The Popular Childrens Books, The Spide Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a popular children’s book series written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. The fantasy stories revolve around the three Grace children and their frightening experiences with fairies when they move into an old Victorian home. The Spiderwick Chronicles Series According to a letter from co-author Holly Black that appears at the beginning of each of The Spiderwick Chronicles series, it all started when she and Tony DiTerlizzi were at a bookstore book signing and were given a letter that had been left for them. The letter was from the Grace children, and it mentioned a book that â€Å"tells people how to identify faeries and how to protect themselves.† The letter went on to say, â€Å"We just want people to know about this. The stuff that has happened to us could happen to anyone.† A few days later, according to Black, she and DiTerlizzi met the Grace children, and the story the children told them became The Spiderwick Chronicles. After their parents’ divorce, the Grace children and their mother move into the ramshackle Victorian home previously occupied by their great-aunt Lucinda. The three children, thirteen-year-old Mallory and her nine-year-old twin brothers, Jared and Simon, are still adjusting to their parents’ divorce and are not happy with their new home. While Mallory has her fencing to keep her occupied and Simon his menagerie of animals to care for, Jared is angry and at loose ends. Almost immediately, odd things begin to happen, beginning with strange sounds in the walls, and leading to the discovery of the small unexpected and unfriendly other occupants of the house and area. Written in the third person, the books emphasize Jared’s point of view. It’s poor Jared who tends to get blamed for all of the unpleasant things that happen, thanks to the faeries. He finds a secret room and an amazing book Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, a book about identifying and protecting yourself from faeries. While the first book is quite mild and provides a basic introduction to the human characters and the threat from the fantastical creatures, the action and suspense is ratcheted up in the remaining books. The Grace children come in conflict with goblins, a shape-shifting ogre, dwarves, elves and other frightening characters. The series ends with the kidnapping of Mrs. Grace and her children’s desperate, and ultimately successful, attempt to rescue her. The Appeal of The Spiderwick Chronicles The short length of these children’s novels - about 100 pages - the uncomplicated, yet suspenseful and scary  fantasy stories, the engaging main characters, the attractive design of the small hardbound books and the full-page pen and ink illustrations in every chapter make the books particularly appealing to younger children who are independent readers or who enjoy having an adult read to them. The Books of The Spiderwick Chronicles The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field GuideThe Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing StoneThe Spiderwick Chronicles: Lucindas SecretThe Spiderwick Chronicles: The Ironwood TreeThe Spiderwick Chronicles: The Wrath of Mulgarath Other Spiderwick books include: Arthur Spiderwicks Field Guide to The Fantastical World Around YouThe Notebook for Fantastical Observations   The Creators of The Spiderwick Chronicles Tony DiTerlizzi is a best-selling author and an award-winning illustrator. His books include Jimmy Zangwows Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure and Ted. Mary Howitt’s The Spider and the Fly was awarded a Caldecott Honor because of the quality of DiTerlizzi’s illustrations. Tony DiTerlizzi is both the co-author and the illustrator of The Spiderwick Chronicles. He has illustrated work by such well-known fantasy authors as J.R.R. Tolkien and Anne McCaffrey. His pen and ink drawings in The Spiderwick Chronicles give life to the characters and help to set the mood of adventure and suspense. Holly Black is also a best-selling author. She specializes in contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, a fantasy novel for young adults was published in 2002. Although they have known one another for a number of years, The Spiderwick Chronicles series and related books represent the first collaboration between Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.

Schindlers List Reaction Paper - 790 Words

There are too many people who claim that the Holocaust never happened, that the stories we hear are the clever fabrications of the media. Speilberg created for us a fabulous movie to dispute this theory. Too many of us remember all too well the effect it had on those close to us. Too many of us had family members who barely escaped the atrocities that were to occur. Too many of us lost family members to the dreams of a genius and a madman. This movie is the story of a few who lived through the Holocaust, and the man who listened to his heart instead of the money in his pocket and the propaganda floating around him. The story starts out with the humiliation of the Jews, continuing on until they are eventually carted off to various labor†¦show more content†¦When the Auschwies came, they began to almost instinctively knit themselves into groups, for protection, and for community. The need for a feeling of community is an almost instinctual one, for without the group, how can we communicate. One can easily argue that God has created us with a need for community. However, looking statistically at the picture here, we can see that one has a much better chance of surviving if one has support from a group. Another level of communication which should be looked at is the area of cultural diversity in the movie. Obviously, there is a definite gap between the German and Jewish people, differences in language, religion, beliefs, and goals. We have a group of people who have been led to believe in their own superiority over all other races against a group who has known constant hardship, perpetual subjugation, and cultural exile. Communication boundaries are obviously going to develop in this situation, as people are going to be unwilling to look outside of their own world view if they feel that they are superior to all others. Another question would be in the area of ethics, and how it effected communication. Although Schindler eventually went selfless, and went at his objective specifically to save the Jews, he was an opportunist as well. Before he made this decision, he used the Jews specifically for slave labor, to make money at the expense of someone else?s effort. During thisShow MoreRelatedThe Schindler s List Critique2134 Words   |  9 PagesSchindler’s List Critique On December 12th 1993, famed film director Steven Spielberg released a movie unlike anything the world had ever seen. Predominantly filmed in black and white, the docudrama had a running time of more than three hours. These elements, not exactly being crowd pleasers, did not foretell its incredible success. Schindler’s List, set in Poland and cast by the thousands, became the foremost Hollywood movie that not only attempted, but successfully depicted, the Holocaust in allRead More Steven Spielberg Essay1491 Words   |  6 Pagesnominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and won several Oscars for technical categories and for its very distinctive score. JAWS was not the only film of his to make the 100 best films of the century list by the American Film Institute. Many of Steven Spielbergs works have been placed on that list, and many are so timeless, they will live in the hearts of generations to come. Such films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park have become legendary. In SpielbergsRead MoreReaction Paper About the Movie the Reader1943 Words   |  8 PagesReaction Paper â€Å"The Freedom Writers† Literal level: Who: Erin Gruwell/Ms. G, Steve Gruwell, Scot Casey, Margaret Campbell, and the Freedom Writers What: The Freedom Writers (from the diaries of the students of Room 203) Where: Long beach and Los angeles, California When: 1992-1995 Interpretative level: Erin Gruwell is a young new excited teacher at one of the hardest school Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. At first, Erin is having problem about her newRead MoreNew Coke : Failed Project Or Marketing Ploy?2243 Words   |  9 Pagesreformed have new packaging and image, and would be completely replacing the old formula. Being tipped off about Coca-Cola hosting a press conference to discuss significant changes within the company, Pepsi advertised in all of the major national papers bragging that Coke was changing its flavor in order to meet the â€Å"Pepsi Challenge.† The response to this drastic change was mixed. Despite being accepted by a large amount of Coke drinkers, there was a minority that voiced their disapproval. OverRead MoreBreaking Boundaries Of Tradition History1996 Words   |  8 Pagesfor their struggles the face today, as well as the ones they have faced in their history. The after affects on these people is still prominent even today, through the low numbers in their population, and their psychological damage. The films â€Å"Schindler’s List† and â€Å"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas† are both set in the Holocaust. Schindler was a man of great wealth, and was also a German. He was an executive, and like most businesspersons, he wanted to make more money. Therefore, he implored the help

Tools for Business Decision Making †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Tools for Business Decision Making. Answer: Introduction: This report has been prepared to analyze the financial position of NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY. In this report, various financial tactics and methods have been used to evaluate the position of the company in the market. NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY is operating its business into ABU DHABI, UAE. This company has come into existence in 2011. It has been founded by National insurance company and National Islamic finance. Currently, 6 branches are operated by this company in the UAE market. The main operations of this company are to offer the Health Takaful to its employees (Home, 2017). Further, the economical condition of UAE is quite string right now. The country is performing well and the companies in this country are also achieving the high growth into the market. The growth of the company is continuously increasing (ADX, 2017). A financial analysis study has been performed over the company to analyze and investigate the position of the company. Ratio analysis, DU Pont analysis and trend analysis study has been done over the NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY (Ansari, 2004). Ratio analysis study has been conducted over NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY to analyze the profitability, liquidity and solvency position of the company. Through the profitability analysis, it has been found that the current net margin and ROE of the company is -14.97% and -17.37% which has been way better from last 2 years (Girling 2013). More, the liquidity position of the company has been analyzed. Through this study, it has been found that the company has managed the position of current assets and liabilities to manage the liquidity position. It has become better than last year. Lastly, the study has been done over the solvency position of the company. Through the analysis over the company, it has been found that the debt and equity position of the company has been lowered than last year. Company has reduced the level of the debt to manage the risk factor and a better position into the market (Heisinger, 2009). Through this study, it has been found that the market position of NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY is becoming better year by year. The calculations have been given into the appendix. Further, the study has been done over the DU Pont analysis of the company. This study depict about the return on equity of the company. For conducting this study, net profit margin and the total asset turnover of the company has been analyzed and through these values, the return on equity of the company has been found. Return on equity is the value which is expected by the investors to get as a dividend from the company. The current net profit margin of the company has been analyzed through dividing the net profit margin of the company by total sales of the company. Through this analysis, it has been found that the net profit margin of the company is 0.42% whereas the total asset turnover of the company has also been analyzed through dividing the sales by total assets of the company and it has been found that the total asset turnover of the company is 0.2845 (Warren, Reeve Duchac, 2011). More, the return one equity of the company has been analyzed through multiplying the net profit margin and the total asset turnover of the company and the current ROE of the company is 0.12% which depict that the company would pay 0.12% of the total profit to each share holder of the company as dividend. The calculations have been given into the appendix. Further, the study has been done over the trend analysis of the company, through this analysis; it has been found that the position of the company is rapidly changing in every year. The study of trend analysis has been done over the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement of the company to analyze the changes which has take place into the financial performance and the figures in each year (Weygandt, Kimmel Kieso, 2009). Through this analysis, it has been found that the entire activities have been changed in every year in the financial reports of the company. Mostly, all the changes are depicting about the better performance and good result about the company. The calculations have been given into the appendix. Further, the study has been done over the industry and the position of the company in the industry. According to the insurance industry of UAE, it has been found that the positive changes are taken place into the performance of the industry. Earlier, this industry has faced various losses and due to which the performance of all the companies which are operating into this industry has been affected. But with the time, various positive changes have taken place into the position and the performance of the industry and thus the company position has also been improved (Index, 2017). The study over the company and the industry, cumulatively depict that the performance and the position has been way better in last few years and thus it is expected by the company to enhance and manage the better position in the market. Conclusion: Through the above study, it has been analyzed that various positive changes have taken place into the position of the company and due to which the performance of the company has also been improved. Through the financial analysis over the company, it has been concluded that the performance of the company is becoming better day by day. The current position of the company is not that much good but according to the last year, performance and the profitability position of the company has been improved. References: Morningstar. (2017). NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY. Retrieved from https://financials.morningstar.com/income-statement/is.html?t=WATANIAregion=are available as on 6th Nov 2017. ADX. (2017). NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY. Retrieved from https://www.adx.ae/English/Pages/default.aspx available as on 6th Nov 2017. Home. (2017). NATIONAL TAKAFUL COMPANY. Retrieved from https://takaful.ae/en/about-us/overview/ available as on 6th Nov 2017. Index (2017). Insurance industry. Retrieved from https://www.takaful.ae/english/index.aspx available as on 6th Nov 2017. Weygandt J., Kimmel P., Kieso D. (2009). Managerial Accounting:Tools for business decision making. John Wiley sons. Warren C., Reeve J. Duchac J. (2011). Financial and Managerail Accounting. Cengage Learning. Heisinger K. (2009). Essentials of Managerial Accounting. Cengage learning. Girling P. (2013). Operational Risk Management. John Wiley sons. Ansari S. (2004). Management Accounting: A Strategic Focus. Houghton Mifflin College Devision.

Consumerism and Marketing Concepts free essay sample

Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen. Veblens subject of examination, the newly emergent middle class arising at the turn of the twentieth century, comes to full fruition by the end of the twentieth century through the process of globalization. 1] Sometimes, the term consumerism is also used to refer to the consumerists movement, consumer protection or consumer activism, which seeks to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety standards. In this sense it is a movement or a set of policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer. [2] In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing emphasis on consumption. The latest consumerism movement is a cause that has been accumulating momentum for over 30 years in the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Consumerism and Marketing Concepts or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S. , and its disciples assert that all consumers have an inherent right to products which are: safe in use (and even misuse), effective for the use designed, economical, reliable, honestly labeled and advertised, and benign in their impacts upon the environment. Moreover, consumerists have been very proactive in seeing that these rights are guaranteed to individual consumers, either by the firms selling the products, or by the government of this country. Adherents of consumerism tend to believe that businesses are so overwhelmingly motivated by the desire to make a profit that they commonly compromise the quality of the product offerings, thereby jeopardizing the safety of consumers. Consumerists cite examples of this greed, such as the Beech-Nut case involving the sale over 10 years of millions of cases of apple juice which was in reality only sweetened, flavored water (Business Week, 1988). The fact that such a large number and variety of these cases exist and continue to be exposed on a regular basis lends a great deal of credibility to the consumerism movement and its underlying assumptions. In explaining the rise of consumerism, Peter Drucker blamed the marketers for failing their consumers and publics in using the marketing concept: We have asked ourselves where in the marketing concept consumerism fits or belongs. I have come to the conclusion that, so far, the only way one can really define it within the total marketing concept is as the shame of the total marketing concept. It is essentially a mark of failure of the concept (Drucker, 1969) This quote is now famous to marketing practitioners, scholars, and critics alike, and the legitimacy of Druckers view is generally conceded. In the same year that Drucker made this accusation, Business Week (1969) also asserted that In the very broadest sense, consumerism can be defined as the bankruptcy of what the business schools have been calling the marketing concept. These condemnations of the marketing concept reflected a general assumption within both the business and academic spheres regarding the implications of consumerisms growing popularity. A substantial portion of scholars and managers surveyed in 1971, for example, believed that the rise in consumerism was a direct reflection of the inadequacy of the marketing concept (Barksdale and Darden, 1971). As the presumed response to the failure of the marketing concept, then, the consumerist movement became the foundation for a revised marketing concept which Kotler (1972) proposed as the successor to the failed marketing concept. As in earlier stages of the marketing philosophy evolution, the societal marketing concept was ostensibly constructed upon the ruins of its immediate predecessor. Since the most recent consumerist movement in the U. S. served as the catalyst for todays conceptualization and implementation of the societal marketing concept, it would seem important to understand the modern origins of this movement. consumerism affects society, the economy and the Environment. Consumerism is economically manifested in the chronic purchasing of new goods and services, with little attention to their true need, durability, product origin or the environmental consequences of manufacture and disposal. Consumerism is driven by huge sums spent on advertising designed to create both a desire to follow trends, and the resultant personal self-reward system based on acquisition. Materialism is one of the end results of consumerism. Consumerism interferes with the workings of society by replacing the normal common-sense desire for an adequate supply of lifes necessities, community life, a stable family and healthy relationships with an artificial ongoing and insatiable quest for things and the money to buy them with little regard for the true utility of what is bought. An intended consequence of this, promoted by those who profit from consumerism, is to accelerate the discarding of the old, either because of lack of durability or a change in fashion.