Cultural Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Studies - Essay Example Moreover, representation of a particular culture is also a point which has triggered much controversy among the intellectuals. In this context culture entails subjective disposition of an individual or an ethnic group from an external frame of reference. Cultural theorist Stuart Hall laid the foundation of cultural discourses in modern times. Throughout his illustrious career, Hall researched extensively on a number of socio-humanitarian issues, including representation, subjectivity and identity. This essay is going to answer four questions that are central to Stuart Hall’s cultural theories. 1. ‘Culture is itself a signifying practice and has its own determinate product: meaning’ (Hall). Discuss this understanding of culture and relate it to other ways of conceptualizing culture referred to throughout the course. Stuart Hall was the first theorist to hint at the correlation between etymological significance of discourse and culture. His steadfast denial of a pervasive ‘cultural superstructure’ (During 97) brought about a revolutionary change in the social science of language and its meaning. Hall terms language as ‘the medium for the production of meaning’ (Hall 30), which underscores the linguistic concept of the paradigmatic shift from the signifier to the signified. In other words, we need to keep aside the superficial meaning of language to gain a profound understanding of what lies within. As regards perceiving a particular culture in its entirety, it is not as important to consider the outward manifestations of the same as it is to understand the subliminal threads that bind it in a structural accord. Hall himself stresses on dissociation of meaning even within a specific cultural discourse as he endorses arrangement or order of things (30). What he simply con ceives is that nothing has a static meaning per se (Hall and Open University 19). Meaning is itself an

Legal Perspective on Euthanasia Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Legal Perspective on Euthanasia - Term Paper Example Nevertheless, even the issue of going through legal proceedings becomes contentious in several instances because some individuals think that the ‘right to die’ must be decided personally (Devettere 70). Even though individuals with these thoughts may seek advice from medical professionals or spiritual counselor, the concept of a legal resolution is detested because the act of placing the decision on another person meddles with a person’s rights to liberty and freewill. Numerous legal cases concerning euthanasia use the U.S. Constitution to support their judgments. They refer to privacy and liberty rights, protected by the Constitution, as the basis for a person’s right to decide how and when death should take place. Numerous individuals and groups supporting euthanasia claim that the reasonable step to take in the future is to constitutionally guarantee the ‘right to die’ (Keown 89). Even though legal decisions that support euthanasia somehow s et precedents which advocates can eventually use in future cases, making euthanasia legal would offer stronger protection under the constitution. Critics of euthanasia, in contrast, assert that euthanasia must not be legalized. This essay critically analyzes the legal perspective on euthanasia. Euthanasia: An Overview When patients and their loved ones see misery and intolerable pain, disagreement usually occurs between patients and their families, who want to put an end to misery, and medical practitioners, who are instructed to save human lives. This disagreement focuses on the notion of euthanasia and its value in the contemporary period. The issue of euthanasia forces an individual to face the greatest fear of human beings—death. The legal system has confronted it and has made progress in establishing certain rules to help decision makers in this issue; unfortunately, there is still a long way to go. Society should be safeguarded from the undesirable possibilities related to allowing the taking out of life-support mechanisms. Society cannot permit the complicated matters related to this issue to be underestimated to the point where it is simply recognized that life can be subjectively or instinctively terminated. The law should make sure that the patient’s constitutional rights are protected, while preserving society’s concern for life, and strengthening the integrity of health care professionals. During a medical emergency, it is impractical to instruct a health care provider to first check the patient’s clinical record for prior instructions before addressing the patient’s urgent needs (Pozgar 124). Ultimately, the limits of patient’s rights are still quite vague. Over time, euthanasia has become a subject matter with opposing moral, medical, and legal repercussions. Today, there are passionate campaigns supporting dignified death, which prohibits tubes, monitors, machines, and other technical equipment (Biggs 15 ). Even the definition of ‘euthanasia’ has evolved over time. Euthanasia is generally defined as â€Å"the mercy killing of the hopelessly ill, injured, or incapacitated† (Pozgar 124). In the 1870s, literature on euthanasia started to surface, mostly in the United States and England. Even though this literature was written, primarily, by ordinary people, medical professionals and the public started to pay attention to the issues posed by euthanasia (Biggs 25). During that time, euthanasia is viewed as

The Legislative Department (United States Goverment) Research Paper - 1

The Legislative Department (United States Goverment) - Research Paper Example The House contains of four hundred and thirty five members who are elected from fifty states of the country. In addition to that there are also six other members with non-voting rights. The person presiding the House proceedings is the Speaker of the House who is chosen after an election between the representatives (Tocqueville, Alexis & Goldhammer 2004). The House of Representatives are brought into power following an electoral process. Elections take place in all fifty states of the country and they decide who will make it to the House and who will lag behind the race to make it to the Congress. As a general rule, all members of the House of Representatives are elected every two years. Moreover, they should be at least twenty five years old at the time of election. Also, it is a pre requisite that they must hold the citizenship of the USA for a period of at least seven years alongside being a resident of the State that they wish to represent (US Congress 2007). As far as the Senators are concerned, the Congress comprises of one hundred of them, of which two represent each State of the country. They are also elected by the people of their respective states for a period of six years. They are elected in such a manner that one third of the Senators have to be re-elected after every two years. Moreover, it is a must that the Senators should be at least thirty years of age, residents of the State they wish to represent and citizens of the United States for a period of at least nine years (Quirk, Paul & Binder 2005). As mentioned above, the Legislative Branch consists of two organizations which together make up the Congress of the United States of America. Those two organizations are known as the Senate and the House of Representatives. These together are responsible for carrying out the legislative process that is required to maintain proper running of the economy. One of the many

Main idea about Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830) Essay

Main idea about Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830) - Essay Example The artwork (see, Appendix-1) is symbolic of the revolutionary spirit inherent in every human being. To be specific, the main idea about the artwork is related to European society’s transformation from Enlightenment to the realm of Romanticism. Fred Kleiner stated that, â€Å"Balancing contemporaneous historical fact with poetic allegory, Delacroix captured the passion and energy of the 1830 revolution in this painting of Liberty leading the Parisian uprising against Charles X† (623). One can see that the general notion on revolutionaries is based upon masculine power, i.e. male revolutionaries fighting for freedom. But the focal point of this painting is a woman holding the French flag. This is symbolic of the French society’s transformation from Enlightenment to the context of Romanticism. The facial expression of the male revolutionaries proves that they consider the woman as a revolutionary, not as a woman. This sort of freedom and equality is the core aspect of French Revolution. So, the main idea behind the artwork is the revolutionary spirit of human beings, disregarding gender differences. Summing, Eugene Delacroix’s artwork is the combination of Romantic and revolutionary spirits. To be specific, the artist chose a female figure as the artwork’s focal point to portray his perspective on social responsibility. In short, the artist makes use of his artwork to share his views on the relationship between patriotism and individual

Six Month Accountancy Internship Personal Development Essay

Six Month Accountancy Internship Personal Development Essay The merger of PwC Lybrand in 1998 formed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the big four firms in Singapore and worldwide (Wikipedia, 2010). Boosting a revenue of US$2,935 million in the Asia region for financial year 2010 (PricewaterhouseCoopers Global, 2010), PwCs principal activities include assurance, advisory and tax services, for its clients, in accordance with the latest generally accepted accounting principles. I am attached to assurance Operating Unit 5 (OU5), where in 2010, the department has achieved the following performance: Diagram 1: Assurance OU5 Financial Report (Year ended June 30) Performance Indicators July 2010 August 2010 Revenue $1,083,000 $949,000 Headcount 98 90 Billable hours per month 12,158 9,868 Billable hours Year- to-date 12,158 22,026 Vision What guides the organisation and its people lies in the vision, which is to be a leader in rendering professional services, strategically solving problems for its clients, in order to enhance the values for the firm and its clients. Furthermore, the firm aspire to be a hub to attract, train and retain talents from all over the world, where as many as 163,000 competent and innovative staff in 151 countries play an important role in the creation and moulding of the PwC experience. Diagram 2: PwC Experience As seen in the PwC Experiences flowchart above, the firm emphasises on the building the values of individuals and relationships within the staff and with their clients by understanding their needs and connecting with them. They also launched a new identity (logo) on 17 September 2010, which represents a continuing and paramount desire to create values, achieving goals and building great relationships for its people and its clients (PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore, 2010). Organisation Chart The organisation chart of PwC Singapore is attached in appendix A. In an engagement team, the organisation structure would be similar to the diagram below: Diagram 3: Organisation Structure of an Engagement Team Culture The culture of the firm also helped in shaping the overall experience. The firm has an open door policy, which I found comfortable approaching my seniors and managers at any time. In PwC, the staff will be assigned to a career coach and buddy, whose responsibility includes guiding and advising their juniors in making choices or simply, to be a listening ear in times of needs. Besides just work, PwC also focus on work-life balance. Activities such as community services and Certified Public Accountants (CPA) games are organised to provide opportunities for networking with some professionals in the industry and also to promote work-life balance. Roles and Contributions Diagram 4: Simplified flowchart of work flow General At the start of the attachment, I was tasked with simple tasks such as call-over and casting of figures in the financial statements. Though these tasks may seem trivial to some, they were essential to ensure the accuracy of the figures shown in the financial statements, and for the call-over, to ensure that the two copies were similar and the changes that were previously noted, were reflected in the latest copy. Planning During the planning for an engagement, I mapped and imported the trial balance provided by the client into the database system so that the team members would be able to extract figures for the sections that they are responsible for. For the walkthrough, I enquired the clients on their system and noted down for example, how a sale transaction would be processed from the start to the end point. Furthermore, I arranged with the corporate secretary to carry out statutory review. Statutory review is carried out twice for an engagement. The first session would be during the planning stage, where the purpose would be to gain an understanding of the changes in key management personnel and the resolutions passed from the end of the last engagement till current year. The second session would be carried out after financial year end, and this would help the auditors to find out whether any subsequent events such as acquisition of a business unit that would affect the audited figures. Fieldwork After planning, the team would proceed to the clients place to carry out fieldwork. For the accounts receivable section, I performed accounts receivable ageing test, by vouching the major debtors invoices and re-performed the accounts receivable ageing. I took the number of days between the invoice date and year end date, and minus away the credit terms for each individual debtor, to find out the number of aged days. After which, I classified these into ageing bands of intervals of 90, that is, 1 to 90 days, 91 to 180 etc and compared the end results with clients classification. This step was done to test the reliability of the accounts receivable ageing analysis report provided by the client and this would support the substantive analytical review and other substantive analytical testing that were being performed on accounts receivable. For the accounts payable section, I performed the test for unrecorded liabilities to assess if there was any understatement of liabilities, by vouching to the paid invoices after year end to determine if they are current obligations and whether they have been recorded in the current financial year. I also traced to the unpaid invoices after year end to ensure that they have been accounted for in the current year. If the liabilities have not been accounted for in the books, liabilities would be understated. For the fixed asset section, I performed reasonableness test on the depreciation charges, to ensure that depreciation, a form of accounting estimates has been provided accurately. Using the fixed asset cost at the beginning of financial year, I removed the fully depreciated and disposed assets and provided partial depreciation for the new additions during the year. After which, I compared the end results with the clients amounts. If depreciation charges have been underprovided, it would result in overstatement of the fixed assets balance. Follow-up Session After the end of the fieldwork, we will have a follow-up session, to clear outstanding matters such as documents and queries not obtained during fieldwork or to do subsequent reviews after the previous session. I performed accounts recoverability testing by vouching for subsequent receipts after year end. If there were non-recoverable amounts above the pre-set planning materiality, the team would need to discuss with the management to provide for provision. Audit Instructions and Agreed Upon Procedures In addition, I assisted to draft the audit instructions and agreed upon procedures for other PwC firms overseas. PwC firms in the CATSH (China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong) regions adopt the same audit methodology. This was because our client was incorporated in Singapore, but their accounting records were kept in overseas. Therefore, taking into consideration the time and cost factors, we would request the PwC firm in the country where the records were kept to carry out the audit for us and to sign an inter-office opinion. Learning Experiences and Achievements Communication Skills One of the most important lessons I have learnt so far is communication skills. In school, we were so used to communicating with our peers and teachers casually. We do not need to prepare beforehand and could speak from our minds. However, from this internship, I came to understand that the way you talk and your message affects the communication with other people. When we are out for engagements, we need to communicate and negotiate among the team, such as on meeting time and venue, delegation of workloads and to clarify instructions. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the most difficult form of communication lies with the client. Every new engagement brings along a whole new team to work together for the client. We have to be selectively and be aware of how and what we enquire the client on. This is especially important as we are not in the clients place most of the times, therefore, we rely on the information that the client provides us with. Also, there might be miscommunication if the client misunderstood our queries. I was assigned to test the controls for payment of expenses. I vouched to the physical suppliers invoices, corresponding payment vouchers and recorded the payment voucher number and telegraphic transfer number. I found out that the payment voucher was not in the usual 6 digits format starting number 6 and it was in the telegraphic transfer format i.e. TT OCBC SG 123456. Being very confused with the arrangements, I approached the Finance Manager, to clarify my doubts. I remembered using the words sequential order and TT number is different in my questions. The client immediately rebutted me, You mean our payment vouchers are not in sequential order? Fortunately, my team in-charge helped me out by clarifying my questions with the client. My original intention was to enquire the use of TT transfer number that is different from the banks reference and to find out the basis on using such formats. After some clarifications, the client explained the change in the use of the formats from Jun e 2010 onwards, a new format for the recording of the payment voucher number, in the way familiar to them. For example, TOS 11 10 07 01 stands for TT OCBC Bank in SGD and where 11 is the currency code for SGD, 10 being year 2010, 07 being the month and 01 being the sequential numbering of the payment voucher. GIRO payment would have the format starting with 65 and payment by cheque will have the numbering starting with 84. From this incident, I have learnt to be tactical with my words and not mention words that might imply that the client was in the wrong. Firstly, we should request the client to walkthrough with us on the system. When they are done with the explanations, we could enquire on the deviations from the general procedures that they have briefed us on previously. I would also write down all the questions that I need to ask on a piece of paper, so as to avoid approaching the client frequently. Building relationships Relationship-building is paramount in the line of assurance, because we are not desk-bound jobs and require frequent travelling. I heard that most clients do not like auditors and we would often be scolded by them. However, I would think otherwise. I felt that it all boils down to how we manage our relationship with our peers, colleagues and clients. I really enjoyed the relationships that I shared with my first engagements client. Before the official working hours, I loved to join their staff at the pantry to chat and also shared with them my working experiences so far. The times that we have laughed were definitely fond memories. My seniors warned me that the Finance Manager was a fierce person who was unwilling to help. However, I realised that after much interactions with him, he would guide and joke with me. Even now, when I called back to follow-up, the staff recognised my voice and sent me the outstanding documents within a short time. I never felt uneasy been recognised as a student. The relationship that I maintained with my seniors was also more like a friend. We would play hard and work hard at the same time. These have definitely taught me not sacrifice work for time used for building of relationships. The close relationships that you have forged so far would be beneficial to you in the future. In school, many of us have Innovation and Enterprise (I E) events in year 3 for our Interdisciplinary Studies (IS) modules. Many of these events require the support of our friends, whether financial or in participation. If we have cherished the relationships with our friends, many of them would be willing to support our events. No one is alone. Therefore, it is important to meet new people, put in efforts in maintaining these relationships and these people could possibly help us even after our studies or internship. Being Proactive and Taking Ownership Being proactive in my attitude and be responsible for the tasks assigned to me was another learning experience for me. I am a slow learner and I should not allow this to affect the progress of the engagement team. As such, I read the prior years financial statements and checked with my team in-charge at least a few days before the engagement if there is anything that I could be help of and to discuss on my job scopes. These efforts paid off when I realised that I was able to relate what I have read in the prior years files to current years audit, as we would normally expect the trend to continue. In addition, going through the walkthrough performed by my seniors has allowed me to know the key management personnel that I may need to approach during fieldwork and to familiarise with the filling system, so as to expedite the vouching process. I believe that taking ownership of the tasks assigned is important. It is being responsible for yourself and others. When someone handles me a task, I would complete it as soon as possible, or if I am busy, I would ask the other interns to assist. This is because the other party have put their trust in you to help them to complete these tasks. If we are not responsible, our seniors would not want to entrust us with tasks and we would miss these opportunities for learning. Similar to the learning experiences in school, when we are assigned projects by our lecturers, we should always put in efforts, and not grumble and submitting substandard work, because the projects are designed to enable us to have a hands-on approach on the concepts learnt in lessons, and to encourage us to do research and explore beyond the lecture notes. Independence During this internship, I became less reliant on my seniors. For my first engagement, there were only 4 people in the team, including myself. My team in-charge resigned before the end of the engagement and both my seniors took annual leave and study leave, leaving myself to do the follow-up for that engagement. My manager was too busy to guide me. In the end, I was sent to do follow-up at the clients place alone for two days. As I was tasked to do only vouching for certain sections during fieldwork , I do not have a good understanding of the clients business and operations, as compared to my seniors and team in-charge who have handled the different sections and have liaised directly with the clients finance manager and director before. I felt nervous, lost and I tried very hard to remember what my seniors and manager had told me. I started on my work and reported to my manager once every few hours, to update her on my progress and obtain feedback from her on the work done so far. I f elt that I was too protected by my seniors and in-charge previously, as they would check my work before submitting my work to the manager for review. For now, there was no one to check my work and I have to think on my feet and complete them with care before submission. As compared with the project work and assignments in school, we could seek our friends help and lecturers opinions before the final submission and do not need to worry about making mistakes. Reflection on an Incident Carelessness For my first engagement, one of the tasks that I was assigned to was to vouch the credit terms for the major debtors. As it was my first time, I was nervous and stressed up over the deadlines. When asked by my team in-charge if I have completed all the vouching, I told her that I have completed the task and she believed me. However, to her dismay, she realised that the section was not completed when we went back to the office. I have forgotten to vouch that particular section and my in-charge had to call up the client to enquire on the details one by one. This has definitely added on her workloads as I understood that the section was due for review by the director that day. I thought that I have learnt my lesson from this incident. However, for the same engagement, but for the follow-up session, my team members were not around and my manager took leave and later on fell ill for another 2 weeks before my follow-up sessions. My manager had told me to keep track of the confirmations and correspondences with the client and third parties while she was away. Upon receipt of the confirmations and correspondences, I have to update in the control sheet, whether the confirmed balance is the same as the balance as shown in the accounts receivable and accounts payable listing. When my manager came back from her medical leave, she alerted me that I have signed and filled in a confirmation, which was actually returned to us, without any confirmation of the balances, as the address for the intercompany in Italy was wrong. Since the signing of the accounts was agreed on 13 December 2010, we were running short of time. My manager reprimanded me for the carelessness. I took immediate action by requesting our client to alert their intercompany in Italy to send a confirmation again, if not, at least, a scanned copy before the signing of the accounts. I regret for not learning my lesson previously as this was a repeat incident. Ever since then, I resolved to be careful in my work and to double check before submission. My manager acknowledged that I have put in efforts in my future tasks ever since that incident. Word Count: 2940 Appendices Appendix A Source: (PwC Singapore, 2010)

Progress of Displacement in Mad Dog, Black Boy, and Seventeen Syllables

Progress of Displacement in Mad Dog, Black Boy, and Seventeen Syllables Heinrich Bà ¶ll’s â€Å"The Mad Dog† seems to stress that emotional attachments to human beings can prevent an individual’s separation from society’s orders and execution of possibly violent desires. With the Second World War as its backdrop, the tale realistically depicts the hardship of the time period in which Bà ¶ll has lived. Two other authors who have subtly woven their personal and cultural backgrounds into their fiction are Richard Wright in Black Boy and Hisaye Yamamoto in â€Å"Seventeen Syllables.† Raised in the South or a Japanese-American community on the West Coast, the protagonists in both works experience similar progressions of disconnection from home or society as the Mad Dog does. The narrator in Bà ¶ll’s story is a physician examining the cadaver of the Mad Dog, Theodor Herold. He is accompanied by a chaplain who was with the Mad Dog during the last few hours of his life. The chaplain, who has become emotionally attached to the cadaver, repeats Herold’s life story to the physician. Raised in a hostile environment, â€Å"he never knew† (73) his mother who was a constantly â€Å"abused woman† (73) or his father who was brutal and â€Å"perpetually†(73) intoxicated. An abusive childhood was the first step toward his inevitable negligence of the natural order. In addition, his unusual intelligence and superb achievement in school created excessive arrogance and self-confidence which further led to his â€Å"contempt for all† his patrons]† (74). Then Herold has his first and only taste of love when he meets Becker, a fellow classmate, who supports him financially as they attend university together. This friendship is the only true emotional connection that exists betwee... ...uctive rage, Rosie also experiences this feeling with the Mexican worker, Jesus, as he kisses her for the first time. Although her vulnerability is caused by joy instead of despair, the lack of emotional stability could lead to further mental breakdowns. By and large, Herod, Dick, and Rosie are a trio of exiles, feeling dislocated in what supposedly to be their home or community or country. Works Cited Bà ¶ll, Heinrich. â€Å"Mad Dog.† Mad Dog: Stories. Trans. Breon Mitchell. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997. 67-85. Wright, Richard. â€Å"Looking for a Job.† Black Boy. The HarperCollins World Reader: The Modern World. Ed. Mary Ann Caws. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994. 2438-2444. Yamamoto, Hisaye. â€Å"Seventeen Syllables.† The HarperCollins World Reader: The Modern World. Ed. Mary Ann Caws. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994. 2456-2465.

Chinese New Year – Short Essay

Chinese New Year China is the first one of the cradles of world civilization, 5000 years of history makes China more powerful. There are many China's unique festivals, like Mid-Autumn Festival, Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Winter Festival and Chinese New year. Especially Chinese New Year remains the most important social and economic holiday in China. The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Beginning of Spring. Its origin is too old to be traced.Several explanations are hanging around. All agree, however, that the word â€Å"Nian†, which in modern Chinese solely means â€Å"year†, was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year. In Chinese New Year, we have many rules and customs. We will sweep the dust, pasting paper cuts and spring couplet, staying up late on New Year's Eve, dress up in red, give red envelope, etc. â€Å"Dust† is homophonic with â€Å"Chen† in Chinese, which means old and past.In this way, â€Å"sweeping the dust† before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. This custom shows a good wish of putting away old things to welcome a new life. In a word, just before the Spring Festival comes, every household will give a thorough cleaning to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new. Paper-cuts, usually with auspicious patterns, give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life, in addition to pasting paper-cuts on windows. The Spring Couplet†, also called â€Å"couplet† and â€Å"a pair of antithetical phrases†, is a special form of literature in China. The Spring Couplet is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription, usually an auspicious phras e, above the gate. The tradition of staying up late to see New Year in originated from an interesting folk tale. In ancient China there lived a monster named Year, who was very ferocious. Year always went out from its burrow on New Year’s Eve to devour people.Therefore, on every New Year’s Eve, every household would have supper together. In Chinese New Year, we will dress up in red and go to relatives’ Houses to visit. The red color means luck for Chinese people, so we like to have everything red. People who are married need to prepare some red envelopes that contains money, so when people come to their house, they will get it to the people who are not married or children. When it’s Chinese New Year, children and teenagers get so excited about it, because they can get a lot of money from the red envelopes.