The Benefits of Understanding Financial Ratios Essay

The Benefits of Understanding Financial Ratios - Essay Example Within the questions that were considered were the specific ratios CFAs use to measure liquidity, long-term debt paying ability, and probability; and what are the relative importance of specific financial ratios. While there were sixty-ratios considered, a number of prominent points emerged. In these regards, it’s noted that a single ratio oftentimes functions to measure more than one aspect of financial health. One example is that a ratio of days’ sales measures both liquidity and profitability. In terms of the most important financial ratio, analysts placed the most emphasis on return on equity after tax. b) Specification of thesis – main point The main point thesis of the article is that financial analysis places great emphasis on the corporate annual report and the financial ratios that examine it. A further thesis is that financial ratios have a varying degree of importance in terms of a variety of financial categories, specifically liquidity, long-term debt paying ability, and profitability. c) Supporting opinions/reasons There is a great body of research that supports the notion that financial ratios are an integral part of determining a firm’s financial performance. ... al to measuring a business’ financial performance and future viability; in addition they add the DuPont Ratio as a significant financial ratio for analysis. Financial ratios have also been extended to examine the financial strength of a firm when enlisting an underwriter before an IPO; this perspective was noted by Quantitative Applications in Economics & Finance (2008). Another prominent perspective was advanced by Kaufman (1995). Kaufman (1995) considered that bank failures are oftentimes linked and anticipated by the key financial ratio of low capital-to-assets. d) Opposing opinions/reasons While there are a number of strong elements supporting these understandings of financial rations, there are also a number of opposing perspectives. One perspective, as proposed by Ming-Yuan, Meng-Feng, et all (2007), argues that instead of financial ratios, behavioral determinants of firms’ oversees financing policies function as the primary analytic criteria. This study examined behavioral factors of, â€Å"(1) persistence behavior effects, (2) mental account effects, (3) the year of the company, (4) attraction effect, (5) character qualifications of managers and (6) overseas investment effects† (Ming-Yuan, Meng-Feng, et all 2007, pg. 183) in attempting to determine financial strength. The study revealed that there were statistically significant correlations between behavioral aspects and firms’ oversees financing decisions. Even more notable, financial ratios were not influential in these decisions. Another prominent consideration was that advanced by Pantos (2008). Pantos (2008) argues that previous arguments, specifically those of Emm and Gay (2005), that high concentration ratios can demonstrate significant risk implications in over-the-counter derivatives markets are

How do sociological perspectives contribute to an understanding and Essay

How do sociological perspectives contribute to an understanding and explanation of media images of ageing and older age - Essay Example In the said analysis, this writer will elucidate upon as to why and how the type of media portrayal is what it is at present. The mass media has become an integral part of the postmodern society. Everyone, regardless of age, has some form of interaction with mass media in his life. Spring (1993) gives an estimate of how much of their leisure time elderly people (above-50) spend listening to the radio, watching television, listening to music, reading and going to the movies. His research reveals that as much as forty percent of their leisure is time dedicated to these activities. Knowing this, it is easy to see why creating a more accurate picture, if not a more compassionate and humanistic one, of the elderly’s situation in the realm of mass media, is very important. Curbing negativities in media’s portrayal of the elderly, many as they are as will be seen in the following paragraphs, should be given high priority. This is so because, it is undeniable that the mass media impacts interpersonal interaction1, affects our mental and physical health2, and, as most relevant to the proceeding discussion, the mass media greatly influence perceptions of aging and elderly people3. The images of the elderly as shown by the media vary depending on the (1) underlying purposes for which these images are created and, quite surprisingly, by the (2) type of communication medium in question. Broadly speaking, there are two types of media portrayal of the ageing population, first is the positive kind of portrayal, while the second paints a more negative picture of the group. Applying the concepts of sociology, the cause of this negative portrayal can be attributed to the phenomenon of ageism4 which will be given more attention later in this paper. For now, a more detailed presentation of the two types of portrayal is called for. Underlying purposes No great amount of intellect needs to be

Effects of Agriculture Essay Example for Free

Effects of Agriculture Essay Because it was tremendously essential for survival, had a monumental impact immediately on society and continues to affect us even to this day, agriculture was the most influential development of the early civilizations. The people of the first civilizations needed agriculture because it was an easy, more efficient way of obtaining food. The early peoples had to hunt and gather their food, and, â€Å"Hunting depended on the careful observation of behavioral patterns† (Duiker, W. J. Spielvogel, J. J. 2001). It must have been challenging to always be moving and searching, just so they could find food that day. However, deciding to stop and grow food, in one reachable convenient location, would have solved the issue of having to go through all the extra steps of hunting down animals. After a long time of humans living successfully in the Old Stone Age, and ice age occurred cause a devastating drought, which killed off most of the vegetation. â€Å"All living things started clustering around sources such as lakes and river† (Howe, H. , Howe, R. T. 1992). Because all living things clustered around water sources, there was more competition, human and non-human alike, for the already diminished food supply. Naturally, the people of the early civilizations would need to grow their own food in order to sustain their population. Shortly after farming’s conception many life-changing discoveries, like trade, were made. â€Å"Some people became artisan, made weapons, and jewelry that were traded with neighbors† (Duiker, W. J. Spielvogel, J. J. 2001). When people started to farm they began producing more food then they need. These food surpluses allowed people to do other things with their time such as, make weapons and jewelry that could in turn be traded for other people’s goods. The change to farming also immediately affected the relationships between men and women. â€Å"Men assumed the primary responsibility for working in the fields and herding animals, jobs that kept them away from the home. Women remained behind caring for the children and weaving cloth, making cheese from milk, and jobs that required considerable labor in one place† (Duiker, W. J. Spielvogel, J. J. 2001). The men had to go work in the fields because planting, growing and harvesting crops required long hours of great physical labor that the women couldn’t take. Also the work in the fields was seen as more important, and so men assumed a more dominant role in society. Not only did agriculture immediately change society, but the changes it created are still evident today. Trade is done in the almost same way and for the same reasons as in ancient times. People still make goods and perform services in exchange for something else. However, rather than exchanging work for another good or service, people today use the cash system. In the cash system people provide labor so they get money in return. The money they earn can then be used to by various products or services. The relationship between men and women established because of agriculture is prevalent today as well. Not only do men still have a more dominant role in society but they still do more difficult and important work. The standard of men working while the women stay home and care for the house is still typical for families today. If the women do work though, they almost never have physically demanding jobs with long, hard hours like being a construction worker or farmer. Also not only are the vast majority of politicians, C. E. O. s, business owners, and other powerful workers men, but men also more often than not get paid higher than women. Truly, because of the fact the early people needed a more steady food source, it almost instantaneously changed humankind, and it evidently still affects the world today, agriculture was the most significant advancement of the early peoples. Bibliography Duiker, W. J. Spielvogel, J. J. , (2001) Third Edition World History Comprehensive Volume. assBelmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc. Howe, H. , Howe, R. T. , (1992) A World History. White Plains, NY: Longman

The Effect Of Technology In Current Architecture Cultural Studies Essay

The Effect Of Technology In Current Architecture Cultural Studies Essay Technology opens the door to the future. It is one of the main essence that shape and changes the way society behaves, as well as trancends the surrounding to suits the way society lives. Nowadays, the effect of new technology has reached almost every level of the society, and one of it is modern building technology. It has great implication in the creation of space in architecture and interior design. Since the early days, architecture has been one of the most important needs of man. It is a space to live and work, an environment to interact and provoke emotions, as well as a realm where experiences and memories are created. This feelings and emotions are evoked by the form and shape, the arrangement of forms and by the relationships that the space draws with the surroundings. It affects every part of human senses. As technology developed, the meaning of architecture started to adapt with it. Formerly, with conventional building technology, the shape and form of architecture that could be achieved is only a simple and pure form. It leads to a trend of homogeneous building, which makes every architecture looks similiar. Within this limitation, architects and designers became more sensitive and focus on crafting experiences in a space. These experiences then become memories that will be remembered by the visitor and elements that differentiate one building from another. As this continues, buildings visual aesthetic is slowly decreasing. Currently, with the creation and development of building technology, the inventions of cutting-edge and futuristic looking forms and shapes are possibble. New materials and structures are created and evolved everywhere. These advancements have made architects become so attached with visual appearance. Meanings that majority of them concentrate on using technology in order to discover new forms and shapes for architecture in order to reflects the idea for which it was designed. The design of the buildings that focused on visual aesthethic has led to a trend of creating a form that looks good rather than a space that feels good. With this trend continues, it seems that the role of visual sense has being privileged when compared to other human senses. The impact of this trend causes the design of the current architecture being reduced and restricted into the visual experience. With the absence of other senses, the strength of interaction that affect our bodies with a space is being diminished. This indicates that the tendency of architecture of image rather than architecture of experience is increasing. The products of architecture of image will only offer visual consumption which wont create lasting impressions that all the architects strive for. It will only become a nice looking postcard of visually striking building. Hence, the essay aims to prove that the current use of technology in architecture is only being used to achieve visual aesthetics and has decreased the value of architecture. The essay will also argue that technology to achieve powerful form has to be able to grow hand in hand with other human senses in order to create valuable experience and memory in a space . Only then, the value of architecture can be pushed to a full potential. Architecture of Experience rather than Visual Instead of experiencing our being in the world, we behold it from outside as spectators of images projected on the surface of the retina. Pallasmaa, J, 2005, p.47 Before we can move forward to the main issue, to question the effect of technology towards current architecture, it is important to look and understand briefly what is the nature and value of architecture since the early days it was created. Through out the history, despite of a large number of definition have been proposed by numerous architects, the answer to this have never came to a conclusion. Maybe it is because there are diverse ways to formulate an answer to this. One of the vast definitions of architecture maybe can be found in dictionaries, which means design of a building. It seems that this definition leads to a diminishing understanding that building is just an object. Some even make comparison of architecture with other form of arts which is sculpture. For instance, Santiago Calatrava, a world-renowned spanish architects that combined sculpture and painting with architecture. He is claimed as a building sculpturor and had an exhibition world-wide about his works. So is architecture an application of aesthetics consideration to the form of buildings? Or an Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture into Architecture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art art of making buildings beautiful? This idea of definition seems to have miss a central core of the nature and value of architecture. Previously, in the prehistoric time where architecture is not even born yet, human lives in a nomadic way. They move from one place to another. When night comes, they stop and light a fire to warm them up. By doing so, they started to define a place. And if they intend to stay there longer, they started to define a place to sleep, a place to shelter them from the rain, a place to collect and store food, a place where they can defend themselves from danger, etc. From their chosen site, experience of their surrounding, until the organization of their place, this leads to an evolution from a place to architecture. Based on that, one can said that the nature and value of architecture is the sense of a place that is created by the experience and organization of the building and surrounding itself. Thus, architecture relates to the way people live, it changes and evolves based on the environments, experiences and needs. As time goes on, places that people used has became more diversed, sophisticated and complexed which made architecture consistently changing as well. Started from the prehistoric era where human dwells in an occasional caves and temporal tents from woods to round houses that made of bricks, and into the stone age. Not only materials that has evolved, functions and tools to build each building have advanced as well. From the early civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Roman and the East, the development in architecture to create building for different purposes has greatly varied. Egypts Pyramids, Greeks Temples, and Romans Amphitheatres are just few illustrations of various functions that can be found globally. Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt Built 2560 BC Colosseum, Rome Built 1st Century AD Parthenon Temple, Greece Built 5th Century BC The form, material, tools and function of the architecture evolves because of the resources that is available in the environment. The needs for stronger materials to create shelter and better materials to craft the atmosphere for different functions has made the tool or building technology to advance too. With this different materials and technologies, human are able to generates unique experience which would enriched the physical and psychological sensory in an architecture. In the time where modern building technology is not developed yet, there is a limitation in the creation of architectural form. Architects and engineers are only able to produce a simple and pure form which makes every buildings looks similar. Considering this constraints, the focus of architecture at this time is in the creation of experiences which is the nature and value of architecture since the early days. People lived through experiencing the world with body senses. One sense interact with other senses to be able to let him or her integrates with the surrounding and the world. Architecture is the products of this constant interaction between people with the surrounding and the world. Architecture also provide spaces where people could do their daily activities, experience the surrounding, feel comfortable with it and generate memories through these interactions. The interaction that happens can be either simple or complex. It means that the space within the architecture should be able to generate interaction with at least one or all of the body senses. This is due to, as human we have needs and desires, beliefs and aspirations, as well as aesthetic sensibility that are affected by warmth, touch, odour, sound and visual stimuli. Every interaction that happens will be experience by the body and if the experience through the space is strong enough, it will formulate an impactful memory to the visitors mind. And If this is successful, the lasting impression that every architects strive for will be achieved. That is why architecture should be design with a thought of multi-sensory experience. The Commissioners House of the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, By Edward Holl, built : 1820sNevertheless, over this time, there is one senses that architects and engineers could not satisfied with. It is the visual aesthetic, which is because of the technology at that time couldnt afford to provide the structure, system and material to create a visually striking form. With the will and the unsatisfactory as the main force that drives architects and designers to overcome this issue. This has led to numerous experiments over the time. Until the 19th century, in the industrial revolution era, when cast iron can be produce in a large numbers and cheaply enough. This is when architects and designers started to become aware of the glorious potential of cast iron used in architecture. One of the first residential project that use cast-iron as the structural framework is The Commissioners House of the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda (Potter, D, 2006). This marks the dawn of Modern building technology. As technology has advanced towards a new level, which is the modern building technology, the nature and value of architecture started to shift and adapt as well. This development has begun to revolutionize architecture into an entirely new direction. With this modern building technology , architects and designers is provided with a new range of materials and tools to achieve and satisfy their hunger of a more advanced form. Previously, the architectural language of each location has their own unique characteristics. This is because of their environment would only be able to produce certain kinds of materials. Due to this, architects and designers tended to use resources that were available and plentiful in their location. Which means that the materiality and tool spoke more to place, to locale, and in a way was more purely defined with the unique representative of that certain location. For instance, the Pyramid in Egypt that is made from stone is entirely different with the Temple i n China which is made from wood. But with modern building technology , transportation of materials from one location to another location has became possible, the ability to mass products have made the cost of construction became lower, and the innovation of new and better material is continually increasing. This development has made architecture become more efficient and effective in every layer, either it is the construction, the time span to complete, the experience that could achieved inside the space or even the form of the architecture. Beginning by looking into the traditional materials that have been used since the prehistoric times, which is the wood. This material could be considered as the forefather of all current materials. Started with the wood, in the early days where prehistoric people used this to build tents as their shelter from the sun and rain. By constructing tree trunks or branches together creating the shape of an inverted V-shape, putting some support to hold it firm on the ground and covered with leaves. This creates the simplest foundation of architecture form. As human evolved so does materials for their shelter. Moving from wood to stone, as a stronger material, the form of the shelter started to develop into tent-like house by stacking different stones together. As humans move on to the times of early civilizations, the needs, desires, and beliefs have been greatly developed too. This leads to the creation of places of worships, sacrifices, monuments, and governments. Based on these, the form of the architecture started to goes vertically higher and bigger. At this time, pillar, column, beam, arch and dome has started to be build to fulfill the functions of the architecture. Then into the middle age, where castles are becoming a common forms of architecture in every part of europe. And as it moves through The Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Gothic revival, from 15th century to 18th century, architects and designers feels that every architecture has looked similiar because of the limitation of technology and material. US Capitol Building Washington DC, Built : 1793 Neoclassicism Architecture St Mary Basillica Venice, Built : 1630 Baroque Architecture The Basilica of Saint Peter Rome, Built : 1590 Renaissance Architecture Joseph Paxtons Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition London, Built : 1851 Until 19th century, when modern building technology is discovered. This technology allowed iron to be used in architecture because it has became relatively cheaper which previously considered as a very expensive material. Irons are architecurally unique because of being relatively lightweight and malleable as well as strong. More over, because of its properties, they are able to used for free-form designs. In this period, glass is also widely used and available. Glass is used for its optimal balance between aesthetics and functions. By using glass, the building are able to change, move and create certain environments because it allows light to transmits in and for architect light is one of the poweful tool in crafting experience in an architecture. One of the architecture that reflects a building of high technology in this period is the Joseph Paxtons Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition. Built in 1851 in London, this building was made of modular cast iron and glass which symbolize the industrial, technological and economic superiority of the modern building technology. And in 20th century, plastics became widely known and popular as well. It is because plastics are lightweight,resilient, generally resistant to corosion and moisture, and can be molded and formed into complex shapes. And because It is the only man-made material, this allowed it to be developed even more in the future. This opens the door for architects and designers to realize all the crazy ideas that they had in mind. And with this the notion of architecture of image is slowly becoming a trends. With advancement in modern building technology materials and tools to construct a building have greatly expansed. Back then, buildings are limited with height. Mainly it is because of the limitation of materials and tools. This caused architects and designers to think and design horizantally . But with modern building technology, current buildings are able to go higher becoming a skyscraper or go deeper underground, maybe becoming an earthscraper, and not only going vertically, it also allows the buildings to be built diagonally. From geometric to organic form or from masses to pixels, with the current technology everything is possible. Architecture has entered into a realm of visual form which is nothing more or less than the creation of buildings tangible and visible shapes. Beekman Tower, Frank Gehry New York One example of a purely visual architecture is the Beekman Tower in New York by Frank Gehry. It is a curious fusion of public and private zones. What makes the tower so intoxicating is the exterior skin of the buildings which is mad of aluminum foil. The folds evoke rivulets of water, crinkled sheets of melting ice. The effect of this ripples will be heightened by light and shadow dancing across the surfaces over the course of a day. This building is surely a successful design and appealing to one of human senses which is the visual. But for the interior, everything inside the space is dully conventional. The consideration towards other senses inside the space in order to experience the space has being neglected. Another one is the Orchard Central in Singapore by DP Architects. The key design element of this shopping mall according to DP Architects is on the facade of the mall which will be an 11-storey-high faceted membrane which will function as a massive media wall and is set to be an iconic feature at the junction of Orchard and Killiney roads. The idea of this is to add aural and visual vibrancy to the central stretch of Orchard Road. By doing so, the architectural facade of a building is no longer made of solid materials but is, instead, an ever-changing, programmable image. The problem with this is the elimination of other senses and the dependency towards the vision has made the design of Orchard Central, DP Architects Singapore the space unattracted and unable to create a connection with the visitors. Based on both of the case studies above, it is fairly obvious that the privileged of visual senses over other human senses will create a sense of detachment between the architecture and the visitors. This is merely because human experience the world and the surroundings through their senses. The sounds of steps, the light that penetrate through the space, the coldness of the concrete walls, scale and proportion are just few ways of how architecture interact with the visitors. This interaction is then strengtened and articualted through the complex interaction of human senses and will be perceived by the visitors as an experience. With this two-way interaction between visitors and architecture, this will lead to the creation of meaningful memory towards the space. It is true that vision is the first connection between human and the world. Most of us, when we are walking through a space or street, are affected in one way or another by the looks of the buildings that we pass, the positions of the objects and the arrangements inside the space. But in architecture, the reliance in the sphere of vision will only made the building existed merely in a surface level which is as an objects of visual expression such as a postcard. Architecture should be able to interact with every human senses because it is a representation or expression of human minds. And the only way to communicate with the mind is by experiencing the world and surrounding through the senses. That is when architecture has moved on to another level. So, by using the modern technology, not only to grasped the visual aesthetics that has became a trends nowadys, but also to craft the experience that has been the nature and value of architecture since the early days. This will affects the human physically and psychologically and will pushed the architecture to the full potential.

A Clamor for Women :: Puberty Health Medical Essays

A Clamor for Women A guy once told me that being female was very encouraging because I had something to look forward to every month—my period. Well, what he doesn't know is that this God-given blessing has become a curse to all men because they have to deal with a woman's every qualm. But since men are so clever and inventive they found a way to prevent pregnancy by controlling menstruation and therefore indirectly controlling women. Once a girl has her first menstrual cycle, she not only has to deal with PMS (premenstrual syndrome) which includes bloating, swelling of extremities, sensitive breasts, depression, social withdrawal, mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and confusion, but she also has to encounter non-sympathetic guys who just make her feel worse. And most importantly, she has to face the fact that she can become pregnant. But don't lose hope yet, girls, the men are going to save you from your naturally-occurring misery. They are going to invent a drug that will set you free of all the hassles of womanhood—the Pill! Carl Djerassi invented the modern birth control pill, which was originally advocated as a step toward freedom for women. With the introduction of the pill, women had the choice as to whether a pregnancy was desirable at the time. They could finally pursue careers and â€Å"plan† a family accordingly. However, the pill's original purpose has been skewed. Doctors are now urging younger and younger girls to use the pill but not for the purpose of birth control, even though that is always an underlying reason, but as a means of controlling PMS, blood flow, or acne. PMS is natural and healthy. It can be minimized, once recognized, through a healthy diet and exercise without the hormone-tampering caused by birth control pills. Nonetheless, more women are turning towards this man-made device to control the â€Å"hormonal† woman inside them. But did you ever stop to think why all these problems are solved by the pill? Or why the problems are â€Å"problems† in the first place? Men. They found women to be trying around that â€Å"time of the month† and they also wanted sex without the fear of another mouth to feed. So they solved their problem with the pill and tried to convince women that it was really her problem. Kottak, the author of Researching American Culture, writes, â€Å"The fact that the development of birth control pills and other contraceptive methods has been largely aimed at women is the result of a number of assumptions made by the largely male research establishment† (219).

Anthony Comstock †The Father of American Censorship Essay -- Explorat

Anthony Comstock – The Father of American Censorship Anthony Comstock was the most prominent American advocate of censorship in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.   Born in Connecticut in 1844, Comstock fought with the Union in the Civil War and upon release became an influential member of the Young Men’s Christian Association.   His personal quest to rid America of indecent and immoral literature made his name synonymous with the epithet â€Å"Comstockery† or the excessive pursuit of moralistic censorship.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Comstock soon realized that the YMCA was an insufficient front for his rigorous efforts to protect children from the corruptive effects of demoralizing publications.   In 1873 he helped found the Society for the Suppression of Vice, an organization of gentlemen from New York City.   In a November 1882 article in North American Review, Comstock describes the mission of this society, â€Å"the enforcement of the laws for the suppression of the trade in, and circulation of, obscene literature and illustrations, advertisements, and articles of indecent and immoral use.†...

“A Rose For Emily” and “The Lottery” Essay

â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, by William Faulkner and â€Å"The Lottery†, by Shirley Jackson are both short stories that deal with conflict from either the community or individually. Faulkner hints us readers the main conflict in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is not only Emily but other characters in this short story. For â€Å"The Lottery†, Jackson hints the readers the conflict is more on the social side meaning the community or society not only the main characters. But the main comparisons between these two short stories are the characters, and the communities that seem to be stuck in the past. William Faulkner starts the short story off with saying the character Emily, from â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, is dead. Faulkner divides the short story into five parts, and those five parts talk about Emily’s life which is spoken from the town’s perspective. Emily is described as a burden, whose â€Å"old fashioned† and is basically a mean old lady. The first part starts off with Emily not wanting to pay her taxes and the mayor sets up a meeting of the Board of Aldermen to her home. Not only was she showing no manners, she kept saying she had no taxes to pay and tells her servant, â€Å"the Negro† to show the gentlemen out. The short story continues on with mentioning Emily’s father’s death. The town’s people felt sorry for Emily, not only on the fact that he passed away but the fact that her father was a controlling man. Controlling meaning her father didn’t want her to seek men. Emily was in denial for her father’s death, â€Å"She told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days† (151). She couldn’t let her father go because her father was her life and that was the only life she had. The other parts talk about Emily’s sweetheart named Homer Baron. Everyone in town are happy about her having a sweetheart, but it goes downhill once they find out Homer Baron liked young men. Emily ends up buying poison and it wasn’t easy buying since the druggist was curious as to why Emily wanted it for. The townspeople on the other hand assumed it was so she can kill herself since she’s going through a lot. But Emily doesn’t only purchase rat poison; she ends up buying hologram toilet set with H.B written on them. Six months has passed by and Emily hasn’t been seen, till one day when people noticed her weight gain. Towards the end of the story the people noticed the Negro (servant) runs away while Emily is dying. They then open a door and the first thing  the town’s people notice is Homer Baron’s body being decayed. Next to his body was a print of a body that seemed to lay there every night and a piece of Emily’s grey hair. â€Å"The Lottery†, by Shirley Jackson is about a small town that gathered in a square on a summer day, June 27th. When you think of â€Å"Lottery† you probably assume something positive that deals with money. But that’s not true, in this short story â€Å"The Lottery† is a ritual that’s been going on for generations. It has to do with throwing a rock to a person that gets a mark in the middle of the paper, all towns had stopped doing this ritual but this was the only town that continued. The person who’s in charge of this ritual is Mr. Summers along with a helper Mr. Graves who’s the post master. The Lottery starts off with mixing the papers inside a box and calling out the names from a list. Once everyone had picked out the paper and seen if they had got picked, the people in the village noticed Bill Hutchison ended up getting the black dot. Tessie who is the wife, stands up for her husband and say’s it wasn’t a fair pi ck so Mr. Summer gives them another chance. Everyone in the family got to pick a paper out and this time Tessie ends up getting picked. Now since it’s a ritual it was something you had to do, that’s when everyone in the village including Tessie’s family picked up rocks and threw it to her. â€Å"It isn’t fair, it isn’t right.† (192) Tessie constantly is yelling this because she knew this wasn’t right, it wasn’t right to kill an innocent over a ritual. Both these short stories seem to fall in a similar comparison which is conflict between individual and the community. The narrator in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† gives away that Emily is stubborn; she doesn’t care at what anyone says of her. But in this short story it’s not only one conflict, its several conflicts we notice. One was Emily’s father; she didn’t want to let his body go because he was her only life especially since he was controlled. Another conflict was the community and Emily. People that lived in that town would always say rumors, and basically won’t help her they would just sit back and wait. Then we have Emily and Homer Baron, Emily was lonely, and Homer seemed to be the only person that was someone she loved. Even if it didn’t turn out the way she hoped, she knew just having his presence there was enough. So this shows Emily had conflicts with reality, present and past, and being lonely. â€Å"The Lottery†, on the other hand was conflict between community and individuality, for example Tessie and the village she was living in. The whole ritual â€Å"The Lottery† symbolizes any sin or any bad behavior that has been caused to be passed down from generation to generation no matter how cruel it could be. Tessie is against this whole ritual, she finds it not fair because of killing an innocent person. Old Man Warner was also another person who noticed this ritual wasn’t right, he notices the changes throughout all the years he’s been around. He mentions, â€Å"It’s not the way it used to be,† â€Å"People ain’t the way they used to be.† (191). In â€Å"The Lottery† it shows that no matter if the box changes, the ritual will always remain the same, and instead of the town actually stopping this from happening they join. The past and the community seem to be one of the other noticeable conflicts. The reason for why Tessie could’ve also been yelling out â€Å"It isn’t fair† because this ritual has ended everywhere else but continued in this village. The village is still holding onto the ritual that’s been taking hold for so long that they aren’t really thinking of any other consequences. Both of these short stories fall into somewhat of the same conflict. Like Emily, if she wasn’t so focused into the past meaning being â€Å"old fashioned† then she would’ve fit well into the society without feeling lonely. As for Tessie and her village, if they stopped continuing a ritual that was held on for so long then Tessie wouldn’t have been killed.