Discounted Cash Flow Techniques Essay Example for Free

Discounted Cash Flow Techniques Essay A brief tutorial on Excel financial functions (problems to follow) You may find the following Excel, built-in financial functions helpful when analyzing the problems below. (To access these functions, select Insert, Functions, and choose Financial.) =PV(rate, nper, pmt, fv, type) returns the present value of a series of cash flows. =FV(rate, nper, pmt, pv, type) returns the future value of a series of cash flows. =PMT(rate, nper, pv, fv, type) calculates the periodic payment for a loan based on constant payments and a constant interest rate. =NPER(rate, pmt, pv, fv, type) returns the number of periods for an investment based on periodic, constant payments and a constant interest rate. =NPV(rate, range) returns the net present value of an investment based on a discount rate and a series of future payments (negative values) and income (positive values). (Warning: By convention, NPV calculates the net present value one period before the first cash flow.) =IRR(range, guess) returns the internal rate of return for a series of cash flows. In these functions, rate = the discount, or interest rate. nper = number of periods. pmt = annual uniform payment. fv = future value, or future cash flow. type is a logical value allowing you to specify if cash flows occur at the end or the beginning of the period. A value of 1 indicates beginning of period, 0 or omitted indicates end of period. pv = present value. range = the cells on your spreadsheet containing the cash flows you want to analyze. For example, if the cash flows are in the first 10 rows of column A, the entry for range would be a1:a10. guess = your guess as to the internal rate of return. This helps the computer get started and may be left blank. An example Suppose you want to know the present value of $100 per year for 19 years and $500 at the end of the 19th year when the interest rate is 13 percent. Select a spreadsheet cell and enter =PV(0.13,19,100,500). Excel will return ($742.83). This is the amount one should be willing to pay today to receive the indicated stream of cash flows when the interest rate is 13 percent. Problems 1) An investment costing $50,000 promises an after tax cash flow of $18,000 per year for 6 years. a. Find the investments accounting rate of return and its payback period. b. Find the investments net present value at a 15 percent discount rate. c. Find the investments profitability index at a 15 percent discount rate. d. Find the investments internal rate of return. e. Assuming the required rate of return on the investment is 15 percent, which of the above figures of merit indicate the investment is attractive? Which indicate it is unattractive? 2) A $1,000 par value, 10 percent coupon bond matures in 20 years. If the price of the bond is $1,196.80, what is the yield to maturity on the bond? Assume interest is paid annually. 3) Ten years ago you invested $1,000 for 10 shares of Trublock common stock. You sold the shares recently for $2,000. While you owned the stock it paid $10.08 per share annual dividends. What was your rate of return on Trublock stock? 4) Having heard of your knowledge of present value techniques, you have been asked to testify as an expert witness in the following lawsuit. Several homeowners in a nearby community have organized to protest against alleged gouging on the part of a local lending institution. One resident presents his payment book as evidence. The resident has a 30-year, fixed rate loan at 6 percent interest for $200,000. He got the loan 10 years ago and has been making equal annual payments of $14,529.60 ever since. He observes that he has paid the lending company $145,296.00 yet his payment book indicates that the principal due on the loan has only declined by $33,345.40. He presents this as obvious proof of gouging on the part of the money changers. Do you agree? Why, why not? 5) In 1984, the city council of the town of Patterson agreed that their community badly in need of a modern hotel that would cost approximately $25 million. To finance construction members of the council organized the Patterson Hotel Corporation. Through strenuous promotion they raised $15 million by selling 15,000 shares of stock at $1,000 per share. They secured the other $10 million necessary to build the hotel as a loan provided by a local bank on a 10 year, 14 percent mortgage that called for uniform annual payments sufficient to pay interest and to extinguish the debt at the end of 10 years. Upon completion, the Patterson Hotel Corporation leased the hotel to a national company that operated a chain of hotels. The lease ran for 30 years and contained a clause permitting the lessee to purchase the hotel for $10 million at the end of the 30-year period. The lessee agreed to furnish the hotel and pay all taxes (including income taxes) and operating expenses, and was to meet the interest and repayment obligations on the mortgage during the first 10 years of the lease. During the last 20 years of the lease, the operating company agreed to make payments sufficient to permit annual dividends of $400 per share. No payments at all were to be made to the stockholders during the first 10 years. This was the most favorable operating contract that Patterson Hotel Company was able to negotiate. When stockholders, many of whom had bought stock under considerable pressure, learned that there was no prospect of dividends for 10 years, they were quite upset, and a number of them were anxious to sell their stock. Conrad Billings, a local businessmen in the original group that promoted the hotel, was reported to be buying stock from some of these disgruntled stockholders at $750 a share. Some locals were heard to comment that Conrad Billings was a clever old bastard who was taking advantage of his public-spirited neighbors. There were remarks regarding the fat dividends he would be receiving after the mortgage was paid off. One man was said to have declined Billings’ offer of $750 a share and to have commented publicly that nobody was going to get his stock unless they paid what it was worth. Make whatever assumptions and calculations you find necessary to estimate the fair value of the stock. Was $750 a share really too low a price? 6) You need four new tires for your car. You can buy cheap retread tires for $25 a piece and replace them every 20,000 miles or you can spend $40 per tire and replace them every 40,000 miles. If money has an opportunity cost of 10 percent to you, how many miles must you drive annually to warrant the more expensive tires?

Britains Got Talent Program Media Essay

Britains Got Talent Program Media Essay Britains Got Talent (BGT) is a British television series aired on ITV and TV3. The theme of the program involves competition among various singers, dancers, comedians, gymnasts and other type of performers. Four series of the program have been aired till now and the winner of each series got an entertainment and performance contract worth  £100,000 and had the privilege to perform in front of the Queen at Royal Variety Performance. The first series was premiered on June 9, 2007 and concluded with a live final on July 16, 2007. Recently its fourth season has ended on June 5 2010 which was one by a gymnastic group Spellbound. The beauty of the program is that ordinary people with no exposure or reference have the chance to come on stage, participate in the cut-throat competition in front of 3,000 studio audience and at the end of the series the rightful winner gets the chance of performing at Royal Variety Performance. The judges of BGT includes Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and of course the creator of BGTs format, Simon Cowell who was also the creator of The X Factor and had participated as a judge in American Idol. He is largely believed to be at the forefront of the judge panel. The judges travel to almost all the major cities of UK to record the auditions. The performers have to put a good show in front of the audience and judges to get to the next round, however, if Judges dont like some contestant, he/she will be buzzed out. So artists have to show not only a splendid act but they also have to gain the favor of judges and audience to remain in the show. However, it is the public who ultimately decide s the fate of the performers. Judges usually favor those contestants who are liked by public. When all performances are made than phone lines opens for some time during which audience votes for the performance, they like most. Britains Got Talent programs previous series, semi final and final rounds were aired live on television. Although Simon Cowell is the creator of Got Talent series worldwide, but Britains Got Talent has produced some remarkable artists, the likes of which were never seen before. So far 54 episodes have been shown in four series with durations ranging from 30 to 150 minutes. BGTs fifth series is expected to go live in June 2011. For its fifth series Simon Cowell will not appear as a judge. Simon Cowell will not take auditions, and will only be invited for live shows. The judges that have been selected for Britain Got Talent fifth series are; Kelly Brook, Emma Bunton, Alan Carr, Louis Walsh, Charlotte Church, Louie Spence, and Paul Ogrady. Britains Got Talent has revolutionized the format of talent shows. The extent of popularity of Britains Got Talent can be judged by the fact that it has 734,000 fans on its Facebook page and 18,300 followers on Twitter. Britain Got Talent also earned the credit of introducing Susan Boyle to the world, a 47 year old Scottish artist who sung I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misà ©rables in BGT and got 20million hits on the YouTube video of her performance. She stood second in thirds series of Britain Got Talent, and her performance attracted huge audience from countries across the globe. Dominos Pizza has been the official sponsor of Britains got Talent and it designed special ads to endorse this partnership. Due to its popularity among masses, Britain Got Talent helped Dominos Pizza in increasing its revenues by 14% to  £155million pre-tax profit by 27.8% to  £29.9million for year ended 2009. Chris Moore, CEO of Dominos Pizza seems very pleased with the outcome. He said: Our sponsorship of Britains Got Talent  took on a whole new dimension with the Susan Boyle phenomenon. With viewing figures for the show exceeding everyones expectations, the three-year sponsorship deal proved to be a well-time decision. Britains got talent programs success could also be seen with the fact that is related with its application. It has got more than 200,000 users. According to some statistics, people do not switch channels in the time when Britain got talent program is aired on the TV. In Britain almost every TV program is judged in the light of three typical families. These include the 10% managers and professionals, low paid population, and vast majority in the middle. Britain Got Talent gets most of its popularity from the vast population audience i.e. middle class. Britain Got Talent was nominated for two National Television Awards in the category of Most Popular Talent Show in 2007 and 2008. Since 2007, British got Talent program has been nominated for twenty two times under different groups for awards. It has been successful in wining different awards 9 times out of 22. In 2008, it received an RTS Award  for its technical achievements and four  Nickelodeon UK  Kids Choice Awards. In 2009, i t won Digital Spy Reality Award for Escala for Favorite Reality Contestant. The winner of its first series, Paul Potts and runner-up of its third series, Susan Boyle produced Platinum albums after being provided with the opportunity to showcase their talent in Britain Got Talent. Britain Got Talent provides the aspiring artists with the opportunity to show the world their gifts and hence provides a great platform for the performers who are unable to get ahead otherwise on account of lack of opportunities. We have the example of Susan Boyle, who was 47 years old singer but never thought she would be able to get out of her simple village life and show the world her remarkable talent. While Britains got Talent program had been admired by many people, this program is also subject to criticism by some people. According to them, this program creates bundles of hopes in contestants minds. Contestants have to wait all day just to give auditions of few seconds in front of judges. Their stance is that Britains got talent programs team does not entertain their contesta nts during their wait. Contestants had to wait not just all day but also with hunger and thirst. In addition, some disqualified contestants had complained that judges had been unfair with them during their decisions. The popularity of Britains Got Talent program has convinced many producers of different channels all around the globe to launch similar kind of programs in their own regions. Similar kind of programs that have started after Britains got talent in different countries are American Got Talent, Australia Got Talent, India Got Talent, Worlds Got Talent and many others. American Got Talent is the program which can be benchmarked against Britains Got Talent. The next section of this report draws a comparison between Britain Got Talent and American Got Talent. Both Britains Got Talent and Americas Got Talent are very famous reality shows on TV. The idea behind the shows is same to promote and find the unique and exceptional talent which does not get the platform and chance to promote their selves at national and international level. The format of the both program is almost same like auditions, shows and elimination criteria. Got Talent programs are most watched and liked by the age group of 18 to 50. Got Talent franchise was invented by British and despite that fact Britains Got Talent was not started at that time due to the dispute of the Paul OGrady with ITV and Britains Got Talent was not able to on air and Americas Got Talent was started prior to the Britains Got Talent and broadcasted on NBC. Britains Got Talent is broadcasted on the channel ITV and TV3 Ireland and the show was commenced on June 9, 2007 and on the other hand Americas Got Talent is broadcasted on the channel NBC and it was commenced on 29, June 2006. Simon Cowell is a creator of the Got Talent Franchise and also doing the judging in the Britains Got Talent and also the active creator of the Americas Got Talent but he has been prevented from judging at Americas Got Talent due to the its contract with American Idol. Britains Got Talent is presented by the same presenters since it started in June 2007 whose name are Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly both are collectively and famously known as Ant Dec and Americas Got Talent is host and presented by the different presenter which includes the Nic Cannon, Jerry Springer and Regis Philbin. The total run time of the one episode of the Britains Got Talent is 30 to 150 minutes and Americas Got Talent total duration is 60-120 minutes. Britains Got Talent winning amount is  £100,000 and also the winner of the competition will get a chance to perform at Royal Variety Performance while Americas Got Talent winning amount is $1 million which will be paid to the winner of the competition over the financial annuity of 40 years or the winner can get the lump sum of the present value of that prize. Americas Got Talent has now become more popular than the American Idol and ratings of the program has increased dramatically on the other side Britains Got Talent is the most favorite and watched program in Britain. According to the some surveys people do not switch their channels until program finished. The companion show of Britains Got Talent is Britains Got More Talent which is telecasted on ITV2 and TV3 Ireland to show the behind the scenes footage and emotional responses of the participants after the judges comments on their performance but there is no such a program. There are total four series of Britains Got Talent which include the almost 54 episodes has been broadcasted till 2010 while almost 60 episodes of Americas Got Talent have been broadcasted till 2009 in its 4 show series and 2010 season is continue.

Social Security Essay -- Welfare Politics Essays

Social Security "On a daily basis senior citizens face a choice between buying food, paying the rent, or buying medicine. Senior citizens slice pills into halves because they can't afford their full prescriptions." (Federal News Service Sept. 2002) Social Security is what keeps many elderly and disabled Americans from being stricken by poverty. Without Social Security in our society 15.3 million elderly would have incomes below the poverty line, however after Social Security was added to the equation only 3.8 million elderly have incomes below poverty. Three-fourths of those elderly people who would have been poor without Social Security were removed from below the poverty line by Social Security. Nearly 90 percent of America's elderly are lifted from poverty by Social Security. Currently nearly 44 million Americans receive benefits under Social Security, making it one of the nation's largest anti-poverty programs existing today. Although many Americans are also not helped by Social Security and linger at the fringes of society because the money is not enough to live in America today, even with Social Security adjusting to inflation. Today, the average Social Security benefit is less than $10,000 a year, and for women the average benefit is closer to $9,000. For most seniors, especially those who live in high-cost areas such as my home state of New Jersey, that's barely enough to maintain even a basic standard of living. Unfortunately 11.9% of Americans who receive Social Security are still below poverty level. It's shocking that over ten-percent of a country of 281 million people can have that much of its citizens in poverty. (http://www.cbpp.org/4-8-99socsec.htm) However c... ...ll. The biggest part of privatization is letting the person decide how to invest their Social Security since it is given to them to be invested, rather than put in a private account after being taken from the person's paycheck as is the current government policy. Americans could then invest in stocks, corporate bonds, government bonds, money market funds, and annuities. The Republican Party then goes further to say there is less risk and makes many more Americans feel "safer". Although there are risks in everything we do. Bibliography  · http://www.cbpp.org/4-8-99socsec.htm  · Socialsecuritychoice.org  · The New York Times Company, October 10, 2002; New York Section: Section A, Page 30, Column 1  · U.S. Newswire Inc., October 8, 2002 Section: National Desk  · Federal News Service Inc., September 24, 2002 Section: Press Conference or Speech

The Mention of the Israelites in Egyptian Scriptures :: essays research papers fc

There are several Egyptian documents that not only mention the Israelites in their texts, but also tie the Bible to historical facts. Egyptian documents such as the Tell el-Amarna letters, a large â€Å"stele† of the Menephtah, and the Elephantine papyri not only tell the history of Egypt, they also coincide with biblical scripture. The documents confirm not only dates, certain numbers, and rituals, such as circumcision, but places and event, e.g. The Exodus, of biblical stories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to James Orr, general editor for â€Å"The Definition for Egypt,† the Tell el-Amarna Letters were discovered in 1887. â€Å"These documents refer to many Biblical cities; they also give much direct information concerning the political and social conditions at that period† (Orr, Palestine). Damien Mackey’s â€Å"The House of David,† shows the remarkable similarities between several rulers in Egypt and the three kings (Saul, David, and Salomon) mentioned in the Bible. In Michael Grant’s â€Å"The History of Ancient Israel,† he states that a ruler in the 14th century named Labayu ruled over Shechem and extended his kingdom as far as the Mediterranean coast (18). One model given in the case of Saul tells of a second name stated in Psalm 57; the name is Lebaim, â€Å"a unique word in the Old Testament meaning great lions.† In line with this passage comes a reference from the Amarna letters; an Egyptian pharaoh whose name was Labayu, meaning â€Å"Great Lion of (N)’ where N is a god’s name† (Mackey 1). The Amarna letters could also wrap together David and Tuthmosis III as one and the same. Labayu had sons that battled for an equally important roll after his death (Grant 18). In II Samuel 3:1, the passage tells of how Saul’s two sons Ish-Bosheth and David fought for power. This leads Mackey to a comprehensive comparison between David and Tuthmosis I & III. A few illustrations in the contrast are ranging from military campaigns to coronation ceremonies (Mackey 3-5). In the military campaign of Megiddo, the records by Tuthmosis III describe the split of his armies to defeat scattered forces in separate Canaanite towns. Later, Tuthmosis rejoins his armies to capture of Megiddo (Orr, Palestine). This corresponds with II Samuel 11:1 account of David’s conquest of Rabbah (Mackey 5). Although, not as much information is found on the Elephantine papyri and the â€Å"stele† of Menephtah, they still display the bonds between the history of Egypt and biblical scriptures.

Time Is More Valuable

â€Å"Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. † In the essay â€Å"How America Has Run Out Of Time†, Nancy Gibbs discusses how the inclusion of technology into the workforce has a negative impact on the lives of Americans. Technology was designed to make work easier and faster providing extra time that can be spent freely. Instead, it had the opposite effect causing longer work hour and less time for family. I believe technology in the work place may have a deeper impact American life. Technology has helped to change the nature of the work.Technology like the Internet has helped to connect businesses internally as well as globally with information. Communication has become fast and simple with the use of email and video or phone conference, but at the same time it has made the work place impersonal. With this it reduces the need to meet face to face. Socialization within the work place decrease and there is less â€Å"wat er cooler moments† where employees meet and have conversations. There is a decrease sense of trust, bonds and teamwork present. With the decline in trust there is a decline in work-life balance.Technology provides us with a limitless supply of information and a way to stay connected. â€Å"There are phones in the car, laptops in the den, and humming fax machine eliminates the once peaceful lull between completing a document and delivering it. (602)† The constant connectivity slowly blurs the line between work and leisure. In a sense people are always working. People are able to continue their work at home after leaving the office or even work from home. Even when they are not working, employees can access and reply to email messages from work via their computer and cell phone.As work days increased, negative health effects did as well. Long working hours does not only affect a worker's productivity. Long hours meant less time for an individual to rest, which can create sleeping problems and increase the chance of being in a work related accident. Another result can be the rise of stress due to the need of a competitive advantage. The stress can lead to either high blood pressure and heart disease or bad health habits such as smoking and unhealthy eating. More time spent working meant less time with the family.Some parents feel strained and fatigued trying to juggle the responsibilities at home and at work. Most times this breaks the bond between parent and children because there is less focus on the child. As parents are working, the child is taken care of by a babysitter. Other times the child might take up the parental role and take care of themselves while the parents are away. â€Å"The very culture of children, of freedom and fantasy and kids teaching kids to play jacks, is collapsing under the weight of hectic family schedule. 605)† The structure of American life has changed since technology was introduced in the work force. People ar e on a fast pace schedule to deal with the time constraint caused by work. The accessibility of technology is causing people to overwork to combat the competition faced in the economical market. Overworking causes strain on our own lives and the family life, whether it is neglecting the responsibilities and duties as a parent or not spending time with our spouse. As the sun set and comes close to the end, ask yourself if you are able to find some free time from work?

Achebe’s “An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” Essay

Achebe’s â€Å"An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† (The Massachusetts Review, 18 (1977) : 782 – 94) expresses a passionate objection to Conrad’s point of view and portrayal of Africa and Africans in his novel Heart of Darkness. Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, can be considered the direct opposition to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and is seen to as a challenge on Conrad’s western views. I shall explore the validity in Achebe’s â€Å"An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† with regards to language, characterisation, religion and culture. Other opinions from critical readings will also be included and referenced to the two novels ( Things Fall Apart & Heart of Darkness ).Achebe felt that Conrad’s Heart of Darkness â€Å"others† Africa and Africans, when he says â€Å"others† he means that it represents the Africans as a colonised people who have li ttle â€Å"common sense† and no authority. Furthermore it shows them as a separate race or species to further illustrate how they were treated as animals and savages. The term â€Å"common sense† used earlier also illustrates how Achebe took offence to the Western ideologies in that â€Å"common sense† is a term invented by Westerners. â€Å"Common sense† is the general term one uses for Western beliefs and values but other cultures (especially African cultures) have not been included as a part of this terminology. African cultures are, in fact, criticized by the term â€Å"common sense†, which once again Achebe took offence to. Achebe felt that Heart of Darkness was also a way of â€Å"writing back to the centre† in that it represented the Western people or Colonists as the dominant and superior force, to Achebe it was an alienation of the Africans and Africa. Heart of Darkness, therefore displaced the Africans in the novel; instead of them seeming good and familiar, they were distanced fro m the reader. Hence, one can see how Achebe was a strong believer in the â€Å"Postcolonial Theory† whereby he mostly challenged but also reflected upon modern European colonisation. Brantlinger’s paper discusses the different views on colonisation by explaining five differents stances taken. According to Brantlinger the abolitionist stance (despite its good intentions) pitied the Africans and tried to fight for the Africans, but at the same time it did not occur to them that Africans were also intelligent people who could fight their own battles. It was hence seen that the abolitionists too, were treating the  Africans as inferior. His discussion of the explorer’s stance illustrates how the explorers exploited Africa and destroyed its people because the explorers saw the Africans as a sub-race of savages who had little to no importance. Brantlinger also shows how scientists saw the Africans as a separate species to humans and that Africans were thought to be animals. Scientists theorised, through Social Darwinism, that the Africans would either have to survive of sucumb. To them the Africans were expendable. To Brantlinger the missionaries considered the Africans as a race of pagans and heathens who needed to be converted to the â€Å"Good Faith†, Christianity, and they did not consider that the Africans may very well have had their own religion and set of beliefs. Furthermore, Brantlinger illustrated how the Western writers portrayed Africans as a sub-race of savages (or as an inferior group of people) who needed pity and a push in the right direction towards their Western ways. His statements, † The constant association of Africa with the inhuman violence of the slave trade did much to darken its landscape even during the romantic period.† and † By mid-century, the success of the anti-slavery movement, the impact of the great explorers, and the merger of racist and evolutionary doctrines in the social sciences had combined to give the British public a widely shared view of Africa that demanded imperialisation on moral, religious and scientific grounds. It is this view that I have called the myth of the Dark Continent† are prime examples of how he see people to have incorrect notions about Africa and Africans. His views are highly suited to Achebe’s â€Å"An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† in that they show how a white, westernised person sees the same racism eminent in todays literature as Achebe it sees in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, only Brantlinger does not directly attack any one specific book or person. Instead Brantlinger presents his view in a factual and justified manner which further helps support Achebe because he makes it easier to believe and understand him when he uses factual information rather than exclusively his opinions. Brookes wrote a paper on how certain stereotypes of Africa have been created and how they are perpetuated in newspapers today. Headlines such as, â€Å"Why give life-blood to this heart of darkness?† were analysed and according to Brookes this headline and others like it â€Å"†¦ result in the foregrounding of  Africa as violent, repressive and helpless†¦ They set up opposites where Africa is on the one side and is held up against a standard which it apparently does not meet†. Brookes’ analysis and opinions are highly relevant in that she illustrates how certain stereotypes and ideas on Africa have become second nature and are even printed in chronicles which are supposed to be factual recollections of events. Brookes does so by discussing certain gramatical, wording and representation trends associated with Africa and this shows that these ideals are wrong and racist, one should not be allowed to perpetuate such incorrect stereotype of Africans. At the same time Brookes’ paper can also discredit Achebe, because it shows that perhaps Conrad’s reason for Heart of Darkness being a racist novel is because certain stereotypes are printed in the press each day and he simply did not know any better. Achebe’s article, â€Å"An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness†, shows that Achebe feels that Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is racist and it perpetuates a certain incorrect view on Africans. He is offended by Conrad’s racism and insensitivity towards Africans. † Heart of Darkness pojects the image of Africa as â€Å"the other world,† the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant bestiality.† Here Achebe shows exactly how he feels about Heart of Darkness. Achebe sees Marlowe and Conrad as the same person and hence because Marlowe, the narrator in Heart of Darkness, is ignorant and racist†¦ Achebe immediatly assumes that Conrad holds the same views. Achebe feels that Conrad represents the colonists as superior somewhat god-like and that the Africans in Heart of Drakness are shown as savages, heathens and inf idels and they are seen to be inferior. Not only is this perception of Africans conveyed but Africa is also seen as a dark and mystical place which threatens everything that is foreign. Furthermore Achebe feels that Heart of Darkness creates the impression that Africa infects the Western people and drives them mad, as happened to Kurtz : â€Å"Consequently Africa is something to be avoided just as the picture has to be hidden away to safeguard the man’s jeopardous integrity. Keep away from Africa or else! Mr Kurtz of Heart of Darkness should have heeded that warning †¦ But he foolishly exposed himself to the wild irresistable allure  of the jungle and lo! the darkness found him out.† Achebe also feels that Conrad is also trying to convert people to his racist ways and infect them with his â€Å"xenophobia† (fear of foreigners). Achebe not only sees Conrad as a â€Å"thoroughgoing racist† and is offended by it but he is also offended by the fact that nobody has challenged Heart of Darkness and its racism, but they praise and study this book instead. C.P. Sarvan also wrote a critique on Heart of Darkness and Achebe’s article. He was, however, far less extreme than Achebe. Furthermore, he looks at the story from both sides and he weighs up both the Authors’ strengths and weaknesses. Sarvan discusses how in Heart of Darkness the colonists are actually corrupt and rotten to the core and instead of Africa being shown as an entirely bad and deep dark continent, Sarvan sees some type of of set used to highlight how the colonists were deranged and not at all pure, as the African people were. Sarvan quotes a critic who said, â€Å"Africa per per se is not the theme of Heart of Darkness, but it is used as a locale symbol for the very core of an ‘accursed inheritance†. This quote along with Sarvan’s opinion that â€Å"the story may be seen as an allegory, the journey ending with the sombre realisation of the darkness of man’s heart.† show how in Heart of Darkness Conrad does not simply want to discredit Africa and show to be a dark black hole which is to be feared, rather that it actually illustrates how the colonists could learn goodness and purity from the Africans. In contrast to Achebe, Sarvan also sees Marlowe and Conrad as totally separate people and he thinks that Marlowe’s views are not necessarily the same as Conrad’s. Sarvan considers all the evidence and he concludes that in some parts of Heart of Darkness Conrad does tend to project racist view points, but by the same token Conrad also criticises the Colonists, their way of life and their lack of morals and ethics. In both Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness there is certain language and diction which is used, the language used conveys a certain opinion and attitude toward what is being said. If one is to look at Brooke’s paper it can be seen that certain words are used to convey certain images of Africa, and at times even a certain gramatical structure is associated with Africa. If one looks at the language used in Heart of Darkness certain words can be  picked out and seen as racist but also there are words which are not racist towards the Africans and rather they discredit the colonists. For example: â€Å"The Man seemed young – almost a boy – but you know with them it’s hard to tell.†( Heart of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg35, line 21). Here one can consider this to be a racist comment as it creates a distance between the Africans and the colonists, but it can also be seen as a perfectly innocent and ignorant comment because it’s natural to have trouble understanding that which you do not know. A very similar comment is made in the same novel, however it is made with regard to the white men, it’s as follows â€Å"†¦ white men being so much alike at a distance that he could not tell who I might be.† (Heart of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 33, line 27) In Things Fall Apart there are also times when it can be criticised for the language used – Achebe describes the white missionaries as â€Å"four eyes† and here it is further illustrated that the Africans are now finding that which they are not familiar with troublesome and hard to understand. So when one weighs the two different descriptions from Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness up it can be seen that certain language can be seen as racist even if that is not the intent. Furthermore when Conrad writes, â€Å"Fine fellows – cannibals – in their place.† (Heart of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 61, line 6) you can both criticise and praise this quote. Although it does distance the Africans when he says â€Å"their place† and it could be seen as insulting to call the Africans â€Å"cannibals†, Conrad also presents the Africans in a friendly manner and he shows some kind of kinship with them when he says â€Å"Fine fellows†. Finally, there are many times when Conrad uses insulting language with regards to the Africans but he also uses language which praises them, so Achebe is not entirely correct when he says that Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness â€Å"parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In Things Fall Apart one is able to learn about the African religion and at the same time the Western religion is presented to the reader, neither is said to be right nor wrong. The advantages and disadvantages of both religions are expressed to the reader and prejudice is not shown towards either religion. In Heart of Darkness however, only the Western religion is shown and it is not even considered that the African Savages may possibly  have a perfectly good set of morals and a decent religion. One is exposed to the Western religion and it is seen as the be all and end all. The characters in Heart of Darkness are also portrayed to only believe in one certain religion and that religion (christianity) is the â€Å"saviour† of the primitive, savage Africans. For example this can be seen when Conrad writes, † Something like an emissary of light, somethng like a lower sort of apostle†¦ ‘weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways,’†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Heart of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 28, line 17). Brantlingers paper further illustrates this as well as shows that this was a Victorian ideal. Hence, with regard to religion the only religion really shown in Heart of Darkness is christianity and it is not questioned or compared to an African religion, as the two religions in Things Fall Apart are. Culture in both Achebe and Conrad’s novels is explored on two fronts : an African front and a Western front. In Things Fall Apart the more dominant culture is of course the African culture. One is introduced to the African Umuofia tribe and thereafter they are presented with the many different cultures and beliefs of that tribe and well some of the other African tribes. In Things Fall Apart, one is also shown a brief view of how the Africans saw and came to be part of Western culture, but one is also shown how the African culture actually contains alot of sense, morals and ethics. It can be seen that African culture it is not simply a group of people shouting out foreign screeches on shore as they are shown in Heart Of Darkness. Furthermore, in Heart of Darkness the Western culture is the dominant one, and in contrast to Things Fall Apart not only is there very little understanding of the other culture (African Culture) but also there seems to be no effort from the characters in Heart of Darkness to even begin to understand or grasp the African culture : â€Å"In the empty immensity of the earth , sky, and water, there she was (the French man-of-war) incomprehensible firing into a continent.† (Heart of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 30, line 33) This quote can also be used to illustrate how the colonists were seen as deranged and their culture fickle. The characterisation in the two novels is very different when speaking about  either the Africans of the Westerners. In Things Fall Apart the African is characterised as an intelligent being who has a sense of right and wrong and they contain the makings of Westerner’s human thread; maternal instinct towards one’s child, the drive to succeed, the knowledge of right and wrong, punishment for those who commit crimes, respect for elders etc. Furthermore, in Things Fall Apart the Westerners are portrayed in a fair light, despite their exloitation of the Umuofia tribe and their ideas are taken into consideration and the benifits are thaught about†¦ this shows the Umuofia to be logical and fair people. Whereas in Heart of Darkness the Westerners are the only ones who are considered to be intelligent, despite them also being shown as impure and unfair : â€Å"hairdresser’s dummy† (Heart of Darkness, Penguin Classics 2000, pg 36, line31) and â€Å"I let hi m run on, this papier-mache Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I tried I could poke my forefinger through him, and would find nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe.† The Africans in Heart Of Darkness are not portrayed as humans, rather they’re seen as animals, but at the same time they can also be seen as more human than the imhumane colonists because they are compassionate and they aren’t empty inside (refer to â€Å"I let him run on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  above). The Africans are also seen as the underdogs being destroyed by the white men who only care for money. Overall in Things Fall Apart, the portrayal of the Africans in is that they’re humans with morals and a good steady culture and the portrayal of the Westerners is that they’re also human with morals and their own culture. In Heart of Drakness, the Africans are weak, primitive savages victimised by the strong, impure White man with no moral fibre. The links between the books Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness can be seen as a trend throughout Booke’s and Brantlinger’s Papers. Both find that in our societies there are certain ideas associated with Africa; namely darkness, mystery, savagery, unenlightenment, lack of intelligence and resourses as well as good solid religion and moral fibre, and finally the idea that Africa infects the rest of the world with all its dark and dangerous qualities. Each day these ideas are passed through our brains and drummed into our heads, to such a degree that the majority of us no longer question their being right or wrong. Achebe found that in Heart of Darkness,  Conrad discussed and displayed these racist ideals in extreme amounts and Achebe felt the racism Conrad openly showed was unacceptable. Surely society played a role in this uneducated assumption made about Africa and its people when it allowed for such racist ideals to be printed in the everyday press. In Conclusion it can be asid that Achebe did have reason for his opposition to Heart of Drakness and its portrayal of Africa and Africans. It must be considered, however, that perhaps Conrad’s unintentional racism was simply the product of ignorance. He was incorrect in conveying the Africans as savages, but at the time the book was written Conrad was probably blinded by his society and its stereotypes. Furthermore, his true intention in Heart of Darkness was to show the Westerners lack of moral fibre by contrasting them against the Africans and showing how the Westerners exploited the Africans. Achebe’s description of Conrad as a â€Å"thoroughgoing racist† in â€Å"An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness† was not entirely true. Conrad did include some racism in Heart of Drakness but it was not intentional and it was certainly not extreme enough to call him a â€Å"thoroughgoing racist†.

Peace and Freedom throughout a Nation Essay

Throughout the course of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he uses several persuasive appeals such as the idea of peace and freedom to inspire and gain the trust of his Nation.   In the beginning of Kennedy’s speech, he mentions that America will â€Å"pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend [and] oppose any foe† (par 4) for the preservation of liberty. This is an example of parallelism clauses that make clear of Kennedy’s intent to do anything it takes for the survival and liberty. Kennedy states that both sides of a conflict should join in creating â€Å"a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak are secure and the peace preserved† (par 19). Kennedy’s use of parallelism helps keep the people’s attention to help illustrate his key points of his speech. He later describes the â€Å"power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life,† (par 2) that uses that power to free the peoples of the world. Meaning we have the power to destroy ourselves but it should only be used to better our nation, and create a balance of peace and freedom in the world. During this time the United States was in the beginning of the Cold War and he knew that focuses had to be on containing Communism in order to assure the American people that they were safe. Kennedy constantly reminds the American people that they are a united and strong country that can make it through anything. Kennedy begins four paragraphs in a row with the same words, â€Å"To those,† (par7-8) to illustrate that he is willing to work things out with the countries America is having problems with. His use of repetition helps him remind his country that they can make it through anything in a persuasive way. He also mentions that America can solve problems with their enemies during diplomacy several times. Kennedy amplifies his desire for peace and unity when he repeats, â€Å"Let both sides† (par 14-18) he utilizes alliteration to explain his want for unity instead of division. It is brought to our attention that â€Å"if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few that are rich (par 8). In order to sustain peace and freedom throughout the nation these things like this need to be recognized. Kennedy creates a common enemy to unite the people’s pride. While discussing newly freed countries he uses a metaphor, saying, â€Å"remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by ridding the back of the tiger ended up inside† (par 7). Also when he says, â€Å"the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans† (par 3) he is using a metaphor showing that America intends to control themselves and let no one else rule them. So our Nation â€Å"should only glow from that fire [that] can truly light the world† (par 12) meaning if everyone does something to benefit the country we will succeed and live and peace. John F. Kennedy did an outstanding job with gaining the trust of his Nation during his 1961 inaugural address. The people were able to feel safe and protected with Kennedy becoming president. The fear of being taken over by a Communist nation lessened, and peace and freedom was sure to come.