Before writing a whole essay, I need a few topic ideas and I will choose which one sounds best for you to continue writing about.

Assigned texts:

1. Andrew Delbanco, Melville: His World and Work (0375403140)
2. Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (Norton, 1988; 0393956164)
3. Dan McCall, ed., Melville’s Short Novels (Norton, 2002; 0393976416)
4. Herman Melville, Moby Dick (Norton, 2002; 0393972836)

This essay should argue for the literary, cultural, or political significance of one or more of the
course’s assigned texts; the topic is subject to my pre-approval but otherwise up to you. Please
frame your argument as part of a larger intellectual conversation by citing at least three relevant
outside sources – e.g., book or film reviews, “middlebrow” essays (e.g., The Nation, New
Republic, or National Review), or academic books or articles (such as those found in the journal
Science Fiction Studies).

Effective scholarly writing often uses the “They Say, I Say” model, in which you summarize and
critique what other critics have said about your topic, then indicate how your understanding
differs from theirs, and finally defend that understanding with a well-reasoned argument of your
own.

In The Philosophy of Literary Form, the literary theorist Kenneth Burke explains this dialogical
conception of literary study like this:

Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long
preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated
for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had
already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified
to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you
decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar.
Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns
himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent,
depending upon the quality of your ally’s assistance. However, the discussion is
interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the
discussion still vigorously in progress.

For practical guidance on joining in on Burke’s “unending conversation,” I recommend the book
They Say, I Say, by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein.

In your formal essay you should assume your audience is intelligent and reasonably well
informed, but not familiar with literary-critical jargon or the specific texts you will be discussing.
Length should be about 4,000 words.

In addition to clearly expressing and adequately supporting an original and significant
argument, it should make appropriate use of its sources, have no significant grammar or spelling
errors, and use MLA style and format for in-text citations and Works Cited page.

Respond to 2 Classmates Post with at least 150 words and 1 scholarly reference: (please separate each repsonse)

POST 1:

M4-A1- Discussion Performance Measurement:

The performance measurement is normally used after a program has been up and running. It is used to help monitor the overall program effectiveness. Did the program achieve the intended goals, deliver the desired outcome, or other accomplishments? The performance measurement is also useful for reporting outcome results, back to the stake holders, the target population, and those persons involved in implementing the program, (Argosy University, 2016). It can also be used to measure policy, (McDavid, 2012).

A Program evaluation uses a holistic and systematic approach to developing a study to determine how the program is working and for finding ways of improving the program, (Argosy University, 2016). The program evaluation can be done in the initial planning stages, it can be done while the program is operating and after it has been operating for some time, (Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, 2016, p. 3)

One key benefit of performance measurement is it has become useful to both state and federal government for measuring “service- related” performance, which also allows them to attach a cost to the services. (McDavid 2012 p. 311). It is not just beneficial for measuring Budget performance. According to McDavid, (2012 p. 311), local government performance measurements is what drives the efforts to measure the private sector performances of services today.

Whether to perform a program evaluation or performance measurements based on limited funding would depend on who is the original funding source and what reports must be distributed to stakeholders and target population, during the upcoming year. If the funding is coming from local or federal government and they are looking to measure the program effectiveness, policies effectiveness, services and cost effectiveness I would complete a performance measurement. If the funders are giving the agency a couple years to really demonstrate measures, yet looking for systematic view of how effective the program is running, if it achieved the attended goals, and outcome then I would perform a program evaluation. This will demonstrate whether the program reached the desired outcome at a lower cost. It can also help identify steps for improving on the program, (Argosy University, 2016; McDavid, 2012).

Reference

Argosy University, (2016). Performance measurement vs evaluation. Retrieved from

https://mycampus.argosy.edu

Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, (2016). Part I: Introduction to economic evaluation.

Center for Disease Control. Retrieved from. https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/spha/economic_e…

McDavid, J. Huse, I. & Hawthorn, L. (2012). Program evaluation and performance measurement;

Introduction to practice (2^nd Edition). Los Angeles: Sage Publication

POST 2;

Performance Measurement

Performance measurement describes how well the agency’s program has succeeded, how it has advanced by conducting activities, delivering service and providing results. There are three levels of activities that are used to gather this information. Performance measurement is used for reporting and monitoring program effectiveness, accomplishments, and/or goal progress. To be measured, a program must have well-defined objectives or a discernible purpose (Argosy University, 2016).

Program evaluations determined on how to make the program better by improving the quality of the service, which can be measured by understanding the motivation of the evaluation and generating numerical data. Program evaluations are holistic and systematic studies that are conducted on a regular basis to determine on a whole how a program is working and to discover ways in which the program can be improved upon (Argosy University, 2016).

Key benefits of using performance measurements, could be the monitoring portion of the evaluation because it can track what has been done, provided, and results provided at the end of the evaluation. Although it is an ongoing process, it helps with the performance measures.

I would utilize the money and the man power to ensure the evaluation is properly conducted. I would use the program evaluation oppose to performance measurement. When using the measurement performance evaluation, it would help improve the program. The measurement performance can finalize how well the program did throughout the year.

Assignment Steps

Resources: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Tutorial help on Excel^® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft^® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products.

Scenario: BizCon, a consulting firm, has just completed its first year of operations. The company’s sales growth was explosive. To encourage clients to hire its services, BizCon offered 180-day financing – meaning its largest customers do not pay for nearly 6 months. Because BizCon is a new company, its equipment suppliers insist on being paid cash on delivery. Also, it had to pay up front for 2 years of insurance. At the end of the year, BizCon owed employees for one full month of salaries, but due to a cash shortfall, it promised to pay them the first week of next year.

As the senior accountant, the Chief Financial Officer has asked you to prepare a memo to be sent to management notifying them of the delayed wage payments.

Prepare the memo in a maximum 700 words including the following information to better outline the situation:

• Explain how cash and accrual accounting differs for each of the events listed in the above scenario and describe the proper accrual accounting.
• Assess how at the end of the year, BizCon reported a favorable net income, yet the company’s management is concerned because the company is very short of cash. Explain to management how BizCon could have positive net income and yet run out of cash.

Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines.

Reference

Kimmel, P. D., Weygandt, J. J., & Kieso, D. E. (2016). Accounting: tools for business decision making (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.