A review of capital structure theories

A review of capital structure theories 1.0 Introduction One of the most contentious financial issues that have provoked intense academic research during the last decades is the theory of capital structure. Capital structure can be defined as a Mix of different securities issued by a firm (Brealey and Myers, 2003). Simply speaking, capital structure mainly contains two elements, debt and equity. In 1958, through combining tax and debt factors in a simple model to price the value of a company, Modigliani and Miller firstly begin to explore a modern capital structure theory, and their work inspired this area study. However, the MM theory has no practical use because it lacks of direct guidance for companies to determine capital structure in real life (Baxter, 1967; Sarig and Warga, 1989; Vernimmen et al, 2005). During the past years, researchers strived to establish a more reasonable capital structure theory that can be put into practices efficiently, and they attempted to expand debt ratio and tax advantage factors into a new area. Myers (1984) states that only practical capital structure theories, which introducing adjustment cost that includes agency cost and information asymmetry problems, could provide a useful guidance for firms to determine their capital structure. However, from recent studies, Myers (2001) believes that how information differences and agency costs influence the capital structure is still an open question. From this perspective, it is very important to review the development of these two factors which make theoretical research having a strong relationship with reality. Thus, this project will summarize the capital structure theories orientated by agency cost and asymmetric information from extant literature. Also some gaps and conflicts among theories of capital structure will be found and discussed in order to further improve this area study. The rest of this project is arranged as follows. Section 2 will present the theories based on agency costs that causes the conflicts between equity holders and debt holders or managers. Section 3 will illustrate from two areas, interplay of capital structure and investment, followed by signal effect of debt ratio, to show the theories based on asymmetric information. In conclusion, Section 4 will summarize the entire essay and suggest further research direction of capital structure theory. 2.0 Capital structure theories based on agency costs Although Berry and Means (1931, cited in Myers, 2001) state an adverse relationship between the separated ownership and corporate control status, it commonly admits that Jensen and Meckling (1976) firstly conducted the research in how agency costs determine capital structure (Harris and Raviv, 1991). Over the past decades, researchers have tried to add agency costs to capital structure models (Harris and Raviv, 1991). The perfect alignment between firm investors and firm agencies, such as managers, does not exist (Myers, 2001). According to Jensen and Meckling (1976), company agents, the managers, always emphasize on their own interests, such as high salary and reputation. Also these company agents use entrenching investments, which make the asset and capital structure orientated by the managements knowledge and skills, to increase their bargaining power with the true company holders (Chen and Kensinger, 1992). However, Myers (2001) believes that the firm holders can reduce such transferred value through using different kinds of methods of control and supervising, but he further points out the weakness that these methods are expensive and reduce returns. As a result, the perfect monitoring system is out of work, and agency costs are produced from these conflicts. According to Jensen and Meckling (1976), the conflicts between investors and agencies are generally divided into two types. The first conflict occurs between debt holders and equity holders, and the second conflict is from between equity holders and managers. Consequently, all the capital structure theories based on agency costs can be also classified based on these two conflicts. In the rest of this section, each individual conflict will be separately discussed. 2.1 Conflicts between Debt holders and Equity holders Jensen and Meckling (1976) point out that agency costs problems happen in determining the structure of a firms capital when the conflict between debt holders and equity holders is caused by debt contracts. Similar to Jensen and Mecklings conclusion, Myers (1977) observes that since equity holders bear the whole cost of the investment and debt holders get the main part of the profits from the investment, equity holders may have no interest in investing in value-increasing businesses when companies are likely to face bankruptcy in the short term future. Thus, if debt occupies a large part of firms capital, it will lead to the rejection of investing in more value-increased business projects. However, in 1991, Harris and Raviv cast a contrasting opinion to adjust the capital structure theory based on this conflict. They point out that most debt contracts give equity holders a push power to invest sub-optimally investment project. If the investment fails, due to limited liability, debt holders bear the consequences of a decline of the debt value, but equity holders get most of yields if the investment could generate returns above the debt par value. In order to prevent debt holders from receiving unfair treatment, equity holders normally get less for the debt than original expectation from debt holders. Thus, the agency costs are created by equity holders who issue the debt rather than debt holders reason (Harris and Raviv, 1991). Tradeoff capital structure theory has a basic and strong relationship with this type of agency costs. However, different researchers hold various explanations of the relationship. Myers (1977) points out the debt cost reason, Green (1984) announces that convertible bonds can reduce the asset substitution problem which comes from the tradeoff theory, Stulz and Johnson (1985) consider about collateral effect. In the end, only Diamond model (1989) is widely accepted. If Equity holders do not consider reputational reason, they are willing to trade relatively safe projects, but this activity will lead to less debt financing (Diamond, 1989; Mike et al, 1997). Diamond model (1989) assumes two tradeoffs, risky and risk-free, to show that the debt repayment should consider both possible investment plans. Furthermore, Mike et al (1997) use empirical evidence to indicate how to use debt to trade off these two optional investment plans. Moreover, in 1991, Harris and Raviv expanded Diamonds model to three investment choices. They point out that one choice of investment can only contain the risk-free project, one option can invest in risk project and the last option combine both risk-free and risk projects. In fact, since the reputation factor is vital for a manager, managers are willing to choose risk-free investment projects that have more possibility of success. Consequently, the amount of debt is often reduced by managers. 2.2 Conflicts between Managers and Equity holders Jensen and Meckling (1976) also states that conflicts naturally arise between managers and equity holders since managers just hold parts of the whole firms capital. Consequently, firm mangers only benefit from part of the profit generated by their business activities, but they simultaneously bear the whole cost of these actions. However, Myer (2001) casts a different opinion about the reason of the conflict and claims that in fact, managers never bear the full costs of the business activities unless the manager is also the firms investor. He further maintains that the real cause of the conflict is due to an imperfect observable reward system between investors and managers, because both parties have different standpoints to measure their own interest, especially the rewards. There are two dominant models, the Harris and Raviv model and the Stulz model, to explain this area. Although both models have a common assumption that labor contracts cannot address the conflict between managers and equity holders, both models hold different opinions about debt release and the problem in the drawbacks of debt in the capital structure. According to Harris and Raviv model (1990), managers are designed to want to continue the companys current operations all the time even if equity holders prefer the liquidation of the company. However, in Stulz model (1990), managers are keen to invest all available funds even if the equity holders can benefit from paying out cash. Moreover, Harris and Raviv (1990) point out that debt alleviates the agency costs and the conflict results from giving equity holders the chance to speed up liquidation when cash flows are hard to predict. In contrast, Stulz (1990) based on Jenson model (1986) concludes that debt payments reduce free cash flow. He further maintains that the debt costs reduce the available funds of a profitable project, since the costs result from debt payment that more than exhausts free cash flow. As a result, capital structure can be determined by trading off debt advantages against debt costs. 3.0 Capital structure theories based on asymmetric information The development of information modeling provides a possible approach to explain capital structure. In these capital structure theories, company insiders, such as managers, are assumed to obtain all private information about the investment opportunities or investment return. Some theories try to find out how the allocation of capital structure passes the insiders information of a firm to outsiders. Meanwhile, in other theories, the purpose of the capital structure is to improve efficiencies in the companys investment activities under asymmetric information (Vernimmen et al, 2005). The rest of this section will be divided into two subsections based on both sets of theories mentioned above. 3.1 Interplay of capital structure and investment This area of research begins with two vital academic papers, Myers and Majluf (1984) and Myers (1984). According to Myers and Majluf (1984), the firms equity will be mispriced by the market when investors obtain less information of one firms assets value than the firms current insiders. Moreover, they further point out that if firms issue equity to absorb capital for a new investment, mispricing may make a net loss to the firms current shareholders. In Myers second paper (1984), he formally defines this as a pecking order capital structure theory. In this theory, a firms capital structure is determined by the purpose of the company to finance new investment. Furthermore, with the development of the Myers pecking order theory, researchers find some vital empirical implications of this theory. Krasker (1986) confirms the results of Myers theory (1984) and also shows that the larger the equity issue, the worse the asymmetric information problem and the firm with worse asymmetric information problems will often have a more under price problem. Ebsen (1986) finds that if managers could trade their firms new equity, the under price problem caused by asymmetric information will be reduced. Then Dierkens (1991) argues that the under price problem can be solved by information releases such as annual financial statement reports. However, some economists cast a doubt on the pecking order theory. These theoretical researches have a common feature that they all put investment situations under the pecking order theory but provide more finance choices for a firm. Brennan and Kraus (1987) state that it is not necessary for a firm to have a preference for financing through debt over equity and the under price problem can be addressed through various financing options and simple capital structure rather than solving asymmetry information problem. Their findings are also confirmed by Noe (1988). Moreover, in 1993, Nachman and Noe put Brennan and Kraus theory into practice and also come to the same conclusion. 3.2 Signal effect of debt ratio After discussing models which investigate the interplay of capital structure and investment, it is vital to turn to models in which investment is a fixed factor and only capital structure is regarded as a private information signal. The investigation of this area starts with the work of Ross (1977). According to Rosss capital structure theory, only firms insiders, such as managers, can get full information of the firms return distribution, but investors cannot. The main empirical implication of Ross theory is that there is a positive relation between firm value and debt ratio. However, further research combines debt and dividend policy together to show an opposite opinion that a firm value is determined by dividend and debt ratio rather than a single factor of debt ratio (Vernimem et al, 2005). Furthermore, in 1982, Heinkel improve Ross model. His model is similar to Ross but does not have the same assumption. Instead, high market value firms are assumed to have high total value but low quality debt, thus high market value firms has high equity value. This finding has been consistent with further capital structure theoretical research (Franke, 1987; John, 1987). Another debt ratio signal model is built by Poitevin (1989). He firstly points out the potential competition between an entrant and an incumbent under the asymmetric information. According to Poitevin model (1989), the marginal costs of entrant are private information obtained only by the entrant, and in a stable situation, the capital of high cost entrants does not issue any debt while low cost entrants never issue equity. However, Glazer and Israel (1990) cast a different conclusion against Poitevin. They maintain that low cost entrants are willing to issue equity since they can much easier use this finance approach to reduce marginal production costs than the high cost entrants. Nevertheless, Harris and Raviv (1991) point out the weakness of the Glazer and Israel model is that they ignore the dividends finance factor which has the same signal effect as debt. Normally, a capital structure theory should combine various basic finance factors together. In the end, Glazer and Israel recognize this weakness and claim that their results cannot be considered as a capital structure theory. 4.0 Summary and Conclusion To sum up, this literature review of capital structure theories is element arranged. The set of theories based on agency costs and the set of theories based on asymmetric information are separately presented in the passage. Moreover, each set of theories can also be divided into several subsections. Agency costs cause two types of conflicts among stakeholders, and these conflicts affect a firms choice of capital structure. Moreover, capital structure theories show that under an asymmetric information situation, capital structure has a strong reaction with investment activities and debt ratio has a signaling utility for the determination of capital structure. The range of the selected paper is from 1958 to 2005. These papers cover majority parts of the study including agency costs, interplay of capital structure and investment, imperfect information situations and debt signal effect. Also these papers are all from core financial journals, e.g. Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial Management, American Economic Review and Review of Financial Studies. Thus, this literature review can be considered to be efficient and thorough. This essay covers a considerable number of literatures which can present modern theoretical findings of capital structure. However, it should be noticed that the blooming period of capital structure theory is between 1970s-1980s. After 1990, the theoretical research seems to have developed very slowly, and the majority of papers in this field just review former findings since few new theories of capital structure come out. The direction of the theoretical research of capital structure should incline to be more practical. The future study should be extended in two areas. (1) Add psychosocial conditions and assumptions to improve extant capital structure theories. It is important to acknowledge that most capital structure theories cannot be used by companies in real life since these theories lacks of more reality factors. Thus, behavior finance could provide a new approach to extant theories. (2)Combine agency costs and asymmetric information problems together in one capital structure theory. Currently, both problems are discussed separately. However, companies often suffer from these two problems at the same time when they determine their capital structure. Consequently, it is necessary to set up a new theory based on both problems. Bibliography 1. Baxter, N. (1967) Leverage, risk of ruin, and the cost of capital, Journal of Finance, 22, pp. 395-403. 2. Brealey, R. A. and Myers, S. C. (2003) Principles of Corporate Finance. 7th edn. New York: The McGraw-Hill Company. 3. Brennan, M. and Alan, K. (1987) Efficient financing under asymmetric information, Journal of Finance, 42, pp 1225-1243. 4. Chen, A. H. and Kensinger, J. (1992) Uncommon Equity, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 5(1), pp. 36-43. 5. Diamond, D. W. (1989) Reputation acquisition in debt markets, Journal of Political Economy, 97, pp. 828-862. 6. Dierkens, N. (1991) Information Asymmetry and Equity Issues. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 26(2), pp.181-199. 7. Ebsen, E. (1986) The Valuation Effects of Corporate Debt Offerings, Journal of Financial Economics. 15(1), pp. 119-152. 8. Franke, G. (1987) Costless signaling in financial markets, Journal of Finance, 42, pp.809-822. 9. Glazer, and Israel, R. (1990) Managerial incentives and financial signaling in product market competition, International Journal of Industrial Economics, 8, pp. 271-280. 10. Green, R.C. (1984) Investment incentives, debt, and warrants, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, pp. 115-136. 11. Harris, M. and Raviv, A. (1990) Capital structure and the informational role of debt, Journal of Finance, 45, pp.321-349. 12. Harris, M. and Raviv, A. (1991) The Theory of Capital Structure, The Journal of Finance, 46(1), pp. 297-355. 13. Heinkel, R. (1982) A theory of capital structure relevance under imperfect information, Journal of Finance, 37, pp.1141-1150. 14. Jensen, M. C. and William, H. M. (1976) Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure, Journal of Financial Management, 3(4), pp. 305- 360. 15. Jenson, M. C. (1986) Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers, American Economic Review, 76(2), pp. 323-29. 16. John, K. (1987) Risk-shifting incentives and signaling through corporate capital structure, Journal of Finance, 42, pp. 623-641. 17. Krasker, W. (1986) Stock price movements in response to stock issues under asymmetric information, Journal of Finance, 41, pp. 93-105. 18. Leland, H.E. (1994) Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, 49(4), pp. 1213-1252. 19. Mike, B., Gromb, D. and Panunzi, F. (1997) Large Shareholders, Monitoring and the Value of the Firm, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112, pp. 693-728. 20. Modigliani, F. and Miller, M. H. (1958) The cost of capital, corporation finance, and the theory of investment, American Economic Review, 48, pp.261-297. 21. Myers, S. C. (1977) Determinants of corporate borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, (5), pp. 147-175. 22. Myers, S.C. (1984) The capital structure puzzle, Journal of Finance, 39, pp.575-592. 23. Myers, S. C. and Majluf, N. S. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, pp.187-221. 24. Myers, S. C. (2001) Capital Structure, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(2), PP. 18-102. 25. Nachman, David C. and Noe, T. H. (1993) Design of securities under asymmetric information, Working paper, Georgia Institute of Technology. 26. Noe, T. (1988) Capital structure and signaling game equilibria, Review of Financial Studies, 1, pp. 331-356. 27. Poitevin, M. (1989) Financial signaling and the deep-pocket argument, Rand Journal of Economics, 20, pp.26-40. 28. Ross, S. (1977) The determination of financial structure: The incentive signaling approach, Bell Journal of Economics, 8, pp.23-40. 29. Sarig, O., and Warga A. (1989) Some empirical estimates of the risk structure of interest rates, Journal of Finance, 44, pp. 1351-1360. 30. Stulz, R. and Johnson, H. (1985) An analysis of secured debt, Journal of Financial Economics, 14, pp. 501-521. 31. Stulz, R. (1990) Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies, Journal of Financial Economics, 26, pp.3-27. 32. Vernimmen, P., Quiry, P., Dallocchio, M., Fur, Y. L., Salvi, A. (2005) Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice, 6th edn. West Sussex: John Wiley Sons. Ltd.

Truth in Advertising

Consumers need to be protected from false advertising other questionable marketing tactics. Advertisements are Information provided by a seller or manufacturer. These advertisements can be in the form of ads on the television, radio, internet, newspapers, and magazines. It can also come in the form of information from a sales person as they attempt to sell a consumer a product. Advertisements generally are truthful in nature. However they can be false and misleading. It is these false or misleading ads that cause ethical questions to be raised in regards to marketing.False advertisement is untrue or misleading information that is presented by a seller in order to entice the consumer to buy their product. Each state has its own set of consumer protection laws that protect consumers against unfair competition and deceptive advertising practices. These laws apply to print, radio, or television ads that are seen in that state. Some common state laws include protection against various typ es of false advertising. One area that is not highly regulated in regards to truth in advertising is the Internet.Because the Internet spans all boundaries the coal advertising laws are difficult to apply to ads that are posed or seen online. There are several types of false advertising practices that are commonly used. One of these is known as the bait and switch technique. The bait and switch occurs when a company advertises a product but has every intention of selling you a product that Is deferent than the one advertised. The bait tactic is an enticing ad that makes the product seem appealing and lures the consumer into the store.Once the consumer Is on site, the seller makes every attempt to upsets a different more expensive reduce by discrediting the quality or value of the original product. Another method of false advertisement involves the amount of product that Is kept In stock by a store. Stores are required to have enough of an advertised Item In stock to meet a reasonabl e customer demand unless the ad states that quantities are Limited. This keeps stores from using a small quantity of a good to lure customers Into the store. Store limits are another tactic that can be used by sellers to misrepresent advertisements.Store limits are only valid If the Limit Is clearly defined In the ad. It Is unethical and unlawful to Impose a non-advertised Limit once the consumer Is In the store. Pictures are a common addition to advertisements. Companies are often an advertisement must provide a reasonable representation of the product if a picture is used in the advertisement. Advertisements must be truthful in other areas as well. If a company is selling an item that is refurbished it cannot be sold as a new item. Companies cannot arbitrarily advertise an item as being on sale.Any item that is listed as being on sale must have been sold at a higher price at some time during the previous three months. Another area that can be tempting to advertising departments is related to environmentally friendly products. Because of the environmental movement that is underway many products are marked as environmentally friendly, green, or biodegradable. Ethically and in some areas legally, companies are required to provide environmental information on the product when it is requested for all products that are marketed as being green, environmentally friendly, or biodegradable.Stretching the truth in marketing is a common tactic and some marketers believe that it is within their rights to stretch the truth. These marketers sometimes cite the idea of utilitarianism in marketing. This idea states that they are making ethical choices that provide the greatest amount of good to the greatest number of people at the expense of other people (Chillier). Some marketers believe that stretching the truth is an ethically sound decision if the falsification helps consumers. Ethically, utilitarianism is a bad approach to advertising regardless of the results that are a chieved (Chillier).A company should instead focus on the strength of their product or services in order to generate sales. Negative marketing is another tactic that is seed to stretch the ethical boundaries in marketing. Negative marketing is used in all types of advertisements including political ads. In the midst off highly publicized election, many of the advertisements that have been issued by the political parties are negative in nature. Many of the people on the receiving end do not agree with the idea of negative marketing.People would rather see ads that are focused on the positive aspects of a product or a person rather than ads that attack or shed negative light on a product. However, negative ads are effective at changing the opinion off nonuser and because of this effectiveness; they will continue to be used despite the ethical objectives. There are rules that apply to marketing and ethics. These rules establish guidelines to help guide marketing decisions to be ethicall y sound. One of these rules is the idea of universal ethics. Universal ethics are actions and choices that are made based purely on a moral idea.These universal principles are generally believed to apply to all people at all times in all situations (Chillier). The challenge for marketing departments is that they need to find a way to ethically market their reduce in order to sell more products to consumers without compromising the integrity of the product or coercing customers to purchase a product that they do not need. There is a code of ethics that exists for marketing that has been created by the American Marketing Association. This code of ethics has been created to promote honesty, fairness, responsibility, respect, and openness in areas of marketing.There are several guidelines that can be followed to help ensure ethical decisions are made while marketing a product. One of those guidelines is to simply have a great product. A great product will go many things to sell itself. A product that can be sold based on the greatness of the product and the advertising does not have to embellish the product to make it look more appealing. Another guideline to ethical marketing is to use the Internet to market the product. Using the internet will allow the product to gain more recognition quickly because of mass reach.Gaining high visibility for a product will help keep the marketers honest and bound to follow the ethical code. Studying marketing results will also help to follow ethical guidelines. These results can help a marketer understand what types of ads are best representing and selling the product. This analysis can allow pinpoint marketing to take place and solid marketing decisions can be based on the past results. It is also important for the marketers to study the competition. Understanding how the competition products are marketed can help direct the focus of the marketing program.These guidelines can be used to help make good solid marketing decisions that are ethical and successful. Unethical decisions are made in marketing that are not related to truthfulness or product representation. There are also decisions that are made by companies relating to the different types of consumers that they are erecting their marketing towards. Marketing toward children is a tactic that is growing in popularity in marketing circles. McDonald's and other fast food companies have increased marketing campaigns that are directed towards children.Fifteen billion dollars is spent marketing towards children every year and twenty-five percent of that comes from fast food companies. McDonald's has even created a separate version of the Happy Meal called the Mighty Kids Meal that includes larger sized portions. The creation of this larger meal that is marketed towards children with larger appetites is unethical on two levels. The meal is targeted towards a rowing obese child population. It is also part of the campaign that is geared toward children as a tool to manipulate parents to spend more money. This marketing style is a marketing grey area.Marketing in a grey area can have undesired consequences. One of these consequences is a lack of trust in the product and the company. As companies operate repeatedly in this grey area, they run the risk of losing customers because of issues related to trust. Handy is an example of a company that is walking this line of pattern misrepresentation. Handy was discovered in 2001 of overstating the horsepower achieved by some of heir models. Korea discovered that Handy was misrepresenting the horsepower in several of their cars by as much as 9. 6 percent according to Grabbiest. Mom. Uncovering this false advertising claim led to a class action lawsuit against Handy because they were able to sell their cars for a higher price based on the false horsepower claims. Recently Handy has been caught misrepresenting the facts related to some of their cars once again. According to the Wall Street Journa l, The Environmental Protection Agency discovered that Handy has overstated the gas mileage on several models by as much five miles per gallon since 2010. This misrepresentation has caused many to begin to lose faith in Handy as a brand.Their unethical choices in marketing have started to affect the Handy brand and the trust that people have in the brand. Marketing and ethics are two topics that are closely intertwined. Because of the reward that can be gained by companies due to their marketing strategies, there is not ethically sound. Marketing departments wield power over consumer markets and should be bound by ethical principles in order to keep the best interests of the consumers in mind instead of the focusing on profits at the expense of the consumer.

Between White and Roberts Essay

Between the descriptive essay â€Å"Once More to the Lake† by E.B. White, and the narrative essay â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† by P.M. Roberts I find the descriptive essay to be far more interesting to read for the way it is written appeals to the senses of the reader. Both essays, however, carry good merit and are written very well. The essay that is currently being presented is an interpretation of the similarities and differences between the styles of these two essays, and the impact they have on the reader as well. Among the major differences between the two essays is the way they are structured. In the essay â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† Roberts uses nine different headings relating to the key elements of what he is writing about. He breaks down each component of what he considers to be good practices of writing with each section consisting of its own idea. He uses this method to present multiple ideas pertaining to the same general subjec t of the essay. Using headings to separate ideas and points is a good way to present information clearly, but it also gives a paper an impersonal and formal feeling that most casual or average readers do not relate to. In â€Å"Once More to the Lake†, however, White does not separate ideas into different headings. The story he tells in his essay progresses forward without being broken up into multiple ideas, and the general subject does not change throughout the essay in any major way. The entire essay reads like it is its own chapter of a book. It provides the reader with a fluent story from start to finish. Another large difference between these two essays is in the tone and language that the authors use. Roberts uses a mostly formal tone and language throughout most of his essay. There are a few places in which he uses mild humor to keep the readers’ interest, but his dry tone mixed with the subject his essay is centered on limits the effectiveness of his attempts. One such attempt at humor is where he speaks of a college  professor grading essays in the sentence, â€Å"As he reads paper after paper all saying the same thing in almost the same words, all bloodless, five hundred words dripping out of nothing, he wonders how he allowed himself to get trapped into teaching English when he might have had a happy and interesting life as an electrician or a confidence man.† (P.M. Roberts) He has a very dry sense of humor that leaves the reader wondering why he even makes the attempt at humor in many cases. White uses an informal tone in his essay, and uses language that appeals to the readers’ senses. He makes no attempts at humor in his essay like Roberts does, but he instead paints pictures of scenery with words in exuberant detail. The depth and detail with which he writes stirs the readers’ emotions and memories in the way he tells of his own memories. He takes the mind of the reader on a journey with him as he recounts memories of his childhood. The tone he uses is one that is somber and serious, but also quite casual. â€Å"Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp and the paths leading back to the outhouses and the can of lime for sprinkling, and at the souvenir counters at the store the miniature birch-bark canoes and the post cards that showed things looking a little better than they looked.† (E.B. White) It is with the use of this kind of language that White fills the writing canvas, as well as the reader’s thoughts, with the detailed images of the surroundings of the lake. The subject matter between the essays by Roberts and White is yet another drastic difference. â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† is an informative narrative essay about what to, and what not to do in the writing of a college essay. It is a strictly academic essay. It covers a number of points of what kind of language and ideas to use in a college level paper. The section of his essay that he names â€Å"Call a Fool a Fool† can easily be summarized as him trying to get across that one should say what they think of a matter regardless of what they think the instructor grading the paper or anyone else that might read it would think of what you have to say. He  basically states that if it is your opinion, then state it without worrying that it may offend anyone that may not share the same view. The subject matter of Roberts’ essay is a topic that only a college student would truly care to read about. The subject matter of the essay by White, however, is nearly as far in the other direction as you can get from Roberts’ essay about writing an essay about college football. White’s essay â€Å"Once More to the Lake† is about his visit with his son back to the same lake that his own father took him to every summer with his family while he was growing up. He describes in detail the changes that have occurred in the many years since he had been back to the lake, and the times he had with his family in his youth as well as the time he is spending there now with his own son. â€Å"Inside, all was just as it had always been, except there was more Coca Cola and not so much Moxie and root beer and birch beer and sarsaparilla. We would walk out with a bottle of pop apiece and sometimes the pop would backfire up our noses and hurt. We explored the streams, quietly, where the turtles slid off the sunny logs and dug their way into the soft bottom; and we lay on the town wharf and fed worms to the tame bass. Everywhere we went I had trouble making out which was I, the one walking at my side, the one walking in my pants.† (White E.B.) The way he describes and speaks of his surroundings and the small adventures that he and his son embark upon makes it evident that he truly cares about the story he has written, and that the entire compositio n is a nostalgic journey through his past and present. The feelings that he clearly has while writing his essay is something that nearly any reader can relate to. Now that the major contrasting points between the two essays have been presented we should move on to the similarities, but there are next to no similarities at all. The most prominent similarity between them is simply the fact that both compositions are considered essays. They are written in completely different styles on completely different subjects, and with a completely different reading audience in mind. It can be said, however, that both essays are properly written for their intended audience, and one could also argue that the essays are similar in regards to the fact that both essays give the reader something to think about after having read the compositions, but that would be reaching very far to find some form of similarity simply for the sake of being able to say that they are similar in some fashion. It is easy to say  that the two essays contrast in major ways, but it is not so easy to say that they compare in any significant way. The essays â€Å"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words† by P.M. Roberts, and â€Å"Once More to the Lake† by E.B. White are both well written, but the descriptive essay by White is the superior of the two for his use of easily understood descriptive language and the seamless flow of his ideas and thoughts on the paper making for an easy and enjoyable read. His essay is also written about a subject that nearly any reader can relate to in some way while the essay by Roberts is aimed more at a particular demographic. Roberts also uses a â€Å"matter of fact† kind of tone that if he had not introduced a dash of humor here and there throughout his essay would have made it too technical to keep the average reader interested enough to read the whole composition while the essay by White draws the reader in and leaves them wanting more. The essay â€Å"Once More to the Lake† by E.B. White is a timeless piece of literature that the writer of this essay strongly recommends to any reader. References Roberts, P. M. (n.d.). How to say nothing in 500 words. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gw_UcMT4u-ZSW7ZBN_RAMspZFex6o83oIbnvtuV-CM8/edit?pli=1 White, E.B. Once more to the lake. Retrieved from http://www.freewebs.com/lanzbom/EBWhiteLakeEssay.pdf

Essay on Consciousness Are We All In This Together

A question that continues to puzzle scholars (and Honors students, alike) is that of what defines human consciousness. It would be simple to say that it is defined by one’s awareness of itself and of its surroundings. What makes the question so difficult to answer, though, is that consciousness is much more than an acute awareness; it is the process of becoming aware, finding the purpose of our consciousness, and building morals and intelligence from that awareness that entangles those who search for answers in a web of utter confusion. In beginning my search for the understanding of consciousness, I chose to look into the thoughts and beliefs of Karl Marx and Jean-Paul Sartre. Marx and Sartre are similar in their philosophy in that†¦show more content†¦Starting with Sartre’s existentialist point of view, consciousness is defined as being-for-itself. When we are for-itself, we recognize our consciousness, but also understand that we are incomplete (SparkNotes Editors, 2005). This notion of being-for-itself is what makes clear Sartre’s belief that existence proceeds essence; we aren’t born with innate traits, but rather, we create our consciousness. We are free to choose how we will interpret our surroundings, what we will believe, and what type of personality we wish to have in accordance to those beliefs and interpretations. Sartre further explains that this freedom comes with heavy responsibility. Once we make a choice, we cannot make excuses for ourselves or put the blame on someone or something else if the choice turns sour or ends up being faulty; when we accept the freedom, we accept the full responsibility, too. If we fail to take up this responsibility and live dishonestly about inevitabilities, such as death, or possibilities, we are living in â€Å"bad faith†, as Sartre says. On the other hand, to live in good faith is to understand and acknowledge that control of the outside world is not in our hands, yet to still take the responsibility and freedom of choices that we have over ourselves. Living nobly in good faith may be what is troubling about existentialism to some people, especially those who are religious. I believe that Sartre feels that humans are innately good and have theShow MoreRelatedWe Are The Cosmos Made Conscious And Life Is The Means By Which The Universe Understands Itself? Essay1710 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself.† --Brian Cox. What is consciousness? I remember being a student in a NSCS 200 class, answering the attendance question of whether plants are conscious beings. They aim to fulfill a goal, they sense things, and with those stimuli, they make actions. So theoretically, they are conscious. But do they have consciousness? 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Some might argue that consciousness is not more than a foolish ideaRead MoreConsciousness Is Not An Illusion1631 Words   |  7 PagesConsciousness poses the most baffling challenges in scientific realm of the mind. There’s nothing with which we share an intimate relation than conscious experience, but there’s nothing so strenuous or demanding to explain. Perhaps no o ther aspect of mind is more puzzling than this mystifying experience that we encounter in our every day life. There’s a widespread disparity amongst individuals regarding the existence of this entity. Some might argue that consciousness is not more than a foolish ideaRead MoreKarl Marx And Emile Durkheim1149 Words   |  5 Pagesfor one class to oppose and overthrow another, a certain social cohesion, a collective consciousness ought to occur in the rebelling group, and a sense of solidarity in a micro level, perhaps something similar to religion i.e. Communism materializes and unites the working class to revolt against the Bourgeois. Hence, in Marx’s world, coercion creates conflict for the ultimate catastrophe. Religion binds it all in a society, asserts Durkheim. From developing the morality of the society to creatingRead MoreHow Diversity Consciousness Will Change The Way People View Differences And Aid Me856 Words   |  4 PagesAmilia Kiesman Final Exam SOC 200 How Diversity Consciousness Will Change the Way People View Differences and Aid Me in a Successful Future Diversity consciousness can be defined as consistently learning about and being welcoming of diversity. 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