Fear Essays (1839 words) - Princess Jasmine, Jasmine,

Fear FEAR ? Aaa choo ?I think you are catching a cold sweetheart?, said Sonia, as she was opening her apartment door. ? I think you I should take you to the doctor.? ?I feel tired Mommy?, said Jasmine. ? Why don't you go lie down sweetie, and I will get you a glass of warm milk.? As soon as she entered her front door Sonia walked into her small kitchen that was in the front of the house. The kitchen looked spotless because she couldn't stand the mess, at least not in her kitchen. All appliances in the kitchen were beige and cabinets were made out of wood out of wood and colored to match the kitchen counter and appliances. Everything in the kitchen was arranged in very orderly manner. She opened the refrigerator and poured a glass of milk from the container and in the flow of working she placed it in the microwave and turned it on. As microwave is heating the milk she is thinking to herself that she could have heated this milk on range, as she always thought that the food cooked on cooking range is always better than micro waved food. The thought of heating milk on range disappeared with the final beep of microwave and as her eyes read ? ENJOY YOUR MEAL? on the microwave display. She then added a little strawberry flavor, favorite of Jasmine, to milk and gave it to her. ?Here sweetie.? Jasmine took the glass of milk from her mother and sipped it. ?Yuck, it tastes funny.? After she finished her milk she placed the glass on the table near by her and lied down on sofa. She was tossing and turning to acquire a comfortable position to rest her body in. in the matter of few seconds she got up sat straight and started crying. ?Mommy, mommy I think I am going to throw up.? Sonia came running to Jasmine picked her up and ran to the bathroom. ? Here why don't you try throwing up now Jasmine stood there crying because she was very uncomfortable. She was trying to throw up, but she couldn't. ?Stop crying, Mommy is right here. Don't worry, you will be just fine.? After struggling a little, jasmine finally threw up. She threw up all over her clothes and toilet seat. There were little pieces of chewed hamburger and fries that she ate at McDonalds earlier. There was chewed up food floating in the toilet. Sonia took off jasmine's clothes and turned on the shower for her. Jasmine was very skinny and tall like her mother. One could count her ribs by just looking at her. She had beautiful dark face, big black eyes, and long beautiful black hair. While lifting jasmine to put her in the shower, Sonia realized that jasmine had very high fever. ?Oh my god! You are burning.? ?I need to take you to the doctor right away.? She glanced at the clock. It was 3.30 p.m. it was very cold outside and was starting to get dark. ?Let me call your father, and tell him that I am taking you to the doctor.? She picked up the phone and dialed ? Hi Ronny.? ?Hey, what's up ?Jasmine has a very high fever, and she just threw up. I am taking her to city hospital, do you think you can come there too ?I am working till eight today.? ?I think you will be back home by the time I leave here.? Before Sonia said anything Ronny said, ?But please call me and let me know what doctor said.? Sonia took Jasmine out of the shower and dressed her. Both jasmine and Sonia put on their jackets and left the house to go to the city hospital. The hospital was only few minutes away from the house and Sonia had been there a few times before. When Sonia reached the hospital, she glanced at her watch. It was 4.30pm and it was dark outside. ?Oh! I hate coming to city hospitals, now we will have to wait good few hours before we see a doctor.? She said to herself. She opened the door to the emergency room and stepped inside with jasmine. The whole scene of the emergency room scared Jasmine. A middle aged Hispanic man with a broken arm, and an old women breathing heavily like she

Book Response Proof Sheet Essays - English-language Films

Book Response Proof Sheet Essays - English-language Films Ice Book Response Proof Sheet Title: Ice Genre: adventure Plot: Chrissy always thought of her father as the greatest superhero on Earth. Unfortunately she hadnt seen him for the last three years and since her mother refused to discuss anything about his disappearance Chrissy pretty much refused any contact with her mother. Not knowing what to do, Chrissys mother sends her out to the country to live with her grandmother, fathers mother, hoping that shell open up and start living normally. At first Chrissy hated the idea of having to go live away from New York where shed grown up, but later on she took it as an opportunity to further explore her fathers mysterious disappearance. However, after living at grandmas for a few days she realized that grandma wasnt gonna be of any more help than her mom was. Therefore Chrissy decided to slowly explore the house and search for any clues to her destination. While living out in the country slowly she started to like the surroundings and even managed to meet a few friends, including a neighborhood guy she dev eloped feelings for. She found letters and pictures that lead her to believe that her father was still alive but she never had any proof. Finally one day after almost losing her granddaughter, Chrissys grandma decided to spill the truth. In deed Chrissys dad was still alive, however he was in prison. Characters: Chrissy plays a role of a very quiet shy thirteen-year-old girl. Most of her insecurity came because she believed that her father leaving her was her fault. Ever since her dad left shes been trying out new things that scared her, but she just though that maybe her dad would like her better if she was more risk-taking. She tries to understand her grandmother as much and she can and help her out with all the work in the country. Even though her father had recommended to Chrissys grandma never to take her to visit him at prison, Chrissy was able to convince grandma otherwise because she just needed to tell her dad all that she had though and concluded over the years he was gone. Mostly she wanted to let him know that no matter how much it hurts her that he just disappeared all of a sudden and never wrote to her, she still loves him. Chrissys grandma is a typical old-fashioned caring woman. She guides Chrissy through steps to becoming a responsible young girl who will make her life out to be better than her fathers. She creates rules for Chrissy to follow in the house and doesnt ease up after a few complaints from her granddaughter. She always tried to do what she thought would hurt Chrissy the least but, in my opinion, she wasnt right to keep the secret about Chrissys dad for that long from Chrissy. Even though grandma was in her retiring years, she helped out others and tried to get as much work done as she could handle. She went to church and donated as much as possible to he charity fund. Her awesome personality helped Chrissy open up and get back to normal life. Passage: Her first thought was NO, but then she remembered the look in dads eyes when she had mentioned to him how afraid she was of roller coasters. Compelling herself, Chrissy clutched her fists around the sled, closed her eyes tightly, and finally pushed her-self off the hill. Gliding thorough the air, even though scared to death, all that managed to go through her mind was, I wish daddy was here. I wish he could see me now, see that Im not just a scared little girl, but that I can be brave if he wants me to. This passage was one of the most touching in the whole book to me because it explains how much Chrissy misses her dad and at the same time blames herself for his disappearance. I cant relate to her thoughts but I can remember that when I was younger my mission in life was to make mommy and daddy proud of me. I cant imagine how hard it is for kids to grow up without both parents. This passage just helped me understand the

The First Great Compromise in US History Research Paper

The First Great Compromise in US History - Research Paper Example The answer to the deadlock came from Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut. Delegates and the media referred to the proposal as the Connecticut Compromise while others called it the Great Compromise. It was the brainchild of the existing federal government. The Congress would have two houses namely, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The population of each state would determine the number of members in the House of Representatives. On the other hand, each state would send two members to the Senate. State legislators received the powers to elect the Senators. Somehow, Sherman gave delegates what they wanted. Whereas large states got more members in the House of Representatives, small states got equal representation in the Senate. The writing and creation of bills became a preserve of the House of Representatives in the Congress, something that made large states happy. Small states derived further satisfaction from the fact that the Senate became officially, The Upper Ho use. The Biggest problem came from the powers of the Presidency. Resistance came from Anti-Federalists. The terminology Anti-federalists referred to a group of people who opposed the ratification of the constitution vehemently. This coalition of people continues to remain subservient to the Federalists. This is despite the fact that the group had famous political leaders in national politics. Anti-federalists were very popular towards the end of the eighteenth century. The same time the people of America were struggling to promulgate their supreme law. This source clearly indicates that the leading pack of this team included among others James Winthrop a delegate from Massachusetts, George Mason, who hailed from Virginia, as well as Patrick Henry a representative from Virginia as well, in addition to the New York representative, Melanchthon Smith1.

Religion and Prison System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religion and Prison System - Essay Example The current prison and jail population in recent times has shown a substantial rise of over two million. America undoubtedly leads the world in terms of number of imprisoned population and that is a disgrace. USA prison system has made millions lives to live constantly under the threat of torture. This is precisely true for the 6.9 million individuals in USA who are at present imprisoned or some way or the other subject to the USA penal body (Franklin). More insidiously, the prison system has essentially assisted in turning torture into a normal, lawful, and a common part of American culture. Imprisonment can be classified as a form of torture owing to the fact that it is considered as the legal form of both punishment and avoidance. Moreover, the American prison system is typically designed and run to maximize filth, brutality, and punishment. As mentioned by Franklin â€Å"Beatings, electric shock, prolonged exposure to heat and even immersion in scalding water, sodomy with riot b atons, nightsticks, flashlights, and broom handles, shackled prisoners forced to lie in their own excrement for hours or even days, months of solitary confinement, rape and murder by guards or prisoners instructed by guards† (Franklin) are very common within the closed walls of the American prison.... Christianity does not provide an easy answer to the viability of torture that is practiced by mankind. It does provide a sense of hope about something that Christians should respect and consider even more than their individual and national security. Due to the fact that the portrayal of the black sites are as elusive as attempts to define their legal status, a chronology from the past eight years of information pertinent to them can efficiently aid in understanding the phenomenon of the black sites. It is true that the black sites function beyond the jurisdiction of international and even, for all intents and purposes the American law. However, the way in which they do so is dependent and logically coherent with the divisions of power and accountability between various government agencies and departments-in particular, the pentagon, FBI, and CIA. The black sites are on the fringe of places that common man is able to see, but are cordoned off by essential makeshift legal fences. After the incident of 9/11, the CIA was ordered to operate and carry on their procedures without any legal restraints. By late 2001, empowered to act without restraints, the CIA fell short of places to hide their high valued detainees. Again the additional freedom that was granted to CIA instigated a desire to acquire greater control over their investigation without any sort of external indulgence. Due to this, the government of United States of America allotted millions of dollars to construct private prisons that were exclusively meant for the CIA. These private prisons are known as black sites. The first known and prominent black site was constructed in Kabul on an old factory site named as the ‘salt pit’. In the

Coursework Critical Analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critical Analysis - Coursework Example This is due to rapid increase in refugee numbers and interference with relief supply routes. This has resulted in malnutrition in the camp that is threatening to reach critical levels. Obviously the methods mentioned above are best applied to children below the age of 12. It is quite ambitious to target the entire population with anthropometric measurements but this is not the best approach. First of all, the method is quite disruptive and is akin to bring all the activities in the camp to a halt as the entire population is targeted. Taking samples of the children will live adults especially en, to go on with their lives as best they can. Secondly, children are a good indicator of the levels of malnutrition since they are usually the worst affected exhibiting symptoms that are not very manifest in adults as they have not fully developed immunity to basic health problems. For instance, adults have stores of body protein in the labile amino acid pool which is primarily used as energy when the individual is starving. Such storage is very minimal or nonexistent in children (Rowett, 2010). It is inevitable that anthropometric methods will need to be employed to determine how acute the situation is for government interventions. Given the situation, the most effective measurement that can be used is the Middle-Upper Arm Circumference [Muac] to establish the level of malnutrition in the camp (Mother Child Nutrition, 2010). Using other methods such as the Body Mass Index (BMI); which estimate nutritional health by calculating the body weight of an individual divided by the square of his height; is not reliable in this case since it is limited to adults. The method is not directly applied to children since they are still growing and have thus not attained their full height. As indicated earlier, children are usually the most affected by malnutrition in any given population hence this method would leave them out

Foucaults Analysis Of Power

Foucaults Analysis Of Power For Foucault, knowledge ceases to be about liberation and becomes a mode of surveillance, regulation and discipline. Examine this statement in relation to Foucaults analysis of power. The issue of power is a topic which has perplexed not only many Sociologists, but certainly many scholars within the field of Philosophy, Psychology and indeed many others. The Sociologist most noted with this theory is Michel Foucault. Foucault gave a comprehensive and in depth analysis of power, which we will discuss later. However, before we do, we must look at the life of Foucault, as to gain a better understanding of his works. Paul-Michel Foucault, a French Philosopher, Historian and Sociologist lived from October 1926- June 1984. He held the title History of Systems of thought at the notably prestigious College de France, as well as lecturing at the University of Buffalo and the University of Berkley, one of Americas most famous institutions. He refused time and time again to call himself a post-modernist, although he was highly influenced by post-modernist thought. He is most publically recognised for his critical studies of Social Institutions, with particular emphasis on medicine, psychiatry and the human sciences. His work on Power, Knowledge and Discourse has become the topic of much discussion, and has been taken up by many other key thinkers. During the 1960s, Foucault was associated with the structural movement, however he tried to distance himself from this. He preferred to think of himself as a pupil forwarding the Enlightenment views of Kant, trying to show that a side about individual liberty could be applied to improve the Enlightenment theory. According to Giddens, The study of power- how individuals and groups achieve their ends as against those of others- is of fundamental importance in Sociology. Classical thinkers, such as Karl Marx and Max Weber, placed importance on this theory, with Foucault building upon their foundations of theory. Unlike many before him, Foucault saw power as not being concentrated in the hands of the few in one place. Foucault showed in his complex writings that power could be found in all social relationships and not just in the hands of States. However, much of his work is spent showing the ways in which the States exercise their power over the populations. For Foucault, power is ultimately linked with knowledge; they exist because of one another. Therefore, the States power then extends from the development of new types of Knowledge. With the emergence of these, society is able to collect more information about the population and thus control it better. Power, however, whilst restricting people, can also enable them to do things. Power can also only operate if society has a certain amount of freedom, as society tries to restrict, people often try, and succeed, in slipping from its grasp. Foucaults early work on Madness and Civilisation (1967) described how, by the Eighteenth Century, unemployment, poverty and madness started to be seen as social problems by the States. Before this, the mad were free from state intervention, and were allowed to wander as they liked in rural areas; or they were put to sea in ships of fools. However, these became replaced with areas of confinement, such as madhouses, where they became isolated and separated from the rest of civilisation. According to Foucault, this was due to the European culture with a sense of responsibility for these social problems. A duty of responsibility was formed for the mad. However, by the 19th Century, these methods of separating groups was seen as being a mistake. New methods were developed to separate the different groups. Psychiatry began to take off, and became a new means by which to categorise people, for example, as being mad or suffering from some form of illness. As this happened, the discourse of the social sciences came to be involved in power relationships. Maden Sarup (1988) argued that the term discourse as used by Foucault, meant practices that systematically form the object of which they speak. According to this then, the development of psychiatric theories created mental illness. It was a discourse used to control certain groups within the population. This technique became crucial in the States gradual development of administration. The term administration allowed monitoring and possible control over people and their behaviour. However, according to Foucault, it was not just a straight forward power held by the state. Rather, it allowe d power relationships on an individual level, for example, between a psychiatrist and a patient. In Foucaults later work, Discipline and Punish (1975), he explored these themes in much more depth. Foucault begins with a very gruesome account of the public execution of Damiens in Paris, 1757. He was, in todays terms, tortured. However, Foucault makes the point that by the late 18th Century the use of public punishment began to dwindle. Punishment became private, rather than public, with the use of better, more efficient methods, for example, hanging. This also saw the implementation of more prison sentences. They obey a strict regime of work, sleep and education. According to Foucault, these changes involved a shift in the practices of punishment. Before the use of prisons, the main focus of punishment was on the pain inflicted to the body. However, the use of prisons focused on punishing the soul. It was to do with a loss of rights now, for example the right to freedom. The almost guarantee of being caught was meant to deter people, rather than the fear of public humiliation whi ch thus had failed. This new method was intended to offer reformation rather than to make the offender suffer. There was, as Foucault made clear no absolute shift in punishment methods, as capital punishment was, as is, still practiced. However, there was a definite shift to the latter method from the former. A change in what exactly was being judged also occurred. Before, it was the act being judged, whereas now it was the type of person they were. Extenuating circumstances were now taken into account. The level of punishment now focused on the motivation behind the crime. As Foucault stated, The question is no longer has the act been established and is it punishable? But also: What is this act, what is this act of violence or this murder? To what level or what field of reality does it belong? These questions could only be answered by a range of specialists, for example, psychiatrists and psychologists. Control became fragmented in this specialist knowledge. Foucault claims A corpus of knowledge, techn iques, and scientific discourses is formed and becomes entangled with the practice of the power to punish. Even as the state developed methods to control people, it gave power to the experts who had the knowledge, thus again proving the link between knowledge and power. However, with the exercise of power and knowledge relationships, Foucault makes the important point that they are not entirely negative. There also exist positive responses to them. It can allow certain things to be achieved. The example Foucault uses is the motivation of workers to become better and improve the labour power that societies may require. Moreover, power is not something possessed by individuals, power is exercised rather than possessed. Also, power can only be used when people have a choice about what to do; and Foucault makes the point that there are extremely few occasions when people will have no choice. Someone would be able to resist by possibly committing suicide, or killing the other, (Foucault 1988). Therefore, it is always possible to resist those exercising power, the result, however, produces an element of uncertainty. Power has the ability to be reversed. He argues à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the fact that I am older and that at first you were intimidated can, in the co urse of the conversation, turn about and it is I who can become intimidated before someone, precisely because he is younger, (Hindess, 1996). In his work on discipline, Foucault again states that power and knowledge are inseparable, We should admit that power produces knowledgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ that power and knowledge directly imply one another; that there is now power relation without correlative constitutions of a field of knowledge, now any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations. Thus, it becomes possible to resist the exertion of power by challenging the knowledge on which it was based. For example, a patient may question a doctors diagnosis, thus challenging the knowledge and overcoming the power of the doctors expertise. Because each implies the other, power relationships can be seen in all aspects of society. They are not just seen between State and citizen relations, or between classes. Therefore, for Foucault, Marxism is too limited as it only focuses on the power relationships between classes. As the same, Pluralism only focuses on state exerted power. They are inadequat e as they are too narrow, and fail to look at the everyday interactions of people and the commonly used discourses involved therein. Foucault does not believe that power and knowledge is not exercised by the state alone; however that does not imply that he feels they are absent from the state either. Attempts are continually made by Governments and other bodies to control and manipulate behaviours. Sophisticated techniques can be developed to do this, although they are never entirely successful. In his text, Foucault enters into extreme detail about the ways in which states oversee activities involving power and knowledge. He discussed the English philosopher Jeremy Benthams prison design, the Panopticon. It was never fully used, although pieces of the design were incorporated into prison construction. The main feature of this design was a central tower. It allowed the guards to see into any cell at any given time. Back lighting would mean they could observe without the prisoners knowledge; thus forcing them to never misbehave, as they would never know if a guard was looking at them. They would have discipline enforced upon them. For Foucault, discipline was an important feature for modern societies. Surveillance techniques, such as Closed Circuit Television, or CCTV, were used to observe peoples behaviour in public places, thus encouraging a strong regime of self-discipline. People then began to grow accustomed to control their actions, whether being observed or not, the fear was enough. Discipline therefore gives people the power to regulate their own behaviour. This is based on Foucaults notion that we all have a soul, and this can be manipulated. However, what Foucault calls a soul being manipulated, some may argue that it is, in fact, a psychological technique, thus taking the power away from the state and back to the expert psychologist. This notion is more effective, however, than simply inflicting pain. You do not punish the body; rather you produce docile bodies which pose no threat as they are self-disciplined. Discipline plays an important in Governance, however it is also found in many other organisations, and is never truly successful. According to Hindess (1996), the suggestion is, then, that we live in a world of disciplinary projects, all of which suffer from more or less successful attempts at resistance and evasion. The result is a disciplinary, but hardly disciplined society. For Foucault, government goes beyond the activities of state. The pupil who misbehaves or the patient who denies the diagnosis are as much a feature of modern societies as the docile body of a disciplined citizen. In conclusion, Foucaults work provides significant insight into the nature of power. He succeeds in showing how power and knowledge are connected closely. He also shows how power is found in other social relationships other than what involves the government, and demonstrates how power is never likely to be absolute. Furthermore, he successfully shows how people will try to evade any exertion of power onto them. His work is much more subtly done than the theory of some Marxists and Pluralists. However, it can be said that he fails to take into account the importance of some of these theories in relation to power. He neglects the view that power can be exercised in the field of economics, and also neglects the power that the military can exercise. Moreover, Foucault at times seems to contradict himself. He claims that the Governments have an increased ability to surveil and regulate the citizens. However, he then says that power can be exercised when we have some freedom, and that resistance is impossible. These statements would seem to be at opposite ends of the pole. Furthermore, Foucaults definition is much different than that of, for example, the sociologist Max Weber, who asserts that power is exercised because we do not have freedom to act as we chose to do rather than as we are told to do. However, Foucault does certainly offer an alternative idea which is provocative in the field of research. He uses a very intriguing analysis of how States develop techniques of social control.

Essay --

One group of people that are accused of killing the president are the Cubans. The Warren Commission found â€Å"dozens of allegations of a conspiratorial contact between Oswald and agents of the Cuban Government† but they did not find any indication showing that Cuba was a part of the murder of the president. However, conspiracy theorists often accuse Fidel Castro of organizing the murder of Kennedy in revenge for the CIA trying to kill him. Basically, the Cubans were trying to kill Kennedy because the CIA plotted to assassinate Fidel Castro all the way back to 1960. Furthermore, on separate occasions, Lyndon Johnson expressed to two major television men that he assumed Castro had prepared the president’s elimination in vengeance for the CIA's efforts to execute Castro. Finally, in 1971, Johnson told his former writer, who operated with Time Magazine, that he never believed Oswald was the lone gunman. In 1975, Clare Luce, the spouse of a Time reporter, said that on the evening of the killing, she got a call from a representative of a commando group. According to her, a man by the name of Julio Fernandez expressed to her that Oswald had communicated with his group in an effort to help kill Castro. He further claimed that he and his contacts discovered that Oswald was a communist and a follower of Castro. Finally, according to Luce, he told her that there was an assassination team that had Oswald as their gunman. Another tie to the JFK assassination was the mafia. The reason why this group stood out was because Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald, was tied to the mafia. Ruby established close ties to many Dallas police officers that visited his nightclubs. Here he entertained them with large amounts of alcohol and women. This made the officers... ...y things wrong with what the Secret Service did on the horrible day of Kennedy’s assassination. First, they testified that president Kennedy had not been given enough protection in Dallas. Second, the Secret Service had information that was not properly examined or inspected by the Secret Service connecting to the Kennedy's trip to Dallas. Finally, the Secret Service agents in the motorcade were ill equipped to shield the president from a gunman. The HSCA specifically noted that the agent in the right front seat of the president’s limousine did not engage the president when he was shot. He should have covered Kennedy’s body in this case. Furthermore, they specified that the main purpose of the agent was to remain in close vicinity to the President at all times in case of disaster. This caused controversy and sparked ideas of conspiracy that could have been involved.

Romeo and Juliet Rough Draft(Why Romeo Is Most Infleuntial Towards Other Characters)

Romeo and Juliet In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet made decisions that lead to them both dying, which they could have avoided. Romeo causes Mercutio’s death by trying to stop Tybalt and Mercutio from fighting. â€Å"I am hurt. A plague o’ both houses! I am sped. † Mercutio says this after Romeo intervenes and causes Tybalt to stab Mercutio. He curses them by plaguing both houses, causing bad luck. Mercutio then dramatically shouts his death by saying, â€Å"I am sped. † â€Å"Romeo attempts to beat down their rapiers. Tybalt stabs Mercutio. This quote describes Romeo attempting to stop Tybalt and Mercutio from fighting. Tybalt then in result of Romeo intervening, stabs Mercutio. These kinds of evidence clearly states how greatly influential Romeo is to the other characters and the outcome of the play. Romeo left before the messenger gets there, so he did not know about the plan, therefore causing his and Juliet’s death. â€Å"Thy drug s are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. † Romeo hears about Juliet’s death but not the plan. So to join her in her death, he drinks a poison potion and kills himself.He kisses Juliet before he dies thinking he died in peace with her. â€Å"This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die. † After seeing Romeo lying there dead, Juliet first tries to lick up and poison remaining on Romeo’s lips. Since there is nothing left, she turns to a rusted sword to stab herself and join him. Now, Romeo causes Juliet’s real death by drinking that potion, thinking that he’s joined her. So, Romeo influenced Juliet and him to make bad decisions, partly based on insufficient knowledge.

Chrysalids essays

Chrysalids essays The Chrysalids is a science fictional book of suspense, irony and pathos. The six main characters in the novel are David Strorm, Joseph Strorm, Gordon Strorm, Petra Strorm, Rosalind, and Sealand woman. They have different situations and different opinions in the story which adds more suspense and keeps the reader interested right to the least page. In this novel the differences between people are not physical but mental as well. The novel's narrator is a left-handed, brown haired man called David, one of the chrysalids. When he was small, he sometimes dreamed of a city that was different from Waknuk. David has the power to communicate with his mind and it is called thought-shapes. However, he is unable to communicate with everyone by using thought-shapes. He can only communicate with people who have telepathic power. On the other hand, he lives in a world where people think of themselves as normal and the Norms try to destroy those who are abnormal. He makes friends with Sophie, the mutant, when he was ten. He keeps her as a secret but is still afraid that her secret will be revealed one day. Nevertheless, she still goes out to the Fringe because Alan Ervin discovers Sophie has six toes and goes telling David's father and the inspector. At the end of the story, David, Rosalind and the people who have telepathic powers es cape to the Fringe. Finally, the Sealand woman save them from the war between Waknuk and Fringe, and lead them to the new place. When they arrived in Sealand, it just looks like David's dream. His dream finally comes true when he is eighteen years old. Joseph Strorm is David's father and the leading figure in Waknuk. His father, Elias Strorm, is a founder of Waknuk. He dislikes his father and does not want to repeat his father's mistake, so he marries Emily Morton after his father's death. In his situation, he tried to destroy those who are abnormal because he thinks that the mutant will bring the evil to...

Optimum Dividend Policy The WritePass Journal

Optimum Dividend Policy INTRODUCTION Optimum Dividend Policy INTRODUCTIONTESCO PLCAPPLE INCORPORATIONDIVIDEND AND DIVIDEND POLICYTHEORIES OF DIVIDEND POLICYDIVIDEND IRRELEVANCE THEORYDIVIDEND RELEVANCE THEORYRESIDUAL THEORYZERO DIVIDEND POLICYCONCLUSIONREFERENCERelated INTRODUCTION It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the significance of dividend policy, considering the fact that payment of dividend reduces earnings available for investment and increase external financing for investment purpose. Most households, investors and pensioners rely heavily on the dividends from their investments to make ends meet. A lot of theories have emerged regarding the dividend decisions made by companies. While some are of the opinion that the choice of dividend is irrelevant to the value of shareholder wealth, provided all retained earnings are invested in projects that give a positive net present value, others held the view that the capital structure decision is relevant as the cost of loan capital is cheaper than that of equity and as such advocates external source of financing as oppose to the use of dividends. This report will therefore examine some of the theories on dividend policies using five year dividend policy of Tesco Plc and Apple Incorporation. TESCO PLC Tesco is a retail store whose head office is in United Kingdom.   It has an unrivalled FTSE 100 record of increasing dividend for the 26th consecutive year. Its major shareholders as at July 2010 are Blackrock Inc which owns 5.24%, Legal general Investment Management Limited which owns 3.71% of the issued share capital of the company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 3.02% (Annual report, 2010, pp. 1-3 45). Tesco Plc final dividend payout extracted from the annual reports between 2006 to 2010 is: YEAR:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  2006  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2010 DIVIDEND (pence):  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6.10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6.83  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   7.70  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   8.39  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   9.16 APPLE INCORPORATION Apple is an American multinational corporation incorporated in 1977 which manufactures computers, computer accessories and mobile phones. In 1980, the company went public, selling 4.6 million shares at a price of $22 per share and closing at $29. (CNET news, 1997). The company does not pay dividends despite its continuous increase in shares arising from the success in new products lunch. Below gives an overview of Apple dividend history. Year  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2006  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      2005 Dividends  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  $0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $0 Price  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $170.31   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $110.99   $198.08  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $84.84  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   $0 Estimated EPS (year)   $5.84, Estimated EPS (quarter)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $1.38 Estimated EPS Growth 18.58%, Payout Ratio  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0.00%. DIVIDEND AND DIVIDEND POLICY Dividend is a cash payment made to shareholders on a quarterly or twice in a year basis based on the amount of shares held and dependent upon the dividend policy adopted by the company.   It is normally paid to every shareholder at the record date and can be either in cash or reinvested into the business to generate capital gains (Atrill and McLaney, 2008, pp. 138-139). They are paid out of profit after deducting interest and tax liabilities and the Company Act 1985 makes it mandatory for companies to pay dividend out of accumulated net realised profit, taking into consideration any accumulated loss according to Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (Watson and Head, 2007, p.84). Dividend can be also in the form of bonus shares whereby instead of shareholders receiving cash as dividend, they receive additional share known as script dividend (Atrill, 2009, p. 365). Some companies like Google and Apple have a zero-dividend stock while others like Tesco Inc pays dividend. THEORIES OF DIVIDEND POLICY There is increasing pressure for companies to cut dividend in order to finance projects that gives a positive net present value using retained earnings which is a major source of finance for companies in the United Kingdom (Watson and Head, 2007, p. 285). Retained earnings are being used because there are no issue costs involve and are quick to raise (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 556). However, the decision of a company to use retained earnings to finance its investments will be dependent on the attitude of shareholders and capital market to a reduction in dividend, availability and cost of external sources of finance and amount of fund require relative to the available distributable profits (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 285). The following are some of the dividend policy theories that will be discussed in this report. DIVIDEND IRRELEVANCE THEORY This theory was pioneered by Modigliani and Miller in 1961. It argued that in a perfect capital market where there is the absence of transaction costs, taxation and market imperfections, shareholders are concerned with increase in wealth and will be indifference to whether the increase is a result of capital gain or dividend (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 556). To an investor, whether a firm pays dividend or not should make no difference to the value of the firm and it does not counts whether it is paid out as dividend or reinvested to yield a capital gain as dividend policy does not have any effect on share price (Chiang et al, 2006, pp.6413). This supports Human Resource Director of Aspire Plc   of one dividend policy being as good as another as it has no effect on share price. Thus a company can choose to pay any amount of dividend and use retained earnings to finance projects that have positive net present value and maintain that shareholders who invest in a financial geared business will want a return that is the same with the return they will get from investing in a similar business that is ungeared and that returns the shareholders require from borrowing will remain unchanged with increase in levels of borrowing (Atrill, 2009, p. 344). Their argument is founded on the assumption that having a good security for the loans will prevent lenders from seeking additional returns. Modigliani and Miller fail to realised that human nature being naturally selfish and the business environment being chaotic, complex and unpredictable will make lenders seek higher returns so as to safe guard against such risk as global recession. Investors suffered dividend cuts with investments worth billions reduced to nothing in the wake of the financial crisis which were not matched by a reciprocal austerity on the part of investment bankers (Jones, 2011). Shareholders will require higher return due to the risk, inflation and interest.   Moreover, their argument is founded on three assump tions of an ‘ideal business world’ devoid of share issue costs, market imperfections, transaction costs and taxation whereas in reality, these exist. A perfect market assumption of market prices not being influenced by a single seller or buyer (Hussainey et al, 2011, p.59) is unlikely to hold. The financial markets operate in a chaotic and unpredicted world and in reality, costs like agency, bankruptcy, and transaction costs are incurred when investors buy or sell their shares and tax will be charged as well as inflation (Abor and Bokpin, 2010, p. 180). Moreover, monopoly exists where a single seller can influence price. The ongoing war in Libya for instance has led to a large increase in fuel price all around the world (Barbajosa, 2011). However, the third assumption of no taxation will hold to a great extent giving that the United Kingdom no taxation rule on capital gains below  £9200 applies, whereas all dividends are tax charged (Atrill, 2009, p. 372). The tax pos ition of an investor to a great extent will determine whether they prefer a capital gain to dividend and vice versa and shareholders will invest in companies whose dividend policies are in line with their investment needs DIVIDEND RELEVANCE THEORY This theory propounded by Lintner (1956) and Gordon (1959) is founded on the assumption that a shareholder will prefer to receive a dividend payment which is certain as oppose to investing the same amount in an investment whose value is not certain corroborating the point made by Aspire Plc Director of Operations that a known dividend now is preferred by shareholders to an uncertain capital gain in the future. This is similar to the bird in the hand dividend theory which says that a bird (dividend) in hand is worth more than two (capital gains) in the bush. Giving that future cash flows are uncertain, an investor will prefer dividends to retained earnings (Hussainey, 2011, p. 59). It therefore maintained that dividends are preferred to capital gains as a result of shareholders being risk averse. Some of their arguments is founded on the assumptions that dividends are a signal to shareholders and investors about the prospects of a company. This arises as a result of the asymmetry of i nformation between shareholders and managers (Alnold, 2007, p. 429). Thus shareholders see dividend as a means of passing across information to them as to the well being of their investments. A rise in dividend to the shareholder is a sign that the company has good prospects and share price tends to rise while a cut in dividend signals a poor performance (Tse, 2005, p. 14). Share prices thus go up when there is increase in dividend and go down when there is a cut in dividend and market makes use of announcement of changes in dividend payments in assessing the value of a security (Tse, 2005, p.14 in Pettit (1972). A pitfall of this notion is that an increase in dividend may implies that the company is short of positive net present value projects to invest in or has weak investments opportunities and as a result dispense cash out as dividend to shareholders (Baker and Wurgler, 2004, p. 1128). Apple does not pay dividend partly because of a similar reason that dividend payments give a negative perception that the company has run out of investments opportunities and as such will not grow much more (Elmer-Dewitt, 2010). Alternatively, companies with zero dividend shares like Berkshire Hathaway face a dilemma as to how to convey information about current performance and future prospects of the company if dividends are a means of passing on such information to the shareholders. Although investors invest in companies for various reasons, while some rely on dividend as a source of regular income like the pensioner and institutional investors who rely on dividend payments to meet various obligations and needs to meet, others prefer capital gains. However, like the argument put forward by the Sales Director of Aspire Plc that dividend policy should be structured to suit the type of shareholders a company has and dividend paid according to their needs,   company dividend policy should be drafted base on the company’s clientele (shareholders) base and their needs or income requirements. Aspire Plc shareholders are majorly individuals, pension funds and insurance companies having total shares holdings of 66.7%, giving the obvious that the company’s majority clientele base is mainly shareholders who have liabilities to meet and would therefore prefer that dividend be paid as against having them invested for capital gains which a unit and investment fund company will have a preference for. Regardless of the fact that shareholders want dividends paid to meet obligations and income needs, they are also interested in the growth of the company. In dispensing cash as dividends to shareholders or reinvesting to yield a capital gain, a company should also consider shareholders tax preference. While some shareholders want dividends, they do not want the tax liability that comes with it. The United Kingdom tax law exempt capital gains below  £9200 whereas dividends are taxable. As a result, shareholders will want to delay dividend being paid to them to take advantage of this exemption. Similarly, if there is share appreciation, the tax benefits of deferring capital gains into the future may outweigh the cost of paying a higher tax rate on a relatively small dividend (Whitworth and Zhang, 2010, p.681). In an attempt to send a positive signal about future prospects of a company, company pays dividend despites its tax disadvantages. The cost of this signalling is that cash dividends are taxed higher than capital gains. While some investors would rather have capital gains to cut down on tax impact, others may prefer dividends beca use they prefer immediate cash in hand (Hussainey, 2011, p.60). RESIDUAL THEORY The theory which share a similar view with Modigliani and Miller’s except that it recognises issue costs but there is no taxation and market imperfections and argued that though dividend are important, the pattern is not. It further reiterates that a firm should pay dividend from cash remaining after investing in net positive value projects. The problem is how an investor knows that a company is investing in projects that will enhance the value of a company due to the asymmetry of information between management and investors or shareholders?. Payments of dividend is a means by which managers signal the true value of the firm and communicate insider information about the company to the shareholders (Tse, 2005, p.13). It brings about the issue of agency as an investor cannot tell that his or her dividend accrued to him or her has been reinvested in positive or negative net present value projects or used by the directors to pursue their own interest of empire building to the detr iment of investors. A typical example is Enron Corporation that has its managers claimed to have been reinvesting shareholders money and creating value through acquisition of over forty one companies, investments worth billions of dollars   and increase in share price from $57.10 to $90.56 within 1998 by cooking fraudulent accounting information which the shareholders relied on. Its pre-initial public offering shares went from $10 million to $372 million within a day. It was soon discovered that the managers indulged in creative accounting to hide losses worth about $35 billion and had overstated income by $586 million. The share price went from $90.56 to $8.40 and subsequently to 61 cents (Gini et al, 2009, pp.110-114). Shareholders of firms can thus avoid incurring agency costs by reducing the cash available to the shareholders through the demand for dividend to reduce excess free cash flow. (ACCA F9, 2010, pp. 375-376) and (Hussainey, 2011, p. 60). ZERO DIVIDEND POLICY Some companies adopted a zero dividend policy whereby they do not pay dividends to their shareholders rather plough the cash back into the business to generate future capital gains. Companies such as Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Apple, and Microsoft until recently do not pay dividends.   Apple do not pay dividend despite its holdings in cash and marketable securities which have grown from $24.5 billion to $46 billion. Its Chief executive Officer had said that the company has no plans of paying dividend in the near future. The company believes that cash hoard is a fast and easy means of financing investments projects such as acquisition, Research and Development in new products and put the company in less fewer risks by using retained earnings as opposed to external sources of finance to avoid exposing the entire company to risk (Ghosh, 2011). This may be due to the fact that the company’s major shareholders are co-founder Steve Jobs, who owns more than 5.5 million shares, App le engineer and vice president Sina Tamaddon with 290,000 shares, and retail chief Ron Johnson with 232,000 shares. Other shareholders are institutional and Mutual Fund Holders. However, as of April 2009, more than 71 percent of Apples stock was owned by institutions and mutual funds with the largest institutional stock holder being FMR LLC, with 39.2 million shares, followed by Barclays Global Investors with 37 million. The top mutual fund holder is The Growth Fund of America with 24.1 million shares. In July 2009, the companys stock was trading at $142.40 per share (Desjardins, 2011). This goes to show that 71% of its shareholders are mutual fund trusts who do not have immediate pressing needs to meet and would therefore prefer a capital gain to dividend, hence the use of retained earnings by Apple to finance its business. Also, giving the nature of Apple’s business, the company needs to invest in research and development which most times takes years for a breakthrough to m anifest. Apple would have also chosen not to pay dividend due to failure of who had almost $60-billion of cash on the balance sheet, from which they used about $32-billion to make a special one-time dividend in 2004. Microsoft’s share chart showns that its share price has gone nowhere in ten years. Not even a number of stock buybacks have helped push up the stock price. Also, Cisco Systems announcement to start paying a dividend had its shares plunged from almost $70 in 2000 to just above $20 no, while Apple shares have skyrocketed from $7 per share in 2003 to more than $333 currently (Ghosh, 2011). CONCLUSION REFERENCE ABOR, J AND BOKPIN, G,A. 2010. Investment opportunities, corporate finance, and dividend payout policy: Evidence from emerging markets. Studies in economics and Finance, 27 (3), pp.180-195). ATRILL, P AND MCLANEY, E. 2008. Accounting   and Finance for Non-Specialists. 6th edn. England: Pearson Education. ATRILL, P. 2009. Financial Management for Decision Makers. 5th edn. England:   Pearson Education. Apple, Inc. (AAPN) Dividend Summary [WWW] (dividendinformation.com/AAPL_dividends (May 2011). ALNOLD, G. 2007. Corporate Financial Management. England: Pearson Education Limited. ACCA, F9. 2010. Financial Management: Complete text-December 2010. Berkshire: Kaplan Publishing UK. Barbajosa, A. 2011. Analysis: U.S. leverage to crimp Iranian oil exports fades. [WWW] reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/businesspro-us-iran-oil-leveage- (May 2 2011). BAKER, M   AND WURGLER, J. 2004. A catering theory of dividend. The Journal of Finance, LIX (3), pp. 1125-1166. CHIANG,K, FRANKFURTER,G.M, KOSEDAG, A, AND WOOD JR,B,G. 2006. The perception of dividends by professional investors. Manageria Finance [Online Journal], 32 (1), pp. 60-81. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=The+perception+of+dividends+by++professional+investorsct=allec=1bf=1go=Go (April 22 2011). COLLINS, D. 2006. Enron: the good, the bad and the really ugly. In: GINI, A and MARCOUK, A.M. Case studies in business ethics. 6th.Edn. London: Pearson prentice Hall, pp. 104-115. (CNET news, 1997). http://news.cnet.com/2009-1001-201295.html DESJARDINS, D. 2011. Who Owns the Apple Computer Company? [WWW] ehow.com/about_5143792_owns-apple-computer-company.html (April 25 2011). ELMER-DEWITT, P. 2010. Why Steve Jobs doesnt Pay Dividends. [WWW] http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/08/13/why-steve-jobs-doesnt-pay-dividends/ (April 12 2011). GHOSH, P. 2011. Why doesn’t Apple pay a dividend? [WWW] ibtimes.com/articles/98718/20110107/why-doesn-t-apple-pay-a-dividend.htm (April 12 2011). HUSSAINEY, K, MGBAME,C. O AND MGBAME, A.M. 2011. Dividend policy and share price volatility: UK evidence. The Journal of Risk Finance [Online Journal], 12 (1), pp. 57-68. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=Dividend+policy+and+share+price+volatility%3A+UK+evidencect=allec=1bf=1go=Go (April 15 2011). JONES, A. 2011.   Barclays must   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Clear Mists for Investors [WWW] ft.com/cms/s/0/8bdc54f6-70f4-11e0-962a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Lnlyn0w7 (May 8 2011) TSE, C. 2005. Use dividends to signal or not: an examination of the UK payout patterns. Managerial Finance. 31 (4), pp. 12-33. Tesco Major shareholders tescoplc.com/plc/ir/financials/shareholders/ 9/5/11 TESCO. 2010. Annual Report. WATSON, D AND HEAD, A.   2007. Corporate Finance. 4th edn. England: Pearson Education Limited. WHITWORTH, J AND ZHANG,Y.2010. Accrued capital gains and ex-dividend day pricing. Managerial Finance Vol. 36 No. 8, 2010 pp. 680-702

Does my team achieve high performance team Essay

Does my team achieve high performance team - Essay Example Communication is the most important criteria of a High Performance Team (HPT). â€Å"In order to be able to function as an efficient team, you need to develop effective team communication† (Anderson 2013). At the beginning of the semester, we had very few group meetings, and this negatively affected my group. The lack of communication made everyone not focus on a common purpose. Additionally, some members did not show respect to others’ opinions because they thought that their opinions were best. Thus, my group decided to solve this problem by scheduling regular meetings so that everyone could share their thoughts and get to know each other well. Communication was very important, and after we solved this problem my group began to show respect to others because they understood each other’s situations much. Through this we were able to achieve the team’s goals in a much more efficient way. Communication led my group to focus on a common purpose. This was very important because the group members needed to know where they were going. Having a common purpose made everyone work collectively to accomplish the team’s ultimate goal and not each individual’s goal. After group discussion we agreed to set up a goal that we should all receive an A for the group work. Furthermore,, we resolved to give others feedback if they were not working for the group’s goals. A common purpose made my group into a high performance team because everyone worked together for one mission. My group also had high self-motivation, which led us to being a high performance team. Self-motivation is very important because everyone became motivated to show professionalism in their work and be punctual always. In this semester, there were many things that occurred within our lives and classes. Sometimes we were not motivated because one group member received a bad grade, but we frequently motivated each other if we realized that one of the group members lost their motivation to

The Stranger - Orson Welles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Stranger - Orson Welles - Essay Example Classic film noir was developed during and after World War II, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion (Film Noir). The plot of the film follows the pattern usually set for the noir type, that is, the presence of a disillusioned male character and a femme fatale who leads him to his eventual destruction. The lead character is Franz Kindler, played by Welles, who is a Nazi organizer and leader who is supposedly the brains behind the Nazi torture camps. Kindler has gone incognito in a quiet town in New England, and is now a professor at the university. He has also changed his name to Charles Rankin, and nobody knows about his dark past. To make this disguise more legitimate, he has agreed to wed Mary, the daughter of the town’s Supreme Court justice. Unfortunately Wilson knows that Rankin/Kindler is in hiding, so they allow Meinike, Rankin/Kindler’s subordinate, to escape from prison to lead the trail towards the latter’s ulti mate capture. Eventually, Rankin/Kindler’s identity is revealed and the chase between Wilson and Rankin/Kindler leads up to the climax at the clock tower where a tragedy gets to be witnessed by the whole town. The classic film noir tone pervades entirety of the movie. Apart from the black-and-white motif of the film, the majority of the scenes being serious, the characters conversing about humorless topics, there is a general atmosphere of gloom and apprehension that can be felt while watching the film. The crime and drama genre of the movie, plus the suspenseful scenes while Wilson was chasing Rankin/Kindler, also added to the mounting tension and apprehension on the part of the viewer. And then again, Rankin/Kindler’s link to the Nazis and his being a truly violent man behind that innocent face also increases the anticipation in the film. There, at the back of one’s mind are the questions that lurk: â€Å"How will this film end? How will Rankin kill them? Or will he be the one killed? What will triumph – good or evil?† among others. After all, it was only in the later part of the film that Rankin shows his true personality to his wife Mary when he was surprised that she was still alive after he planned her death at the clock tower. It is worth mentioning that the frequent reference to the clock and time are symbolic of the remaining amount of time that the lead character had, and that his evil ways would soon be over. This is further emphasized by the way that Rankin was pierced on his abdomen by the angel’s statue on the clock tower while it was revolving around its usual path about the clock tower. The implication is that good still prevails. For a 1946 film, it could be said that Welles did a great job with the mise-en-scene for the major part of the film. There were a variety of frames and shots captured, and it could be said that the composition was balanced for most of the sequences. Welles used wide shots, mid -shots, close-up shots, some cut-ins and cutaway shots too. They were mostly of eye-level angle, although there were also some of low level, high level and bird’s eye view camera shots, like the time the angel’s statue fell from the tower. As Steve-O writes in Noir of the Week, â€Å"The editing during the clock sequence is just amazing.† (The Stranger, (1946)) As is typical of classic film noir, the lighting for most of the scenes was good, except for those which were ominous and involved some evil schemes concerning the lead character. Since there