Eerie Themes Of Gothic Writing - An Analysis Of Edgar...

In the history of literature, there have always been different themes and genres of writing. But few have been as different or unique as that of the â€Å"gothic† literature. Of all the gothic authors of history, few writing has captured the mind and plunged it into the depths of fear as that of Edgar Allen Poe. Poe’s â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† is a story that shows us how deadly being prideful can be. Themes of dishonour, revenge and questionable justice all come together in this story. In this essay, I will discuss how the setting, irony and the lack of certain details all contribute to the gothic theme and the spine-tingling effect of the story. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The setting and clothing of the story are two of the key†¦show more content†¦Fortunato himself displays much irony as well. First, his name resembles the word â€Å"fortune† and to have good fortune can mean to have good luck, which is obviously not what Fortunate has, having been left for eternity to perish alone in darkness. Fortunato’s clothes are another source of irony. He wears the clothes of a jester, â€Å"He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.† (70) Since jesters are often portrayed as trusting and very foolish, this completely describes Fortunato as he willing and unknowingly walks with his murderer to his doom. Another source of irony is found in almost everything that Montresor says. Every time he speaks to Fortunato, he speaks to him as if he is his friend. He speaks to him with a sarcasm that is not noticeable. However, since we are inside his head, we know that Montresor is not actually friends with Fortunato and this ploy is all actually part of his plot to kill Fortunato. In the beginning, Montresor says to himself that â€Å"I must not only punish but punish with impunity.† (70) This is ironic when we later find out that Montresor’s family motto is â€Å"No one provokes me with impunity.† From the motto and the description of the coat of arms we receive, it can be assumed that Montresor’s family has had a history of insanity and

Slavery In Latin America Essay example - 1641 Words

Slavery In Latin America Slavery in the Americas was quite diverse. Mining operations in the tropics experienced different needs and suffered different challenges than did plantations in more temperate areas of Norther Brazil or costal city’s serving as ports for the exporting of commodities produced on the backs of the enslaved peoples from the African continent. This essay will look at these different situations and explore the factors that determined the treatment of slaves, the consequences of that treatment, and the conditions that lead to resistance by the slaves working in their various capacities. After the initial conquest of Mexico and South America it was time to develop the economy and export the†¦show more content†¦They could sell what they produced and this gave them money with which to effect manumissions. The plantation life had a hierarchy that separated the slaves into three levels with value attached to each one. The lowest level of the hierarchy was the â€Å"Bozal.† These were slave born on the African continent with little or no acculturation with the Spaniards and Portugese who enslaved them. They were of the least value as the least skilled and plenty there were plenty more where they came from. Though they were not completely disposable they were of the least consequence should they die or run off. Next up the pecking order were the â€Å"Ladino.† These slaves had more time in country and had developed skills useful to the plantation owner. They were often in working positions of a bit higher value as well. The top of the chain were the â€Å"Criollo.† These were slaves that were born in Latin America. They were often times offspring of Spaniards or Portugese and as such had more ties to the community. Mulatto’s were not looked down upon as they were in the American south. The Criollo held trusted positions in transportation, and were most often manumitted. Also enjoying frequent manumission was the criollo involved in the processing of the crops. Field hands made up the bulk of the population of any givenShow MoreRelatedSlavery in Latin America1676 Words   |  7 Pages#65279; Slavery in the Americas was quite diverse. Mining operations in the tropics experienced different needs and suffered different challenges than did plantations in more temperate areas of Norther Brazil or costal citys serving as ports for the exporting of commodities produced on the backs of the enslaved peoples from the African continent. This essay will look at these different situations and explore the factors that determined the treatment of slaves, the consequences of that treatmentRead MoreEssay on Slavery in Latin America4587 Words   |  19 Pages Slavery in Latin America Chile History Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th cent., the Araucanians had long been in control of the land in the southern part of the region; in the north, the inhabitants were ruled by the Inca empire. Diego de Almagro, who was sent by Francisco Pizarro from Peru to explore the southern region, led a party of men through the Andes into the central lowlands of Chile but was unsuccessful (1536) in establishing a foothold there. In 1540, PedroRead MoreSlavery in Latin America vs Us3432 Words   |  14 PagesSlavery and its Impact in Latin America Vs the United States Slavery originally started in Latin America and the West Indies by the French, Spanish, and Portuguese after the conquest, to replace the depopulated labor of the Indigenous people. Shortly after, slavery became a profitable enterprise for the capitalistic driven United States. Some of the principal laws and systems of slavery were the same in both regions, but others were later changed. It brought about many changes, with respectRead MoreEssay on Latin America And Slavery1933 Words   |  8 Pages Prior to its independence Latin America had been controlled by external forces for hundreds of years. To be freed of control from these outside interests did not in any way guarantee Latin America a return to the status quo. In fact, the inhabitants of Latin America had done very well in assimilating their in house controllers. 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He first states the differences between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln’s positions concerning southward expansionism and how these two influential men arrived at and supported their stances. Robert May goes on to show potential U.S. expansion into Latin American and Caribbean territories led to the growing discontentRead MoreSimilarities And D ifferences Between The French And Latin American Revolutions1044 Words   |  5 PagesFrom 1750 to 1914, several important revolutionary processes occurred in the Americas, including those of North America and Latin America. The North American and Spanish American Revolutions were similar in that they both shared the common goal of liberation from the foreign colonial governments that ruled over them. However they differed in that there was no goal for social reform in the American Revolution, but in the Haitian Revolution the slaves had the goal of social reform of the rigid socialRead MoreThe Haitian Revolution And Latin American History1278 Words   |  6 Pages The Haitian Revolution was one of the most important slave revolts in Latin American history. It started a succession of other revolutionary wars in Latin America and ended both colonialism and imperialism in the Americas. The Haitian Revolution affected people from all social castes in Haiti including the indigenous na tives, mestizos, mulattos and the Afro-Latin. The idea of starting a rebellion against France began with the colony’s white elite class seeking a capitalist market. These elites inRead MoreLatin America Revolutions Essay775 Words   |  4 PagesVienna, revolts plagued many European countries as well as several areas in Latin America. France was driven from Haiti, Portugal lost control of Brazil, and Spain was forced to withdraw from all its American empire except for Cuba and Puerto Rico. Colonial government in South America came to an end. Three countries where revolts were successfully established were Haiti, Venezuela, and Brazil. The countries in Latin America benefited from the revolts because they became free from colonial rule, but

The United States An Empire in Denial Free Essays

string(37) " the concept of an Imperial America\." With the arrival and eventual establishment of a permanent settlement on American soil in the early seventeenth century, the English settlers came upon an expansive territory of land teeming with resources and endless possibilities. Soon, these settlers longed for liberty and thus desired to break free from the imperial clutches of British rule. Standing resolutely against a great and powerful empire, liberty was won in America by the blood of its founding fathers, indelibly written in the Declaration of Independence. We will write a custom essay sample on The United States: An Empire in Denial or any similar topic only for you Order Now Perhaps in these humble beginnings are the reasons why America today could never officially admit on how she has evolved into the empire she had once detested and fought. The facts, however, speak for themselves. America today is a colossal empire and as such, she has in her power the capacity to shape the future by creating a world environment conducive to profitable economic relations (especially to third-world countries) and international peace, both of which are in short supply, these days. What the world needs, according to Niall Ferguson in page 301 of his book ‘Colossus’, is an effective liberal empire and the United States is the best candidate for the job. What restrains America from accepting and performing its role as an imperial power? This paper delves on this question and discusses the following relevant issues: (1) definition of an empire, (2) what America has become, (3) the American might: strongholds around the globe, (4) the American empire: adherence and denial, and (5) America as the engine of global growth. America is now the only superpower in the world and she is in a position to greatly influence the course of human history. Main Body Definition of an Empire Probing into the topic at hand, it is necessary to elucidate on the true meaning of ‘empire’ as rationalized by Mr. Ferguson: An empire is ‘first and foremost, a very great power that has left its mark on the international relations of an era . . . a polity that rules over wide territories and many peoples, since the management of space and multi-ethnicity is one of the great perennial dilemmas of an empire . . . An empire is by definition . . . not a polity ruled with the explicit consent of its peoples, [But] by a process of assimilation of peoples of democratization of institutions empires can transform themselves into multinational federations or even nation states. (10) Thus defined, an empire does not require the general consensus of the people involved. However, an empire can adapt to whatever is the prevalent social, economic or political environment at hand. What America Has Become In the course of human history for the past four centuries since the arrival of the English settlers in America, has the United States revealed itself, in whatever degree, as a nation with imperial intents? As Ferguson states: This book argues not merely that the United States is an empire but that it has always been an empire. Unlike most of the previous authors who have remarked on this, I have no objection in principle to an American empire. Indeed, a part of my argument is that many parts of the world would benefit from a period of American rule (Ferguson 2). The United States is perceived to be the greatest empire to have ever existed in the history the mankind, propelling itself to the top, not only with its involvement and successes at previous wars, but most especially, with its exploitation of constant advances in science and technology for its defensive posture. In this field, America has no equal. As we have seen, by most conventional measures of power–economic, military and cultural–there has never been an empire mightier than the United States today (Ferguson289). The American Might: Strongholds around the Globe From a military standpoint, America has the greatest influence over many other nations today. Controlling offensive and defensive strategic sites around the globe, its military arm is well-emplaced and is in the best position to act or react should the need arise. . . . the U. S. military has around 752 military installations in more than 130 countries . . . In the first year of President Bush’s presidency, around 70,000 U. S. troops were stationed in Germany, and 40,000 in Japan . . . Almost as many (36,500) were in South Korea . . . Moreover, new wars have meant new bases, like Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, acquired during the 1999 war against Yugoslavia, or the Bishkek air base in Kyrgyzstan . . . At the time of writing, about 10,000 American troops are still based in Afghanistan, and it seems certain that a substantial force of 100,000 will have to remain in Iraq for at least the next few years. (Ferguson 16) What other nation in the face of the earth – be it in the past or in the present – could ever boast of such a claim? What other nation is more prepared to control vast areas of land, air and water with its military dominance? On land the United States has 9,000 M1 Abrams tanks. The rest of the world has nothing that can compete. At sea the United States possesses nine ‘supercarrier’ battle groups. The rest of the world has none. And in the air the United States has three different kinds of undetectable stealth aircraft. The rest of the world has none. The United States is also far ahead in the production of ‘smart’ missiles and pilotless high-altitude ‘drones’ (Ferguson 16). The American Empire: Adherence and Denial The United States today is an empire – but a peculiar kind of empire. It is vastly wealthy. It is militarily peerless. It has astonishing cultural reach. Yet by comparison with other empires it often struggles to impose its will beyond its shores . . . Only when the United States could cast itself in an anti-imperialist role . . . were the Americans able to perform their own cryptoimperial role with self-confidence (Ferguson 287). This is where the American nation faces its greatest hurdle in reaching its full potential and becoming a great empire for the greater benefit of the world, for it could not bear the concept of an Imperial America. You read "The United States: An Empire in Denial" in category "Papers" It took a succession of humanitarian disasters abroad in the 1990s and terrorist attacks at home in 2001 to rekindle public enthusiasm for a more assertive American foreign policy, though even this had to be cloaked in euphemism, its imperial character repeatedly denied (Ferguson 287). But this denial is not a sentiment shared by all Americans. As events unfold and the need for change arises, more and more adherents to an imperial America surface, publicly giving voice to an advocacy silently embraced by a few. Richard Haas, who went on to serve in the Bush administration as director of policy planning in the State Department, argued that Americans needed to ‘re-conceive their global role from one of traditional nation-state to an imperial power’, calling openly for an ‘informal’ American empire . . . As Thomas Donnelly, deputy executive director of the Project for the New American Century, told the Washington Post in August 2001, â€Å"There’s not all that many people who will talk about it [empire] openly. It’s discomforting to a lot of Americans. So they use code phrases like ‘America is the sole superpower’ â€Å"(Ferguson 4). There is little doubt that the declaration of an imperial America would profoundly provoke global agitation. However, one must bear in mind that this is not a new concept and that for decades, this abstraction has always been in the backdrop, even more so in every anti-American cause one would care to listen to. Few people outside the United States today doubt the existence of an American empire; that America is imperialistic is a truism in the eyes of most educated Europeans. But the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr noted as long ago as 1960, Americans persist in ‘frantically avoiding recognition of the imperialism [they] in fact exercise (Ferguson 294). All evidence suggests that America is an empire. The denial of the American populace and most especially that of the United States government to this fact is not an altogether innocuous act or claim, as in the present case of Iraq and Afghanistan. Does imperial denial matter? The answer is that it does . . . The trouble with an empire in denial is that it tends to make two mistakes when it chooses to intervene in the affairs of lesser states. The first may be to allocate insufficient resources to the nonmilitary aspects of the project. The second, and the more serious, is to attempt economic and political transformation in an unrealistically short time frame. (Ferguson 294) America as the Engine of Global Growth To this day, America remains to be the behemoth that it is with the American dollar taking its rightful place as the international currency in the global market. Twentieth-century history handed the United States a privileged position in the world economy; its currency became and has remained the world’s favorite. Since 1945 it has been used more than any other for denominating international transactions, and that has made it the preferred currency for central bank reserves (Ferguson 283). America, it appears, has everything that is needed to perform its imperial role. It is even likely that, in these times of widespread poverty, many countries would rally behind this cause for simple economic motives. The reason that so much overseas capital flows into the United States, so it is said, is that the American economy is the engine of global growth and foreign investors simply want a ‘piece of the action’ (Ferguson 281). At the end of the day, the alleviation of poverty through the creation of a dynamic and vigorous economy is the backbone of a peaceful nation. Here is where one sees the role that America should play. The Role that America Should Play What the world needs today is not just any kind of empire. What is required is a liberal empire- that is to say, one that not only underwrites the free international exchange of commodities, labor and capital but also creates and upholds the conditions without which markets cannot function- peace and order, the rule of law, non-corrupt administration, stable fiscal and monetary policies- as well as provide public goods, such as transport infrastructure, hospitals and schools, which would not otherwise exist. (Ferguson 2) The question that must now be answered is: ‘Can the United States achieve the role of being an effective liberal empire? ’ There is no doubt that the America of today has a foothold on almost all of the essential attributes required to perform this role. Although the United States seems in many ways ideally endowed –economically, militarily and politically – to run such an ‘empire of liberty’ (in Thomas Jefferson’s phrase), in practice it has been a surprisingly inept empire builder (Ferguson 2). Because of the democracy with which America was founded upon, we have seen time and again how the American populace, in general, refuses to accept the concept of an empire. As such, it could not move on to greater heights of historical attainment. Others would claim that many millions of people around the world have benefited in some way or another from the existence of America’s empire – not least the West Europeans, Japanese, and South Koreans who were able to prosper during the cold war under the protection of the American nuclear ‘umbrella’ – and that the economic losers of the post-cold war era, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are victims not of American power but of its absence (Ferguson 13). In the words of retired General Anthony Zinni: ‘What is our obligation to the world? ’ We preach about values, democracy, human rights, but we haven’t convinced the American people to pony up . . . There’s no leadership that steps up and says, ‘This is the right thing to do’ . . . That’s the basic problem . . . There has to be the political will and support for these things. We should believe that a stable world is a better place for us . . . the U. S. would make a much greater difference to the world. (Ferguson 293) Conclusion Through the acceptance and support for an American empire by the American people themselves – which in itself is a huge undertaking – the United States could significantly alter the course of human history for the better. This conclusion could better be proven by questioning any of the multitudinous impoverished citizens from a third-world country if such a nation would be better off under the auspices of the American dollar. The United States has always been an empire in denial. A truly unfortunate fact for humankind would have a much better place to live in if only the world, most especially the American populace, would accept, recognize and support this undeniable reality of an imperial America. Works Cited Fletcher, Richard. Colossus. U. K. : Penguin, 2004. How to cite The United States: An Empire in Denial, Papers

Advance Financial Accounting Segment Reporting

Question: Discuss about the Advance Financial Accounting for Segment Reporting. Answer: Advantages of the management approach The use of management approach in segment reporting is done for increasing the effectiveness of financial reporting. The new accounting standards under AASB 8 has adopted and implemented the use of management approach for analysing the operational functions of an organisation from the perspective of management. The management approach enables the investors and analysts to analyse to view the financial statements through the eyes of management (Bugeja, Czernkowski and Moran, 2015). Thus, it assists them in estimating the management strategies and actions and gains an insight into the operational risks that can occur in the firm in future context. The senior management can take proactive steps in advance for overcoming the risks identified through the application of management approach. The management approach also significantly reduces the costs required in preparation of financial reports as it eliminates the need for preparation of different financial disclosures for internal and ex ternal use. The financial report developed internally by the management can be used for external reporting as well under the management approach. The financial performance of each operational area can be continually assessed in a timely manner through the use of management approach. This is because management approach assists in obtaining timely segment information for external reporting by eliminating the need for different financial reports for external and internal use. It requires the business firms to report the financial performance of each business segment and thus facilitates decision-makers to analyse the operational performance of all business areas. Thus, management approach proves to be highly beneficial for the management in taking crucial decisions regarding the improvement in its operational effectiveness (Camfferman and Zeff, 2015). The implementation of management approach under accounting standards of AASB 8 requires business corporations to organise the segments properly for analysing the operational performance relatively easily. It provides greater flexibility to management for reporting the firm performance by overcoming the restrictions under old accounting standards of AASB 114 to present the financial performance in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Dagwell et al., 2011). The continual assessment of performance of each operational area will further help the management in taking decisions regarding the resources allocated to each operational area and make strategic decisions for improving the performance of each business segment. The management can also easily identify the operational expenditure of each business segment that helps in developing an action plan for reducing the operational cost and significantly enhance the revenue generation. The adoption of management appr oach requires business firms to depict large amount of segment information in the financial reports and thus maximising the operational effectiveness. For example, Hiddleston Ltd has implemented the use of management approach for monitoring the performance of its each operational segment. The company is involved in manufacturing of electrical equipment and develops its interim financial reports that are presented to its outside stakeholders enabling them to assess its sales and turnover. This is done by the company to report the performance of its each operational area to management and customers and thus improve transparency in its operational segments (Hollie and Yu, 2015). Disadvantages of Management Approach The implementation of management approach under new accounting standards of AASB 8 also has certain drawbacks associated with it. This includes reporting of market-sensitive information to external stakeholders of a business entity as interim reports are presented for external reporting as well. The outside parties are able to view the business through the management perspective as operating segment information is presented externally in the same way as it is used by the internal management (Kang and Gray, 2013). This can sometimes become a potential threat for the business entities if the information is used by the competitors. It also results in reducing the comparability of the financial reports with industry peers not reporting segment information as per the management approach guidelines. The lack of comparability between the financial information of similar business entities does not prove useful for the investors. The investors will not be able to select the business entity pr operly with the lack of comparability analysing between similar business groups. The management approach can be adopted by the business entities that are traded in public and as such the private entities operating within the industry cant adopt the use of management approach for segment reporting (Nichols, Street and Tarca, 2013). This implements a possible drawback of non-comparing the group performance within the similar industry due to irregularity in the methods used for developing financial reports., The management approach requires significant reporting of the performance of each operational area and therefore may increase the complexity of financial statements. The non-applicability of GAAP principles in reporting performance of operational segments will require the management to provide a reconciliation of the report developed with financial statement line items. The preparation of such a reconciled report may offset the cost saved by the management in eliminating the need for developing external reports through the use of management approach. It also requires companies to manage the expectations of the stakeholders through providing them all the internal information (Bugeja, Czernkowski and Moran, 2015). It makes imperative for the companies to publish the internal information prepared by the manageme nt which may at times is very sensitive and as such cant be disclosed to the outside stakeholders. Thus, the business companies adopting the use of management approach for segment reporting should adequately assess the potential impact of disclosing internal information on their long-term growth and development in advance. In addition to this, management approach requires certain operating segments to be aggregated that have relatively similar economic characteristics. This is one of the major challenges before the management as it requires significant critical analysis for demonstrating the segment that have similar economic characteristics and is thus time-consuming. For example, a business entity publishing the information through the use of management approach in segment reporting may not be able to attract attention of investors due to lack of comparability analysis with other groups in the same industry (AASB 8 Divide and Conquer, 2008). References AASB 8 Divide and Conquer. 2008. [Online]. Available at: https://kpmg.com.au/portals/0/08fr-57.pdf [Accessed on: 8 October 2016]. Bugeja, M., Czernkowski, R. and Moran, D. 2015. The Impact of the Management Approach on Segment Reporting. Journal of Business Finance Accounting 42(3) (4), pp. 310366. Camfferman, K. and Zeff, S.A. 2015. Aiming for Global Accounting Standards: The International Accounting Standards Board, 2001-2011. OUP Oxford. Dagwell, R. et al. 2011. Corporate Accounting in Australia. Pearson Higher Education AU. Hollie, D. and Yu, S. 2015. A Perspective On Segment Reporting Choices And Segment Reconciliations. Applied Finance and Accounting 1(2), pp. 88-95. Kang, H. and Gray, S.J. 2013. Segment Reporting Practices in Australia: Has IFRS 8 Made a Difference? Australian Accounting Review 23(3). Nichols, N.B., Street, D.L. and Tarca, A. 2013. The Impact of Segment Reporting Under the IFRS 8 and SFAS 131 Management Approach: A Research Review. Journal of International Financial Management Accounting 24(3).