The Accounting Cycle Free Essays

In the general point of view, an accounting cycle refers to certain procedures that must be established by every business unit to provide the data to be reported on the financial statements. The accounting process consists of two interrelated parts: the recording phase and the summarizing phase. Although these phases vary in details depending on the nature of the business, the main purpose is just the same – to be able to provide an accurate report containing the firm’s condition and the result of its operation. We will write a custom essay sample on The Accounting Cycle or any similar topic only for you Order Now To clearly illustrate the complete accounting cycle of a finance company, let us take as an example Dann Berns, Inc. The company is engaged in providing business analysis including credit investigation, a thorough study of the company profile, review of the client’s financial statements, and providing an overall rating of the clients, whom we will call as subjects in this example. Among Dann Berns’ subjects include big companies who are applying for accreditation as a distributor of another firm; applicant verification for banks and other financial institutions offering various types of loans, as part of their pre-approval requirements; outsourcing companies and other headhunting firms for hire-right purposes; and others from different industries. To be able to provide the necessary services, Dann Berns is hiring very senior financial professionals for these functions. These professionals are required to have a solid background in finance and accounting as well as the ability to communicate with the top management of different financial institutions. A deep knowledge on financial analysis is highly expected from them. The Operations Department is involved in the main process and is consist of report coordinators, field officers, business analysts, and editors, who are all directly reporting to the vice president. Other departments providing support include marketing, human resources, legal, information technology, accounting and audit. The marketing people are the ones who have direct contact with the subject. They collect and forward the primary documents and other requirements to the operations department through the report coordinators. The report coordinators will then input necessary data for monitoring and assignment of subjects to the business analysts. The editors are responsible in reviewing the work of the business analysts. Their responsibilities include double-checking of the ratings given to the subject, based on their company profile, the result of background checks, outcome of credit investigations made, and the content of their financial statements. Field officers are the ones who do the personal background-checking and other liaison work including but not limited to gathering of pertinent documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, IRS, Federal Bank and other banks, and other regulatory bodies to authenticate the validity of the papers submitted by the subject. Once the accreditation process is done, the editors will forward the reports back to the report coordinators, who will then issue a list of completed reports per subject to the accounting department for billing purposes. This is the starting point of Dann Berns’ accounting cycle. How to cite The Accounting Cycle, Essay examples

Customer Intimacy and Its Implication in Sales Unit-Free Samples

Question: Explain Customer Intimacy And Its Implication In Sales Unit? Answer: Introduction Strategic business unit (SBU) of the organization Apple Inc. is an essential segment which assists in maintaining the standardization and profitability for the business. This segment significantly comprehends the strategic marketing tools that are required to enhance the strategy of marketing in the organization. In this assignment, the learner has elaborately described the strategic direction and development tools required for sales division unit in the organization. The development tools create a huge impact on this unit; however, it does impact positively which signifies the critical growth of the business in the competitive market. These strategies will significantly help in implementation and planning process in the organization. Customer intimacy and its implication in Sales unit In the business world, there exist 3 core marketing strategies for various business platforms based on different industry. The three strategies in terms of marketing are operational excellence, customer intimacy, and product leaderships. However, for the sales unit of the organization Apple Inc. focuses mainly on customer intimacy. As it is the customer that helps an organization to rise to its peak level by enhancing the profitability in various aspects (Baker, 2014). Hence, satisfying their needs and demand is relevant for gaining success and to stay ahead in the competitive market. The client intimacy strategy concentrates on offering a critical scope of client administrations that considers the personalization of administration and the customization of items to meet varying client needs (Montgomery, Einstman Stepniewski, 2006). Frequently organization like Apple Inc. who seeks after this system marketing strategies focuses critically on the items which are well planned particula rly for the individual client. The fruitful outline of arrangements obliges sellers to have profound client learning and in addition bits of knowledge into their clients' business forms. The arrangements which are offered once in a while, focuses on the least expensive alternative for the client, nor the most creative, yet are viewed as satisfactory (Boone Kurtz, 2013). Client intimacy concentrates on the requirements of the individual client. Customer intimacy strategically can just land through adjusting the item improvement, producing, regulatory capacities and official concentration around the requirements of the individual client. Apple Inc. significantly has a tendency to have a decentralized association which enables them to learn and change rapidly as per clients' needs (Christopher, Payne Ballantyne, 2013). This organization frequently keeps a whole environment of accomplices for the genuine creation and conveyance of items and administrations to their clients. The strategic direction for the organization Apple Inc. in terms of marketing is to provide an adequate solution to its customers and assist them while running their business critically. The sales unit of the organization is effective for forming a great segment in the organization which achieves a direct relation with the customer. This, in turn, helps them to achieve the desired n eed of the target market which helps the organization to stay ahead in comparison with the rival companies. The pricing strategy of the products and services offered by the organization enhances eventually due to the engagement of the sales unit. Hence, customer intimacy is desired in an organization to achieve the desired goal as well as to stay ahead in the market. The sales unit provides an effective system support that helps to measure the cost of delivering product and services to the customer while maintaining the loyalty of the customer. The corporate culture is generally flexible and is completely customer centric. The sales unit has the main advantage of attaining customer information which is crucial in terms of running the business of Apple Inc. more flexible. The managers of the sales unit are effective and have significant boundaries and also assist their subordinates to complete the task at ease which is desired in terms of achieving customer intimacy towards the organization. The team of the sales unit is congenial controlled as well as friendly by sharing information from the higher level to lower for enhancing effective strategy (Czinkota Ronkainen, 2013). The teamwork, trust, and power of the unit are efficient for trusting the members for accomplishing their job role. The sales unit strategies change with the changing needs of the customers; however, in the organization Apple Inc. the underlying strategy is stable which is towards profitability. Hence, the strategy chosen for the organization Apple Inc. is assisting the business growth while satisfying the needs of the customer. Thr ough customer intimacy strategy, the organization will attain ample profit pay off and is feasible with its huge resource platforms; however, with advantages come investment costs as well as a potential risk which the organization critically resolves and moves further (De Mooij, 2013). The sales unit team considerably attains competitive strategic positions in terms of customer intimacy which are both dominant and strong. Through the strategy of customer intimacy, the organizations sales unit controls the strategies and behavior of other competitors which are a significant strength in the target market (Yim, Tse Chan, 2008). The organization Apple Inc. always considers short-term strategies rather than a long term as the strategies mostly depend upon the changing needs of customers. The sales unit always tries to enhance its current position as it has significant strengths and potentials to continue the business while satisfying the needs of customers. The pricing strategy, as well as the products and services produced from the unit, are completely based on the needs of the customers while comparing the pricing strategy of the competitors (McKenzie-Mohr, 2013). This, in turn, helps to attain a significant position in the target market as well as it is profitable f or the organization in every aspect. Hence, the implication of the sales unit of the organization in terms of customer intimacy strategies is significant and will help to grow business widely. Portfolio analysis- Boston Consulting Groups matrix The higher management of the organization Apple Inc. is not dependable for generating strategic alternatives in terms of different products and services in the market for customer intimacy. It completely depends on the business units of the organization. The sales unit of the organization Apple Inc. is significant for generating strategies based on the need of the customers (Zott Amit, 2013). The critical assumption of the BCG or Boston Consulting Group matrix is it helps to analyze the increased market share of the products and services that have been introduced in the market for higher cash generation (Simons, 2013). However, it is evident for the organization Apple Inc. that growing markets do need additional investment. By attaining slower business growth, the organization can gather the required additional investment. The sales unit in the organization is completely independent of other business unit and implements strategies based on the needs of the target market. The matrix quadrants are named as stars, question marks, cash cows, and dogs. Each of the quadrants signifies each strategy of an organization. The high growth market leaders are typically known as stars. Cash cows are significantly characterized by high market share and low growth. Dogs are those who introduce products in low positioned market share as well as poor competitive position (Xue, Ray Sambamurthy, 2013). The sales unit in the organization Apple Inc. can be characterized in the quadrant of question marks. The products and services offered by the unit are significantly customer-centric which enhances the growth market of the product; however, this, in turn, leaves to low share and requires more cash for investment and produces more products. This unit starts at a slow pace but eventually evolves in the market as a star product which flourishes the market as well as gain competitive advantage. The investment characteristics are quite heavy initially ad requires high developmental and research costs to learn about the target market and to gain customer intimacy. The earning characteristics significantly fluctuate based on the need of the target market; sometimes its high and sometimes its low (Turnbull Valla, 2013). The sales unit takes a huge chance to dominate the target market and if everything goes well after introducing the products and service in the target market, it gains huge market share. However, if it does not go as it is planned then a new strategy is redefined which will benefit the organization. The organization does support the sales business unit as this is the only segment which has a direct contact with its customers. Hence, if the market share lowers down due to external factors then the organization develops a strategically plan with sales unit to develop a new strategy which will be profitable for the company in terms of competitive advantage (Shih et al. 2013). The sales unit critically develops the strategy based on the market size and market position which benefits the organization Apple Inc. in several ways. The portfolio considerations for the organization Apple Inc. depends upon market size, market growth, industry profitability, and cyclicality. This, in turn, assists the sales business unit of the organization to develop the strategy which will be based on the needs of the customers as well as profitable for the organization. Strategic development tools and its benefits Cross-impact analysis This technique helps to analyze the impacts of the products and services that have been introduced in the market by the sales unit team. This analysis is typically done before the implementation of the new product; however, it can be done later too. This analysis helps to learn the potential impact of introducing a product or service in the target market. It determines if the new strategy will create a positive or negative impact on the customers in future events (Biggemann et al. 2013). The taxation laws as well as legislative laws also fall under this and play an integral part in the strategy making practice for the organization Apple Inc. Cross-impact analysis is done by surveying the needs and demands of the target customers which will significantly assist the sales to the team to develop integrated strategies that will benefit both the organization and customers and also will help to attain a competitive advantage in the target market. This technique will also assist in learning the overall competitive strategic position in the target market. The developed strategies will be based on the needs of the customers which will be significantly coordinated both externally and internally. The social and demographic event also helps in learning the how the strategy will create a positive impact in the market. Trend-impact analysis This technique critically helps the strategic business unit of the organization Apple Inc. to demonstrate future trends by gathering the past buying behaviors of the customers and likewise focusing on reinventing new products and services based on enhancing customer intimacy (Khalili Shavarini et al. 2013). This analysis benefits the sales to learn the buying behavior of the customers which creates a huge impact on the profitability of the organization. This method is unique from other tools as this technique lies with the combination of the view of customers as well as a statistical method for learning either there will be a potential growth due to the implemented strategy or it will be harmful for the organization and makes it easy for the sales business unit to decide. This tool critically assists the unit to develop a significant strategy that will be profitable for the business and will attain huge market share (Kownatzki et al. 2013). The trend of customers keeps on changing wi th the changing environment and advanced technological growth due to which it becomes tough for organization Apple Inc. to meet the demands of customers while making a profitable business. However, this technique simplifies the problem in a huge way to analyze the needs and demands of customers which make the organization stay ahead in the competitive market. Planning and implementation For strategic marketing, the organization Apple Inc. needs to have strategic planning which must be done effectively by the sales unit of the organization. Without effective marketing, the organization can never achieve the success it desires and flourishes in the market. The members of the sales business unit of the organization must provide quality product and services to fulfill the needs and demands of the customers which will increase customer intimacy (Kumar et al. 2013). For developing an effective plan, the members of the strategic business unit must focus on its customers about their buying behavior, surveying and other efficient measures which will help to form an effective strategy. An effective performance standard has to be attained by the unit for better and effective output. The customers who are the existing part of the organization must be given more priority for creating more awareness among them in terms of the new strategic marketing. Customer intimacy significant ly influences the strategic marketing strategy for the organization Apple Inc. in terms of planning and implementation. The planning must be done before starting the project and the implementation process must be done slowly for making feasible to both customers as well as the members of the sales unit (Law, Ennew Mitussis, 2013). The higher management of the company must initiate a rewarding system for enhancing and motivating the employees of the sales unit for forming innovative and creative strategies that will benefit the organization. The members of the sales unit must be customer centric and should change their strategies based on the views of the potential target customers. The tools that are used for learning the purchasing behavior as well as to learn the trend of future generation from the past record must be analyzed efficiently for the effective result (Leonidou et al. 2013). The previous strategies that have been used by the sales unit for increasing the customer intimacy strategy must be revised again for better forming the new strategies. Customers are one of the important segments of every organization as it is the segment that attains profitability for the organization. Hence, the organization Apple Inc. must focus on its customers for forming effective strategies with the changing demands and needs. Currently, the needs and demands of customers are changing with technological as well as in the competitive ground. For attaining both the factors critically, the organization must focus on understanding the trends of the customers for better output (Nica, 2013). After complete planning and comprehending the trend of the customers, the organizatio n must implement the process strategically to flourish the market as well as to stay ahead in the competitive market. The pricing strategy must be feasible so that each segment of customers based on demographic segmentation can afford the products and services of the organization. Hence, customers intimacy influence the marketing strategically in terms of planning and implementing. Conclusion In this assignment, the learner has elaborately described the strategical marketing of the organization Apple Inc. based on customer intimacy by the sales business unit. Customer intimacy is a core marketing strategy that helps to attain profitability for the organization as well as assist the organization to attain competitive advantage. The tools used for marketing by the sales business unit must be used strategically. The implementation and planning process must be efficient and should be based on the changing customer trend for forming an effective strategy in terms of marketing and should be given the first priority. Reference list Books- Baker, M. J. (2014).Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan. Boone, L. E., Kurtz, D. L. (2013).Contemporary marketing. Cengage learning. Christopher, M., Payne, A., Ballantyne, D. (2013).Relationship marketing. Taylor Francis. Czinkota, M. R., Ronkainen, I. A. (2013).International marketing. Cengage Learning. De Mooij, M. (2013).Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications. McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2013).Fostering sustainable behavior: An introduction to community-based social marketing. New society publishers. Simons, R. (2013).Levers of control: How managers use innovative control systems to drive strategic renewal. Harvard Business Press. Turnbull, P. W., Valla, J. P. (Eds.). (2013).Strategies for international industrial marketing. Routledge. Journals- Biggemann, S., Kowalkowski, C., Maley, J., Brege, S. (2013). Development and implementation of customer solutions: A study of process dynamics and market shaping.Industrial Marketing Management,42(7), 1083-1092. Khalili Shavarini, S., Salimian, H., Nazemi, J., Alborzi, M. (2013). Operations strategy and business strategy alignment model (case of Iranian industries).International Journal of Operations Production Management,33(9), 1108-1130. Kownatzki, M., Walter, J., Floyd, S. W., Lechner, C. (2013). Corporate control and the speed of strategic business unit decision making.Academy of Management Journal,56(5), 1295-1324. Kumar, V., Bhaskaran, V., Mirchandani, R., Shah, M. (2013). Practice prize winnercreating a measurable social media marketing strategy: increasing the value and ROI of intangibles and tangibles for hokey pokey.Marketing Science,32(2), 194-212. Law, A. K., Ennew, C. T., Mitussis, D. (2013). Adoption of customer relationship management in the service sector and its impact on performance.Journal of Relationship Marketing,12(4), 301-330. Leonidou, L. C., Leonidou, C. N., Fotiadis, T. A., Zeriti, A. (2013). Resources and capabilities as drivers of hotel environmental marketing strategy: Implications for competitive advantage and performance.Tourism Management,35, 94-110. Montgomery, M., Einstman, N., Stepniewski, D. (2006).U.S. Patent Application No. 11/470,224. Nica, E. (2013). Marketing implications of consumer behavior.Economics, Management and Financial Markets,8(1), 124. Shih, B. Y., Chen, C. Y., Chen, Z. S. (2013). An empirical study of an internet marketing strategy for search engine optimization.Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing Service Industries,23(6), 528-540. Xue, L., Ray, G., Sambamurthy, V. (2013). The impact of supply-side electronic integration on customer service performance.Journal of Operations management,31(6), 363-375. Yim, C. K., Tse, D. K., Chan, K. W. (2008). Strengthening customer loyalty through intimacy and passion: Roles of customerfirm affection and customerstaff relationships in services.Journal of marketing research,45(6), 741-756. Zott, C., Amit, R. (2013). The business model: A theoretically anchored robust construct for strategic analysis.Strategic Organization,11(4), 403-411.

The modern world Essay Example For Students

The modern world Essay In his book Language Death, David Crystal starts by looking at the scale of the threat to minority languages. There are debates over the definition of language and estimates of the number of languages vary, but a number somewhere around 6000 is plausible. Perhaps more important is the distribution of speakers: Only 4% of languages are accounting for 96% of people and 25% having fewer than 1000 speakers. There are different ways of classifying danger levels, but there is no doubt that a large number of languages face extinction in the immediate future, while in the longer-term even quite widely spoken languages may be in danger. (see Crystal 2000:10)  According to SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) and The Ethnologue, an online Library on endangered Languages, almost half of the 6800 languages in the world are considered to be critically endangered. That means that parents are no longer teaching the language to their children and are not using it actively in everyday matters (cf The Ethnologue, 20022). We will write a custom essay on The modern world specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In Australia, for example, the vicious circle started by the European colonization. The Western society introduced products, such as food, clothes, means of transport and alcohol, which were new for Indigenous people. Australias Indigenous Languages proved incapable of adapting to this new, western way of life and way of thinking. The development of new technologies, especially in the area of communication, clearly promotes the English language. The English media controlled contemporary life at the expense of Indigenous traditions and languages. The modern world had simply become to fast for Australias Indigenous languages. These factors, which are all directly or indirectly connected with each other, show the high complexity of the process of language loss. The contact with the white people caused the extinction of the formerly strong bond between language, landscape and identity among Aboriginal people. Annette Schmidt, an Australian Linguist, calls this process the downward spiral of reduced language use and loss and describes it the following way:  The downward spiral of reduced language use (Schmidt 1990) Five stages of language Loss  Robert M.W. Dixon, an Australian Linguist has brought some light into the controversial issue of language loss, and tried to answer the question when a language cannot be revived any more. He established a classification of 5 stages of language loss:  STAGE 1: Language X is used as the first language by a full community of hundreds of people and is used in every aspect of their daily lives. Some of these people will also know other languages (another Australian language, or English, or both) but only as a second language. Everyone thinks in language X. STAGE 2: Some people still have X as their first language (and think in it) but for others it is a second language, with English as the preferred medium (and these people may think in English or in a mixture of English and X.) At this stage the language is still maintained in its traditional form, with the original phonetics, grammar and vocabulary (although the second language speakers will not have so wide a vocabulary as traditional speakers). STAGE 3: Only a few old people still have X as their first language. For most of the community, English is the dominant language (which they think in). Some of those with X as a second language may still speak it in a fairly traditional way, but younger people tend to use a simplified form of the language, perhaps putting together words from X in English word order. The original conceptual system of X may have been replaced by the English system. Instead of having separate labels for mothers brother and fathers brother (relations that have a quite different status within the kinship systems of every Australian tribe) they may use one label to cover both kinds of kin this could be a word from X whose meaning has been altered, or just the English uncle. .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 , .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .postImageUrl , .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 , .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:hover , .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:visited , .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:active { border:0!important; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:active , .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6 .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7c634f2d7cc5c7c9297286fee5f113d6:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Reaching For Dreams - A Ballet EssaySTAGE 4: Nobody now knows the full, original form of X; no one could fully understand a tape recording made of a traditional speaker on or two generations before. Some members of the community speak a modified version of X, with simplified grammar; at most they will know a few hundred words. Even this is likely to be mixed in amongst English sentences. The younger people speak a variety of English that includes just a few words from X. STAGE 5: Everyone in the community speaks, and thinks, in English. There may be a few words from X still used but these are treated grammatically as if they were English words (with plural -s, past tense -ed, and so on).  When is language loss not reversible anymore?  Again, opinions are divided on the topic of the reversibility of language loss. A reasonable approach is done by Schmidt (1990:106): the likelihood of success in Aboriginal language revival depends very much on how the term is defined. That means that it is better to define the term in a more modest way. Reviving certain words and phrases, and bringing the extinct language to a status, comparable to ancient Greek or Latin could be seen as the best, realistic result. After this set of information about the pessimistic and dull situation of minority languages, one question might arise: What can be done about it? Or even: What can we do about it?  Steve Johnson, an Australian linguist who dealt with endangered Aboriginal languages mainly, distinguishes between four types of Language Revival, for each of them he has a special term:  Language continuation  Here we have a language still being used by and between families for all situations and their daily life. Any maintenance efforts would most likely be aimed at helping this state of affairs to continue. Language renewal  In this situation the language is still fully used by adults, but the children are no longer actively speaking it. A strong effort must be made either to return to a state where children again use the language as their own, or at least acquire it as they become adults, if the speakers want their language to continue in daily use.  Language revival  Very few older people still know the language. It will be necessary to teach adults as well as children if the language is to be spoken again, and to decide where and how it should be used. Language resurrection  All speakers of the language have died. The only source of the language is written or taped material. If it is to come into use again, then it will have to be taught by people who have learnt it second hand from these materials, and the result will almost certainly not be exactly the same as the original language.  The main goal of all efforts in language maintenance and revival is to keep or build up a strong and working transmission link. That means that the language has to be spoken by parents and their children in every situation of their lives. If that transmission link is destroyed, the relationship between children, their clan and their cultural heritage is heavily disturbed. Then, it is almost impossible to rebuild it, at least it would take an enormous amount of time. Joshua A. Fishman claims that all languages independent from the stage in which they are in, can be reversed on the condition that the appropriate measures are taken and the process is given enough time. (Fishman 1991:12)  R.M.W. Dixon (cf 1989:31-33) describes the possibilities in a more realistic way. Although, Fishmans thesis can be seen as basically right, one must not forget that there are limits; limits which are set by reality. Dixon claims that language at Stage 2 of his 5 stages of language loss chart have the greatest and most realistic likelihood to be revived. He proposes measures like full bilingual education, videos recording traditional stories and legends which motivate people to use their Indigenous language more frequently in everyday life. An example could be, trips into the nature, where children get a chance to become familiar with the Indigenous names of plants and animals. In addition, the children get a chance to identify with their cultural heritage.

G.K. Chestertons A Piece of Chalk

G.K. Chesterton's 'A Piece of Chalk' One of the most prolific British authors of the early 20th century, G.K. Chesterton is best known today for his novel The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and his 51 short stories featuring the amateur detective Father Brown. In addition, he was a master of the essay     called the only literary form that confesses, in its very name, that the rash act known as writing is really a leap in the dark. The word essay comes from the French word essayer, meaning to try or attempt. In the preface to his essay collection Tremendous Trifles (1909), Chesterton encourages us to be ocular athletes: Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see the startling facts that run across the landscape as plain as a painted fence. In this fleeting sketch from that collection, Chesterton relies on two common items brown paper and a piece of chalk as starting points for some thought-provoking meditations. A Piece of Chalk I remember one splendid morning, all blue and silver, in the summer holidays when I reluctantly tore myself away from the task of doing nothing in particular, and put on a hat of some sort and picked up a walking-stick, and put six very bright-colored chalks in my pocket. I then went into the kitchen (which, along with the rest of the house, belonged to a very square and sensible old woman in a Sussex village), and asked the owner and occupant of the kitchen if she had any brown paper. She had a great deal; in fact, she had too much; and she mistook the purpose and the rationale of the existence of brown paper. She seemed to have an idea that if a person wanted brown paper he must be wanting to tie up parcels; which was the last thing I wanted to do; indeed, it is a thing which I have found to be beyond my mental capacity. Hence she dwelt very much on the varying qualities of toughness and endurance in the material. I explained to her that I only wanted to draw pictures on it, and th at I did not want them to endure in the least; and that from my point of view, therefore, it was a question, not of tough consistency, but of responsive surface, a thing comparatively irrelevant in a parcel. When she understood that I wanted to draw she offered to overwhelm me with note-paper. I then tried to explain the rather delicate logical shade, that I not only liked brown paper, but liked the quality of brownness in paper, just as I like the quality of brownness in October woods, or in beer. Brown paper represents the primal twilight of the first toil of creation, and with a bright-colored chalk or two you can pick out points of fire in it, sparks of gold, and blood-red, and sea-green, like the first fierce stars that sprang out of divine darkness. All this I said (in an off-hand way) to the old woman, and I put the brown paper in my pocket along with the chalks, and possibly other things. I suppose every one must have reflected how primeval and how poetical are the things that one carries in ones pocket; the pocket-knife, for instance, the type of all human tools, the infant of the sword. Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about things in my pockets. But I found it would be too long, and the age of the great epics is past. With my stick and my knife, my chalks and my brown paper, I went out on to the great downs... I crossed one swell of living turf after another, looking for a place to sit down and draw. Do not, for heavens sake, imagine I was going to sketch from Nature. I was going to draw devils and seraphim, and blind old gods that men worshipped before the dawn of right, and saints in robes of angry crimson, and seas of strange green, and all the sacred or monstrous symbols that look so well in bright colors on brown paper. They are much better worth drawing than Nature; also they are much easier to draw. When a cow came slouching by in the field next to me, a mere artist might have drawn it; but I always get wrong in the hind legs of quadrupeds. So I drew the soul of a cow; which I saw there plainly walking before me in the sunlight; and the soul was all purple and silver, and had seven horns and the mystery that belongs to all beasts. But though I could not with a crayon get the best out of the landscape, it does not follow that the landscape was not getting the best out of me. And this , I think, is the mistake that people make about the old poets who lived before Wordsworth, and were supposed not to care very much about Nature because they did not describe it much. They preferred writing about great men to writing about great hills, but they sat on the great hills to write it. The gave out much less about Nature, but they drank in, perhaps, much more. They painted the white robes of their holy virgins with the blinding snow, at which they had stared all day. ...The greenness of a thousand green leaves clustered into the live green figure of Robin Hood. The blueness of a score of forgotten skies became the blue robes of the Virgin. The inspiration went in like sunbeams and came out like Apollo. But as I sat scrawling these silly figures on the brown paper, it began to dawn on me, to my great disgust, that I had left one chalk, and that a most exquisite and essential chalk, behind. I searched all my pockets, but I could not find any white chalk. Now, those who are acquainted with all the philosophy (nay, religion) which is typified in the art of drawing on brown paper, know that white is positive and essential. I cannot avoid remarking here upon a moral significance. One of the wise and awful truths which this brown-paper art reveals, is this, that white is a color. It is not a mere absence of color; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. When, so to speak, your pencil grows red-hot, it draws roses; when it grows white-hot, it draws stars. And one of the two or three defiant verities of the best religious morality, of real Christianity, for example, is exactly this same thing; the chief assertion of religious morality is that white is a color. Virtue is not the absence of vices or the avoidance of moral dangers; virtue is a vivid and separate thing, like pain or a particular smell. Mercy does not mean not being cruel, or sparing people revenge or punishment; it means a plain and positive thing like the sun, which one has either seen or not seen. Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc. In a word, God paints in many colors; but he never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white. In a sense our age has realized this fact, and expressed it in our sullen costume. For if it were really true that white was a blank and colorless thing, negative and non-committal, then white would be used instead of black and grey for the funereal dress of this pessimistic period. Which is not the case. Meanwhile, I could not find my chalk. I sat on the hill in a sort of despair. There was no town near at which it was even remotely probable there would be such a thing as an artists colorman. And yet, without any white, my absurd little pictures would be as pointless as the world would be if there were no good people in it. I stared stupidly round, racking my brain for expedients. Then I suddenly stood up and roared with laughter, again and again, so that the cows stared at me and called a committee. Imagine a man in the Sahara regretting that he had no sand for his hour-glass. Imagine a gentleman in mid-ocean wishing that he had brought some salt water with him for his chemical experiments. I was sitting on an immense warehouse of white chalk. The landscape was made entirely of white chalk. White chalk was piled more miles until it met the sky. I stooped and broke a piece of the rock I sat on: it did not mark so well as the shop chalks do, but it gave the effect. And I stood there in a trance of pleasure, realizing that this Southern England is not only a grand peninsula, and a tradition and a civilization; it is something even more admirable. It is a piece of chalk.

Finkelpearl social art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Curriculum Development Assignment ( French Secondary PGCE) - Essay Example In this context, one would define an authentic learning experience as one which would prepare students for real-life situations (using props, or realia, if necessary and available) in order to facilitate the learning process. Students, then, are not seen from the philosophical lens of being merely â€Å"vessels to be filled with knowledge,† as Paulo Freire might have argued. Nor are students coming to classroom with their minds a tabula rossa, a blank slate on which one must fill their heads with ideas—as John Locke might very well have argued. Instead, students have knowledge already, prior knowledge that can be tapped into and used in dramatic situations in order to facilitate new learning, weaving what they know in with what they don’t know. Additionally, students have ideas already in their minds about the language they are learning and how exactly they might like to go about learning in their own manner—but, perhaps outside of a drama-inspired French class, they might not receive as many opportunities to be creative in secondary school subjects as they might with a class designed like this one. Indeed, it is the students who make the classroom setting and the learning fun by adding their own knowledge or surprise â€Å"twist† to the subject matter’s material, if you will. ... In every truly good drama, there are always elements of serious academic study and research that go behind every academic project worthy of some undertaking. Drama is a way for students to use different kinds of intelligences as defined by Howard Gardner’s Theory Of Multiple Intelligences, which are common knowledge to educators everywhere—the different intelligences being bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, verbal-linguistic, logical, spatial, and naturalist intelligences all combined. For example, students may use their interpersonal skills interacting with each other as actors and actresses. Intrapersonal—or extremely introverted students—may learn to be more outgoing and even have their own soliloquies. Musical students may choose to sing in their dramatic presentation, in French, as part of their particular project. Verbal-linguistic students might be interested in reciting long monologues or dialogues that they themselves have written in French, and then perform them in a lively and witty verbal discourse. Students who are visual may use their spatial intelligence in order to draw or design temporary, movable scenery or provide visual imagery for the presentation—which could include technology such as a PowerPoint or a presentation on a SmartBoard (if such technologies are available). Students with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence may be good with activities requiring movement and the proper placement of one’s presence on-stage. Students with naturalistic intelligence may incorporate nature and ethical treatment for animals into their dramatic presentations. As an additional bonus, some students may have high moral intelligence, which may lead them to produce a morality play, for