High Technology Semiconductor Company Acquisitions

High Technology Semiconductor Company Acquisitions The fast rate of technological change was one of the most important trends in the 1990s and this brought an increasing complexity and cost to the development of new technologies. Companies used their innovative assets as a major source of competitive advantage to quickly introduce new products and adopt new processes (Sen and Egelhoff, 2000). Acquisitions are completed in many industries for reasons that are aligned with the dominant competitive driving forces for that industry. In the area of high technology and seminconductors, the competitive drivers are short product life cycles and process advancement. Process advances are required to both support the incremental changes to existing products and to allow the creation of radically new one. The number of acquisitions rapidly increased through the decade for several reasons: the product life cycle was getting shorter; participating in the creation of industry and product standards was crucial; early entry helped capture market shar e; and R D risk could be reduced. Hagedoorn (1993) found the reduction in innovation time and acquisition of needed technologies as the most important reasons for one company to pursue another. Several researchers have written about the radical and incremental innovation capabilities, their distinguishing factors and the important consequences to the corporation. It has also been argued that large firms are effective with incremental innovations and small firms are better at radical innovations. (Ettlie, Bridges, and OKeefe, 1984; Dewar and Dutton, 1986; Christensen, 1992). Corporate decision to acquire or not acquire another company embodies a high level, serious management strategy decision toward repositioning a company in the competitive landscape. The decade from 1990 to 2000 was chosen as an important time for acquisition activity. There was frequent activity in acquisitions during a time of stable economic conditions creating good conditions for analysis. In 1990, the dollar value of all acquisitions and mergers in the United States was two percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2000, the value reached over 15% of the GDP (Mergerstat, 2003). In the first 10 months of 2000, in the technology sector alone, there were 2,019 acquisition and merger deals worth $573 billion (Reason, 2000). This occurred despite studies done in the 1980s and 1990s that found little positive effect financially for the acquiring company. The magnitude of the activity strongly suggests that some positive relationship could be found if examined in a different way o r using new metrics. This research uses a different methodology by exploring a single industry, selecting profitability growth as the metric from theoretical industry driving forces and analyzing profitability over time as a statistical repeated measures model using SPSS software. The results from this work may have strategic implications for remaining competitive in high technology, high-velocity industries. It should be noted here that the term acquisition, mergers and acquisitions and M A will be used interchangeably in this research and are defined in Appendix A along with other important terms. In high technology industries, such as semiconductors, a firm interested in new product innovation must aggressively invest to stay at the leading edge. Creating or acquiring new offerings can be dependent on a combination of efforts directed either internal or external to the company. Internal efforts include primarily Research and Development (R D) or newly formed affiliates, termed greenfields (Vermeulen Barkema, 2001; Sonenclar, 1984; Bradley Korn, 1981). External efforts can take the form of acquisition or mergers to best capture the intellectual property (IP) that is maintained in the categories of trade secret and proprietary know-how. Acquisitions, when done well, appear to have the advantage of capturing this kind of IP as compared to the other forms of external efforts. Acquisitions also potentially offer faster repositioning with less risk and lower cost than pursuing internal company endeavors (Singh Montgomery, 1987). A high technology companys success hinges on crea tion of innovative ideas, availability of creative personnel, speed of new product execution and cost effectiveness. Mergers and acquisitions are a highly favored management avenue for growth and competitive positioning. The importance of this management consideration and the impact of mergers and acquisitions continue to expand with billions of dollars involved. The importance in the technology sector becomes apparent when looking at the 724 firms that made their initial public offering (IPO) in 1992, but were not acquired or merged. Of these companies, 58% were selling at less than their IPO price six years later (Small Business Statistics, 2000). Product and service offering must constantly evolve and change (Thompson Strickland, 2001). High velocity innovation is fundamental to the growth and survival of high technology businesses. Organizations that are successful have a regular stream of unique products and services. Hewlett-Packard had over 50% of revenue in 1999 coming from products introduced in the previous two to four years. In high technology companies, the highest profit levels come from the newest products. Consequently, it is imperative to accelerate the innovation cycle, often through mergers and acquisitions, and this is critically important to remaining competitive. Entrepreneurial firms consistently outperform larger firms in both market and earnings growth on the Inc. 500 and Forbes 200 lists (Imparato Harari, 1994). There are several potential reasons for making an acquisition that have been identified and studied in the literature. In addition to the reasons for actually acquiring, there are a number of factors following the event that will influence the degree of success or failure that these efforts may experience. These elements that play a part in determining the outcome have been the focus of studies that are summarized in the Literature Review. WHAT MAKES HIGH-TECH COMPANIES AND THEIR ACQUISITIONS UNIQUE Both the popular business press as well as recent academic research seems to uniformly accept the unique nature of high-tech stocks. Kohers and Kohers (2000) state: The high-growth nature of technology-based industries distinguishes them from other types of industries. In addition to their high-growth potential, however, another distinctive feature of high-tech industries is the inherent uncertainty associated with companies whose values rely on future outcomes or developments is unproven, uncharted fields (p. 40). In fact, many pure technology stocks are young companies, underfunded and without prospects for generating any cash flows in the near future. Nevertheless, despite the inherent uncertainty of high-tech industries, investors seemed to disregard most equity fundamentals when valuing technology stocks, especially during the market upturn in the late 1990s. As a result, even though high-tech stocks were in general extremely volatile, many of them were trading at remarkable pre miums. The exploding rate of growth in M A activity that involved high-tech industries can be partly attributed to those overly optimistic valuations. Puranam (2001) argues: On the acquirers side, booming stock market valuations have made acquisitions for stock feasible for several relatively small (revenue wise) firms, as well as the more established larger ones. On the targets side, an increasing preference for the ready liquidity offered, by an acquisition, as opposed to the paper profits from an IPO have created an environment conducive to acquisitions of small start-ups. At the same time many of these acquisitions were also motivated by the acquirers need to obtain critical technologies and expertise in order to quickly enhance their own technological competence. Despite the burst of the high-tech market bubble and the failure of most of these acquisitions, investors continue to show an extreme faith on these stocks. Americans still believe that technology can create a better world. Each time the U.S. tech sector falls into a trough, new technologies and companies emerge to lead it forward again (Business Week, August 27, 2001). PROBLEM MOTIVATING THIS STUDY This research effort seeks to understand the relationship between acquisitions and profitability by looking at the industrial sector for high technology semiconductor companies. Many prior studies have shown little financial benefit to the acquiring company in research conducted beginning in the 1980s and extending to today using a variety of variables, measures and company sample selection. These studies will be discussed in more detail in the Literature Review. The researchers Rumelt (1984), Ravenscraft and Scherer (1987), Porter (1987) and Kaplan and Weisbach (1990) separately found that acquisitions that could be categorized as unrelated, or diversifications, did not lead to profitability improvements, but most of these studies obviously included a cross-section of divergent industries. The importance of innovation and new products in high velocity, competitive environments is discussed in literature and high velocity innovation is fundamental to the growth, profitability and sur vival of these businesses (Thompson and Strickland, 1999; Betz, 2001; Burgelman, Christensen and Wheelwright, 2004). The competitive advantage of capturing intellectual property through acquisition has also been discussed more recently. More clear evidence is beginning to emerge concerning the drive to acquire technology and the unique features of doing so (Prentice Fox, 2002). This research examines the correlation between the event of acquisition and subsequent company performance and growth of profitability in the decade of 1990-2000. Practicing managers in the area of management of technology are faced with the challenge of high velocity innovation being a requirement to maintain competitive positioning (Thompson Strickland, 2001). Two methods for constant innovation include internal efforts, such as Research Development (R D), and external efforts, such as acquisitions, on which this paper focuses. Prior studies have been cross-sectional across different industries and analyzed the benefits gained in terms of patents and R D (Bettis 1981), stock price (Matsusaka, 1990; Schleifer and Vishny, 1990; and Lubatkin, 1982) or increase in company size versus the cost of acquisitions. These studies have not captured one of the most unique features of the high technology industry where innovation and new products are dependent on intellectual property (IP) that is maintained in the categories of trade secret and proprietary know-how. Because of this characteristic, the high technology industry would be expected to yield different results. The importance of IP and know-how has been an area of academic focus working to clarify the concept of absorptive capacity in the 1990s, but empirical work to tie these concepts to firm performance was not pursued (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Barney, 1991; Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). The use of patents as a measure, as used in prior research (Acs and Aud retsch, 1988; Pakes and Griliches, 1980; Hitt, Hoskisson, Ireland and Harrison, 1991), does not capture the IP benefits in these categories or measure the success resulting from these external efforts. Acquisitions, when done well, should be expected to have an advantage on capturing this kind of IP. Acquisitions potentially offer faster positioning with less risk and lower cost than internal company endeavors which include primarily Research and Development (R D) (Gulati, 1995; Singh Montgomery, 1987). STUDY OVERVIEW This research effort focuses on one high technology industrial sector of semiconductors and studies the correlation between acquisitions, profitability, survivability and RD intensity over time. Many prior studies (Rumelt, 1984; Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987; Porter, 1987; and Kaplan and Weisbach, 1990) have shown little financial benefit to the acquiring company, but most of these studies included a cross-section of divergent industries. The importance of innovation and new products in high velocity, competitive environments is widely discussed in literature. High velocity innovation is fundamental for the theory of growth, profitability and survival of these businesses. The competitive advantage of capturing intellectual property through acquisition has also been discussed more recently. More clear evidence is beginning to emerge concerning the drive to acquire technology and the unique features of doing so (Prentice Fox, 2002). This paper researches the correlation between the ev ent of acquisition and subsequent company performance, survivability, the growth of profitability and R D spending. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ON HIGH-TECH COMPANIES Most research on high-tech companies is relatively recent and has its origin in various business fields. Chaudhuri and Tabrizi (1999) study the practices of 24 high-tech companies involved in acquisitions, and try to identify the key factors in capturing the real value in high-tech acquisitions. They conclude that in order to make a successful acquisition managers need to move beyond the traditional model of acquisitions where the people acquired are secondary to physical assets and brands. High-tech acquisitions need to focus on the people since technological capabilities tied to skilled people are the key to long-term success in these industries. Arora, Fosfuri and Gambardella (2000) examine how the growth of markets for technology affected the corporate strategies of the leading companies, which can now sell technologies that they do not use in-house and increase their potential returns to R D. They argue that globalization, along with the low transportation costs of technologies, has made large R D intensive companies realize that they have the potential to exploit their technology on a very large scale by licensing. However, in deciding how to exploit their technology small firms and technology-based startups face a different set of challenges. According to the authors they need to trade off the costs of acquiring capital and building in-house production, distribution and marketing capability against the rents that would be lost or shared with their partners in a licensing deal. Also, the authors argue that integration may reduce the innovative potential of the firm, because the acquisition of the complementary assets in evitably increases the size of firms and induces important changes in the culture of the firm and in the speed and fluidity of information flows. Finally, they claim that evaluating technologies and being able to use them requires substantial in-house scientific and technological expertise and therefore internal and external R D can be reviewed as complements and not substitutes. Liu (2000) focuses on a different issue by examining the markets reaction to innovation news announcement made by the U.S. biotech firms during the 1983-1992 period. He finds that the average AR to the announcements is as high as 3.98 percent for a three-day event window and biotech stocks trading volumes almost double on the day of the news announcement. The announcement period ARs are negatively related to firm-size and underwriter reputation, while positively related to the firms technology depth as measured by R D intensity. However, during the months following the announcement the average three-month post announcement AR is 2.73 percent. The negative drift in stock prices appears to be mainly driven by the firms weak science and technology (less R D intensive), firms with high Book to Market (B/M) ratios and large firms. In explaining his findings the author proposes an expectation error hypothesis. According to this hypothesis it is hard for investors or even managers to prec isely evaluate the economic value of innovations which in turn leads to the possibility of forming erroneous expectations. In high-tech industries the erroneous expectation is reflected in the investors over-optimism towards high-tech firms innovation news. Eventually, the stock prices adjust itself to reflect the firms fundamentals, especially its technology depth. The author attributes the observed evidence to the costly information required to value a high-tech firms innovation. Prentice and Fox (2002) provide a comprehensive review of the merger and acquisition process while focusing on the distinctive characteristics of high-tech companies. They argue that technology mergers are different from traditional mergers because of the importance that must be placed on people and their ability to innovate. Targets must be evaluated on intangible assets such as intellectual property and human capital. At the same time managers need to consider the issues of retention, culture and integration strategy from the beginning of the merger process to ensure success. There are two studies that are most relevant to this research. The first one is by Kohers and Kohers (2000) who examine the value creation potential of 1,634 mergers in the various high-tech areas between 1987 and 1996. They find that acquirers of high-tech targets experience significantly positive Ars at the time of the merger announcement, regardless of whether the merger is financed with cash or stock. Othe r factors influencing bidder returns are the time period in which the merger occurs, the ownership structure of the acquirer, the ownership status of the target and the high-tech affiliation of acquirers. They conclude that the market appears to be optimistic about such mergers and expects that acquiring companies will enjoy future growth benefits. The second related study is also by Kohers and Kohers (2001) who examine the post-merger performance of acquirers that purchase high-tech targets in order to determine whether the high expectations regarding the future merits of these investments are actually justified. Their results indicate that compared to non acquirers, acquirers perform poorly over the three-year period following the high-tech takeover announcement. Furthermore, glamour bidders show significantly lower long-run ARs, while value bidders do not experience significant post-merger ARs. Also, glamour bidders with a higher risk of agency problems show even worse post-merger performance while institutional ownership in the acquiring firm has a positive influence on acquirer long run ARs. Overall, the authors conclude that the market tends to exhibit excessive enthusiasm toward the expected benefits of high-tech mergers but many of these benefits do not materialize. CHAPTER 3 HYPOTHESES, METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES Previous research in the literature has generally found little financial benefit for the acquiring companies that were associated with occurrence of the acquisition activity (Rumelt, 1974; Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987; Porter, 1987; and Kaplan and Weisbach, 1990). Consequently, the first and second questions for this study are focused using the single industry of semiconductors, are stated in the null hypothesis format. First, firm profitability growth rates are compared in two groups, one that does acquire and one that does not. Secondly, individual firm profitability growth is examined before and after an acquisition event looking for a change in growth rate that is significant. Hypothesis 1 (H1): There will be no significant difference in profitability growth when firms making acquisitions are compared to firms not making acquisitions in the high-tech sector. Hypothesis 2 (H2): Acquiring firms making acquisitions are expected to have no significant change in profitability growth before and after the acquisition event. The literature yields less empirical work in analyzing the relationship between merger and acquisition actions and the longevity of a corporation. Theory certainly recognizes the close link between competitive capability and company survival. For the high technology industry of semiconductors, high velocity innovation is a requirement for remaining competitive. Research questions three and four are also stated in the null hypothesis format. Company longevity, or survival rate in number of year, is compared in two groups also, where one group does acquire and one does not. Lastly, an individual firms spending rate on R D is examined before and after an acquisition event looking for a significant change in the rate compared to the trend for the company. Hypothesis 3 (H3): Firms making acquisitions are expected to have no difference in survivability in this industry than firms who do not make acquisitions. Hypothesis 4 (H4): A companys R D intensity will show no significant change following the event of acquisition within this industry. SELECTION OF VARIABLES This research was conducted in a concentric approach by starting with one independent and one dependent variable initially to define the relationship and guide the next treatment in the study. As work continued, variables were selected and the methodology expanded to assess both within-subject and between-subject effects. The variables used in this study for Hypothesis 1 (H1) include profitability growth rate and a dummy variable to represent the presence or absence of the event of acquisition. The event of acquisition is represented by a dummy variable with a zero (0) representing no acquisition and with a one (1) representing an acquisition event. An acquisition event is identified by using a firms reported cash flows attributed to acquisition as stated in the Compustat database. The profitability growth rate is calculated from the total gross profit margin reported by year and cumulated over three years, then averaged to reduce fluctuations and facilitate identification of trends. The variables used for H2 analysis of profitability growth rate before and after an acquisition were the dummy variable for the presence of acquisition, the gross profit margin percentage (GPM %) calculated as a three (3) year cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) to smooth fluctuations and better identify a trend. This relationship was studied for three (3) years prior to the actual acquisition and five (5) years following the action. As the study progressed, a second dummy variable was used for company size to separate the effect of this independent variable as well. A repeated measures matrix was designed with two dummy independent variable as well. A repeated measures matrix was designed with two dummy independent variables, each with two levels and one dependent variable with repeated measures over nine years for a 2 x 2 x 9 repeated measures analysis using the SPPS software. The variables used for H3 analysis of acquisition relation to firm longevity were the acquisition dummy variable and the data from Compustat for the number of years that the company did financial reporting during the period of this study. H4 looks for the effects between acquisition and RD spending or intensity by using the acquisition dummy independent variable and R D intensity as the dependent variable. R D intensity is calculated using the R D expense reported as such by the companies and in the Compustat database. This Compustat item represents all costs incurred during the year that relate to the development of new products or services. This amount is only the company`s contribution and includes software and amortization of software costs and complies with Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) standards. This item excludes customer or government-sponsored research and development (including reimbursable indirect costs) and ordinary engineering expenses for routine, ongoing efforts to define, enrich, or improve the qualities of existing products. Methodology This study encompasses the time period of ten years from 1990-2000, inclusive. Semiconductor companies were selected as an entire group according to their NAICS/SIC codes. Using the Standard Poors Compustat database, there are 153 semiconductor companies included that were identified as active companies at the end of the calendar year 2000 by Compustat. These companies are listed in Appendix B. Active reporting for one year. Companies are designated as inactive and reclassified in the Compustat database when it is no longer actively traded on a stock market exchange due to bankruptcy, becoming a private company, leveraged buyout or merging. The research effort started with analysis one independent variable and one dependent variable in order to initially establish what the relationship was that existed, if it was significant and how to proceed with analysis. Exploratory work on Hypothesis 1 showed that there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between acquisitions and gross profit margin (GMP) growth broadly over the decade which differs from prior research. Hypothesis 2 moves toward a more detailed analysis of this finding. Consequently, in this chronology of discovery, the next step presented in Section 4.2 look at one dependent variable of profit margin growth and two independent variables of company size and acquisition activity. 3-way ANNOVA and regression treatments of the data are conducted using the data analysis tool available under Microsoft Excel Software looking at individual years in the ten year study period. The results show significance again and suggest that other interactions betwe en variables would yield additional understanding. The next step in the research was set up to look at one dependent variable, again gross margin (GPM) growth, repeatedly measured over time for each subject or company was entered for the nine (9) years 1995-2000 inclusive to capture acquisition effects giving 2 x 2 x 9 repeated measures design. The two independent variables were used in the dummy format with non-acquires given a code zero 0 and acquires assigned at one (1). Company size was the second dummy variable with firms less than $100M in sales per year coded zero (0) and if greater than $100M in sales, assigned a one (1). The statistical analysis using a repeated measures design analyzed the variable interactions and their relationship to GPM growth using the SPSS software. These results are presented in Section 4.5 Repeated Measures Analysis that was done using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were an important first treatment of the data sets created. This includes the values for the following parameters: mean, median, range variance, standard deviation, kurtosis, and skewness. This treatment looks at characteristics of the data and the degree of normal distribution. The 3-way ANOVA investigations and regression treatment of the data were initially done using the data analysis tool software available in Microsoft Excel. Generally, the data sets for this study vary somewhat from the classical normal distribution, but ANOVA and MANOVA (multivariate ANOVA) within a repeated measures analysis are considered robust to violations of the normal distribution assumption (Maxwell Dealney, 1990; Stevens, 1996) SPSS Advanced Models 11.0 software was used to create general linear models of the data and conduct analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for the multiple variables in this model with repeated measures. The factors or independent variables were used to divide the population of 153 active semiconductor companies into groups. There were two independent variables used that were designated as dummy variables. The first variable of acquisition separated companies that did complete acquisitions from those that did not complete acquisitions during the decade of study. The second variable grouped the companies by size of sales at the end of the decade by either greater than $100 million or less than $100 million. Then the general linear model procedure was used to test the four null hypotheses, as stated above, regarding the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable of gross profit margin growth as a repeated measure over the perio d 1992-2000. The investigation included looking at interactions between factors as well as the individual factors and the effects and interactions of covariates. This model specifies the independent variables as covariates for regression analysis. The SPSS repeated measures model creates a matrix for the sums of squares due to the model effects, gives the approximate F statistics and estimates parameters in addition to testing hypotheses. When an F test shows significance, SPSS performs post hoc tests to evaluate the differences between the means. This yields a predicted mean value for the cells of the model. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to named variables to study the portion of variance in the each variable that could be identified as explained and unexpected with regard to the event of acquisition. A covariance tool was also used when looking at the variables described above such as acquisition occurrence, company size and profitability growth changes. This compares whether the two ranges of data move together à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that is, whether large values of one set were associated with large values of the other (positive covariance), whether small values of one set were associated with large values of the other (negative covariance), or whether values in both sets were unrelated (covariance near zero). DATA SOURCES Standard Poors Compustat database was used for data collection in this research. The database contains fundamental financial, statistical and market data derived from publicity traded companies trading on the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, OTC and Canadian stock exchanges. The calendar year for a company is the year in which the fiscal year ends and is the time period used as standard in this research. Companies with fiscal years ending in January through May are assigned by Compustant into the year in which the fiscal year begins. Companies with fiscal years that end in June through December are assigned to the year in which the fiscal year ends. The EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval) System database maintained by the United Stated Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was also used. The EDGAR data is also collected from the same sources that are used to generate the Compustat database. Data from these controlled and verifiable sources were corroborated and augmented with information collected from semiconductor trade journals, company annual reports and the Mergers Acquisitions Journal that tracks statistics in this area. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION HI à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" ACQUISITON AND PROFITABILITY RELATIONSHIP A strong positive relationship was found to exist between the presence of acquisition activity and the growth in gross profit margin (GPM) by the end of the ten year study period. The statistical analysis is detailed below and is a departure from previous findings. This finding addresses the central question of this research endeavor to look for a relationship between acquisition events and profitability growth within the one industry of semiconductors. A positive financial effect is found and opens the path for additional analysis in this direction. Consequently, this information forms the foundation for the additional work presented in this research. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> High Technology Semiconductor Company Acquisitions High Technology Semiconductor Company Acquisitions The fast rate of technological change was one of the most important trends in the 1990s and this brought an increasing complexity and cost to the development of new technologies. Companies used their innovative assets as a major source of competitive advantage to quickly introduce new products and adopt new processes (Sen and Egelhoff, 2000). Acquisitions are completed in many industries for reasons that are aligned with the dominant competitive driving forces for that industry. In the area of high technology and seminconductors, the competitive drivers are short product life cycles and process advancement. Process advances are required to both support the incremental changes to existing products and to allow the creation of radically new one. The number of acquisitions rapidly increased through the decade for several reasons: the product life cycle was getting shorter; participating in the creation of industry and product standards was crucial; early entry helped capture market shar e; and R D risk could be reduced. Hagedoorn (1993) found the reduction in innovation time and acquisition of needed technologies as the most important reasons for one company to pursue another. Several researchers have written about the radical and incremental innovation capabilities, their distinguishing factors and the important consequences to the corporation. It has also been argued that large firms are effective with incremental innovations and small firms are better at radical innovations. (Ettlie, Bridges, and OKeefe, 1984; Dewar and Dutton, 1986; Christensen, 1992). Corporate decision to acquire or not acquire another company embodies a high level, serious management strategy decision toward repositioning a company in the competitive landscape. The decade from 1990 to 2000 was chosen as an important time for acquisition activity. There was frequent activity in acquisitions during a time of stable economic conditions creating good conditions for analysis. In 1990, the dollar value of all acquisitions and mergers in the United States was two percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2000, the value reached over 15% of the GDP (Mergerstat, 2003). In the first 10 months of 2000, in the technology sector alone, there were 2,019 acquisition and merger deals worth $573 billion (Reason, 2000). This occurred despite studies done in the 1980s and 1990s that found little positive effect financially for the acquiring company. The magnitude of the activity strongly suggests that some positive relationship could be found if examined in a different way o r using new metrics. This research uses a different methodology by exploring a single industry, selecting profitability growth as the metric from theoretical industry driving forces and analyzing profitability over time as a statistical repeated measures model using SPSS software. The results from this work may have strategic implications for remaining competitive in high technology, high-velocity industries. It should be noted here that the term acquisition, mergers and acquisitions and M A will be used interchangeably in this research and are defined in Appendix A along with other important terms. In high technology industries, such as semiconductors, a firm interested in new product innovation must aggressively invest to stay at the leading edge. Creating or acquiring new offerings can be dependent on a combination of efforts directed either internal or external to the company. Internal efforts include primarily Research and Development (R D) or newly formed affiliates, termed greenfields (Vermeulen Barkema, 2001; Sonenclar, 1984; Bradley Korn, 1981). External efforts can take the form of acquisition or mergers to best capture the intellectual property (IP) that is maintained in the categories of trade secret and proprietary know-how. Acquisitions, when done well, appear to have the advantage of capturing this kind of IP as compared to the other forms of external efforts. Acquisitions also potentially offer faster repositioning with less risk and lower cost than pursuing internal company endeavors (Singh Montgomery, 1987). A high technology companys success hinges on crea tion of innovative ideas, availability of creative personnel, speed of new product execution and cost effectiveness. Mergers and acquisitions are a highly favored management avenue for growth and competitive positioning. The importance of this management consideration and the impact of mergers and acquisitions continue to expand with billions of dollars involved. The importance in the technology sector becomes apparent when looking at the 724 firms that made their initial public offering (IPO) in 1992, but were not acquired or merged. Of these companies, 58% were selling at less than their IPO price six years later (Small Business Statistics, 2000). Product and service offering must constantly evolve and change (Thompson Strickland, 2001). High velocity innovation is fundamental to the growth and survival of high technology businesses. Organizations that are successful have a regular stream of unique products and services. Hewlett-Packard had over 50% of revenue in 1999 coming from products introduced in the previous two to four years. In high technology companies, the highest profit levels come from the newest products. Consequently, it is imperative to accelerate the innovation cycle, often through mergers and acquisitions, and this is critically important to remaining competitive. Entrepreneurial firms consistently outperform larger firms in both market and earnings growth on the Inc. 500 and Forbes 200 lists (Imparato Harari, 1994). There are several potential reasons for making an acquisition that have been identified and studied in the literature. In addition to the reasons for actually acquiring, there are a number of factors following the event that will influence the degree of success or failure that these efforts may experience. These elements that play a part in determining the outcome have been the focus of studies that are summarized in the Literature Review. WHAT MAKES HIGH-TECH COMPANIES AND THEIR ACQUISITIONS UNIQUE Both the popular business press as well as recent academic research seems to uniformly accept the unique nature of high-tech stocks. Kohers and Kohers (2000) state: The high-growth nature of technology-based industries distinguishes them from other types of industries. In addition to their high-growth potential, however, another distinctive feature of high-tech industries is the inherent uncertainty associated with companies whose values rely on future outcomes or developments is unproven, uncharted fields (p. 40). In fact, many pure technology stocks are young companies, underfunded and without prospects for generating any cash flows in the near future. Nevertheless, despite the inherent uncertainty of high-tech industries, investors seemed to disregard most equity fundamentals when valuing technology stocks, especially during the market upturn in the late 1990s. As a result, even though high-tech stocks were in general extremely volatile, many of them were trading at remarkable pre miums. The exploding rate of growth in M A activity that involved high-tech industries can be partly attributed to those overly optimistic valuations. Puranam (2001) argues: On the acquirers side, booming stock market valuations have made acquisitions for stock feasible for several relatively small (revenue wise) firms, as well as the more established larger ones. On the targets side, an increasing preference for the ready liquidity offered, by an acquisition, as opposed to the paper profits from an IPO have created an environment conducive to acquisitions of small start-ups. At the same time many of these acquisitions were also motivated by the acquirers need to obtain critical technologies and expertise in order to quickly enhance their own technological competence. Despite the burst of the high-tech market bubble and the failure of most of these acquisitions, investors continue to show an extreme faith on these stocks. Americans still believe that technology can create a better world. Each time the U.S. tech sector falls into a trough, new technologies and companies emerge to lead it forward again (Business Week, August 27, 2001). PROBLEM MOTIVATING THIS STUDY This research effort seeks to understand the relationship between acquisitions and profitability by looking at the industrial sector for high technology semiconductor companies. Many prior studies have shown little financial benefit to the acquiring company in research conducted beginning in the 1980s and extending to today using a variety of variables, measures and company sample selection. These studies will be discussed in more detail in the Literature Review. The researchers Rumelt (1984), Ravenscraft and Scherer (1987), Porter (1987) and Kaplan and Weisbach (1990) separately found that acquisitions that could be categorized as unrelated, or diversifications, did not lead to profitability improvements, but most of these studies obviously included a cross-section of divergent industries. The importance of innovation and new products in high velocity, competitive environments is discussed in literature and high velocity innovation is fundamental to the growth, profitability and sur vival of these businesses (Thompson and Strickland, 1999; Betz, 2001; Burgelman, Christensen and Wheelwright, 2004). The competitive advantage of capturing intellectual property through acquisition has also been discussed more recently. More clear evidence is beginning to emerge concerning the drive to acquire technology and the unique features of doing so (Prentice Fox, 2002). This research examines the correlation between the event of acquisition and subsequent company performance and growth of profitability in the decade of 1990-2000. Practicing managers in the area of management of technology are faced with the challenge of high velocity innovation being a requirement to maintain competitive positioning (Thompson Strickland, 2001). Two methods for constant innovation include internal efforts, such as Research Development (R D), and external efforts, such as acquisitions, on which this paper focuses. Prior studies have been cross-sectional across different industries and analyzed the benefits gained in terms of patents and R D (Bettis 1981), stock price (Matsusaka, 1990; Schleifer and Vishny, 1990; and Lubatkin, 1982) or increase in company size versus the cost of acquisitions. These studies have not captured one of the most unique features of the high technology industry where innovation and new products are dependent on intellectual property (IP) that is maintained in the categories of trade secret and proprietary know-how. Because of this characteristic, the high technology industry would be expected to yield different results. The importance of IP and know-how has been an area of academic focus working to clarify the concept of absorptive capacity in the 1990s, but empirical work to tie these concepts to firm performance was not pursued (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Barney, 1991; Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). The use of patents as a measure, as used in prior research (Acs and Aud retsch, 1988; Pakes and Griliches, 1980; Hitt, Hoskisson, Ireland and Harrison, 1991), does not capture the IP benefits in these categories or measure the success resulting from these external efforts. Acquisitions, when done well, should be expected to have an advantage on capturing this kind of IP. Acquisitions potentially offer faster positioning with less risk and lower cost than internal company endeavors which include primarily Research and Development (R D) (Gulati, 1995; Singh Montgomery, 1987). STUDY OVERVIEW This research effort focuses on one high technology industrial sector of semiconductors and studies the correlation between acquisitions, profitability, survivability and RD intensity over time. Many prior studies (Rumelt, 1984; Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987; Porter, 1987; and Kaplan and Weisbach, 1990) have shown little financial benefit to the acquiring company, but most of these studies included a cross-section of divergent industries. The importance of innovation and new products in high velocity, competitive environments is widely discussed in literature. High velocity innovation is fundamental for the theory of growth, profitability and survival of these businesses. The competitive advantage of capturing intellectual property through acquisition has also been discussed more recently. More clear evidence is beginning to emerge concerning the drive to acquire technology and the unique features of doing so (Prentice Fox, 2002). This paper researches the correlation between the ev ent of acquisition and subsequent company performance, survivability, the growth of profitability and R D spending. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ON HIGH-TECH COMPANIES Most research on high-tech companies is relatively recent and has its origin in various business fields. Chaudhuri and Tabrizi (1999) study the practices of 24 high-tech companies involved in acquisitions, and try to identify the key factors in capturing the real value in high-tech acquisitions. They conclude that in order to make a successful acquisition managers need to move beyond the traditional model of acquisitions where the people acquired are secondary to physical assets and brands. High-tech acquisitions need to focus on the people since technological capabilities tied to skilled people are the key to long-term success in these industries. Arora, Fosfuri and Gambardella (2000) examine how the growth of markets for technology affected the corporate strategies of the leading companies, which can now sell technologies that they do not use in-house and increase their potential returns to R D. They argue that globalization, along with the low transportation costs of technologies, has made large R D intensive companies realize that they have the potential to exploit their technology on a very large scale by licensing. However, in deciding how to exploit their technology small firms and technology-based startups face a different set of challenges. According to the authors they need to trade off the costs of acquiring capital and building in-house production, distribution and marketing capability against the rents that would be lost or shared with their partners in a licensing deal. Also, the authors argue that integration may reduce the innovative potential of the firm, because the acquisition of the complementary assets in evitably increases the size of firms and induces important changes in the culture of the firm and in the speed and fluidity of information flows. Finally, they claim that evaluating technologies and being able to use them requires substantial in-house scientific and technological expertise and therefore internal and external R D can be reviewed as complements and not substitutes. Liu (2000) focuses on a different issue by examining the markets reaction to innovation news announcement made by the U.S. biotech firms during the 1983-1992 period. He finds that the average AR to the announcements is as high as 3.98 percent for a three-day event window and biotech stocks trading volumes almost double on the day of the news announcement. The announcement period ARs are negatively related to firm-size and underwriter reputation, while positively related to the firms technology depth as measured by R D intensity. However, during the months following the announcement the average three-month post announcement AR is 2.73 percent. The negative drift in stock prices appears to be mainly driven by the firms weak science and technology (less R D intensive), firms with high Book to Market (B/M) ratios and large firms. In explaining his findings the author proposes an expectation error hypothesis. According to this hypothesis it is hard for investors or even managers to prec isely evaluate the economic value of innovations which in turn leads to the possibility of forming erroneous expectations. In high-tech industries the erroneous expectation is reflected in the investors over-optimism towards high-tech firms innovation news. Eventually, the stock prices adjust itself to reflect the firms fundamentals, especially its technology depth. The author attributes the observed evidence to the costly information required to value a high-tech firms innovation. Prentice and Fox (2002) provide a comprehensive review of the merger and acquisition process while focusing on the distinctive characteristics of high-tech companies. They argue that technology mergers are different from traditional mergers because of the importance that must be placed on people and their ability to innovate. Targets must be evaluated on intangible assets such as intellectual property and human capital. At the same time managers need to consider the issues of retention, culture and integration strategy from the beginning of the merger process to ensure success. There are two studies that are most relevant to this research. The first one is by Kohers and Kohers (2000) who examine the value creation potential of 1,634 mergers in the various high-tech areas between 1987 and 1996. They find that acquirers of high-tech targets experience significantly positive Ars at the time of the merger announcement, regardless of whether the merger is financed with cash or stock. Othe r factors influencing bidder returns are the time period in which the merger occurs, the ownership structure of the acquirer, the ownership status of the target and the high-tech affiliation of acquirers. They conclude that the market appears to be optimistic about such mergers and expects that acquiring companies will enjoy future growth benefits. The second related study is also by Kohers and Kohers (2001) who examine the post-merger performance of acquirers that purchase high-tech targets in order to determine whether the high expectations regarding the future merits of these investments are actually justified. Their results indicate that compared to non acquirers, acquirers perform poorly over the three-year period following the high-tech takeover announcement. Furthermore, glamour bidders show significantly lower long-run ARs, while value bidders do not experience significant post-merger ARs. Also, glamour bidders with a higher risk of agency problems show even worse post-merger performance while institutional ownership in the acquiring firm has a positive influence on acquirer long run ARs. Overall, the authors conclude that the market tends to exhibit excessive enthusiasm toward the expected benefits of high-tech mergers but many of these benefits do not materialize. CHAPTER 3 HYPOTHESES, METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES Previous research in the literature has generally found little financial benefit for the acquiring companies that were associated with occurrence of the acquisition activity (Rumelt, 1974; Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987; Porter, 1987; and Kaplan and Weisbach, 1990). Consequently, the first and second questions for this study are focused using the single industry of semiconductors, are stated in the null hypothesis format. First, firm profitability growth rates are compared in two groups, one that does acquire and one that does not. Secondly, individual firm profitability growth is examined before and after an acquisition event looking for a change in growth rate that is significant. Hypothesis 1 (H1): There will be no significant difference in profitability growth when firms making acquisitions are compared to firms not making acquisitions in the high-tech sector. Hypothesis 2 (H2): Acquiring firms making acquisitions are expected to have no significant change in profitability growth before and after the acquisition event. The literature yields less empirical work in analyzing the relationship between merger and acquisition actions and the longevity of a corporation. Theory certainly recognizes the close link between competitive capability and company survival. For the high technology industry of semiconductors, high velocity innovation is a requirement for remaining competitive. Research questions three and four are also stated in the null hypothesis format. Company longevity, or survival rate in number of year, is compared in two groups also, where one group does acquire and one does not. Lastly, an individual firms spending rate on R D is examined before and after an acquisition event looking for a significant change in the rate compared to the trend for the company. Hypothesis 3 (H3): Firms making acquisitions are expected to have no difference in survivability in this industry than firms who do not make acquisitions. Hypothesis 4 (H4): A companys R D intensity will show no significant change following the event of acquisition within this industry. SELECTION OF VARIABLES This research was conducted in a concentric approach by starting with one independent and one dependent variable initially to define the relationship and guide the next treatment in the study. As work continued, variables were selected and the methodology expanded to assess both within-subject and between-subject effects. The variables used in this study for Hypothesis 1 (H1) include profitability growth rate and a dummy variable to represent the presence or absence of the event of acquisition. The event of acquisition is represented by a dummy variable with a zero (0) representing no acquisition and with a one (1) representing an acquisition event. An acquisition event is identified by using a firms reported cash flows attributed to acquisition as stated in the Compustat database. The profitability growth rate is calculated from the total gross profit margin reported by year and cumulated over three years, then averaged to reduce fluctuations and facilitate identification of trends. The variables used for H2 analysis of profitability growth rate before and after an acquisition were the dummy variable for the presence of acquisition, the gross profit margin percentage (GPM %) calculated as a three (3) year cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) to smooth fluctuations and better identify a trend. This relationship was studied for three (3) years prior to the actual acquisition and five (5) years following the action. As the study progressed, a second dummy variable was used for company size to separate the effect of this independent variable as well. A repeated measures matrix was designed with two dummy independent variable as well. A repeated measures matrix was designed with two dummy independent variables, each with two levels and one dependent variable with repeated measures over nine years for a 2 x 2 x 9 repeated measures analysis using the SPPS software. The variables used for H3 analysis of acquisition relation to firm longevity were the acquisition dummy variable and the data from Compustat for the number of years that the company did financial reporting during the period of this study. H4 looks for the effects between acquisition and RD spending or intensity by using the acquisition dummy independent variable and R D intensity as the dependent variable. R D intensity is calculated using the R D expense reported as such by the companies and in the Compustat database. This Compustat item represents all costs incurred during the year that relate to the development of new products or services. This amount is only the company`s contribution and includes software and amortization of software costs and complies with Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) standards. This item excludes customer or government-sponsored research and development (including reimbursable indirect costs) and ordinary engineering expenses for routine, ongoing efforts to define, enrich, or improve the qualities of existing products. Methodology This study encompasses the time period of ten years from 1990-2000, inclusive. Semiconductor companies were selected as an entire group according to their NAICS/SIC codes. Using the Standard Poors Compustat database, there are 153 semiconductor companies included that were identified as active companies at the end of the calendar year 2000 by Compustat. These companies are listed in Appendix B. Active reporting for one year. Companies are designated as inactive and reclassified in the Compustat database when it is no longer actively traded on a stock market exchange due to bankruptcy, becoming a private company, leveraged buyout or merging. The research effort started with analysis one independent variable and one dependent variable in order to initially establish what the relationship was that existed, if it was significant and how to proceed with analysis. Exploratory work on Hypothesis 1 showed that there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between acquisitions and gross profit margin (GMP) growth broadly over the decade which differs from prior research. Hypothesis 2 moves toward a more detailed analysis of this finding. Consequently, in this chronology of discovery, the next step presented in Section 4.2 look at one dependent variable of profit margin growth and two independent variables of company size and acquisition activity. 3-way ANNOVA and regression treatments of the data are conducted using the data analysis tool available under Microsoft Excel Software looking at individual years in the ten year study period. The results show significance again and suggest that other interactions betwe en variables would yield additional understanding. The next step in the research was set up to look at one dependent variable, again gross margin (GPM) growth, repeatedly measured over time for each subject or company was entered for the nine (9) years 1995-2000 inclusive to capture acquisition effects giving 2 x 2 x 9 repeated measures design. The two independent variables were used in the dummy format with non-acquires given a code zero 0 and acquires assigned at one (1). Company size was the second dummy variable with firms less than $100M in sales per year coded zero (0) and if greater than $100M in sales, assigned a one (1). The statistical analysis using a repeated measures design analyzed the variable interactions and their relationship to GPM growth using the SPSS software. These results are presented in Section 4.5 Repeated Measures Analysis that was done using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were an important first treatment of the data sets created. This includes the values for the following parameters: mean, median, range variance, standard deviation, kurtosis, and skewness. This treatment looks at characteristics of the data and the degree of normal distribution. The 3-way ANOVA investigations and regression treatment of the data were initially done using the data analysis tool software available in Microsoft Excel. Generally, the data sets for this study vary somewhat from the classical normal distribution, but ANOVA and MANOVA (multivariate ANOVA) within a repeated measures analysis are considered robust to violations of the normal distribution assumption (Maxwell Dealney, 1990; Stevens, 1996) SPSS Advanced Models 11.0 software was used to create general linear models of the data and conduct analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for the multiple variables in this model with repeated measures. The factors or independent variables were used to divide the population of 153 active semiconductor companies into groups. There were two independent variables used that were designated as dummy variables. The first variable of acquisition separated companies that did complete acquisitions from those that did not complete acquisitions during the decade of study. The second variable grouped the companies by size of sales at the end of the decade by either greater than $100 million or less than $100 million. Then the general linear model procedure was used to test the four null hypotheses, as stated above, regarding the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable of gross profit margin growth as a repeated measure over the perio d 1992-2000. The investigation included looking at interactions between factors as well as the individual factors and the effects and interactions of covariates. This model specifies the independent variables as covariates for regression analysis. The SPSS repeated measures model creates a matrix for the sums of squares due to the model effects, gives the approximate F statistics and estimates parameters in addition to testing hypotheses. When an F test shows significance, SPSS performs post hoc tests to evaluate the differences between the means. This yields a predicted mean value for the cells of the model. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to named variables to study the portion of variance in the each variable that could be identified as explained and unexpected with regard to the event of acquisition. A covariance tool was also used when looking at the variables described above such as acquisition occurrence, company size and profitability growth changes. This compares whether the two ranges of data move together à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that is, whether large values of one set were associated with large values of the other (positive covariance), whether small values of one set were associated with large values of the other (negative covariance), or whether values in both sets were unrelated (covariance near zero). DATA SOURCES Standard Poors Compustat database was used for data collection in this research. The database contains fundamental financial, statistical and market data derived from publicity traded companies trading on the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, OTC and Canadian stock exchanges. The calendar year for a company is the year in which the fiscal year ends and is the time period used as standard in this research. Companies with fiscal years ending in January through May are assigned by Compustant into the year in which the fiscal year begins. Companies with fiscal years that end in June through December are assigned to the year in which the fiscal year ends. The EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval) System database maintained by the United Stated Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was also used. The EDGAR data is also collected from the same sources that are used to generate the Compustat database. Data from these controlled and verifiable sources were corroborated and augmented with information collected from semiconductor trade journals, company annual reports and the Mergers Acquisitions Journal that tracks statistics in this area. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION HI à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" ACQUISITON AND PROFITABILITY RELATIONSHIP A strong positive relationship was found to exist between the presence of acquisition activity and the growth in gross profit margin (GPM) by the end of the ten year study period. The statistical analysis is detailed below and is a departure from previous findings. This finding addresses the central question of this research endeavor to look for a relationship between acquisition events and profitability growth within the one industry of semiconductors. A positive financial effect is found and opens the path for additional analysis in this direction. Consequently, this information forms the foundation for the additional work presented in this research. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON ANALYSIS GOING ON >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mary Shelleys Frankenstein :: essays research papers

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book opens with a scene of a ship in the Arctic Ocean. The ship is stuck in the ice and unable to move. Robert Walton, the ship's captain, is writing letters to his sister back home. The letters tell of his explorations and the events that occur on the ship. Walton's crew pulls abord a lifeless body and revive the man back to life. This man is Victor Frankenstein. Walton and Frankenstein talk about why Victor is in the Arctic and Victor explains the horrible and tragic story of the past few years of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Victor was born to a very wealthy and popular family. While he was still young his parents adopted a young girl with whom Victor would grow up with and eventually fall in love with her. Victor goes through medical school and becomes very good friends a classmate, Henry Clerval. Even though Victors young life seams perfect it is all about to change. Victor's mother died when he was still young and her death would change him for the rest of his life. After Victor's mother's death Victor swore he would conquer the mortality of humans. Victor, once he was out of medical school, he began to work on his theory of conquering death. He collected numerous body parts and put them together and used a special technique to bring the corpse to life. At first Victor thought he had failed, but the creature sat up and was alive. Victor was horrified by his own creation and fled his laboratory. The monster then disappeared into the city. Two years pasted and the monster wasn't heard from, until something terrible happened. Victor's younger brother William was strangled to death. It was believed that William's nanny and close friend of the family, Justine, had murdered him. A lynch mob gathered and drug her off and hanged her. Later on Victor saw his creature and realized that the monster murdered his brother not Justine. Victor still in shock after his brother's death went to the mountains. The monster followed him there. When Victor stopped the monster confronted him. The monster explained to Victor how he survived while in hiding. He told Victor of the family he watched through a crack in the wall of the abandoned shack he stayed in and how he learned to read, write, and talk from these people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After a long and detailed conversation the monster told Victor of his deal. The monster wanted Victor to create another being similar to himself. The monster realized that he was hideous and that no normal human could or would

Stereotypes :: essays research papers

Meet Francesca Fine, also known as â€Å"The Nanny†. She is a very sexy woman with an equally sensual mind. She is very attracted to her handsome male employer, Throughout the show’s popular run, Ms. Fine pursues her employer and many other men, persistently. Never allowing â€Å"no† to be an answer. Ms Fine used her sexuality, in many ways, to get her way out of things such as parking tickets, IRS trouble, and out of plenty of things with her employer. Ms. Fine used her sexuality to the fullest and played her part as a sexually attractive woman well. You are probably wondering why TV’s â€Å"The Nanny† is so important. Well, it shows a most perfect example of gender stereotyping. Because women, stereotypically, can use their sexuality to get out of sticky situations and use it to carry out domestic professions such as a caregiver. It is my belief that there is nothing wrong with exercising your strengths as a woman and becoming an excellent chef a nd opening a successful restaurant. Or it is certifiable for a woman to use her good looks and charm to keep a police officer from writing a speeding ticket.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people would perceive that these are all illustrations of gender stereotypes, and with good reason. Women using their femininity, and in some cases abusing, to get their way or to obtain things that they would want could provide a bad name for women general. Not all females participate in these activities, and some may find the thought of them offensive and objectionable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Women are not the only victims of gender stereotyping, men are as well. Numerous people believe that men are the providers, the bacon bringers. The men are the ones who get up early in the morning, put on a suit, drink coffee, drive in traffic, work a nine-to-five, come home, watch TV, and go to bed. It is hard for some people to comprehend a man as a stay at home parent. It is for a fact that more and more men nowadays are crossing certain barriers of their sexuality. Until recently, men are becoming single parents, caregivers, nurses, almost all of the professions and positions that were dominated by women. Almost like a gender revolution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my belief, gender stereotypes do not have a negative affect on today’s society or me. These stereotypes are something we have grown to be accustomed to.

Period Herbal Medicine

The present researcher grew up in southwestern Nigeria, as an elementary school pupil in the late 1970's, to the consciousness of the advertisement of herbal medicine at strategic locations such as roadsides, markets and motor parks in major towns and cities where the attention of passers-by could easily be attracted. A major channel of reaching the prospective consumers at such settings was the suspension of blaring loudspeakers on the top of stationary vehicles.Although this advertising channel still subsists, a new trend in the advertisement of herbal medicine in modern times is the aggressive marketing drive in both the print and electronic media. Commenting on this, Komolafe (1998:  71) writes: http://www. rsc. org/chemistryworld/Issues/2007/May/ChineseMedicineWesternPackaging. asp (accessed January 25, 2008). Mr Botwe said such unauthorised advertisements, contravened the Food and Drugs law of 1992.He was particularly, concerned that in recent times, such adverts have taken d ifferent forms to outwit the Board's process of approval, and are for instance, read as part of announcements, or for sponsoring some radio programmes. The Chief Executive expressed regret that some adverts approved by the Board were also altered, while others advertise other uses for their herbal drugs, other than those approved by the Board. According to him, the results of the investigation would enable the board to take regulatory actions, including request for the revision of product information and condition of use, and withdrawal where ModernGhana. om Women Period Pain Treatment with THE TOLE's Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. | Usually it is enough just to avoid taking all the cold element food and drinks. When the pain is persistence you have to take our special † Period Herbal Medicine† . It will smoothen the â€Å"Qi† flow in the womb and uterus and warming the organs. It will strengthen the total â€Å"Qi† energy in your body giving you strength and energy in your daily life. It usually takes 30 to 60 days for good recovery from the Period Pain Problem.Many have been treated and others are still going through our treatment. Its a very common problem. ( thetoleherbal. com)| Hypertension Herbal Medicine Health Site | Many substances from herbal nature can be taken as supplement to maintain the health of the circulatory system and prevent heart disease and hypertension. They may also be an adjunct to treatment for those with moderately elevated blood pressure readings. .( thetoleherbal. com)| | |   | | |An alternative or herbal medicine manufacturer develops, tests, produces and markets alternative medicines that are available over the counter as alternatives to prescription medications. Many herbalists or alternative medicine manufacturers believe that herbal and natural medications are safer, more effective and less addictive than prescription medications. Herbal medicine manufacturers are not governed by the same rules a nd regulations as pharmaceutical companies so they can often market products that cost significantly less than the prescription medications.An herbal or alternative medicine manufacturer must be competitive in the marketplace. He or she must use pure, high quality ingredients and herbs, careful monitor production for safety and health reasons, as well as do their own marketing, advertising and testing. Many herbal manufacturers use rigorous testing to ensure the quality of their product but some manufacturers do not. Understanding the various laws regarding labeling, advertising and marketing of herbal medicines is very important for the manufacture.Some herbal manufacturers may use universities and other testing and research centers to help the public understand the benefits of the product. (jobprofiles. org) Using herbs to benefit from its medicinal or therapeutic value is commonly known as herbal medicine. Chemical substances contained in the herbal plants can be induced to act u pon the body of the person consuming it. Humanity has known of this form of healthcare based on herbs since ancient times. History is replete with details of cultures benefiting from herbal medicines.It played a vital role in the progress of modern civilization. The early primitive men discovered that the herbs provide not only a cure but also food, shelter and clothing. Read more: http://www. articlesbase. com/advertising-articles/herbal-medicine-for-a-modern-world-51540. html#ixzz17QG7QfRt Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Ascof cough syrup’s main ingredient was the Lagundi leaves. This leave as its main component has proven to be really effective and I found many testimonials all over the net about its help for curing coughs, fever and sometimes even toothaches.This Ascof medicine has many other variants, produced by Altermed; they have Ascof tablets and teas too. This product, since it is new in the market and is not yet very popularly known is always available in drugstores and small pharmacies. With the wonderful and effectiveness of this product, we always make sure we have a bottle ready at home for my niece, who always experience coughs due to too much eating of chocolate. We do not have to worry too about her taking in this medicine because it is herbal. ( reviewstream. com)

A Socio-Demographic Characteristics

INTRODUCTION Demography is the scientific study of characteristics and dynamics pertaining to the human population. It is expanded to include education, income, the structure of the family unit, housing, race or ethnicity, and religion. The characteristics encompassed by this study include size, growth rate, density, vital statistics, and distribution of a specified population. People who study and record this information are referred to as demographers. Demographers must know both how to scientifically obtain information and how to interpret it relatively. Demography is widely used for various purposes and can encompass small, targeted populations or mass populations. Governments use demography for political observations, scientists use demography for research purposes, and businesses use demography for the purpose of advertising. In real estate, demography is employed to give clients an overview of specific neighborhoods. Statistical concepts essential to demography include birth and death rate, infant mortality rate, fertility rate, and life expectancy. These concepts can be further broken down into more specific data, such as the ratio of men to women and the life expectancy of each gender. A census helps provide much of this information, in addition to vital statistic records. In some studies, the demography of an area is expanded to include education, income, the structure of the family unit, housing, race or ethnicity, and religion. The information gathered and studied for a demographic overview of a population depends on the party utilizing the information. Advertising relies heavily on demography, since service and goods providers need specific information to reach the maximum number of potential customers in their target audience. Similarly, education relies on demography to help gather information to provide necessary governmental and local assistance. An example of large-scale demography is the collection of demographic information for an entire country. Such information might be used to determine a need for world assistance due to famine, disease, or other serious issues. Demography is an interesting science used to create statistics. Sociology, which is the study of society and social behavior, is an example of an independent area of study in which demography is frequently used. Economics is also a specific area of study employing the science of emography. Anyone can review basic information about the demography of the United States by reviewing the most recent US census. Moreover, this survey is important to know the Socio-demographic Characteristics of the Stakeholders of First Year Level in Caridad National High School. Objective of the study With our study getting on surveying the Socio-demographic Cha racteristics of the Stakeholders of First Year Level in Caridad National High School. School Year 2011-2012. This study is geared towards the attainment the following factors: a. Age is a period of human life. It is measured by years from birth, usually marked by a certain stage or degree of mental or physical development and involving legal responsibility and capacity. b. Gender is the sum of the structural and functional differences by which  the male and female are distinguished. c. Educational attainment is terms refer to the highest level of education that an individual has completed. d. Relationship of the students refers to the connection or association to the respondents whether the students is their son, daughter, relative and sister. e. Marital status the condition of being married or unmarried or single. . Occupation is a person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning a living. g. Monthly income is a convertible and callable (usually after a call protection period) shares that pay a fixed monthly dividend. Scope and Limitation of the study The following factors were studied: age; gender; marital status; relationshi p of the students; educational attainment; occupation and monthly income of the respondents. METHODOLOGY A. Locale and Time of the study This survey was conducted and worked on January 7-8, 2012 in Caridad and Hilapnitan Baybay City Leyte. B. Population Stakeholders in the covered area by this survey or the respondents are stakeholders in First Year Level at Caridad National High School. C. Instrumentation The main instrument that we are using in this research was the questioner and secondary data as well. The questions include the following factors: age; gender; marital status; relationship of the students; educational attainment; occupation and monthly income of the respondents. D. Procedure in Gathering Data The researchers in gathering the data made a procedure by this way: a. First, is making and creating some questions about the biography and aspects of the respondents. . Second, is going to their respective houses to conduct direct one-on-one interview. While asking and questioning there must be a picture for evidence. c. Lastly, after accomplishing and completing the data, tabulated result is made as well as the chart. E. Data Analysis Using simple analysis, the data were consolidated and compiled according to age, gender, m arital status, relationship of the students, educational attainment, occupation and monthly income of the respondents. It is presented in tables and different kinds of graph or charts. Result and Discussion A. Age Distribution Age distribution,  also called Age Composition,  in population studies, the proportionate numbers of persons in successive age categories in a given population. Age distributions differ among countries mainly because of differences in the levels and trends of fertility. a period of human life, measured by years from birth, usually marked by a certain stage or degree of mental or physical development and involving legal responsibility and capacity. As you can see in the table or graph below, the age 41-45 has the highest number of age which is 25% or 33 respondents in all both male and female. And that was closely followed with 23% or 30 numbers of respondents who belongs of the age of 46-50. But there are equal in frequency as well as the percentage which is 20 or 15% and the age of that are 26-35 and 55-61 years old. While the lowest percentage of 2 which is 22-25 years old. Table 1: Frequency distribution by age of the respondents. Age| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| 22-25| 2| 130| 2| 26-35| 20| 128| 15| 36-40| 25| 108| 19| 41-45| 33| 83| 25| 46-50| 30| 50| 23| 55-61| 20| 20| 15| Figure 1: Chart of age distribution of the respondents B. Gender Distribution Gender is a sexual identity, especially in relation to society or culture. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behavior, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women. The table below contains the division of the male and female stakeholders in first year level. In our result, there are 69 numbers of respondents who are female and there percentage is 53%. For the stakeholders of a male there are only 61 and 47 percent. And so, it means that there are many stakeholders in first year level at Caridad National High School. Table 2: Frequency distribution by gender of the respondents. Gender| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| Male| 61| 130| 47| Female| 69| 69| 53| Figure 2: Chart of gender distribution of the respondents C. Marital status Marital status is the condition of being married or unmarried. Marital status studied in combination with other factors also reveals a marriage gap. A person's marital status indicates whether the person is married. Based on the result of the data regarding about their marital status, stakeholders who are married has 89% or 116 numbers of respondents and the unmarried parents are only 4. And a single mother or father is 10 only. Therefore, married stakeholders get the highest number in terms of marital status. Table 3: Frequency distribution by marital status of the respondents Marital Status| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| Married| 116| 130| 89| Unmarried| 4| 14| 3| Single| 10| 10| 8| Figure 3: Chart of marital status of the respondents D. Relationship of the students A relationship is normally viewed as a connection between two individuals, such as a romantic or intimate relationship, or a parent–child relationship. Individuals can also have relationships with groups of people, such as the relation between a pastor and his congregation, an uncle and a family, or a mayor and a town. Out of the 130 respondents, 68 or 52% is their daughter and 57 or 44% is their son. And the relative is only 4, whereas their sister is only 1% or 1 number of students. It means that most of the stakeholders are their child is a girl. Table 4: Frequency distribution by relationship of the students to the respondents Relationship| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| Son| 57| 130| 44| Daughter| 68| 73| 52| Relative| 4| 5| 3| Sister| 1| 1| 1| Figure 4: Chart of relationship of the students to the respondents E. Educational Attainment Distribution Educational attainment is a term commonly used by statisticians to refer to the highest degree of education an individual has completed. Educational attainment refers to the highest level of education that an individual has completed. As you can see in the table below, the highest level of educational attainment is high school graduate both male and female and followed by high school undergraduate. And in elementary undergraduate there are only 34 or 36% stakeholders. But in elementary graduate there are only 4 who graduated. In college level 10 of them are college undergraduate and 8 or 6% are college graduate. It means that there are only few stakeholders who graduated in college and also in elementary. Table 5: Frequency distribution by educational attainment with the respondents Educational Attainment| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| Elementary Undergraduate| 34| 130| 26| Elementary Graduate| 4| 96| 3| High School Undergraduate| 35| 92| 27| High School Graduate| 39| 57| 30| College Undergraduate| 10| 18| 8| College Graduate| 8| 8| 6| Figure 5: Chart of educational attainment of the respondents F. Occupation Distribution Occupation an activity that serves as one's regular source of livelihood; a vocation. An activity engaged in especially as a means of passing time; an avocation. A person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning a living. Based on the result of the data regarding about their occupation there are only few have a serious job and there are many have not. In father’s occupation the highest percentage is 19 or 15% which is the farmer and in mother’s occupation are 50 or 38% who are housekeeper only. It means that there are few who earn a big and high salary a month. Monthly income is connected with occupation of the stakeholders, because salary depend only the occupation of the respondents. Table 6: Frequency distribution by occupation of the father. Occupation of the father| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| Fisherman| 4| 61| 3| Farmer| 19| 57| 15| Housekeeper| 3| 38| 2| Security Guard| 1| 35| 1| Automotive| 2| 34| 2| Baker| 1| 32| 1| Driver| 4| 31| 3| Laborer| 1| 27| 1| Carpenter| 5| 36| 4| Factory worker| 5| 21| 4| Construction| 2| 16| 2| Machinist| 1| 14| 1| Scrap buyer| 1| 13| 1| Maintenance| 1| 12| 1| Caregiver| 1| 11| 1| Mechanic Expeller| 2| 10| 2| Business| 2| 8| 2| Barangay Police| 2| 6| 2| Banana vendor| 1| 4| 1| Barber| 1| 3| 1| Furniture Maker| 1| 2| 1| Welder| 1| 1| 1| Table 6. 1: Frequency distribution by occupation of the mother. Occupation of the mother| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| Housekeeper| 50| 69| 38| Manicurist| 1| 19| 1| Teacher| 2| 18| 2| Barangay Health Workers| 1| 16| 1| Banana Vendor| 2| 15| 2| Cooker| 1| 13| 1| Factory Worker| 3| 12| 2| Laundry Woman| 3| 9| 2| Business| 2| 6| 2| Market Vendor| 1| 4| 1| Babysitter| 1| 3| 1| Maid| 1| 2| 1| Barangay Secretary| 1| 1| 1| Figure 5: Chart of occupation of the father Figure 5. 1: Chart of occupation of the mother G. Monthly income Distribution Monthly income is a solemn binding promise to do, give, or refrain from doing something: signed a pledge never to reveal the secret; a pledge of money to a charity. The table and graph below contains the monthly income of the respondents that is range from 1000-20000 pesos. The table and graph show that 1000-1500 has the highest number of families which is 26 numbers in all and 10000-20000 has the lowest number of families which is 2 percent. It means that many families earn low salary in a month and there are imperceptible families who earn high emolument. And this is because of their occupation. Table 7: Frequency distribution by monthly income with the respondents Monthly income| Frequency| Cumulative Frequency| Percentage (%)| 1000-1500| 26| 70| 20| 2000-2500| 11| 44| 8| 3000-3500| 7| 33| 5| 4000-4500| 5| 26| 4| 5000-5500| 7| 21| 5| 6000-6500| 3| 14| 2| 7000-7500| 4| 11| 3| 000-9000| 2| 7| 2| 10000-20000| 5| 5| 4| Figure 7: Chart of monthly income of the respondents SUMMARY Demography is the scientific study of characteristics and dynamics pertaining to the human population. It is expanded to include education, income, the structure of the family unit, housing, race or ethnicity, and religion. The characteristics encompassed by this study include si ze, growth rate, density, vital statistics, and distribution of a specified population. Based on the interview, stakeholders in First Year Level at Caridad National High School are aging 22-61 years old and the highest percentage is 41-45. In educational attainment, it suggests that most of the stakeholders are high school graduate. For their gender, it explains that there are many stakeholders are male and in marital status, married stakeholders get the highest frequency. For their monthly income, it tells that most of the families have only earned 1000-1500 pesos in a month and this income is not enough for the families need. For the relationship of the students, stakeholders are supporting their son. For the occupation distribution, many stakeholders have no permanent or serious job like farmer for the male and housekeeper for the female. When the occupation of the parents is not permanent, then their monthly income also is not permanent or their salary is low. CONCLUSION Based from the data gathered and after a thorough analysis, it was concluded that 41-45 is the highest age of respondents. In educational attainment high school undergraduate and high school graduate are the highest. For the monthly income, 1000-1500 is the highest percent. And farmer and housekeeper are the highest range for the occupation of the stakeholders RECOMMENDATION Throughout the whole survey, commitment, dedication and hard work are strongly recommended. Without the said words, the research is not possible. Knowing that in a team, a group of people does not necessarily agree and are likes with one another. Problems, obstacles, hindrance, and arguments are always present yet this should not outweigh the commitment, dedication and hard work that are present. Also, effort and time management is very important. Effort and time management should always be present since without it the time allotted for the survey might be put to waste, thus having problems, hindrance and obstacles in the later on. Reference * http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-demography. tm * http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/demography * http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/8904/age-distribution * http://www. thefreedictionary. com/marital+status * http://www. census. gov/hhes/socdemo/education/ * http://wiki. answers. com/Q/Occupation_distribution_of_India_in_various_sectors_-_primary_secondary_and_tertiary * http://www. answers. com/topic/demography * L ibres Jocelyn, Castro Arche, Santianez Marjorie, Bandialan Irene, Avila Ritchie, Moreno Jovanie (Socio Demographic Characteristics of students) * Webster’s Universal Dictionary and Thesaurus (2009)

3 Is the Answer

A Christmas Memory Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Comprehension The questions below refer to the selection â€Å"A Christmas Memory. † ____1. Buddy and his friend keep their money — a. |at Mr. Haha Jones’s house|c. |buried in the pecan orchard| b. |in the local bank’s Christmas club|d. |under a floorboard beneath the bed| ____2. Buddy and his friend give fruitcakes to everyone except — a. |the relatives they live with|c. |people who visit them only once| b. |a bus driver|d. |President Roosevelt| ____3.Which of the following statements best describes Buddy’s friend? a. |Fashion is her passion. |c. |Big cities fascinate her. | b. |She has strong feelings about God. |d. |She spends a lot of time at the movies. | ____4. Buddy compares his friend to a bantam hen because she is — a. |always poking her â€Å"beak† into things|c. |small and sprightly| b. |not very intellige nt|d. |as flighty as a bird| ____5. When it comes to his other relatives, Buddy — a. |barely acknowledges their existence| b. |feels very close to them| c. |is jealous of the attention they pay to his cousin| d. feels that they offer him a lot of support| ____6. Which adjective best applies to Buddy’s friend? a. |unstable|c. |elegant| b. |generous|d. |cruel| ____7. Which of the following items is not an activity that binds the two friends together? a. |Flying kites|c. |Making decorations| b. |Traveling|d. |Drinking whiskey| ____8. Toward the end of the story, Buddy is separated from his friend. Why? a. |He runs away from home. | b. |His friend is sent to the hospital to suffer her last illness. | c. |A letter from President Roosevelt invites Buddy’s friend to the White House. | d. Buddy is sent to military school by his relatives. | ____9. Which sentence tells you that Buddy’s friend has died? a. |â€Å"A morning arrives . . . when she cannot rouse herse lf to exclaim: ‘Oh my, it’s fruitcake weather! ’†| b. |â€Å"The other Buddy died in the 1880s, when she was still a child. †| c. |â€Å"I wrapped her in a Fine Linen sheet and rode her in the buggy down to Simpson’s pasture where she can be with all her Bones. †| d. |â€Å"I’ll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. †| ____10. Which image from the story appeals to the sense of smell? a. â€Å"sweet, oily, ivory meat mounts in the milk-glass bowl. †| b. |â€Å"A straw cartwheel corsaged with velvet roses out-of-doors has faded. . . .†| c. |â€Å"a hateful heap of bitter-odored pennies. †| d. |â€Å"words tumbling together into a wrathful tune. . . .†| Literary Focus The questions below refer to the selection â€Å"A Christmas Memory. † ____11. Which custom is a major part of the setting and mood of â€Å"A Christmas Memory†? a. |Kissing under the mistletoe|c. |Making and giving gifts| b. |Listening for Santa Claus’s sleigh|d. |Inviting friends to a Christmas party| ____12. What is the difference between tone and mood? . |They are synonyms; there is no real difference. | b. |Tone expresses how an author feels; mood is how an author makes the reader feel. | c. |Tone appeals to the sense of hearing; mood appeals to the sense of sight. | d. |Mood can be created through setting, but tone cannot. | ____13. How are flapjacks and hominy grits part of the setting of â€Å"A Christmas Memory†? a. |They show the traits and attitudes of the two main characters. | b. |The fact that they are described makes them part of the setting. | c. |They help show the customs of characters in a certain time and place. d. |The images of these foods are so detailed, a reader can almost taste them. | ____14. All of the following places are part of the setting of â€Å"A Christmas Memory† except a(n)  Ã¢â‚¬â€ a. |forest|c. |attic | b. |riverside cafe|d. |church| Completion Complete each statement. Vocabulary Development On the line provided, write the word that best completes each sentence. inaugurating|dilapidated|paraphernalia|sacrilegious|carnage| prosaic|disposition|exhilarates|suffuse|noncommittal| 15. The smells of baking and the freshly cut trees ____________________ the old kitchen. 16.Buddy’s friend has a strong faith and never says anything ____________________. 17. Buddy’s friend might be considered ____________________ by some people, but he thinks she is the most special person on earth. 18. The ____________________ baby buggy serves them well. 19. Killing flies to earn money results in a ____________________ of bugs. Short Answer Constructed Response 20. Choose a favorite passage from â€Å"A Christmas Memory. † On a separate sheet of paper, identify its setting, and state what you think the mood of the passage is. Referring to specific images, explain how the setting helps create that mood.A Christmas Memory Answer Section MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. ANS:DPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 1 (plot) 2. ANS:APTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 1 (plot) 3. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 1 (characterization) 4. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 7. 7 (figurative language) 5. ANS:APTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 2 (character interactions) 6. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 1 (characterization) 7. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 4. 2 (character interactions) 8. ANS:DPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 1 (plot) 9. ANS:APTS:1OBJ:9. 2. 1. 11 (making inferences) 10. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 7. 8 (imagery) 11. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) 12. ANS:BPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) | 9. . 7. 19 (tone) 13. ANS:CPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) 14. ANS:DPTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) COMPLETION 15. ANS:suffuse PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 16. ANS:sacrilegious PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 17. ANS:prosaic PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 18. ANS:dilapidated PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (context clues) 19. ANS:carnage PTS:1OBJ:9. 3. 3 (c ontext clues) SHORT ANSWER 20. ANS: Students’ responses will vary. A sample response follows: A favorite passage of mine is the one in which Buddy and his friend shell pecans for their fruitcakes.It’s set in the kitchen on a November morning after the characters have gathered the nuts in the woods. To me the mood is one of finding joy in the midst of a cold, lonely place. Other people don’t seem to be around, but the kitchen is warmed by the fire and filled with the characters’ joy and friendship. There’s a contrast between light and dark in this paragraph—the rising moon and the fire on one hand, the growing darkness of the night on the other—that seems to me to show the delicate balance between happiness and loneliness in the characters.The image of the characters’ reflections in a dark mirror, mingling with the rising moon, sum that up for me. In that dark mirror there’s a hint of another mood—the bittersweet m ood of the adult Buddy looking nostalgically back at his childhood and a few precious moments, fully aware that as the events of the story seeded the rich emotional life that sustained him as a boy, so those same moments, the empty shells of his memories, now feed the transforming fire that makes him a writer. PTS:1OBJ:9. 1. 3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) | 9. 1. 7. 8 (imagery)

A Long Way Gone

Ishmael Beah’s work â€Å"A Long Way Gone† captures the essence of the situation in war-stricken Sierra Leone. It tells us how a young boy was forced to become a soldier to preserve his life and live to tell his story. Although Beah was from an underdeveloped nation, he had the dreams and thoughts of any normal teenager from the West.He speaks about his family, his friends, his rap band and his love for music. All these things tell us that no matter how far apart we live and how different we believe we are, we are all essentially the same at the core of our beings.It is heartbreaking to learn that such dreams of millions of children like Beah are crushed down and ripped apart by the institution of war. Beah, after being captured, was trained to kill without any regrets. His circumstances also forced him to be addicted to drugs at a tender age. His mind was made so numb that he could no longer consider the value of human life. It took him a lot of courage, determination and several years of his life to become a normal person, while being forced to undergo the trauma of being doubted and feared by the people around him.Beah’s book gives voice to the innumerable number of children around the world that have been reduced to weapons of war. It makes us further realize that war not only kills human life, but also crushes the soul of the surviving. He was eventually rehabilitated by the UNICEF, but the plight of several other Beahs around the world still trapped in wars sends an uneasy, chilling feeling down my spine. We all go through childhood only once, which happens to the most unadulterated and exciting part of our lives. Nothing that the Governments around the world and welfare agencies do will restore the childhood of thousands of children like Beah.Although many experts might not consider it as accurate history, I feel that Beah’s work portrays the rape of childhood innocence. Many of these critics are from developed countries that have had secure childhoods and have no idea whatsoever of being in the middle of a war zone. Beah mentions that he himself had no idea of the scope of horrendousness that war could bring, when people from nearby towns told him about it. Hence, it is naturally hard for a person who has just seen war on television to understand Beah’s situation in its entirety.Some critics question Beah’s integrity as they feel that is impossible for a grown-up to remember his past in great detail. However, I feel difficult and painful incidents in one’s life can leave behind a deep, lasting scar for life. Hence, it is my opinion that Beah could have very well remembered his dark past vividly, even if he had tried hard to forget it. I perceive Beah’s story as a tribute to many innocent children whose stories are seldom heard It is my opinion that it is extremely insensitive to disregard the tears of another human being, which goes to show the cynical nature of our lives tod ay.If we ourselves cannot have empathy for a child deeply tortured by war, we are not so different from the tyrants mentioned in Beah’s narrative. Moreover, no work of history can be completely accurate and does suffer from unconscious bias of the historian. Hence, I consider Beah’s book as a reasonably accurate time capsule that depicts the how war makes good people do bad things and also reminds us of the fact that ‘war has no winners’. Reference: Beah, I. (2007). A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.