Thursday, January 30, 2020
The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free
The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay Arthur Miller wrote a play called The Crucible in the early 50s. Even though the text in the play tells the story of some of The Salem Witch Trials, there is evidence which shows that Miller clearly connects his own communist trial by McCarthy to the outrageous trials of the witches. Due to this disgraceful act towards him from the powers within society, Miller decided to write a play to show his own perspective of 1950s society to the people of America. The setting of Act 3 can be interpreted as an attack on the severity of the authorities in Salem and 1950s America. Firstly, at the beginning of Act Three, the stage direction says two high windows. This stage direction is really used just for directors to have a good impression of what the stage should look like from Millers point of view. However, if you examine the whole stage directions carefully, it says that besides the sunlight, the whole room is dark and that the trials are being held in that room. This symbolises that the authorities of Salem are unjust because they believe that what they is doing is holy and just; but they are secretly hiding away from God. The darkness symbolised by the dark room and the light given off by the window, shows that God is present and that they cannot hide from him. The windows being high suggests that God and justice are very hard to reach. This shows that for authority in society to truly reach the holy and just state of existence that they desire, they still have a long way to go. This relates to Millers experience because he was trying to say that America in 1950s was just as corrupt as the witch trials in 1692, therefore saying that since 1692 until 1950 society hasnt moved on to be more fair or more just. Millers attack suggests that there is still a long way to go until society can be truly called fair. Secondly, the way Miller has set out some of the characters such as their language or their tone of voice is also an attack on society. I think this is due to the impressions given off by the characters that most people would usually interpret them as being good people, but Miller shows that they are not. One example is Judge Hathorne. On page sixty-seven he asks Martha how she knows that she is not a witch , this shows that he is trying to trick her in saying the things he wants her to. This shows us that for Hathorne to get what he wants he has to stoop down to a level of trickery, which is very low for a person of his status. This symbolises the fact that the authority are being hypocritical because they do what they are trying to rid society from doing sinful deeds. This point connects with the McCarthy trials of Miller because Judge McCarthy also had to stoop so low, by using threats. Miller had the choice of either naming names or get ruined. Thirdly, I believe that the way some of the people dress also shows how Miller attacks society. This is because Miller wanted us to know how power can corrupt us so he indicated all the sinful people by the clothes they wore and also their clothes showed us how much power they had. One example is again Judge Hathorne. I say this because in the courtroom Hathorne acts as he please due to his awareness that nobody in the court could overthrow him. Miller uses this to try and show the audience how power can cause people to act and abuse it, and even more so if it is supported by everyone in society agreeing with everything Hathorne had to say. Thus showing us that power can be used inefficiently if given to the wrong people. This is a link to Arthur Millers personal experience in the McCarthy trial because he believed that Judge McCarthy let his power get in the way of fairness and justice. The people of America supported McCarthy just like the people of Salem. In the play Miller exposes societys role in helping to condemn people by showing Parris supporting Hathorne. Miller shows that this fed Hathornes ego even more, and therefore Miller seemed to believe that McCarthy was an incompetent person because he abused his power just like Judge Hathorne. This is an attack on society because Miller is saying that society should be even more careful about giving so much power to someone who didnt deserve it. Also he encourages society to consider what they were doing before giving support to someone unworthy and boosting their ego. This courtroom scene presents innocent characters risking their lives in order to tell the truth seems to be an attack on the injustice of Salem as well as of 1950s America. We know this because there is much evidence in this scene to back the point up. One piece of evidence is the statement made by Hale on page seventy-eight where he says there is a prestigious fear in the court. This shows that Hale can see that some injustice is going on and is scared of it. Then when Hale tells Danforth that he is afraid, Danforth replies that there is a prestigious guilt instead and threatens him by asking him if he is afraid to be questioned. Later on Hathornes feeling of intimidation grows so that he becomes angry. This shows injustice and is linked back to my point at the beginning of the paragraph, because all Hale was doing was telling him what he thought was the truth. Danforth seemed like he was being pressurised so he had to use his power to intimidate and threaten Hale so that he could feel safe. This could be associated with Millers own experience because when authority in society in America in the 1950s felt threatened they had to use their influence and power to threaten and intimidate people. Just like when Miller was threatened and risked being ruined just for believing in something. Even though Miller could probably not harm anybody by himself, this is just like the threat Reverend Hale risked of being hanged just for exposing the fact that the court was an unjust one.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay examples -- Ma
Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn    Samuel Clemens was an American writer and humorist who's best work is shown by broad social satire, realism of place and language, and memorable characters.      Clemens was born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. His family moved to Hannibal, Mississippi when he was four. There he received a public school education. Samuel Clemens was a difficult child, given to mischief and mis adventure. He barely escaped drowning on nine separate occasions. His fathers death was a calamity in which Samuel was not prepared for. Albert Bigelow Paine, Clemens official biographer, offers the following glimpse of the young Clemens            "The boy Sam was fairly broken down. Remorse, which always      dealt with him unsparingly, laid a heavy hand on him now. Wildness,      disobedience, indifference to his fathers wishes, all were remembered; a      hundred things, in themselves trifling, became ghastly and heart-wringing      in the knowledge that could never be undone. Seeing his grief, his mother      took him by the hand and led him into where his father lay."           "It's all right, Sammy," she said. "What's done is done, and it      does not matter to him anymore; but here by the side of him now I want      you to promise to me-"           He turned, his eyes streaming with tears, and flung himself into      her arms.           "I will promise anything ," he sobbed, "if you won't make me go      to school! Anything!           His mother held him for a moment, thinking, then she said:      "No, Sammy; you need not go to school anymore. Only... ...             A. Family Life                        1.Deaths            B. Money Problems                 1. Bankruptcy                 2. Move to Europe            C. His comeback            D. His death      V.  Effects of Twain's stories            A. How he affected his era            B. How the era affected his writings        VI.  Conclusion             A. My feelings             B. End notes             C. Bibliography Work Cited:  Twain, Mark.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 3rd ed. Ed. Thomas Cooley. New     York: Norton, 1999.   Works Consulted: Kaplan, Justin. Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain, a Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1966. Ward, Geoffrey C., et. al. Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography. New York: Knopf, 2001  Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay examples -- Ma Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn    Samuel Clemens was an American writer and humorist who's best work is shown by broad social satire, realism of place and language, and memorable characters.      Clemens was born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. His family moved to Hannibal, Mississippi when he was four. There he received a public school education. Samuel Clemens was a difficult child, given to mischief and mis adventure. He barely escaped drowning on nine separate occasions. His fathers death was a calamity in which Samuel was not prepared for. Albert Bigelow Paine, Clemens official biographer, offers the following glimpse of the young Clemens            "The boy Sam was fairly broken down. Remorse, which always      dealt with him unsparingly, laid a heavy hand on him now. Wildness,      disobedience, indifference to his fathers wishes, all were remembered; a      hundred things, in themselves trifling, became ghastly and heart-wringing      in the knowledge that could never be undone. Seeing his grief, his mother      took him by the hand and led him into where his father lay."           "It's all right, Sammy," she said. "What's done is done, and it      does not matter to him anymore; but here by the side of him now I want      you to promise to me-"           He turned, his eyes streaming with tears, and flung himself into      her arms.           "I will promise anything ," he sobbed, "if you won't make me go      to school! Anything!           His mother held him for a moment, thinking, then she said:      "No, Sammy; you need not go to school anymore. Only... ...             A. Family Life                        1.Deaths            B. Money Problems                 1. Bankruptcy                 2. Move to Europe            C. His comeback            D. His death      V.  Effects of Twain's stories            A. How he affected his era            B. How the era affected his writings        VI.  Conclusion             A. My feelings             B. End notes             C. Bibliography Work Cited:  Twain, Mark.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 3rd ed. Ed. Thomas Cooley. New     York: Norton, 1999.   Works Consulted: Kaplan, Justin. Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain, a Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1966. Ward, Geoffrey C., et. al. Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography. New York: Knopf, 2001 Â
Monday, January 13, 2020
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Accouniting Information System Essay
Abstract- In this study the effectiveness of accounting information systems from finance managers of listed companies at Tehran Stock Exchange is evaluated. The results indicate that implementation of the accounting information systems at the companies under study caused the improvement of managers decision-making process, improving internal controls, improving the quality of the financial reports and facilitated the process of the company’s transactions. The results did not show any indication that performance evaluation process had been improved. Key words: Accounting Information Systems, Quality of Financial Reports, Internal Controls, Decision Making, Performance Evaluation. INTRODUCTION In managing an organization and implementing an internal control system the role of accounting information system (AIS) is crucial. An important question in the field of accounting and management decision-making concerns the fit of AIS with organizational requirements for information communication and control, Nicolaou (2000). Although the information generated from an accounting information system can be effective in decision-making process, but purchase, installation and usage of such system is beneficial when its benefits exceeds its costs. Benefits of accounting information system can be evaluated by its impacts on improvement of decision-making process, quality of accounting information, performance evaluation, internal controls and facilitating company’s transactions. Regarding the above five characteristics, the effectiveness of AIS is highly important for all the firms. An AIS is defined as computer-based system that processes financial information and supports decision tasks in the context of coordination and control of organizational activities, Nicolaou (2000). LITERATURE REVIEW Accounting information system is considered as a sub system of management information system (MIS). Regarding accounting as information system perhaps is the latest definition of accounting. For the first time in 1966 the Statement of Basic Accounting Theory, published by the American Institute of Certified Accountants (AICPA), stated that: â€Å"Accounting actually is information system and if we be more precise accounting is the practice of general theories of information in the field of effective economic activities and consists of a major part of the information which is presented in the quantitative for†. In the above definition, accounting is part of general information system of an economic entity. Boochhold (1999) defines accounting information systems as systems that have function of data gathering, processing, categorizing and reporting financial events with the aim of providing relevant information for the purpose of score keeping, attention directing and decision-making. Accounting information systems are considered important organizational mechanisms that are critical for effectiveness decision management and control in organizations, (Galbraith, 1983; Zimmerman, 1995). Systems will be useful when information provided by them is used effectively in decision-making process by the users. Otley (1980, 325) argues that Accounting System are an important part of the fabric of organizational life and need to be evaluated in their wider managerial, organizational and environmental context. Therefore, the effectiveness of accounting information systems not only depends on the purposes of such systems but also depends on contingency factors of each organization. Accounting information systems are said to be effective when the information provided by them serves widely the requirements of the system users. Effective systems should systematically provide information which has a potential effects on decision-making process, Ivest et.al. (1983). The effectiveness of accounting information systems has long been a subject of many research, (Chong, 1996, Chenhall and Moriss, 1986, Kim, 1988, Mia and Chenhall 1994).Accounting information usually are categorized under two categories; 1) information that influence decision-making and mainly used for the purpose controlling the organization and 2) information that facilitate decision-making process and mostly used for coordination within an organization, (Demski and Feltham, 1976, Kren, 1992). Huber (1990) argues that, integration of accounting information systems leads to coordination in organization which in turn increases the quality of the decisions. Some research in accounting show that the effectiveness of accounting information systems depend upon the quality of the output of the information system that can satisfy the users’ needs, (Cameron, 1986, Lewin and Minton,1986, Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983, Deone and Mclean, 1992, Kim, 1989). Generally, accounting information systems; 1) provide financial reports on a daily and weekly basis and; 2) in addition provide useful information for monitoring decision-making process and performance of the organization. Simons (1987) in his study we used the first part of the above statement as measure of control for management and the second part for evaluating the effectiveness of the accounting information systems via continuous monitoring. By reviewing research studies during 1987-1999, one finds out that 57 research has been conducted on the issue of accounting information systems and decision-making. Therefore, it shows the importance of the research in this area. Accounting information systems provide primary data for decision-making. Information technology has caused many changes in reporting information. Thus, the characteristics of information currently prepared can help decision-makers to seek more alternatives to the solution of the problem in hand. Accessibility to information related to the main transactions of an organization leads to a categorized detailed information which facilitates decision making in any difficult situation, Sutton and Arnold (1995). Accounting information system, is a computer based system that is defined by Nicoloau (2000) as a system that increases the control and enhance the corporation in the organization. Management is engaged with different types of activities that are requiring good quality and reliable information. They require also non-financial information such as production statistics, quality of production and so on. However, quality of information generated from AIS is very important for management, Mckinnon and Bruns (1992). Kim (1989) argues that usage of AIS depends on the perception of the quality of information by the users. Generally the quality of information depends on reliability, form of reporting, timeliness and relevance to the decisions. Effectiveness of accounting information system also depends on the perception of decision-makers on the usefulness of information generated by the system to satisfy informational needs for operation processes, managerial reports, budgeting and control within organization. Some research indicate that the effectiveness of accounting information systems depend on the quality of output information that satisfy the users, Cameron (1986), Lewin and Minton, (1986), Quinn and Rohrbaugh, (1983), Delone and Mclean, (1992) and Kim, (1989). Effectiveness of accounting information systems can be analyzed on three basis: 1)- information scope, 2)- timeliness, 3)- aggregation. Information scope is considered as financial and non-financial information, internal and external information that is useful in prediction of future events. Timeliness quality is related to the ability of accounting information system to satisfy informational needs by providing systematic reports to the users of information. Aggregation of information is considered as means of collecting and summarizing information within a given time period, Choe (1998). Doll and Torkzadeh (1988), for studying the satisfaction of the users’ of information use some concepts to measure the effectiveness of the accounting information systems. These concepts are information content, accuracy, format, ease to use and timeliness. HYPOTHESES After reviewing relevant literature, five main variables and three moderator variables were hypothesized. Hypothesis 1: Accounting information systems leads to better decision-making by managers. Hypothesis 2: Accounting information systems leads to more effective internal control systems. Hypothesis 3: Accounting information systems enhance the quality of financial reports. Hypothesis 4: Accounting information systems improves performance measures. Hypothesis 5: Accounting information systems makes financial transaction process easy. MODERATOR VARIABLES Hypotheses based on moderator variables are set up to see whether such variables have any impact on the respondents’ responses to the research questions. One expects that such variables do not influence the way that respondents reply to the questions in the questionnaire. Hypothesis 1: There is a relationship between the levels of respondents’ education and evaluation of the effectiveness of accounting information system. Hypothesis 2: There is a relationship between the job experience of the respondents and evaluation of the effectiveness of accounting information system. Hypothesis 3: There is a relationship between the field of respondents’ education and evaluation of the effectiveness of accounting information system. RESEARCH METHOD Sample and data collection This study is based on the companies listed at Tehran’s stock exchange. No specific time period is considered since it is not a time series study. A questionnaire is designed and after pilot study was sent to the sample firms. A population of 347 companies has been listed at Tehran’s stock exchange up to 1383. These companies are distributed along fifteen industries. Our sample has been randomly selected using sampling with no replacement process. For this purpose the below formula: 2 2 N ZÃŽ ±/2 ÃŽ ´ X n = â€â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€ 2 2 2 Ã'†(N-1) + ZÃŽ ±/2 ÃŽ ´ X 22 347 ( 1.96) (0.29) n = â€â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€ = 95 (0.05)2 (347-1) + (1.96)2(0.29)2 Based on the ratio of the companies in each industry to the total number of companies in the population, the number of companies in each industry for the sampled firms was determined. The main data collection instrument in this study is questionnaire. For this purpose a questionnaire was designed after reviewing the relevant literature. The questions are on the five point Likert type questions, with a choice of very little to very much. The questionnaire consists of twenty questions, which were carefully designed to collect relevant data. The research instrument was pilot studied, by expert panels including faculty members. The revised instrument and a cover letter were mailed to the specific individual who was listed as financial managers of the sampled firms. A reminder was sent and non-respondents were followed up with two additional mailings. In the first questionnaire launching 54 questionnaires were completed and returned. In the second and third mailings a total of 33 more completed questionnaires were returned. Altogether 87 questionnaires were available for data analysis in this study. STATISTICAL TESTS To test the hypotheses of this research we have used z and Ç2 statistics at confidence level of 95%. The research hypotheses were put in the form of statistical hypotheses such as H0 and H1. With regards to the nature of five-point scale questions, therefore, we test whether the mean value of each question is less than or greater than 3. Number 3 is the average number of the five choices in each question: 1+2+3+4+5  µ = â€â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- = 3 5 Thus, statistical hypotheses are set up as follows: H0:  µ ≠¤ 3 H1:  µ > 3 Testing moderator variables: to test the moderator variables and see whether they have any impact on the main variables, in this research Ç2 tests were conducted. TESTING HYPOTHESES AND ANALYZING THE RESULTS To study the research hypotheses eighty seven finance directors (financial managers) were selected as final sample in this study to answer the question put forward to them in the questionnaire. The data collected in this way was edited and some questions merged to measure each hypothesis. Average number of 3 was taken as the mean of the five-point questions in the questionnaire. Table -1 shows a descriptive statistics of five hypotheses. Table-1 Descriptive statistics MinMaxStd.Error of KurtosisKurtosisStd. Error of SkewnessSkewnessVarianceStandard DeviationModeMeanStd. Error from MeanAveHypotheses 2.53.50.5110.0940.258-1.0870.1040.3223.53.250.3453.227H1 2.540.5110.799-0.2580.5680.1780.422330.0453.244H2 2.5.7540.5110.252-0.2580.364-0.2630.51243.750.5493.75H3 2.53.50.5110. 890-0.2580.8250.1380.3722. 52.750.3992.80H4 2.754.50.5110.419-0.2580.175-0.1950.4423.53.50.4743.58H5 Results of the first hypothesis: Accounting information systems lead to better decision-making by managers. Z statistic concerning the test of first hypothesis is equal to 6.47 (table-2 ).By comparing this value with the critical value of 1.645, we accept H1 and reject H0. Therefore, the first hypothesis is accepted indicating that implementation of an accounting information system in an organization could improve decision making by managers. The average of the questions measuring this hypothesis is 3.227 and the skewness of -1.087. The kurtosis of 0.094 indicates that the distribution of our data is slightly taller than normal distribution with 0.322 standard deviation. Thus, we could conclude that our respondents on average and slightly above the average believe that accounting information systems lead to better decision-making by managers. Results of the second hypothesis: Accounting information systems leads to more effective internal control systems. Table-2 shows the Z value of testing the second hypothesis equal to 5.389. Again, comparing this value with the critical value of 1.645, we accept H1 and reject H0. This indicates that from the respondents’ point of view accounting information systems would lead to better internal control systems. Descriptive statistics shown in table-1 gives the average of 3.224 to the questions measuring the second hypothesis, skewness of 0.568, kurtosis of -0.799 and standard deviation of 0.442. This information indicates that the distribution of our data is slightly shorter than normal distribution.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
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