412 5 427 37 442 84 413 6 428 40 443 87 414 7 429 43 444 90 You can see that you don’t need to get all the questions right in order to fall into the top 1% of students. Although the exact number will change slightly from year to year, on this version of the ACT Aspire any sophomore who got 451 or above did better than 99% of the other test takers on the English section. The benchmark English section score of 428 would put you in the 40th percentile, which would mean you scored better than 40% of your peers. If we hang on to our assumption that a good score is around the 75th percentile, we can see that a score of 439 is what you need to reach that ranking. ACT Aspire Reading Percentile Rankings Score % Rank Score %Rank Score % Rank Score %Rank 400 1 411 10 422 47 433 92 401 1 412 13 423 51 434 95 402 1 413 14 424 52 435 98 403 1 414 17 425 57 436 98 404 1 415 21 426 62 437 99 405 1 416 24 427 66 438 99 406 1 417 28 428 72 439 99 407 2 418 31 429 77 440 99 408 3 419 35 430 82 441 99 409 4 420 39 431 83 442 100 410 6 421 43 432 87 You can see a similar thing about the Reading section results – quite a few of the top scores would put you in the top 1% of people taking the test. Also, notice how big a difference in the percentile rankings just one point makes. If you earned 424, you scored better than 52% of other sophomores, but if you got 425, you jump 5 percentage points to end up doing better than 57%. The Reading benchmark that ACT determined is 428, in the72nd percentile of test takers, which would also be a good score on this part of the test. ACT Aspire Math Percentile Rankings Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank 400 1 416 15 432 72 448 99 401 1 417 19 433 75 449 99 402 1 418 23 434 79 450 99 403 1 419 26 435 82 451 99 404 1 420 30 436 85 452 99 405 1 421 32 437 87 453 99 406 1 422 36 438 89 454 99 407 1 423 40 439 91 455 99 408 1 424 44 440 93 456 99 409 2 425 48 441 95 457 100 410 2 426 51 442 97 458 100 411 4 427 54 443 98 459 100 412 6 428 58 444 99 460 100 413 6 429 61 445 99 414 9 430 65 446 99 415 12 431 68 447 99 The math section has a huge spread of scores that fall into the top percentile – anyone who scored above 445 did better than 99% of their peers. The ACT Aspire benchmark for this section is 432, or the 72nd percentile. Meanwhile, a good score in the 75th percentile is 433. ACT Aspire Science Percentile Rankings Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank 400 1 413 7 426 50 439 94 401 1 414 9 427 53 440 95 402 1 415 14 428 57 441 97 403 1 416 15 429 61 442 98 404 1 417 19 430 66 443 99 405 1 418 21 431 69 444 99 406 1 419 25 432 73 445 99 407 1 420 29 433 76 446 99 408 2 421 34 434 79 447 99 409 2 422 38 435 83 448 99 410 4 423 39 436 86 449 100 411 4 424 42 437 88 412 6 425 46 438 91 The benchmark for ACT Aspire Science is 432, and this is basically the same as the good score we’ve been discussing, since it falls into the 73rd percentile of test takers. ACT Aspire Writing Percentile Rankings Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank Score % Rank 408 1 419 20 430 66 441 98 409 1 420 24 431 66 442 99 410 4 421 24 432 81 443 99 411 4 422 27 433 81 444 99 412 6 423 27 434 90 445 99 413 6 424 37 435 90 446 99 414 7 425 37 436 92 447 99 415 7 426 55 437 92 448 100 416 10 427 55 438 94 417 10 428 61 439 94 418 20 429 61 440 98 You can immediately see how differently the Writing section is scored from this table. First of all, the lowest score on this section isn’t 400 like it is for all the other sections, but 408. Also, pairs of scores get the same percentile ranking, so for example, both 410 and 411 correlate to doing better than 4% of other sophomores. Here, the benchmark score from ACT is 428, or better than 61% of everyone taking the test at the same time. Meanwhile, a good 10th grade score on Writing is somewhere between 430 and 433, which falls between the 66th and 81st percentiles. Predicting Future Success Now that you’ve seen how your score compares to the scores of all the 10th-graders who took the ACT Aspire last year, you’re probably itching to figure out whether your score on ACT Aspire means anything for the real ACT that you’ll take in your junior year. The truth is thatACT Aspire is not a particularly great predictor of your future accomplishments, though it does give you a very general sense of what you can hope to achieve. But this is fantastic news! It means that the ACT Aspire really does what it’s supposed to do – it shows you where you are now and where you need to improve. And the other great news is that dramatic improvement is clearly possible because as a sophomore, you have 1 or even 2 years in which to do it! Ok, but will the next one tell me my future ACT score? The Relationship Between ACT Aspire and ACT Scores ACT published data on 50 10th grade students – their scores oneach ACT Aspire section, and their scores on theactual ACT when they took it in 11th grade. The problem is that this data is just an unwieldy Excel spreadsheet (you can check it out here:Demonstrating the Student Growth Percentile model for grade 10 ACT Aspire to grade 11 ACT) I used the data to create some scatterplot graphs to show the whatstudents got on each ACT Aspire section and what they ended up getting on the same ACT section. The way each graph works is this: Each blue diamond point stands for one student Ifyou trace straight down from each point, you can see what that student got on ACT Aspire (in this case the Math section) If you trace straight left, you can see what that same student got when taking the ACT for real So what this graph is showing us that in general as scores from ACT Aspire Math increase (x-axis), the scores on ACT Math also tend to get somewhat higher as a group (y-axis). In other words, the swarm of diamonds goes slightly upward as we go from left to right. On a case-by-case basis, we can see that there is significant room to grow, no matter where in the score range students fall. For example, the 3 students who got432 on ACT Aspire Math (our good, 72nd percentilescore), ranged in ACT scores from 16 (approximately in the bottom 25%) to 26 (approximately in the top 15%). In the graph of English scores, we can see that your ACT Aspire score is by no means destiny. For example, look at all the students who ended up with goodACT English scores in the mid-20s. Their ACT Aspire scores ranged from 425 (below benchmark) to 447 (well above the good 75% score of 439). This same general trend of higher ACT Aspire scores leading to higher ACT scores continues when we look at the scatterplot graph for the Reading section. But the relationship is not exact. For example, the two highest scorers on the Aspire Reading section were not the top ACT scorers. Similarly, the person who scored lowest on the ACT did not get the bottom score on the Aspire. The Science section of ACT Aspire probably shows a slightly weaker correlation between high 10th grade ACT Aspire scores and subsequent high 11th grade ACT scores. Incidentally, if you’ve been following along with the visual data presentation in this article’s tables, charts, and graphs, then you’re actually getting in somegood practice for both the ACT Aspire Science section and the real ACT Science section as well! Now that you’ve seen how scatterplot graphs that show correlations look, you can be just as befuddled as I am by what happened to these 50 students on the writing section of these 2 tests. This kind of data may be a part of the reason why ACT Aspire Writing is not factored into the composite score that you get when you take the test in high school. What Does This Mean for What'sa Good Score? I think the best way to think about your scores if you’re worried about what they will eventually for the real ACT is this. First, make sure you’re scoring at least at the 10th grade benchmarks. That’s a pretty good indicator that you’re on trackwith your learning. If you’re below benchmark on any of the sections, that is a warning sign that you need help in that subject, not just to do better on ACT Aspire test but to succeed in your school year as well. Next, compareyour ACT Aspire section scores to each other. Are you scoring in the same percentile range on all 5 subjects? If there is a section (or several) that you are scoring significantly worse in, even if you’re still meeting the benchmark in that area, then this is the time to get extra help with this subject. Talk to your parents and teachers about what resources to improve your learning there are at your school, or maybe even outside of it. Should You Study for the ACT Aspire? For any test to accurately assess what you know and how well you understand when and where to apply that knowledge, the test can't simplythrow you off by its format, question style, or by the way it's administered. So in order for the ACT Aspire to actually measure how you are doing in school, it’s a great idea for you to familiarize yourself with how the test looks and feels.To that end, you should definitely read ourdetailed breakdown of what the ACT Aspire is like and the kinds of questions you’ll face on it. You should also get a sense of what taking the ACT Aspire will be like from their sample questions and computer test simulator. Go to theACT Aspire exemplar page, where you’ll find a link to the simulator and login information for all test sections and grade levels. However, other than getting a general sense of what you will see on test today, I would argue that it goes against the purpose and the benefits of ACT Aspire to study specifically for it. For one thing, this isn’t like the PSAT – no scholarships or awards are resting on the score you get.Also, the point of the test is to see whether you are where you should be in your learning. Spending a lot of effort studying for this test would easily createresults that are meaningless as an indicator of whether you have academic weaknesses that need to be worked on. Finally, there’s the matter of the rest of your class, and the rest of your grade in your school. The ACT Aspire isn’t just a diagnostic test for individual students. It’s also supposed to measure how each classroom is doing as a whole. Imagine, for example, that the ACT Aspire results come back and every single kid in your class bombed the Science section. This is no longer something that an individual student is having trouble with. Instead, this kind of result tells your teacher and school administrators that they really need to beef up how your curriculum addresses science education. And a better grounding in the foundations of science in turn will benefit you down the road when you learn how to do college-level work. Honestly, if you are really very worried about your future testing results, I think you should justtake a practice ACT instead. It’ll more accurately show you how you’d score if you took the ACT now. The one time napping is a better way to prepare for a test thanstudying. The Bottom Line The ACT Aspire tests the same 5 sections as the ACT, but is structured, formatted, and scored very differently. You’ll get scores for each of the sections individually, as well as a composite score that averages English, Reading, Math, and Science. If you aren’t meeting ACT score benchmarks, that’s a serious indicator that you need extra academic help. A good 10th grade ACT Aspire score is one that puts you in the upper 25% of your peers, and is different depending on each ACT Aspire test section. Even if you got a good 10th grade ACT Aspire score, this doesn’t necessarily mean anything in terms of predicting your real ACT score.ACT Aspire is not very good at predicting the ACT because its real purpose is to show you subject areas where you need extra help. There is no need to study for the ACT Aspire, though it would be a good idea to get familiar with the test format by checking out somesample questions. What’s Next? Thinking of jumping into the ACT world early? We have some guidance on whether you should start preparing for the ACT as a 10th grader andwhat a good sophomore ACT score would look like. Thinking about taking the PSAT as a 10th grader as well? Check out our discussion onwhat is a good PSAT score for a sophomore. Planning the rest of your high school academics? Read our articles aboutwhy it’s important to create a rigorous course load for yourself andwhether AP classes are really worth taking. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

American History of 1870-1945's Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American History of 1870-1945's - Term Paper Example This paper focuses on achievements and political activities of both these persons as presidents of America. Emergence of America Ever since America found its place in world map, it underwent through a total of seven stages and is presently undergoing the eighth. The time from 1912 to 1929 is referred to as ‘Melting- pot America†. This period was preceded by an Industrial America (1870- 1912) and was immediately followed by America emerging as a superpower at the global level (1929- 1960). Melting pot America had certain distinctive features or characteristics. During this time America experienced some major changes in social and political field. Immigrants from across the world flooded into different American provinces. They not only brought their distinctive cultures with them and merged them with American culture, but at the same they also reinforced a reversal of political practices. It was during this time that America’s political and economic potentials were r ecognized, thereby making America play an important role during First World War. Another feature of Melting pot period is ‘Roaring Twenties’. All these made America urbanized and a fast paced destination from global point of view (Chhokar et al, 191-194). Both Woodrow Wilson as well as Theodore Roosevelt played significant roles in turning America into a superpower. Convention Politics and Theodore Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican who succeeded William McKinley. Strategically, Roosevelt was the first to introduce a dynamic relation between the contradictory ideals of Conservatism and Liberalism. He was of the view that, approaches mush be made softy but, to be made tougher when the work is not delivered timely or some corruption creeps in. thus, Roosevelt displayed a tough attitude to issues which were bothering America during first half of twentieth century, like crime and corruption within unions or workplaces, political mechanism and most importantly Ã¢â‚¬Ë œanti- trust activities of monopolies’. At the same time, Roosevelt believed in ‘activist’ approach in presidency. As far as Liberalism is concerned, Roosevelt took some remarkable steps. One of them is introduction of progressive income tax, which ensured higher returns for the State. In this regard, he played a huge role in broadening the prospects of executive power in political scenario of contemporary America (Johnson, 194). The party machinery was very much clear when Roosevelt appeared in Chicago during June of 1912, before the election. At the time of his arrival, the entire political control was in the hands of political bosses who refused to support the delegates of Roosevelt and instead supported Taft. However towards the end, Roosevelt was finally able to make most delegates of Taft desert him. The Republicans choose to follow Roosevelt, thus expressing discontentment on the proposal of Republican- moderates of compromise. This counter- convention led to the formation of ‘Progressive Party’ or Bull Moose Party with Teddy Roosevelt as its president, and a pre-panned convention set for August that year. There was a clash of interests with the Democrats during this time as the Democrats chose to select Woodrow Wilson, then a reformist governor of New Jersey as their candidate for the electoral poll. As president, Roosevelt stressed upon the doctrine of ‘two- party system’, i.e. incorporating political ideologies of both Democrats and the Republicans, and eradication of

Influence of Social Networking Sites on Relationships Essay

Influence of Social Networking Sites on Relationships - Essay Example The essay "Influence of Social Networking Sites on Relationships" discusses the influence of social networking sites on relationships. A social networking site is a form of media of the digital age that helps people in the development of communities and networks. Some of the most popular examples include Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut. The system of kinship includes people who have close relationships with each other or those who are living as a unit or family. We create our own definition of family. We can decide to add and not add people depending on whether we trust them or consider them family. In this way, we actually go beyond defining kinship as just blood relationships and add such relationships to the definition that leaves a great impact on our lives. Some people believe that close relationships fall into the definition of kinship whereas some people believe that only a blood relationship is real kinship. Today, anthropology is heading towards forming new forms of kinship. Fo r example, we can find many people on Facebook who have their close friends or childhood friends as their sisters and brothers. On the other hand, many people present on Facebook have blood relationships between each other. Social networking sites, such as Facebook, also helps people in the formation of imagined communities and networks. People can form such communities where there are no boundaries, no nation states, but a place where they can find people with whom they feel good. Facebook has made people less individualistic.