Degradation of America in All My Sons, Death of a...

The Degradation of America in All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible Arthur Miller was, as a playwright, very critical of American society. He condemned every aspect and satirized every ideal of modern American culture, from democracy to the American dream. He degraded every part of Western civilization down to a much more basic and much more negative idea – capitalism became greed, and rule by the people became rule by the mob. Many people of his era saw him as anti-American, and in many ways, he was. Each of Miller’s plays focuses on fundamental aspects of humanity. Miller chose to represent these qualities in direct relation to American society, and contrasted the sacred ideals of democracy†¦show more content†¦I – there was no meaning in it here†¦ I went to work with Dad, and that rat-race again. I felt†¦ ashamed somehow† (84). Even worse than this, however, is that they were being betrayed by American businessmen seeking to squeeze yet more money out of the American government. Joe Keller, Miller’s representation of the American â€Å"everyman†, tried to justify his own greed by pointing out, â€Å"Who worked for nothin’ in that war? . . . Did they ship a gun or a truck outa Detroit before they got their price? Is that clean? It’s dollars and cents, nickels and dimes; war and peace, it’s nickels and dimes, what’s clean?† (125) This drives Miller’s point home †“ while soldiers were sacrificing their lives for their country and family, businessmen, even those who had relatives in the war, were refusing to sacrifice something as simple as money. Arthur Miller also criticizes the American justice system in All My Sons. Joe Keller, the murderer of twenty-one American pilots, is acquitted because he â€Å"pulled a fast one†, while his blameless partner receives a lengthy prison sentence. The evidence from that fateful day is sketchy, but instead of finding out the truth the court favors those who know it best. In order to save himself, Joe blamed his partner for the defects, and then lived a normal life for years knowing that he had wrongfully imprisoned a man. His complete lack of moral

Literature Review On The Phonics - 2472 Words

Literature Review The Debate There are a million adults who cannot read, one in six Londoners is functionally illiterate and people who cannot read or write are excluded from opportunities and may eventually become alienated and turn to crime (Johnson 2010, cited by Gross 2010). Gross (2010) expresses her concern and believes it is not where the children live, it is how they were taught to read and how they were properly motivated to learn to read. She endorses the synthetic systematic phonics approach as opposed to that of the whole word approach and believes we must place our focus on reading as it is indispensable. Phonics advocates have been arguing that in order for children to learn to read, they need to have an explicit instruction in the rules of printed text in order to read properly. The phonics approach has been described as â€Å"bottom up† as it teaches the children to decode text and then the meaning and understanding will follow while the whole word approach is described as â€Å"top down,† as the children depend on the pictures within the book, form hypothesis and make predictions of the words with the text of the book being read (Wren, 2003). Gross (2010) state that children should systematically be taught to read through phonics and not by memorising â€Å"whole words†; by the late 1970’s teachers were no longer fond of that approach as it was not working because children were still struggling to read, it was dull and repetitive and new words were introduced at aShow MoreRelatedDoes Phonics Will Improve Their Reading Ability1240 Words   |  5 Pages A Study to Determine if Phonics Will Help Third Grade Students to Increase Their Reading Ability Beverly Smith Thomas University A Study to Determine if Phonics Will Help Third Grade Students to Increase Their Reading Ability Beverly Smith September 24, 2015 Abstract The inability to read is a problem that plagues public schools. Many students enter the third grade reading on a lexile level lower than what is required to be successful. Some students will be one or twoRead MoreThe Effect Of Low Phonics On The Existing English Curriculum At The Early Grades Essay1554 Words   |  7 Pagesimportance and effects of adding Phonics to the existing English curriculum at the early grades of elementary 4th to 6th grades in Saudi Arabia. Phonics is an important in the whole English learning process, especially at the early ages and elementary school years. Phonics depends on sound of words and how to spell them correctly and accurately. Currently, there is no structured phonics learning implemented at our elementary schools for English learning. If the phonics is implemented, it will enhanceRead More14 Best Reading Practices956 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Ã‚      14 Best Reading Practices    Best Practice 1: Explicit Word Analysis Instruction, Including Phonics Teachers provide explicit instruction, build word knowledge, and directly teach skills and strategies for word analysis (phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, structural analysis, context clues, vocabulary).       Best Practice 2: Assessment to Inform Instruction Teachers routinely monitor and assess the reading levels and progress of individual students. This ongoing evaluationRead MoreEffects Of Reading Instruction On The Literacy Development Of Children And How Socioeconomics Restricts These Impacts5473 Words   |  22 Pagesin low socioeconomic environments. We will review the methods of explicit phonics and whole language to examine what, if any, is the more advantageous method of reading instruction for students who live in poverty. The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the impacts of specific reading instruction on the literacy development of children and how socioeconomics restricts these impacts. The research reviewed was collected from peer review journals using the Central Search feature onRead MoreThe Importance Of Systematic Synthetic Phonics For School Reading Schemes And Then From The School s Library Of Classic Books2530 Words   |  11 Pagesfrom the school’s library of classic books, as well as books at home and borrowed from public libraries. This love of books continues today, I studied English Literature and Music at university and I still read for pleasure whenever possible. I loved reading to my own children from birth and chose from a wide range of children’s literature. This was encouraged in their early years at school where they were given a decodable book and a story book each week. I find the fact that some schools are removingRead MoreBalanced Literacy (essay describes the importance of having a balanced literacy approach in the classroom).1494 Words   |  6 PagesAfter years of conflict between whole language and phonics advocates, a consensus about what works is emerging from the research: What is needed is a balanced approach to reading instruction - an approach that combines the language and literature-rich activities associated with whole language activities aimed at enhancing meaning, understanding, and the love of language with explicit teaching skills as needed to develop fluency associated with proficient readers. Balanced literacy is an approachRead MoreBecoming a Reflective Teacher of English 1553 Words   |  7 Pagesdevelopment effectively to ensure young people are equipped for life. Subsequently, I have begun to consider how research and statutory documents contribute to the acquisition of these valuable skills. SL features prominently throughout the Rose Review (2006) with a particular focus on the development of SL skills during the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), promoting seamless progression to the National Framework. Considering the Rose Review’s recommendation for a greater emphasis on SL itRead More Whole Language versus Phonics Essays2286 Words   |  10 Pages Whole Language versus Phonics Whole Language versus Phonics has been a question among many top educational groups for years. Which is the best way to teach kindergarten children the proper way to speak and learn the English Language? There are many valid reasons why experts argue for both phonics and/or whole language. Both seem to be exceptional ways to master the English Language. The purpose of this research paper is to compare phonics versus whole language and to determine how technologyRead MoreThe Effect of Teaching Kinesthetic Letter Sound Symbols to Students1056 Words   |  5 Pagesapplication of decoding skills ( Trepanier, 2009). QSI has a vast population of non native kindergarten students, who though can hear and produce the sounds of the letter taught, they might benefit from incorporating kinaesthetic letter patterns into phonic instruction. This intervention would be the stepping stone for the production of CVC words/ pseudo words. In my 10 year experience teaching kindergarten students oversea s I have experience the benefits of using visual aids for students to manipulateRead MoreThe Phonics Debate in Primary Schools3252 Words   |  14 PagesThe phonics debate in primary schoolsAt one time the question was: Shall we teach reading through phonics or through some other method? Then it became: Given that phonics has been proven to be the best method, which is the best phonics method? Now research has shown incontrovertibly which is the best method, and this method is being successfully applied. How true is the picture presented above?My assignment is an attempt at answering the above question as I seek to examine the debates concerning

Developing A Balanced Investment Portfolio

Question: Discuss about the Developing A Balanced Investment Portfolio for a Fund Manager. Answer: Introduction: When it comes to constructing a portfolio, different investors target different portfolio and select the fund manager depending on their requirements and preference. Selection of fund manager is just the initial requirement for the portfolio construction. In the wider sense, building of portfolio is the procedure of selecting the investments, which are best suited as the clients requirement of return with compared to risk tolerance level. Private and professional investors construct their portfolio in different ways. The easiest way to explain these strategies are top down test and bottom up test. Bottom up test: This approach is normally used by the private individual investor and starts from selecting the fund and the fund manager as per their choice. Only after completing this, they go for planning the portfolio with considering the risk and return factor. In addition, the clients behaviour, risk tolerance level and preference should be taken into consideration. The investors always prefers top-performing funds, which results into loss of money for them as they buy the top selling funds at a loss (Reddy et al. 2013) Top-down test: Professional investor, on the other hand, starts the investment plan with investigating the available funds. They apply various steps after generating a framework to select what type of investments is required. Only after analysing these factors, they select other investments or individual funds. Planning the portfolio after considering the investment objectives and risk tolerance level assist in meeting the targets within the acceptable level of risk (Mazzola and Gerace 2015). The top-down test normally goes along the following wide approaches: Deciding about how to distribute money over various categories of investment Select the type of investment where to invest Choose on the stability among index passive fund and actively managed fund Assessment of various fund manager and individual funds Figure 1: Construction methods of portfolio (Source: Han 2013) Steps in planning the portfolio: Allocation of asset: Asset is a thing of value, which includes stocks, bonds, cash, any other securities and physical things like car, house or inventories. One of the major factors of planning a portfolio is the allocation of assets. Allocation ensures that the portfolio has perfect mix of assets to suit the clients situation, expectation of return and risk tolerance level. Before planning for the portfolio, the clients attitude to risk must be evaluated. The fund manager can help the investor in determining their risk tolerance level. The planner must conduct a meeting with the client and decide about the allocation of asset that suits the client best with regard to his requirement (Speelman, Clark-Murphy and Gerrans 2013). Diversification: Diversification is stated as the segregation of money of the client over the various investments to lessen or protect against the unexpected risk in any individual market or particular investment. Investment risk is the risk of difference between the expectation and actual return of the investor. In order to minimise the risk the planner must diversify his risk among the wide mix of assets. The market of investment shifts in various cycles and reflects the potency of economy, sentiment of investors and trends of industry. The assets also shift as per the external aspects. For example, during unfavourable economic periods, people do not wish to buy expensive items and the manufacturing companies face down fall in sales, however, the producers of essential items like food may not experience the same situation. Diversification of portfolio can assist in smoothing out the difficulties in the market. Therefore, returns from well performing assets facilitates in offsetting those, which are not performing well (Gibson 2013). Balancing between return and risk: The perception of risk and return proposes that low level of risk will eventually lead to low level of return. The high level of risk will eventually fetch high level of return. However, no planner can guarantee about the proposition. It may happen that high-level risk involved investment may fetch big loss instead of profit. The fund manager just helps to construct the best possible portfolio for the client with regard to his return expectation and risk tolerance level. Using the strategy for allocation of asset assists in minimising the risk as per the market conditions. However, there are instances when the experience fund managers also get their timing wrong. Using the strategy can assist in assuring that the portfolio is balanced (Han 2013). Figure 2: Relation between risk and return (Source: Han 2013) Correlation: Correlation is a statistical calculation for the degree to which the shifting of various types of assets are correlated. For efficient allocation of assets, the fund manager often tends to combine the assets that are expected to perform well in various times. Generally, construction of portfolio starts with a blank paper and the collection of funds available for investment. However, in actual, most of the investor already has a segregation of asset before they start planning for investment. The fund manager assists in allocation of assets and then re-arranges the investment over time so that the client has best option to meet his expectations from investment (He, Grant and Fabre 2013). Major classes of assets: Investments are categorised into various classes of assets like, bonds, equities, cash and properties. The table shown below pointed out the various types of assets, their main characteristics and for which they are potentially suitable (Brown and Tiu 2013). Classes of assets Main characteristics Potential appropriateness Bonds Can offer a reliable and stable income with possibility of higher growth rate and interest rate; It involves oversees government bonds, corporate bonds and UK government bonds Long, medium or short term investors Equities Useful for monitory growth and are able to generate income through dividend payments and can be invested in oversees companies and UK Medium and Long-term investments, usually 5 years plus Cash Appropriate for short-term requirements such as future down payment on a new house. It generally includes term deposits and securities which pays higher rate of interest Short-term investors usually for up to three years Property Offer the advantages of diversification through right to use the properties in office, retail, tourism, industrial and infrastructure segments. And can be invested in UK as well as international assets Medium and Long-term investments, usually 5 years plus Table 1: Classification of assets (Sources: Created by author) Other potential securities are: Australian fixed interest: The benefits of investing in a spread portfolio of that bears interest can offer regular income. The amount invested with fixed rate of interest and taken from the State Governments, Commonwealth, Banks and any other Australian Ethical Charter that meets the criteria of USB Index for Composite Bond. The risk level is low to medium and the required period is 3 years. Oversees fixed interest: Overseas fixed interest aim to offer regular income and they are perfect for moderate capital growth over medium-term period. Standard risk level for overseas fixed interest are low and are intended to suit investors who are willing to take moderate levels of risk with a modest potential for capital appreciation (Calza, Monacelli and Stracca 2013). There are no arguments that shares are a major part of any portfolio for the investors who want a balanced portfolio with regular return with accepted level of risk. The reason behind this is over time, shares are expected to pay higher level of return than the investment potion like cash and bonds. However, it will not be a wise idea to put all the money in the same area as it is said with relation to investment that Dont put all your eggs in the same basket. Building share portfolio: Before buying the preferable stock from the market, the investor must consider the types of portfolio he is preferred to buy. Speculative trading is only a small element of the strategy to investment, as long-term investment is a strategy that works best for most of the investor, most of the time. Rather than investing in any particular bond or share or asset, diversification of investment over various funds gives best result for most of the investor. Every investor has different preference, however, most of the investors look for a mixture of income and capital gain and a return that is more than the average market return. There are various strategies to construct an index-beating portfolio, but beating the index is not the only major concern. The investor must consider how much he wants to beat it by, and the risk tolerance level to target the objective. Number of stock that should be bought: Assuming the primary objective of the investor to hit the index, the planner needs to evaluate exactly what is his requirement. The major market indexes are the reasonable representative cross-section of various areas of activity in the Australian economy. To create the same return as the index, the investor has buy all 300 or 500 stocks from that index, and he should capture the index return before costs. If the SP/ASX 300 earned 20% for the year, the portfolio would gain 20 per cent, before costs. If it fall, the portfolio will also fall. The fund managers set up quantitative methods for following the alterations in the components of the selected index as companies drop out, drop in, and simply copy the index portfolio. The best technique to hit the index is through the exact style of investing that suits private investors. For example, if the client has a fund of $5000, the value of setting up a investment of 10-stock would assure that the client will face problems earning a profi t even if the market rises. Hold only as many stocks as understood Investors often want to know about how many securities they must have in their portfolios, and the most common answer for that is: "as many as you understand". For the new investors, the number is generally five to 10 securities. On the contrary, for experienced investors the number may be less, in some instances it may be beneficial to put some money into a well-managed fund. Most of the part-time investors cannot control more than 12 portfolios. The investment criteria not only depend on the available time and knowledge of the investor but on the preference of expected return and risk tolerance level. As the fund manager constructs the portfolio based on his experience, he may target for a final holding of around 5 to 10 securities and possibly not more than 15, even if he is an experienced investor. Adjusting with the number of stocks is a confront for most of the private investors. Holding this number of stocks offers the investor some opportunity for diversification of portfolio through company type, company size, industry and so on. Holding various shares with different features means the portfolio should not experience too bad impact if one does the planning poorly and is benefitted with good planning. Allocation of assets for balanced portfolio: Assets Allocation (%) Range (%) Australian Fixed interest 27 10 to 50 Overseas Fixed interest 8 0 to 15 Cash 5 0 to 15 Defensive Assets 40 30 to 50 Australian Equities 30 10 to 30 Property 15 0 to 20 Infrastructure 6 0 to 12 High yield fixed interest 4 0 to 8 Alternatives 5 0 to 10 Growth Assets 60 50 to 70 Table 2: Allocation of Assets (Source: Created by Author) The above table shows the maximum and minimum amount that can be invested in each class of assets and is shown under the heading Range. The allocation of asset can be varied from time to time. The variations must be within the range as shown above (Plumb, Kent and Bishop 2013). The objective of the allocation as above is to invest in a wide category of assets, which have the capability of achieving the target over the long-term period. Probability of capital gains is there, however, chances of capital losses are also there. The strategy of investment included in the table are investment in a portfolio of fixed interest securities, overseas and Australian investment, listed property, cash and Australian equities. The risk measure for the above allocation is medium. The above portfolio is planned to suit the investors who are seeking moderate returns and willing to tale medium level of risk that is the requirement is of a balanced portfolio. The target time period is 5 to 6 years (Martinsuo and Killen 2014). Investment with available fund of $1 billion that is $100 million: Assets Allocation (%) Amount ($ millions) Australian Fixed interest 27 27 Overseas Fixed interest 8 8 Cash 5 5 Defensive Assets 40 40 Australian Equities 30 30 Property 15 15 Infrastructure 6 6 High yield fixed interest 4 4 Alternatives 5 5 Growth Assets 60 60 Table 3: Investment (Source: Created by author) The required return rate of the investor after expenses and taxes is 3% plus inflation. The present inflation rate as per CPI is 1.3%. Therefore the required rate of return is (1.3+3) = 4.3%. From Equity: Return rate is 10% From Fixed interest: Return rate is 5% From Infrastructure and property: Return rate is 4% Let the expenses and tax is 12%. Therefore, the return is (10+5+4-12) = 7%, which is more than the required return of 4.3% Recommendations for structuring the portfolio: Four major levels of diversification, which can be summarised with the wide principles, are as follows: For the total portfolio: The investor must consider holding various types of investments and not only the shares. The investor must consider investing part of his portfolio through managed funds to minimise the risk. For the share portfolio: The investor must hold more than the minimum number of shares in his portfolio, constructing up to 5 to 10 securities over time, and possibly 15 maximum for investors that are more skilled. Based on the energy and time that the client is willing to invest for the investment, if he chooses more than 10 stocks, then it will be problematic for him to keep track of all the investments. However, less than 5 will considerably increase the risk of big variations in value. The investor must hold securities in various sectors, so that his portfolio is revealed to expansion in various areas of the economy and is less susceptible to a downfall in any particular industry. The investor must seek various "categories" of available shares and should diversify his portfolio across the industries; the investor can get returns without taking too much risk if he includes speculative stocks and blue-chip to his portfolio. The investor must look for companies with various features. The investor can meet all types of successful companies right from the fast-growing companies to slow-growing companies or to rotating companies that may be bouncing back from the crucial positions or the companies that somehow managing to develop. The investor must choose the stocks that will fulfil his requirement. It is crucial to construct a portfolio that suits the investors approach of investing. If the investor is required to earn a regular income, he will have to search for at least two or three securities that will fulfil his purpose. Therefore, with considering whether a stock is equity, cash or speculative stock the planner must take into account the type of company and its performance. Diversifying the portfolio among the various stocks involving various level of risk assists to balance the portfolio. Moreover, the investor must understand the strong points and vulnerabilities of each stock of the portfolio. References: Brown, K. and Tiu, C., 2013.The interaction of spending policies, asset allocation strategies, and investment performance at university endowment funds(No. w19517). National Bureau of Economic Research. Calza, A., Monacelli, T. and Stracca, L., 2013. Housing finance and monetary policy.Journal of the European Economic Association,11(s1), pp.101-122 Gibson, R., 2013.Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk: Balancing Financial Risk. McGraw Hill Professional. Han, L., 2013. Understanding the puzzling risk-return relationship for housing.Review of Financial Studies,26(4), pp.877-928. He, P.W., Grant, A. and Fabre, J., 2013. Economic value of analyst recommendations in Australia: an application of the BlackLitterman asset allocation model.Accounting Finance,53(2), pp.441-470. Martinsuo, M. and Killen, C.P., 2014. Value management in project portfolios: Identifying and assessing strategic value.Project Management Journal,45(5), pp.56-70. Mazzola, P. and Gerace, D., 2015. A Comparison Between a Dynamic and Static Approach to Asset Management Using CAPM Models on the Australian Securities Market.Australasian Accounting Business Finance Journal,9(2), p.43. Plumb, M., Kent, C. and Bishop, J., 2013.Implications for the Australian economy of strong growth in Asia. Reserve Bank of Australia. Reddy, W., Higgins, D., Wist, M. and Garimort, J., 2013. Australian industry superannuation funds: investment strategies and property allocation.Journal of Property Investment Finance,31(5), pp.462-480. Speelman, C.P., Clark-Murphy, M. and Gerrans, P., 2013. Decision making clusters in retirement savings: Gender differences dominate.Journal of family and economic issues,34(3), pp.329-339.