Deontological ethics Essay Example for Free

Deontological ethics Essay Attempting to explain the differences and similarities of virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological is basically from my own understanding of each. I am having much difficulty reading the materials as well as sitting at this computer for any length of time. I believe my reading visual is deteriorating at a rapid pace because of the straining to my eyes. Virtue ethics focuses on a person’s character and morals. This person will always try to do what is right because he was taught at an early age and by someone he loves and wants to always please by doing the right thing, regardless of the consequences. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of your actions. What I mean by that is that if you steal something and not get caught, there are no consequences. No one knows that you stole and therefore you do not have to answer to anyone but yourself. Deontology focuses on the outcome of the act whether right or wrong. The person steals food from a grocery store because his children are hungry and he does not have the money to buy food. Although it is his responsibility to feed his children, stealing is clearly wrong. The consequences did not matter at that particular time; he did what he felt he had to do. Recently there was an incident on my route where a woman called in to my job and conveyed to my superior that I was talking about Jesus on the bus and she was offended. I was called in and reprimanded and told not to speak about religion on the bus. My response to her was, is that right? Quite a few of my regular passengers know that I am a minister and talk to me regularly about the Bible, Jesus and the Christian faith. Based on the virtue ethics, I was taught to speak the word of God in season and out of season, when it is time or easy and when it is not a good time or hard. This is my first and most important job and regardless of the consequences, I will continue to preach the word and pray for anyone who desires to hear it. I will always try to please Jesus in whatever I do.

Review of the literature on risk management

Review of the literature on risk management This chapter reviews the literature on the risk management and corporate governance in the banking sector. Part of the literature also attempts to provide a relationship between the independence and financial knowledge of the board of directors and audit committee, and risk management practices by referring to both empirical and analytical research. 2.1 Risk Management in the banking sector When discussing the challenges faced by financial institutions in managing risk, it is important to have a consistent definition of the term risk. Risk can be defined as the volatility of a corporations market value. Risk management involves the protection of a firms assets and profits. Moreover, not only does it provide profitability but also other advantages like being in line with obedience function toward the rule, increasing the firms reputation and opportunity to attract more customers in building their portfolio of fund resources. Cebenoyan and Strahan (2004) suggest that [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the benefits of advances in risk management in banking may be greater credit availability, rather than reduced risk in the banking system (p.19). This means that banks will have a greater opportunity to increase their productive assets and profit. Only those banks that have efficient risk management system will survive in the market in the long run. They can follow a four-step routine to red uce their risk exposures and achieve their risk management objectives, as shown below. Figure 1-Steps for implementing risk management To properly manage risks, banks must firstly identify and classify the sources from which risk may arise at both transaction and portfolio levels. Risks inherent in lending activities include market risk, liquidity risk, credit risk and operational risk. Market risk is the risk resulting from adverse movements in the level of market prices of equities, currencies, interest rate instruments and commodities. Banks are always facing the risk of losses in on and off-balance-sheet positions arising from undesirable market movements. Banks are inherently vulnerable to liquidity risk due to their fundamental role of transforming of short-term deposits into long-term loans. The FSA has defined liquidity risk as: The risk that a firm, though solvent, either does not have sufficient financial resources available to enable it to meet its obligations as they fall due, or can secure them only at an excessive cost. Another risk that banks face is credit risk. It is the risk that can be incurred if the counterparty fails to meet its obligations in a timely manner. Loans are the most palpable source of credit risk in many of the banking systems; however, other sources of this risk originate through other activities of banks such as acceptances, trade financing, interbank transactions, financial futures, foreign exchange transactions, swaps, equities, options, bonds, and in the extension of commitments and guarantees, and the settlement of transactions. Operational risk, as its name suggests, is a risk arising from execution of a companys business functions. The Basel Committee has defined operational risk as: the risk of losses resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems, or external events, such as the failure of computer systems or error and fraud on the part of staff. Apart from those risks mentioned above, the Federal Reserve System has also recognised two other risks: legal risk and reputational risk. Legal risk is the risk of loss caused by sanctions or penalties originating from court disputes due to breach of contract and legal obligation. Another legal risk relates to regulatory risk, i.e., the risk of loss resulting from sanctions and penalties pronounced by a regulatory body. Reputational risk may be defined as the risk of loss caused by a negative impact on the market positioning of the bank. It can be seen as the blowing up of an initial loss, arising from credit, market, liquidity or operational risks. However, banks hardly pay attention to these categories of risks. Once identified, the risks should be evaluated to determine their impact on the companys profitability and capital. This entails measuring them by using various techniques ranging from simple to sophisticated ones. For example, market risk can be measured by using Value at Risk. This stage also calls for estimating three dimensions of each exposure: the potential frequency of losses that exposures have produced or may produce, the potential impact on the organisation if a loss should occur and the potential variation in losses that will occur during the exposure period. Accurate and timely measurement of risk is necessary because with these types of data the risk manager can determine which exposes are most serious and which deserve the most immediate attention. After measuring risk, bank managers should establish and communicate risk limits through policies, standards, and procedures that define responsibility and authority. These limits should serve as a means to control the risks associated with the banking institutions activities. There is a variety of mitigating tools that banks may employ to minimise the loss exposures. These tools may be diversification, securitization and even derivative such as withdrawal option, Bermudan-style return put option, return swap, return swaption and liquidity option. The final step involves appraising the operation of the program regularly to be sure that it is achieving planned results. It helps the managers to evaluate the wisdom of their decision-making. To efficiently monitor risk, all material risk exposures should be identified and measured again. To facilitate this procedure, banks should put in place an effective management information system (MIS) that will provide directors and senior managers with timely reports on the operating performance, financial condition and risk exposure of the firm. If corrective action is indicated at this stage, the first three steps should be repeated. 2.1 Corporate Governance in the banking sector Corporate governance is a term that is now universally invoked wherever business and finance are discussed. Its purpose is to coordinate a conflict of interest among all parties relationship within the company and to develop a system that can reduce or eliminate the agency problems arising from the separation of ownership and control (OECD, 1997). Agency problem occurs when the agents of an organization (e.g. management) use their power to satisfy their own interests rather than those of the principals (e.g. shareholders). It may also refer to simple disagreement between agents and principals. For example, the board of directors may disagree with shareholders on how to best invest the companys assets, especially when the board of directors wishes to invest in securities that would favour their interests. Not merely does the term corporate governance carries different interpretations, its analysis also involves diverse disciplines and approaches. One of the most quoted definitions of corporate governance is the one given by Shleifer and Vishny (1997): corporate governance deals with the ways in which suppliers of finance to corporations assures themselves of getting a return on their investment. The Cadbury Report, however, defined corporate governance as the system by which companies are directed and controlled (para 2.5). Additionally, it recognised that a system of good governance allows the board of directors to be free to drive their companies forward, but exercise that freedom within a framework of effective accountability (para 1.1). The Hampel Report, whilst accepting the Cadbury definition of corporate governance, also noted that the single overriding objective of companies is the preservation and the greatest practical enhancement over time of their shareholders investment ( para 1.16). In a similar vein, Charkham (1994) identified two basic principles of corporate governance: That management must be able to drive the enterprise forward free from undue constraint caused by government interference, fear of litigation, or fear of displacement. That this freedom- to use managerial power or patronage- must be exercised with a framework of effective accountability. Nominal accountability is not enough. In the banking sector, however, corporate governance differs greatly with other economic sectors in terms of broader extent of claimants the banks assets and funds. In manufacturing corporations, the issue is to maximise the shareholders value but in banking, the risk involved for depositors assumes greater importance due to the fact that almost every bit of banks investment are financed by the depositors funds. If it goes bankrupt, it will be depositors savings that the bank will lose. Indeed, Macey and OHara (2001) states that a broader view of corporate governance should be adopted in the case of banking institutions, arguing that because of the peculiar contractual form of banking, corporate governance mechanisms for banks should encapsulate depositors as well as shareholders. Arun and Turner (2003) also support this argument. Furthermore, the involvement of government in the banking sector is discernibly higher compared to other economic sectors due to the larger interests of th e public (Caprio and Levine, 2002; Levine, 2004). Rational depositors require some form of guarantee before depositing their wealth in banks. Yet, it is relatively difficult for banks to provide these guarantees to them because communicating the value of a banks loan portfolio is quite impossible and very costly to reveal. As a consequence of this asymmetric information problem, bank managers can have an incentive to invest in riskier assets than they promised they would ex ante. To assure depositors that they will not expropriate them, banks could make investments in brand-name or reputational capital (Klein, 1974; Gorton, 1994; Demetz et al, 1996; Bhattacharya et al, 1998), but these schemes give depositors little confidence, especially when contracts have a finite nature and discount rates are sufficiently high (Hickson and Turner, 2003). The opaqueness of banks also makes it very costly for depositors to constrain managerial discretion through debt covenants (Capiro and Levine, 2002, p.2). As such, government interventions provide the lacking assurance to economic agents in the form of deposit insurance. Nevertheless, although the government provides deposit insurance, bank managers still have an incentive to opportunistically increase their risk-taking, but now it is mainly at the governments expense. Apart from supporting the argument that a broader approach to corporate governance should be adapted to banking institutions, Arun and Turner (2003) also argue that government intervention do restrain the behaviour of bank management. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has defined the governance in banks as the methods and approaches used to manage banks through the board of directors and senior management which determine how to put the banks objectives, operation and protect the interests of shareholders and stakeholders with a commitment to act in accordance with existing laws and regulations and to achieve the protection of the interests of depositors. The Table 1 below shows the general principles concerning corporate governance issued by the Basel Committee specifically for bank boards and senior management. Principle 1 Board members should be qualified for their positions, have a clear understanding of their role in corporate governance and be able to exercise sound judgment about the affairs of the bank. Principle 2 The board of directors should approve and oversee the banks strategic objectives and corporate values that are communicated throughout the banking organisation. Principle 3 The board of directors should set and enforce clear lines of responsibility and accountability throughout the organisation. Principle 4 The board should ensure that there is appropriate oversight by senior management consistent with board policy. Principle 5 The board and senior management should effectively utilise the work conducted by the internal audit function, external auditors, and internal control functions. Principle 6 The board should ensure that compensation policies and practices are consistent with the banks corporate culture, long-term objectives and strategy, and control environment. Principle 7 The bank should be governed in a transparent manner. Principle 8 The board and senior management should understand the banks operational structure, including where the bank operates in jurisdictions, or through structures, that impede transparency (i.e. know-your-structure). Table 1- Principles of corporate governance for bank boards and senior management 2.2 Corporate Governance Mechanism According to agency theory, the corporate governance mechanisms reduce the agency problem between investors and management (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Gillan, 2006). Traditionally, these mechanisms can be classified as internal and external. Llewellyn and Sinha, (2000) states that internal corporate governance is about mechanism for the accountability, monitoring, and control of a firms management with respect to the use of resources and risk taking. Its main mechanisms are the board of directors, the ownership structure of the firm and the internal control system (Gillan, 2006). Whereas, external corporate governance controls encompass the controls external stakeholders exercise over the organisation and its primary external mechanisms are the takeover market and the legal/regulatory system. However for the purpose of this paper, we will mainly focus on some internal corporate governance mechanism such as the board of directors, more precisely on its independence and financial knowledge. Corporate governance best practices have also stressed in particular the key role played by the audit committee in reviewing a firms internal control system. Internal control systems contribute to the protection of shareholders interests by providing reasonable assurance on the reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness of operations and compliance with laws and regulations (COSO, 1994; 2004). As such, we will also draw some attention on the audit committee. 2.3 The boards independence The popular media as well as corporate governance experts have characterised boards largely as rubber stamps for management. They are the link between the shareholders of the firm and the managers entrusted with undertaking the day-to-day operations of the organisation (Monks and Minow, 1995; Forbes and Milliken, 1999). As stated in principle 4 above, bank boards should properly supervise the work of managers. Which type of directors can perform better this duty than independent director? In fact, such directors can bring additional experience as well as clarity of thought to deliberations independent of views of management. Moreover, since their careers are not tied to the firms CEO, outside directors are believed to be more powerful in keeping efficiently the firms top management (Fama, 1980; Fama and Jensen, 1983) and so could be associated with better performance. Some papers do support this theory. Baysinger and Butler (1985), being among the first studies, find that the relative independence of boards has a positive effect on the firms average return on equity by comparing 266 major US businesses over a ten-years period. Kesner (1987); Weisbach (1988); Rosenstein and Wyatt (1990); Peace and Zahra (1992); Ezzamel and Watson (1993); MacAvoy and Millstein (1999); Brown and Caylor (2004) and Ho (2005) also show that shareholder returns are enhanced by having a greater proportion of outside directors on the board. Research by Brickley, Coles, and Terry (1994) shows significantly higher returns to firms announcing poison pill  [1]  when outside directors dominate the board. Other studies supporting the benefit of the boards independence are Dechow and Sloan (1996); Beasely (1996) and Klein (2002) who state that as outside membership on the board increases the likelihood of financial statement fraud decreases. There is also Black et al. (2006) who reports that firms with 50% outside directors have approximately 40% higher share price by studying 515 Korean firms. And more recently, Staikouras C. K., Staikouras P. K. and Agoraki M. K. (2006) find that the percentage of independent directors is positively related with performance measured by Tobins Q on a sample of European banks. On the other hand, others find no convincing evidence that the level of outside directors on the board do add value to corporate performance. For instance, Fosberg (1989) finds that firms whose board is composed of a majority of outside directors do not have a higher performance as measured by the firms ROE or sales. Similarly, Hermalin and Weisbach (1991) find that non-executive directors have no impact on corporate performance in their sample of 142 NYSE firms. Pearce (1983) also find no relationship, as too Changanti et al. (1985) in their study of board composition and bankruptcy. The lack of relation between these two components has also been confirmed by Klein (1998), Bhagat and Black (2002) and Hayes, Mehran and Scott (2004). Other scholars refuting the effectiveness of outside directors on the board are Subrahmanyam et al. (1997) and Harford (2000) for the acquisition transactions, Core et al. (1999) for CEO compensation and Agrawal and Chadha (2005) for earnings restatements . It is normally the board of directors which overviews and approves the risk management policies. But, few papers have tried to link its independence to the firms risk management practices and hedging. By analysing a sample of bank holding companies, Whidbee and Wohar (1999) find that the likelihood of using derivatives seem to increase with the presence of external directors on the board but only when insiders hold a large proportion of the firms shares. Borokhovich et al. (2004) demonstrate that firms most active in hedging risk, especially when making use of interest rate derivatives usage, are those whose boards are dominated by external directors. Conversely, Dionne and Triki (2004); Mardsen and Prevost (2005) point out that outside directors has no impact on the firms risk management policy. Given the mixed empirical findings, it is quite difficult to assert whether the board independence contribute to corporate performance and the effectiveness of risk management. Although Fields and Keys (2003) assert that there is overwhelming support for independent directors providing superior monitoring and advisory functions to the firm, a unique and clear sign concerning the effect of the boards independence on any decision including the risk management one could not be predicted. 2.4 The financial knowledge of the board To adequately perform their supervision role, the board of directors must have financial knowledge  [2]  . Indeed, when board members are generalists and lack the technical financial knowledge to understand the complicated reports presented to them, they could vote for motions that increase the risks facing of the firm to a large extent. The company may collapse in this way and therefore hinder the shareholders interest. Because of the banks dominant position in the economy; they should possess some financial expertise directors on its board so as to make better decisions that will not lead the firm to go bankrupt. However, given its importance, the research on the value of the boards financial knowledge is quite scarce. At times, reports recognising the benefits of the boards independence also recommend financial literacy/expertise for directors in monitoring the firms performance. In fact, Booth and Deli (1999) and Guner, Malmendier and Tate (2004) suggest that commercial bankers on boards provide the financial skill needed to enable the business to contract more debt. Thus, this states that financial directors do add value to the firm. There is also Agrawal and Chadha (2005) who discover that there is lower earnings restatement in firms whose boards have accounting or financially knowledgeable independent directors. However, Rosenstein and Wyatt (1990) provide evidence that positive abnormal returns associated with the addition of an outsider to the board are higher when the latter is an officer of a financial firm. Later on, Lee, Rosenstein and Wyatt (1999) do come to the same conclusion. However, they were unable to make any statistically difference among the reaction of the three categories of financial directors they consider: commercial bankers, insurance company officers and investment bankers. To the best of our knowledge, researches on the boards financial knowledge have only been related with the firms performance and not specifically on its impact on risk management practices. As mentioned earlier in this study, the board of directors is usually responsible for the firms risk management policies. In other words, risk management is at the core of any board members charter. Financially knowledgeable directors will obviously make better decisions on risk management practices since they will have the technical background to understand the sophisticated tools involved in risk management transactions. As such, firms whose boards are composed of financially knowledgeable directors engage more actively in risk management. 2.5 The audit committee The audit committee is intended to provide a link between the board and the auditor independent of the companys management, which is responsible for the accounting system (IOD, 1995). The chief objectives of an audit committee are to improve the quality of financial reporting, to reduce the potential authority for the non-executive director, to improve the channel of communication with the external auditor and, perhaps most importantly, to review the adequacy of the companys financial control systems. Tricker (1984) defines audit committee as being an important vehicle for ensuring the supervision and accountability at board level. As such, audit committees are very important in banking to safeguard the shareholders interest as well as the public trust. Just as for the board of directors, independence is also considered important for an audit committee because outside directors can exercise their voice and be seen to make a valuable contribution since they are free of any influence arising from the firms CEO. Thus, the reported empirical evidence supports this argument. Klein (2002) shows that independent audit committees reduce the likelihood of earnings management, thus improving transparency. In addition, Abbott, Park and Parker (2002) argue that firms with audit committees comprising entirely of independent directors are less likely to have fraudulent or misleading reporting. Ho (2005) states that there is a strong positive link between independent audit committee and corporate competitiveness and also with return on equity after analyzing the international companies from 1997to 1999. Brown and Caylor (2004) do provide evidence that audit committees comprising of independent directors are positively related to dividend but not t o operating performance. On the other hand, some authors find a negative relationship or simply no relation at all between independent audit committee and the firms performance. Hayes, Mehran and Scott (2004) prove that the firms performance measured by the market to book ratio is not affected by the proportion of outside directors sitting on the audit committee. Agrawal and Chadha (2005) do come to the same conclusion by indicating that independent audit committee members are unrelated to earnings restatement. There are also Beasley (1996) who finds no apparent correlation between audit committees composition and financial statement fraud, and Klein (1998) who reports no relation between share prices and the audit committees composition. Yet, Carcello and Neal (2000) report a negative relationship between the probability of receiving a going-concern report and the proportion of outsiders on the audit committee. In addition to independence, the accounting and financial expertise of members of the audit committee has also received widespread attention from the media and regulators  [3]  . An audit committee with such characteristics is expected to provide effective monitoring as it possesses the skills needed to understand what is going on in the organisation. Interestingly, Agrawal and Chadha (2005) show that firms whose audit committees have an outside director with accounting background or financial knowledge are less likely to report earnings restatement while Abbott, Parker and Peters (2002) discover that the absence of a financially competent director on the audit committee is highly associated with an increased in financial misstatement and financial fraud. Xie, Davidson, and DaDalt (2003) find that the presence of investment bankers on the audit committee decreases discretionary accruals in a firm. Davidson et al. (2004) and Defond, Hann and Hu (2004) show that the market has a po sitive reaction following the announcement of directors with accounting /auditing experience on audit committees board. The audit committee is also responsible for evaluating the risk exposures and the measures taken to monitor and control these exposures. To our knowledge no paper has tried to link audit committees composition with risk management practices. Because of the mixed and conflicting argument on independence, it is quite difficult for us to attest whether audit committees independence encourage more corporate hedging. Furthermore, risk evaluation and risk management tools are quite difficult to use and thus understanding them requires a good grasp of mathematics and statistics. As such, we expect firms whose audit committees members are qualified as accounting/financial expert to engage more actively in risk management practices. Besides independence and accounting/financial knowledge, the Cadbury Report has insisted that all listed companies should have an audit committee comprising of at least three members. This is to urge firms to devote significant director resources to their audit committees so that audit committees monitor the firms management more efficiently. However, several studies support the idea that larger boards can be dysfunctional since they may be plagued with free rider, communication problem and monitoring problems  [4]  . Therefore, as long as the increase in the audit committees size does not pose these types of problems, firms complying with this requirement are expected to report a higher hedging ratio. Often, corporations, especially financial ones, create another committee named risk monitoring committees. This type of committee is often responsible of the risk monitoring of the firm. However, this does not imply that audit committee is no longer responsible for evaluating and managing risks. It must still discuss and evaluate risk management processes. In other words, the audit committee is there to review risk management processes proposed by the risk management committee. As such, we assume that the same characteristics as the audit committee should be applied to this type of committee to fulfil their duties well.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

"Some people come into our lives and quietly go. Some stay for a while And leave footprints on our hearts And we are never the same again." As I prepared this speech, this quote came to mind as I realized how many of you have left footprints on my heart over the past four years. I have may wonderful memories that I will cherish forever. I remember embarrassing moments when a teacher misunderstood what I said, and then my classmates teased me mercilessly. I remember a time in math class when a student fell asleep and was tied to his chair and chalk dust was thrown all over him. I remember teepee wars and dissecting old smelly eyeballs and cute little minks in biology, staying up all night to finish thesis papers, and taking endless flashcard quizzes. I remember when I was in the hospital my friends visited me and cheered me up. I remember crying together when a coach and two of our peers passed away. We have definitely been through a lot together. But tonight is not only a celebration of the end of high school, it is a celebration of the beginning of our future. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose. We, the Class of 2006, have chosen "Change The World" as our graduation theme. I think this is the perfect choice for our class, because we will do just that. Our class is very special. We have been leaders in every aspect of our school. Among us are talented athletes, musicians, scholars, artists, actors and actresses. We are skilled in business, family science, agriculture, horticulture, foreign languages, computers, technology, and many other areas. None of us, of course, are good at all of these things, but we are all good at something. Ma... ...odness I'm not a clam or a ham Or a dusty old jar of gooseberry jam! I am what I am! What a great thing to be! If I say so myself Happy every day to me!" We are each unique and have different goals and aspirations. But whether we become a social worker, doctor, auto mechanic, or a politician, we can influence the lives of others in a positive way. Each small thing we do, even just a simple smile or pat on the back, can make a difference to one person. And when we do this daily at school or work or in our family, we are slowly changing our homes, neighborhoods and communities. In the year 2007, at our ten-year reunion, I would like each of us to be able to share how we have left our footprints on the hearts of those around us, and thereby made a difference in our community. We will be able to see how the Class of 2006 has united to change the world.

The Touch, The Feel Of Hemp-- The Fiber Of Our Lives :: essays research papers

The Touch, The Feel of Hemp-- The Fiber of Our Lives Imagine how useful a Swiss Army Knife with more than 2500 functions would be if it was compact enough to be manageable. And imagine that this â€Å"knife† could help solve some very important problems that plague our environment as well as our society. Now think if the production of this tool was to be banned by the government. There would have to be some very strong reasons for the government to deny this extremely useful product to the people it governs. If the reasons for this interdiction were not very strong it would be absurd to think that the ban would last for an extended period of time. Well some people will be surprised to know that this very injustice is happening as we speak right here in our wonderful United States of America. The injustice I am describing is our governments ban on the cultivation of the hemp plant in our country. In this article I hope to inform the uninformed and reinform the misinformed on the subject of the hemp plant and how it would benefit us to encourage its widespread production. Industrial hemp is only a cousin of the drug producing plant, marijuana, but as far as the government is concerned they are the same things. Even though there is no chance a person could get high from smoking hemp, the government still prohibits its growth. Hemp does contain some THC, the chemical in pot that makes you high, but only a trace amount. To get the same buzz that a person would get from smoking one marijuana cigarette you would have to smoke twenty or thirty rolled from hemp and you would have to do in about the same amount of time. Common sense tells us that smoking this much of anything in a short amount of time would make you sick. If you smoke some industrial hemp you will only get a headache, and if you smoke more you will only get a bigger headache. The government has the same reason for the banning marijuana as they do for the ban on hemp, when hemp only contains trace amounts of the intoxicants that makes it illegal. Hemp can be compared to non-alcoholic beer, nut meg, cough syrup and mouthwash. NA beer and mouthwash contain alcohol, but nobody drinks them to get drunk. Nutmeg and cough syrup contain some psychoactive substances, but nobody uses these common products to get high.

Comparing the Novel and Movie of Steinbecks Of Mice and Men Essay

Comparing the Novel and Movie of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Who doesn't know of John Steinbeck's classic novel "Of Mice and Men"? It is a novel that almost everyone educated in the United States has either read it or pretended to read it. But how many have seen the 1992 film "Of Mice and Men"? The relative obscurity of 1992 screen version of this timeless drama does not mean that it was poorly done. Just the contrary is true, it is one of the best film adaptations of a novel that I have seen. The novel and the film are very similar. The Steinbeck's novel could be thought of as the screenplay's first draft. There were some small changes, but they were instituted for the good of the film. I liked the film better than Steinbeck's novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Of Mice and Men" is a story of people who express their troubles clearly, holding on to thin dreams as they go about their thankless business. The novel, set in the 1930s, is a story of friendship of migrant workers George Milton and Lennie Smalls. The pair travels from ranch to ranch, dreaming of someday making enough money so they can buy their own plot of land and a stake in their future. George is a father figure and protector of the strong simple- minded Lennie. Lennie's strength is his gift and his curse. Like the child he is mentally, he loves animals, but he inadvertently crushes them to death. Women, to him, are rather like animals, -- soft, small, and gentle. And there lies the tension that powers this narrative to its tragic conclusion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The film version and the novel are very similar. There is minimal description in the novel, enough to set the scene, and the rest is dialogue. The film's story is very pure and lean as Steinbeck's original. Producer/director Gary Sinise and screenwriter Horton Foote don't try do anything fancy, they don't try to make it anything other than exactly what it is, a timeless simple story. Sinise and Foote make American Literature teachers everywhere proud; they have left the film's story uncluttered. Everything is very clear, and makes sense within its context. They remembered "Of Mice and Men is a classic for a reason, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The screenplay and the novel are not synonymous but they are very close to being that way. Sinise and Foote held very true in their adaptation. All of the changes made were minor a... ...im to be more dirty and grizzled men. I thought Ray Walston looked a little too feeble to play Candy but his acting made up for any shortcomings he had in his appearance. Slim looked a little too young and handsome to be the character I had envisioned. Overall, the casting and photography was excellent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another reason why I liked the film better was because of its dramatic conclusion. At the end of the novel we know what that George has Carlson's gun and then we know what is going to happen. At the end of the film, we don't know George has the gun and we can't see that he is holding the gun to the back of Lennie's head. This makes for a very dramatic ending. Because I read the novel, I knew what was going to happen, but I still was very drawn into the action.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The film was a very good adaptation of a great book. It is a wonderful story of friendship,loneliness, and pain. This was an excellent film because it was dramatic but it never went too far and became sappy and overdone. This film is great because the creators realized how important the original text was in making this film. They did not fool around with it; the story says all they want to say.

Moth Man

Sarah Lyon October 22, 2008 Informative speech Comm. 103 T/R 200-315 The Moth man Lives Topic: The Moth man of Point pleasant West Virginia General Purpose: To provide information on the actual Mothman occurrences In point pleasant West Virginia. Specific purpose: To inform my class to the truth behind the movie the moth man prophecies and let them hear the err tale of the hauntings that are so close to our campus. I. Thesis: The Mothman proposes is a legend about a human side bird like creature that has been linked to many deaths over the years in point pleasant west Virginia.Organizational pattern Attention grabber: Im the type of person that loves Urban legends and when from the moment that I got to Marshall’s campus I wanted to find one. And then the hunt began, I searched and I found The Moth man. Most of you are problem familiar with him from the movie the mothman prophecies. However the story doesn’t end when the final credits started to roll. II. Background: In the early 1900's, an area outside Point Pleasant was designated the McClintic Wildlife Preserve. It was, among other things, a bird sanctuary.As part of the World War II war effort, part of the preserve was ripped up and converted to a munitions dump where about 100 cement and steel â€Å"igloos† were built to house wartime explosives. These were later sold off to a variety of gunpowder, chemical and even bio-chemical companies. This area soon became known to the locals simply as the T. N. T. , and later became a popular hangout where young people would â€Å"park† and have parties. This is the area where many of the Mothman sightings occurred. III.Relevance: All of the sighting of The Mothman have been linked significantly to deaths around point plesant including the collapse of the silver bridge that killed 46. IV. Establish credibility: Now I’d like to tell you that The Mothman is just a figment of our imagination and that we live in the safe state of West Vi rginia where nothing bad ever happens, but I’d be lying to you. He has been linked to hundreds of deaths across our great state and there have been similar stories all over the world of a bird like mythical creature that brings about death. V.Thesis/preview: The Moth man prophecies are not just a subject tile for a popular thriller movie but a real life urban legend that exists here in west Virginia. He has been linked to hundreds of deaths and the great silver bridge collapsing. Transition: Even though it is hard to believe that a bird like man is responsible for killings around the entire state it is common knowledge that animals affected by strong chemicals can have strange mutations. Body I. How are the deaths linked to The Moth man? A. Prior to every death, reports of seeing a birdlike man with red eyes were sighted. . â€Å"In the summer of 1966, sightings began to take place around the Ohio River. One woman reported seeing something looking like a giant butterfly, abo ut six feet long. On another evening a group of gravediggers saw what they described as a â€Å"brown human being† fly out of the trees. Later that November a man in Salem, West Virginia saw two red objects hovering over a field. His German Sheppard took off after the objects and was never seen again. †(http://www. otherplane. com/am/ammothman. htm). 2. â€Å"It was shaped like a man, but bigger. Maybe six and a half or seven feet tall.And it had big wings folded against its back† Roger Scar berry told reporters. â€Å"But it was those eyes that got us. It had two big eyes like automobile reflectors,† added Linda Scar berry. â€Å"They were hypnotic. For a minute, we could only stare at it. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. † (http://www. ufocasebook. com/themothman. html) B. The movie, The Moth man Prophecies is a semi-fictional account of a reporter who â€Å"solved† the story of the moth man. 1. In the film the reporter finds himself entranced by the legend when his wife has mysteriously died suddenly after a car accident. 2.He gets in his car after her death and arrives by accident in Point Pleasant west Virginia. 3. He becomes friends with the locals and starts to invest the eerie phenomenon that is engulfing their quiet American town. Transition: The movie was good at explaining what happened as far as the deaths due to the mothman but did not go into great details about how The Moth man was actually created. II. The story A. during WWII an area of Point Pleasant was inhabited by â€Å"igloos† that were used to manufactory Trinitrotoluene (TNT). The â€Å"igloos† housed the TNT until it was needed to be sent for war efforts B.The Igloos were sealed and had been hidden, the EPA said that there was no way they could have leaked out any of the chemical, however many choose to believe otherwise. C. The area is now known to locals as the TNT area. It is a recreational area for locals as well as a pla ce where teenagers tend to hang out and party. Conclusion I. Restatement of thesis: Despite common held beliefs that the moth man is just a creature that haunted the town of point pleasant wv, he is actually a bird preserve inhabitant that was destroyed by the efforts of WWII.He will still haunt the town of point pleasant forever because he is linked to over one hundred deaths but as we can see, we have no concrete evidence to show this.Bibilography: â€Å"OTHERPLANE: Ancient myth paranormal mothman. † OTHERPLANE. Otherplane. com. 22 Oct. 2008 ;lt;http:/http://www. otherplane. com/am/ammothman. htm;gt;. â€Å"The mothman souce: chapter 1. † The mothman legend. Ufobooks. 22 Oct. 2008 ;lt;http:/http://www. ufocasebook. com/themothman. html;gt;.

Journals of Major Robert Rogers

Robert Rogers was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, (or Methuen Massachusetts), in 1727. His parents, James and Mary McFatridge Rogers were Scotch-Irish, also had three other sons James, Richard, and John. 1 They lived in a small town in Massachusetts, which was a frontier town with log houses along the Merrimack valley. Robert was fourteen or fifteen years of age when his father founded a settlement in the wilderness on 2,190 acres of land, which he named Munterloney. From his youth, he was inured to the hardships of the frontier, acquiring character traits of decisiveness, self-reliance and boldness, which distinguished him later in life. Rogers, acquired his scanty stock of â€Å"book –learning,† as he termed from a log school house that was sixteen feet long and twelve feet wide. 3 Most of his knowledge came from his father’s farm, where he learned to hunt, trap, and fish which he earned a small living from. While he was on hunting excursions he mingled with the Indians and learned some of their language, hunting methods and their habits. 4 He was six feet in statute, well proportioned, and one of the most athletic men of his time, well known in all the trials of strength and activity among the young men of his vicinity, and for several miles around. About six years after they moved, Robert’s father James was walking through the woods on his way to visit a friend, when he was shot by the far away neighbor, thinking that he was a bear. He died later that night from his wound. Robert told some locals at a town tavern, that his mother was also killed by some hunters that thought her tracks were a bear. Everyone in the tavern thought he was telling a huge lie and tallest tale so they bought him a drink for the greatest lie. Robert was not lying; he di d lose both of his parents. Robert joined the military service when he was twenty-eight. In 1746, when King George’s War broke out, Robert joined the New Hampshire militia as a private in Captain Ladd’s Scouting Company and then again later (1747) in Eastman’s Company, to guard the New Hampshire frontier. 7 there were ample details given of his adventures; most of them were given by himself in his journals. He wrote a book ‘A Concise Account of North America†, which was a success and attracted royal attention. 8 In 1754 Robert became involved with a gang of ounterfeiters; he was indicted, but never brought to trial because the war broke out. 9 In 1755, France and Britain had declared war on each other, and conflict was spreading to the colonies of Europe. They were fighting over the right of discovery and occupation, each one wanting more of America. Since Rogers was an experienced frontiersman, the colonial government dropped the counterfeit charges against him, meanwhile he was appointed as an official recruiter for Colonel John Winslow. 10 In 1756, Rogers started recruiting soldiers for his militia. Rogers had an unusual talent for training his men in the most dire circumstances. He trained them in live fire, they learned to handle the extreme cold, how to live off of very little food. 11 By the end of 1756, Rogers had raised four regimens of rangers. He himself commanded one of them, and they were known as Rogers Rangers. He wrote a guide for the Rangers to follow that had twenty eight rules for ranging. This guide later became famous, and was called Robert Rogers’ 28 â€Å"Rules of Ranging†. 12 Robert’s brothers all served in a regimen of the Rangers. His brother Richard died in 1757 of small- pox at Fort Henry, his body was dug up and found mutilated and scalped by hostile natives. 13 His brother James stayed on with the King’s Rangers and assumed Robert’s post after the American Revolutionary War ended. Not much is known about brother John after the war was over. Rogers was personally responsible for paying his soldiers, He went deeply in debt, and had to take out loans when their payroll was raided while in transport. Rogers was never reimbursed for his expenses by the government or the British Army. 4 Over the next three years the Rangers served under a series of unsuccessful British commanders. The Rangers slowly grew to twelve companies as well as several additional contingents of natives who had pledged their allegiance to the British cause. The Rangers were kept separate from the British regulars. 15 In 1758 Rogers went to Lake George with about one hundred and eighty men, and had a battle with the French and Indians, he lost one hundred and fourteen of his men. After that battle, General Abercrombie presented him with a commission of Major of the Rangers. 6 In 1759 Major General Amherst sent Rogers with 200 men to attack St. Francis, they had been terrorizing the New England frontiers for centuries. They had been killing their cattle, burning their buildings, and killing the men and children and kidnapping the women. Rogers was to destroy the village but not harm any women and children. After it was over 200 Indians had been killed and they set the village on fire, because when morning came Rogers had seen over 600 scalps strung upon poles and doorways, which were mostly English. 7 In 1760, Rogers and 600 Rangers and seventy Indians, in whale boats left for Montreal. He met up with Pontiac, the next morning they talked and smoked the peace-pipe. Pontiac gave him and his men provisions for his journey, and a few Indian braves for escort. 18 In 1764, he married Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Reverend Arthur Brown. 19 Between 1762 and 1765, he bought and sold land, some of it was very expensive. Some of them he purchased and some of them he received in consideration of military services. 0 Major Rogers wasn’t a good husband, after seventeen years Elizabeth divorced him on the grounds of desertion and infidelity. 21 In 1764, after many failed business ventures, trying to recoup money that he had spent trying to equip the Rangers, he could not pay his debtors. He suffered financial ruin. His creditors had him put in a New York prison for his debts, but he escaped. 22 In 1765, his journals and A Concise Account of North America were published; this work was a description of several British Colonies on that Continent, their population, their religion, boundaries, and their situations. It also included several accounts of Nations and Tribes of Indians residing in those parts; it took into account their customs, manners, government, and the population. 23 Immediately after that publication, Rogers wrote a stage play that memorialized Pontiac and his rebellion. 24 He gained some success for his publications, and simultaneously attracted royal attention. His name and fame became familiar through the country and among both armies. 25 Rogers went to King George III to propose an expedition to find the Northwest Passage. In 1766, Rogers was bestowed an appointment as Commandant at Michilimickinac. After the conquest of Canada, this had become the most important military and trading post in the interior. 26 Rogers and his wife Elizabeth moved to Fort Michilimickinac where he began his duties as royal governor. This appointment was an office of great responsibility, a rare opportunity for Rogers, who took advantage of it. While the Governor, he was not supposed to incur expenses without authority; Rogers did so, was arrested and taken to Montreal, but he managed to get himself acquitted of the charges. 7 In 1769 Rogers returned to England where he reported to the King. Rogers remained there until 1775, while there, he served as a soldier for awhile for Algerine, which was a job he performed very well, even though Rogers was approaching age fifty. 28 One day while Rogers was a passenger in a mail coach, a highway robber stopped the coach, and stuck a gun through the window and demanded that everyone give him their valuables; Rogers drew the thief through the window by his collar, and told the coachman to drive on. The robber had a reward offered for him of L50 sterling, which Rogers collected. 28 While Rogers was away, his friend Amherst was replaced as commander of the British forces in America by Sir Thomas Gage. Gage hated Rogers because of his friendship with Amherst, and the fact that he was a colonial. Gage set out to destroy Rogers, he wanted him removed as royal governor, however had to be careful because Rogers was appointed by the King. 29 In 1776 Rogers fought his last war in America. He seemed to have slowed down; he did not display his usual leadership, which he had always showed in the previous years. 30 In 1777 he returned to England where he was not heard much about, I know he started frequenting the local taverns, I am sure telling his tales of adventures. He will always be known for the manual that he had written for surviving while ranging. To this day his writings â€Å"Rogers 28 rules of Ranging† 31are given to every Ranger that joins the service as a Ranger. Robert Rogers died in 1799. He will be sadly missed and his stories will go on forever.