Study Guide for the Medieval Morality Play Everyman

Written in England during the 1400s, The Summoning of Everyman (commonly known as Everyman) is a Christian morality play. No one knows who wrote the play. Historians note that monks and priests often wrote these types of dramas. Morality plays were vernacular dramas, spoken in the language of the people, rather than the Latin of the Church. They were meant to be seen by the common people. Like other morality plays, Everyman is an allegory. The lessons being relayed are taught by allegorical characters, each one representing an abstract concept such as good deeds, material possessions, and knowledge. Basic Plot God decides that Everyman (a character who represents an average, everyday human) has become too obsessed with wealth and material possessions. Therefore, Everyman must be taught a lesson in piety. And who better to teach a life lesson than a character named Death? Man Is Unkind God’s chief complaint is that humans are ignorantly leading sinful lives; they are unaware that Jesus died for their sins. Everyman has been living for his own pleasure, forgetting about the importance of charity and the potential threat of eternal hellfire. On God’s bidding, Death summons Everyman to take a pilgrimage to the Almighty. When Everyman realizes that the Grim Reaper has called upon him to face God and give a reckoning of his life, he tries to bribe Death to â€Å"defer this matter till another day.† The bargaining doesn’t work. Everyman must go before God, never to return to Earth again. Death does say that the hapless hero can take along anyone or anything that may benefit him during this spiritual trial. Friends and Family Are Fickle After Death leaves Everyman to prepare for his day of reckoning (the moment in which God judges him), Everyman approaches a character named Fellowship, a supporting role that represents Everyman’s friends. At first, Fellowship is full of bravado. When Fellowship learns that Everyman is in trouble, he promises to stay with him until the problem is resolved. However, as soon as Everyman reveals that Death has summoned him to stand before God, Fellowship abandons him. Kindred and Cousin, two characters that represent family relationships, make similar promises. Kindred declares, â€Å"in wealth and woe we will with you hold, for over his kin a man may be bold.† But once Kindred and Cousin realize Everyman’s destination, they back out. One of the funniest moments in the play is when Cousin refuses to go by claiming he has a cramp in his toe. The overall message of the play’s first half is that relatives and friends (as reliable as they may seem) pale in comparison to the steadfast companionship of God. Goods vs. Good Deeds After getting rejected by fellow humans, Everyman turns his hopes to inanimate objects. He talks to a character named â€Å"Goods,† a role which represents Everyman’s material possessions and wealth. Everyman pleads for Goods to assist him in his hour of need, but they offer no comfort. In fact, the Goods chide Everyman, suggesting that he should have admired material objects moderately ​and that he should have given some of his goods to the poor. Not wanting to visit God (and subsequently be sent to hell), Goods deserts Everyman.​​ Finally, Everyman meets a character who will genuinely care for his plight. Good-Deeds is a character who symbolizes the acts of charity and kindness performed by Everyman. However, when the audience first meets Good-Deeds, she is laying on the ground, severely weakened by Everyman’s many sins. Enter Knowledge and Confession Good-Deeds introduces Everyman to her sister, Knowledge. This is another friendly character who will provide good advice to the protagonist. Knowledge serves as an important guide for Everyman, instructing him to seek out another character: Confession. Everyman is led to Confession. Many readers expect to hear scandalous â€Å"dirt† on the main character, and expect him to beg forgiveness, or hope he will at least apologize for whatever sins he has committed. Such readers will be surprised here. Instead, Everyman asks for his vices to be wiped clean. Confession says that, with penance, Everyman’s spirit may become clean once more. What does penance mean? In this  play, it means that Everyman undergoes a severe and purifying form of physical punishment. After he suffers, Everyman is amazed to discover that Good-Deeds is now free and strong, ready to stand by his side during his moment of judgment. The Five-Wits After this purging of the soul, Everyman is ready to meet his maker. Good-Deeds and Knowledge tell Everyman to call upon â€Å"three persons of great might† and his Five-Wits (his senses) as counselors. Everyman calls forth the characters Discretion, Strength, Beauty, and Five-Wits. Combined, they represent the core of his physical human experience. Unlike the first half of the play when he begged for help from his friends and family, Everyman is now relying on himself. However, even though he receives some good advice from each entity, he realizes that they will not go the distance as he journeys closer to his meeting with God. Like previous characters, these entities promise to stay by his side. Yet, when Everyman decides that it is time for his body to physically die (perhaps as part of his penance), Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and the Five-Wits abandon him. Beauty is the first one to leave, disgusted by the idea of lying in a grave. The others follow suit, and Everyman is left alone with Good-Deeds and Knowledge once again. Everyman Departs Knowledge explains that he won’t be going into the â€Å"heavenly sphere† with Everyman, but will stay with him until he departs from his physical body. This allegorically implies that the soul does not retain its Earthly knowledge. However, Good-Deeds (as promised) will journey with Everyman. At the end of the play, Everyman commends his soul to God. After his departure, an angel arrives to announce that Everyman’s soul has been taken from his body and presented before God. A final narrator enters to explain to the audience that all should heed the lessons of Everyman: Everything in life is fleeting, with the exception of acts of kindness and charity. Overall Theme As one might expect from a morality play, Everyman has a very clear moral, one that is delivered at the beginning, middle, and end of the play. The blatantly religious message is simple: Earthly comforts are fleeting. Only good deeds and God’s grace can provide salvation. Who Wrote Everyman? Many morality plays were a collaborative effort by clergymen and residents (often tradesmen and guild members) of an English town. Over the years, lines would be changed, added, and deleted. Therefore, Everyman is probably the result of multiple authors and decades of literary evolution. Historical Context When Everyman summons the Five-Wits, a fascinating  discussion about the importance of the priesthood follows. FIVE-WITS:For priesthood exceedeth all other thing;To us Holy Scripture they do teach,And converteth man from sin heaven to reach;God hath to them more power given,Than to any angel that is in heaven According to the Five-Wits, priests are more powerful than angels. This reflects the prevalent role of priests in medieval society. In most European villages, the clergy were the moral leaders. However, the character of Knowledge mentions that priests are not perfect, and some of them have committed egregious sins. The discussion concludes with a general endorsement of the Church as the surest path to salvation.

The International Day For Disaster Reduction Essay

Writing in the wake of hurricane Katrina 2005, Neil Smith (2006) suggests ‘that there is no such thing as a natural disaster’. Smith contends that natural hazards become disasters due to location and the vulnerability of humans through their own decision making and the lack of appropriate mitigation measures. The opinion that human decisions and actions create or exacerbate vulnerability to disaster is shared by many observers, where so called ‘natural disasters’ are seen to be the result of poorly managed risk when natural hazards take place. There is strong argument that appropriate actions taken by humans before, during and after a natural hazardous event, will help to prevent that event turning into a disaster. The Dictionary of Human Geography (Gregory, 2009:198) describes natural hazards as ‘geophysical events†¦ that can potentially cause major economic damage and physical injury or death’. The International Day for Disaster Reduction, held every 13th October, focuses on how international organisations and countries around the world attempt to minimise the disastrous consequences of natural hazards. Initiated in 1990 by the United Nations when they announced the International Decade of Disaster Reduction, this led to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) in 2000. In July 2016 fresh impetus was given to this strategy, with the launch of the Sendai Seven Campaign to encourage a refocusing on disaster prevention over the next seven years. There areShow MoreRelatedEmergency Preparedness, Response And Recovery Programmes1543 Words   |  7 Pagesrepresentatives met in Kobe, Japan to address one of the most important tests the world has to face: disaster r isk reduction (DRR). The product of the conference was the 10 year Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. 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Taxing Capital Gains Views from Australia

Question: Discuss about the Taxing Capital Gains Views from Australia. Answer: Letter of advice: Dear Mr Jacob According to the ITAA 1997, every Australian occupant is held liable to pay tax based on the sources from which it is earned be it within or outside of Australia. After analysing the documentary evidence and details, we have understood that you have satisfied the criteria to be called a permanent Australian resident for the taxation year of 2015-16. Going by your private details and your financial plans, we have prepared a report to offer you guidance and advice based on your tax consequences with appropriate tax benefit. CGT on disposal of house property: You intend to sell off your house property in the current taxation year which constitute a CGT asset under section 108-5 (1) of ITAA 1997. It is worth mentioning that Date of Acquisition forms an important element in determining the capital gains tax. Furthermore, the CGT status of an asset largely depend upon the acquisition date such as an asset acquired on or before September 21 1985 will constitute a pre-CGT asset and any such revenue derived is liable to be exempted from tax. Cost base of the asset held or acquired after 21 September 1985 but before 20 September 1999 is calculated under the indexation method which assessing tax (Barkoczy2016). Under such circumstances, the taxpayer is not eligible for 50% exemption on such assets under the index cost base. You bought the old house property on 31st October 1987, which does not constitute a Pre-CGTasset. As the date of acquisition is prior to 20th September 1999, the cost base of such assets must be assessed for taxable purpose under the indexation method. After analysing your document, it is found that you have owned the asset for more than 2 years and being an individual taxpayer you can avail either indexation method or 50% exemption method according to your suitability. Cost base of the Asset: Cost base of the property forms the purchase price of the asset. It is understood from the analysis that at the time acquisition of asset you incurred an expense for legal cost and stamp duty relating to the purchase of property. As per Section 110-25, such expenses forms the part of total cost base and based on indexation method, such index values relating to the expenses should be included with the purchase price of the property (Woellneret al. 2016). It was found that you incurred additional expenses to make the sellable, which should also be included with the original value in computing the cost base under indexation method and 50% exemption method. Exemption for residential property: Capital gains arising out of sale of residential property are exempted from tax. It is found that you have used house as your main residence after purchase barring the period from 31stOctober 2006 to 31stDecember 2014. Thus, we would to like to inform you that you cannot avail full exemption since the residential property remain vacant for eight consecutive years (Wood, Ong andWinter 2012). You are only eligible to avail exemption for the rest of the period and only advised to pay tax on capital gains for a period of eight years. Calculation of capital gains: A detailed computation on sale of property and capital gains derived under both 50% reduction method and indexation method is given below in accordance with the rules and assumption stated above; Calculation of Net Capital Gain Taxation for the year ending 30th June, 2016 Particulars Actual Cost Indexed Cost Amount ($) Amount ($) Anticipated Sale Proceedings $4,80,000 $4,80,000 Cost of Property: Purchase Cost -190000 -274223 Legal Costs incurred on Purchase -1900 -2742 Stamp Duty incurred on Purchase -4850 -7000 Expenses incurred on Re-Painting -6200 -6200 Expenses incurred on Construction of Fence -3600 -3600 Expenses incurred on Repairing of Front Porch -2400 -2400 Capital Gains on Sale of House Property $2,71,050 1,83,835 Less: 50% Exemption -135525 0 135525 183835 Less: Part Exemption for Main Residential Status 98139 133122 Net Taxable Capital Gains $37,386 $50,713 From the above stated computation it is found that capital gains under 50% reduction method will be less than that of the indexation method. Amount derived from capital gains under the 50% reduction should be considered as your statutory income (Minas and Lim 2013). Assessable income for Tax: Incomes are classified under two heads namely ordinary income and statutory income. As stated under Division 15, ITAA 1997 Ordinary Income represents those incomes, which is derived from the normal course of activities whereas, statutory incomes are those incomes, which are earned from abnormal or accidental activities (Gilders 2012,). The status of your incomes is stated below; Income from salary: You are teacher by profession and earn salary by imparting teaching services to your employers. Under section, 15-3 of ITAA 1997 it is considered as return to work payment and it is assessable in the form of ordinary income. Franked dividends: The dividend received by you should exhibit the entire amount for assessment while filing tax return however; you can subtract the sum of franking credit from the gross sum of tax payable. Holiday received from bank for opening new account: The cash amount received by you for holiday from bank because of opening new bank account will be included in the assessable income. As stated under section 21A, any non-cash benefits such as holiday being capable of being measured in cash values does not forming the part of employment relationship in included in the ordinary assessable income while computing tax (Freebairn 2012). Family tax benefit: Family tax benefit received for a dependent child under the age of 21 is not included for assessment. You are only advised to show such expenses in your assessable income and can offset such from your total tax. Watch received as gift: It is found that you received a gift as lifesaver and such gift received by you was entirely without any intentions to earn. Hence, such gift does not constitute in the form of assessable income. Allowable deductions: Expenses occurred for daily livelihood does not forms the part of assessable income. However, expenses occurred for generating income from any sources then such expenses are liable to be deducted from the assessable income. The expenses incurred by include; Purchase of work cloth and shoes: According the documents obtained from your employer it is understood that the official uniform is approved by the authority and it deductions can be availed from the assessable income (Long, Campbell and Kelshaw 2016). Under division 34 of ITAA 1997you can apply for deductions for the expenses incurred on the purchase of clothes and shoes on being approved under register of approved occupational clothing. Work related car expenses: Any kind of expenses incurred for generating income, which is related to work and employment, is eligible for deductions under Division 900 ITAA 1997. It should be noted that not all car expenses are subjected to deductions. Going by the documents provided by you it is found that depreciation is not separately provided by you. Depreciation forms the part of car expenses and should be calculated under the taxable rules. It is noticed that the car ran 25,000 Kms. out of which 5600 Kms was run for occupational purpose. Hence, out of total car expenses a portion of such sum is eligible for deductions from the assessable income in form of work related expense (Wallace 2015). Below listed is the calculation of your deductible car expenses is given below; Particulars Amount ($) Total Kilometre Ran 25000 Work-Related Running Kilometre 5600 Percentage of Work-Related Usage 22.40% Deductible Running Expenses: Fuel Charges $1,700 Repairs Service Expenses $750 Depreciation Expense of Car $10,500Sum of total Running Expenses $12,950 Work Related Car Expenses 2,901 Cost incurred for studying:It is found that you have continued your educations in order to gain promotion. As stated under section 8-1 you can claim deductions on expenses incurred during your own educations (Butler 2016). However, you are not eligible to claim deductions for expenses incurred in the procuring laptop since it represents capita in nature. Superannuation expenses: We would like to inform you that since you are engaged in regular employment, which is more than 10% of the total income. Hence, you cannot claim for any kind of deductions on your superannuation contribution (Jones 2016). Fees incurred on tax agent: Fees incurred on certified tax agent for filling up tax return is not considered as deductible expenses. Computation of Income tax: Based on the above stated discussions and assumptions laid down your net taxable return for the year 2015-16 is listed below: Calculation of Taxable Income for the year ended 30th June,2016 Particulars Amount in ($) Amount in ($) Assessable Income: Ordinary Income: Salary $72,000 Dividends Received $1,995 Franking Credit $855 $2,850 Holidays received $3,200 Family Tax Benefit $1,300 Statutory Income: Net Capital Gain on Sale of House Property $37,386 EUM of TOTAL ASSESSABLE INCOME 116736 Allowable Deduction: Purchase of Working Clothes Shoes $450 Cost of Studying Maters Degree $3,650 Less: Cost of Laptop $1,850 $1,800 Tax Agent Fees $7,50 Car Related Expenses $2,901 Depreciation on Laptop $255 Sum of TOTAL ALLOWABLE DEDUCTION $6,156 NET INCOME TAXABLE $1,10,580 From the above stated table it can depicted that your taxable income stands $1,10,580 and you will be considered under the range of $80,001 to $180,000. Thus, you are require to $17,547 with 37% of the excess income for having earnings beyond $80,000. You shall also be required to pay 2% of the Medicare levy on the net taxable amount since you have a dependent child so you are not required to pay any Medicare levy surcharge (Yinger, Bloom and Boersch 2016). Furthermore, we are also offering you advise where you can avail tax offsets; Franking credit: The franking credit obtained on dividend can be deducted from the sum of total tax payable. Family tax benefit: Family tax benefit is exempted from tax and the benefit put forward by you in your assessable income is eligible for deductions from total tax payable (Nel 2016). From the above stated discussions the sum of tax payable by you for the period of 2015-16 is computed in the below listed table; Calculation of Tax on Taxable Income for the year ended 30th June, 2016 Particulars Amount ($) Amount ($) NET TAXABLE INCOME $1,10,580 Tax on Taxable Income $28,547 Add: Medicare Levy @2% $2,212 GROSS INCOME TAX $30,758 Less: Tax Offset Franking Credit $855 Family Tax Benefit $1,300 PAYG Withholding $15,900 $18,055 NET TAX on TAXABLE INCOME $12,703 Recommendations: After going through the documents provided by you it is advised that instead of selling up the house you should sub lent the house on rent and purchase new house. You can simply prepay the interest incurred on your investment property in order to claim deductions. Whether the house is positively or negatively geared you can put forward your claims on the rental property by being the principle owner of it. It is further recommended that you can claim tax offset on your work related expenses such as telephone cost and subscriptions. In addition to this, you can also claim education tax offset for your family by up to 50% of the cost items such as educational software, home computers, text books and cost incurred for stationaries. Thus, we anticipate that the above stated discussions and recommendations has addressed your queries and have been able to offer you complete satisfactions. References: Barkoczy, S., 2016. Core tax legislation and study guide.OUP Catalogue Woellner, R., Barkoczy, S., Murphy, S., Evans, C. and Pinto, D., 2016.Australian Taxation Law 2016. Oxford University Press Wood, G., Ong, R. andWinter, I. 2012, "Stamp duties, land tax and housing affordability: The case for reform", Australian Tax Forum, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 331-349. Minas, J. and Lim, Y. 2013, "Taxing capital gains - views from Australia, Canada and the United States", eJournal of Tax Research, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 191. Gilders, F.M. 2012, Understanding taxation law 2012, [6th], 2012. edn, LexisNexis Butterworths, Chatswood, N.S.W. Freebairn, J. 2012, "Personal Income Taxation", Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics and policy, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 18-23. Long, B., Campbell, J. and Kelshaw, C., 2016. The justice lens on taxation policy in Australia.St Mark's Review, (235), p.94. Butler, D., 2016. Superannuation: Transferring foreign super fund amounts to an Australian resident.Taxation in Australia,50(8), p.481. Wallace, S., 2015. Property Taxation in a Global Economy: Is a Capital Gains Tax on Real Property a Good Idea. InPrepared for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy-Land Policy Institute of Taiwan, Conference on Toward A(pp. 24-25). Jones, D., 2016. Capital gains tax: The rise of market value?.Taxation in Australia,51(2), p.67. Yinger, J., Bloom, H.S. and Boersch-Supan, A., 2016.Property taxes and house values: The theory and estimation of intrajurisdictional property tax capitalization. Elsevier. Nel, P., 2016. Primary residences, rental income, and tax: income tax.Tax Breaks Newsletter,2016(366), pp.2-3.

Shakespeares Twelfth Night a play in the genre of comedy Essay Example

Shakespeares Twelfth Night a play in the genre of comedy Paper However, within the play, arguably t the heart of it, there are other themes such as confusion and misunderstanding which lead to the question Of whether foolishness is truly at the heart of the play and if there are other themes to consider. Twelfth Night begins to suggest that foolishness and triviality will be at the centre of the play from the beginning due to the many contextual connotations it has relating to the Elizabethan festival, also known as the Feast of Fools. From this reference, the audience can already begin to predict hat not only will there be foolish behavior, but from the word feast they can deduct that there will in fact be a surplus. The festival Twelfth Night occurs annually on the 5th of January where food and drink are typically at the centre of celebrations but I rather think it consists of eating and drinking. Foolish behavior can be expected to result from this over indulgence and is clearly exhibited in Sir Toby and Sir Andrew who are foolish drunkards throughout come so early of this lethargy, resulting in some linguistic moody as well as well as many opportunities for physical comedy as a result of foolish behavior. Furthermore, the historical connotations related with Twelfth Night, similarly confirm that foolishness lies at the heart of the play as the Twelfth Night festival involved a large amount of role reversal, this too can be related to the play. Role reversal during the festival, commonly took place between people of vastly different classes; usually between someone of a lower class with that of a much higher status. Within Twelfth Night, Viola rockers to disguise herself as Corsair, a man. We will write a custom essay sample on Shakespeares Twelfth Night a play in the genre of comedy specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Shakespeares Twelfth Night a play in the genre of comedy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Shakespeares Twelfth Night a play in the genre of comedy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This class exchange is evident within the play as due to the patriarchal conventions of the time, men were seen of a much higher class than women. During the Elizabethan period, any role reversal of the sort would have caused considerable controversy and to the audience may have seemed exceedingly foolish, consequently portraying Viola as a fool, throughout the play; thus it could be argued that foolishness is present constantly and therefore at the heart of the play. Dramatic irony created from this foolish misconception further creates humor through-out as the audience is aware of Violas true identity, l am not what am, and the characters appear to be oblivious and completely unaware of the truth, hence creating more fatuous impressions of the characters.