American Literature and Society :: essays research papers fc

Literature is a very powerful tool that is used to make a huge impact on society or in someone’s perspective. Literature comes in different forms and each literature form fits in a certain category or role to help understand the true meaning of it. From playwrights to short stories, each one has moral lesson, a message or a reflection of the author. I have witnessed the power of literature several times. Literature has moved teens to better being; it has motivated unfortunate people to fame, used as an educational process of teaching and most of all, entertainment. Back in the day, plays were on of the most famous forms of entertainment. Without television and radio present, plays served as a substitute to entertain certain groups of people like the royal family or just for the whole public. This was one way of making money by the actors and the authors that wrote the play. Also present during those times were the poem recitals. This is similar to a play but fewer people are present in the stage or sometimes solo performance. Today, Literature is still being used as a form of entertainment and educational intentions. Hollywood made a lot of money by revising the great masterpieces of famous authors such as â€Å"Rome and Juliet† by William Shakespeare. Also, they made movies out of hundreds of literary works for educational purposes and better understanding of the literature piece. Each form of literature has its own style. The style determines how it influences the audience to absorb the true meaning and moral of the story or poem. William Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin were truly persuasive while Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe mixed mystery and adventure to their works. The style touches the readers which really makes a good relationship from the reader to the author’s literary masterpieces. Being a foreigner to this country, I have viewed American Society in a different way. There are a lot of factors that changed my perspective to the American society and of them is the literature I have studied during the process of having English as on of my major subjects. I can strongly say that American society is very much different than the environment I used to live. There may be similarities but there are few. American society tends to change a lot of times, its culture slowly evolves the American society to a whole different level.

The old man in the sea :: essays research papers

The Old Man and the Sea Book report The title of this book is The Old Man and the Sea . The number of pages is 127. Copyright date is 1952(re-newel date is 1980). The type of book is fiction. This book takes place in the Gulf Stream, and its time is in the past. This book is told in third person point of view. One of the main character’s was an old Cuban man named Santiago who was thin, with deep wrinkles in the back if his neck and had scars on his hands from handling the fishing rope. The other character was a young boy named Manolin, which Santiago taught how to fish . Manolin is loyal to Santiago and even when his parents forbid him to go fishing with Santiago, he wants to help his friend at all times. Manolin does not act as a young boy; he is mature and sensitive This book is about an old man who taught this young boy how to fish and the boy loved him. He even brought him fishing many times. But the past 84 days the old man had not caught one fish. After 40 days of not catching anything the boy left and fished on another boat. One day, the old man was out on the water fishing. He had caught the biggest marlin he had ever seen. He then had decided to tie the fish on to the boat when heading back. He notices a large mako shark that is coming after his fish. He gets his harpoon out ready to kill. The shark takes a chunk out of his fish and the old man harpoons and kills the shark but his harpoon broke. Now he was left only with a knife to protect what was left of the fish. The fish is now bleeding. A couple hours later on his voyage home, he sees to more sharks heading right for his fish. Both sharks take a chunk out of the fish but the old man manages to stab both sharks in the eye killing them. His fish was getting smaller and smaller because of the sharks. This time while stabbing the sharks in the eyes his knife breaks, now all he has to kill the sharks is a oar. If any more sharks come he is ruined. A couple more hours of sailing two more sharks come and eat the rest of his fish, leaving just the head and scales of the enormous fish he had. The old man in the sea :: essays research papers The Old Man and the Sea Book report The title of this book is The Old Man and the Sea . The number of pages is 127. Copyright date is 1952(re-newel date is 1980). The type of book is fiction. This book takes place in the Gulf Stream, and its time is in the past. This book is told in third person point of view. One of the main character’s was an old Cuban man named Santiago who was thin, with deep wrinkles in the back if his neck and had scars on his hands from handling the fishing rope. The other character was a young boy named Manolin, which Santiago taught how to fish . Manolin is loyal to Santiago and even when his parents forbid him to go fishing with Santiago, he wants to help his friend at all times. Manolin does not act as a young boy; he is mature and sensitive This book is about an old man who taught this young boy how to fish and the boy loved him. He even brought him fishing many times. But the past 84 days the old man had not caught one fish. After 40 days of not catching anything the boy left and fished on another boat. One day, the old man was out on the water fishing. He had caught the biggest marlin he had ever seen. He then had decided to tie the fish on to the boat when heading back. He notices a large mako shark that is coming after his fish. He gets his harpoon out ready to kill. The shark takes a chunk out of his fish and the old man harpoons and kills the shark but his harpoon broke. Now he was left only with a knife to protect what was left of the fish. The fish is now bleeding. A couple hours later on his voyage home, he sees to more sharks heading right for his fish. Both sharks take a chunk out of the fish but the old man manages to stab both sharks in the eye killing them. His fish was getting smaller and smaller because of the sharks. This time while stabbing the sharks in the eyes his knife breaks, now all he has to kill the sharks is a oar. If any more sharks come he is ruined. A couple more hours of sailing two more sharks come and eat the rest of his fish, leaving just the head and scales of the enormous fish he had.

Reform Movements in the United States Sought Essay

As Americans entered an era of transition and instability, they sought to expand democratic ideals in the society. In response to sudden changes occurring and traditional values being challenged, various reform movements during 1825-1850 began to focus on democratic ideals. The rise of religious revivals, movements for equal rights and protecting liberties of different social groups, want to advance society technologically, and desire to bring order and control helped reform the society to live up to the nation’s founding ideals. Teaching them (I don’t get who â€Å"them† is) the habits of thrift, orderliness, temperance and industry was a way to not only better their lives but a way to instill certain democratic values and advance the perfection of society as a whole. The rise of popular religion and a series of religious revivals reinforced American democracy and liberty. The Second Great Awakening was a huge religious reform movement that sought to re-captivate religious interest in America. One of its new breakthroughs is its representation of democratic ideas, or: â€Å"a reworking of traditional religious institutions to better match the average American’s sensibilities and frontier lifestyles (Second Great Awakening). † In this attempt to capture interest, this new theology differed from the previous Calvinist viewpoint that people’s predestined path to heaven or hell could only be altered by God’s choosing, in that the new theology emphasized individual free will, and equality in God’s eyes- a characteristic of democracy. These new theologies emphasized: â€Å"human choice. Reform of the individual human heart and also broader social institutions was indeed possible (Second Great Awakening). † Church ministers were elected and churches believed in a â€Å"priesthood of all believers. † Such religious reforms sought to expand democratic ideals into the churches. The theology of the Second Great Awakening can be divided into many different subdivisions which all spread out and became part of many reform movements to come. Before examining such future movements, it must be noted that The Progress of the Age was also a reform movement that spread democratic ideals of around the same time frame as the Second Great Awakening. The Progress of the Age empowers all the new American technologies and social reforms in its time (around 1825-1846). New technological reforms included adapting the time conserving sewing machine, and harnessing the potential of the locomotive. Religion, politics, the economy, and virtually everything else in America was being influenced by echnological reforms, turning life in American as something Senator Webster describes: â€Å"The world has seen nothing like [it] before (A Discourse, Delivered at Plymouth 61). † The significance of all these technological advances lies in the inevitable social advances they initiated. The Progress of the Age focused on improving everyday life with the adaption of machine labor, allowing for: a large range of agricultural goods for the co mmon man, increasingly cheaper goods, less expensive books/newspapers, and faster travel. As these technological revolutions led to revolutions in habits, opinions, and moral values, people began to realize: â€Å"If machinery could be brought to such a state of perfection, why not society (Maier 369)? † With all the social ideas related to technological progress, none were associated with the Progression of the Age, as the expansions of democratic ideals were. With the new leaps in technological advances, people built the impression that: â€Å"No reform is now deemed impossible, no enterprise for human betterment impracticable (Maier 369). Of all the social ideas, the democratic ideas of striving for social equality, and benefitting the common good fit the technological age of progress best. Along with technological advancements, American literature was advancing too. New values such as favoring nature over â€Å"America’s turn towards industrial capitalism and worst of all, the crass, money-grubbing materialism that seemed to grip more and more of their countrymen (Maier 371),† as described in novels of James Fenimore Cooper, and Washington Irving were exposed to their readers. The Transcendentalist movement, founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson was populated by his essay Nature, as well as other works such as Henry David Thoreau’s Nature. The increasing quality and affordability of such books as well as newspapers, with new perspectives and philosophies printed by new machines, allowed the common people access to new knowledge. Society was now exposed to knowledge such as: philosophy, current events, and political information which brought up the level of education of the common man. Not only were books made cheaper and more available, an abundance of higher quality goods and services such as better foods, clothes, and a better transportation system now became available to the society. As Horace Greenley of the New York Tribune accounts: â€Å"We have universalized all the beautiful and glorious results of industry and skill†¦ We have made them a common possession of the people†¦. We have democratized the means and appliances of a higher life (Art and Industry 58). Greenley is saying that the Progress of the Age has brought high quality goods previously only for aristocrats down to the common people, raising the living standard of the common people: a true democratic value. Out of all these technological breakthroughs, the railroad became the symbol of the Progress of the Age and the expansion of democratic ideals. Even artists of the Hudson River School such as Thomas Cole recognized the locomotive in their paintings. In River in the Catskills, Thomas Cole blends the locomotive with nature, suggesting a natural harmony between them as Americans civilized the new lands. The locomotive became a symbol of the drive of civilization, spreading it and America’s democracy to new, unseen horizons. These unseen horizons were discovered through the reforms in the Antebellum Era, whose roots were mainly evangelical – religion tied into the belief that equality and salvation should be offered to everyone. This brought back tensions between the North and South when slavery became an issue with those ideals, which made the acted reforms not just a movement towards equality, but towards democracy as well. One of the most important reform movements in American history was the creation of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. The Declaration of Sentiments was established and those who wished to join the society had to sign the document which pledged to â€Å"secure to the colored population†¦all the rights and privileges that belong to them as men and as Americans. † This reform was different than most, because the people involved decided to use the old tactic of â€Å"moral suasion† instead of violence. These society members campaigned across the U. S. especially aiming to influence the South. They published abolitionist newspapers and other literature to raise awareness, attempted to make antislavery societies in every state and every town, and eventually brought so many petitions to Congress that although the â€Å"Gag Resolution† tabled them, the awareness it raised about slavery occurred everywhere. Not only was this the effect of the society, but it also showed Americans that all people could make a difference if joined together, not just the government, which expanded ideas of democracy. William Lloyd Garrison, among other strong abolitionists, acted as a leader in the fight for all-around equality in the United States. He dedicated his life to slavery abolition, publishing the newspaper, The Liberator and writing in it, â€Å"On this subject, I do not wish to think, to speak, or write, with moderation†¦I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – and I will be heard. † Not only did his words anger people enough to cause the bloody slave revolt in Virginia led by Nat Turner, but it also made abolitionists of others as well. His words inspired Frederick Douglass to publish his newspaper, North Star, at Rochester. They inspired Theodore Dwight Weld to declare an end to slavery and leave the Lane Seminary and their white society with 75 others by his side, naming themselves the â€Å"Lane Rebels. † He spent the rest of his life being a devoted member of the Ohio Antislavery Society and giving speeches throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania, encouraging the establishment of other antislavery societies. Abolitionists for women’s rights like Henry B. Stanton who was also a â€Å"Lane Rebel†, and his wife, Elizabeth Cady Stanton were also strong leaders, as well as the Grimke sisters in taking on the roles normally given to men. These powerful reformers were able to influence the population to join them in reforms, creating the sense that they could all make a difference together, and reform the republic government to a democratic one instead. With the idea of equality comes the idea of democracy, so when reform movements for slavery abolition and women’s rights began, so did the widespread belief of a new democratic government.

Management Information Systems in Restaurants

Introduction Restaurants are built of complex systems for buying, storing, preparing and selling food. The well-being of a restaurant depends on its management information systems, which coordinate everything from scheduling personnel to customer service. Restaurant management systems can help to create an ambiance. Restaurant management information systems should make a restaurant more profitable as well as a better place for customers to eat. The manager must be able to determine prices and schedules, make forecasts, perform an ongoing audit of inventory and other company assets, and monitor performance. More and more managers are turning to the computer to provide this information on a timely basis DFD for restaurants The restaurant uses an information system that takes customer orders, sends the orders to the kitchen, monitors goods sold and inventory, and generates reports for management. 0-Level DFD: The Restaurant Management system must consists of the following modules to implement a efficient and reliant MIS. 1. General Ledger The General Ledger module is the center of the accounting system. It is a powerful yet easy to use module that can accommodate a single unit restaurant as well as a large multiple unit operation. The General Ledger is automatically updated from all other modules being operated. Both 12 and 13 period accounting are supported. The Trial Balance Report and General Ledger Report provide the necessary documentation and audit trails required of a professional accounting system. Financial Statements can be designed to your specifications by you within the General Ledger module. The optional Management Report Writer gives you the added ability to print complex financial statements that consolidate or compare multiple time periods and units if necessary. Account budgets may be set up and used in forecasting and comparisons to actual activity. 2. Accounts Payable The Accounts Payable module is designed to allow you to better manage your vendor invoices and payments. Inventory purchases that are entered will be automatically updated to the Inventory, Recipe, and Sales Analysis modules without any additional work. Invoices may be entered in summary, detail, or a combination of the two. By entering invoices, you are creating the capability of accumulating unpaid invoices easily at any time. A purchase history by vendor is also maintained, and check payment can be accomplished easily in a method that is convenient for your operation. This module lets you stay on top of your outstanding invoices so that invoices are never paid for twice. 3. Payroll The Payroll module is designed for time entry, printing payroll checks, general ledger distribution and year-end W-2 forms. It can operate on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly basis with all input verified, copied, and employee records updated during the End-Pay-Period procedure. Other useful options are included such as payroll history inquiry, earnings summary report, employee payroll history, tip allocation, tip reporting and is integrated to the optional Federal Magnetic Media Reporting module. The module is easy to use due to its one-step nature. After set-up with a General Ledger file and initial data entry, payroll tracking becomes relatively easy. Time is entered, then the register is printed. If corrections are necessary, they can be made to the appropriate entries and the register re-printed. After everything balances, checks and reports are printed and then the pay period can be closed. This module is designed to operate in conjunction with other modules that may be installed. Programs are explained as if the General Ledger module were included. Information is transferred to all integrated modules as a function of the End-Pay-Period procedure or is transferred each month through the End-of-Month posting procedure. 4. Bank Reconciliation The Bank Reconciliation module is used to manage your bank accounts. It is automatically updated as checks are written and deposits are entered. A simple method of canceling checks allows you to reconcile the account to the bank statement in very little time. Multiple bank accounts can be maintained simply and easily. A historical check register is maintained for up to five years for your review. 5. Inventory Control The Inventory Control module is designed to allow you a fast and easy way to keep track of your inventory. You are able to track what you have purchased and what prices you are paying from various suppliers for any length of time. In-house batch production items can be processed along with multiple location transfers. Inventory is first categorized into major classifications that you choose such as meat, dairy and produce. Inventory can be kept on a perpetual basis by entering your purchases for those items and taking a physical count monthly or as frequently as desired to get your actual usage on each item. Inventory may also be kept on a periodic basis which does not require entering all your purchases. The periodic method allows for entry of a physical count and last cost at any point in time and will automatically extend the inventory for you. Both methods provide inventory count sheets by specific storage location and fast inventory count entry methods. The two methods can also be combined to allow detailed control of high cost items and less detailed control of less significant items. 6. Recipe Control The Recipe Control module works hand in hand with the Inventory Control module. It provides you with an organized method of entering your recipes. You can take advantage of the ability to monitor your costs at all times before cost increases erode your profit margins. Unlimited levels of sub-recipes can be maintained very easily. Recipes can include a plate cost for items that you may not want to set up. Recipes can be costed in seconds at Last Cost or Average Cost and can be printed or displayed on the screen. Each recipe can also have detailed preparation instructions set up for use as a training manual. 7. Sales Analysis The Sales Analysis module completes the operations triangle. Both Inventory and Recipe Control are related heavily to Sales Analysis. Menu items are set up and defined at this point. A menu item can refer to a recipe or directly to an inventory item. Daily sales can be entered manually or transferred from a point of sale device if one is available. Sales history is maintained on a daily basis for any number of years. Entering your sales will generate your potential or optimal use of each inventory item and will give you an actual versus potential usage variance. Sales trends can be tracked in a wide variety of methods using the Management Report Writer. Sales Analysis gives you the capability to stay on top of your margins and control them before they can hurt you. 8. Management Report Writing The Report Writer module allows the creation of custom reports wanted by individual companies. The flexibility and adaptability of this module allows for seemingly unlimited variations of report types. This module is limited only by your imagination. Thirty-six columns are available for mathematical and statistical computations (only limited by your printer's capability). Data to be printed on these reports can be drawn from a variety of sources. The most common source is General Ledger and the Report Writer is particularly suited to producing complex financial statements. Reports can also be produced based on data from Sales Analysis or from the Statistics section of the Management Report Writer.

Approaches to Psychology Essay

The psychoanalytic approach was started and developed mainly in Europe between 1900 and 1939 by Sigmund Freud, a Viennese doctor who specialized in neurology. As a doctor, he became interested in the field of hysteria – the manifestation of physical symptoms without physical causes – and became convinced that unconscious mental causes were responsible, and could be responsible for all mental disorders and even our personality. He created the theory of personality, and based his ideas upon intensive case studies of a considerable range of patients, especially his infamous study on â€Å"Little Hans†, a young boy who Freud carried out psychoanalysis upon. Bowlby (1946) applied Freud’s theories when he used psychoanalysis on a large group of children with various ages on a study of habitual delinquency. The central emphasis is on dynamic, biological processes especially those taking place in the unconscious mind, and involves the idea of psychic determinism, i. e. Freudian slips. Freud said that we all have instinctual drives – wishes, desires, needs, or demands, which are hidden and suppressed from the consciousness because society disapproves of their open expression. Freud proposes three main components of the mind; the id, the ego and the superego. The id operates on the pleasure principle and its goal is immediate gratification and reduction of tension caused by irrational impulses. The ego operates on the reality principle, and controls the id in its reaction with the world. The superego operates on the idealisation principle, with norms and values of society being internalised. According to this approach, we all undergo psychosexual stages – oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital – which gradually motivate the individual to focus on the libido, and can be linked with the Oedipus complex. The libido is described as ‘psychic energy’ behind primary drives of hunger, aggression, sex and irrational impulses. Fixation at any of these stages can lead to behaviour in our adulthood reflecting earlier stages of our childhood, which are caused by unresolved conflicts. For example, fixation at the oral stage can cause adult behaviour that is centred on the mouth (eating, smoking, etc. ) The purpose of psychoanalysis was as a therapy to treat mental disorder by means of treating the unconscious mind. The methods that Freud used for investigating the unconsciousness were by means of case studies, and deep analysis and interpretation. Free association involves the uninhibited expression of thought association, no matter how bizarre or embarrassing, from the client to the analyst. Dream analysis involves the analyst attempting to decode the symbols and unravel the hidden meaning (the latent content) of a dream from the dreamer’s report (the manifest content). Freud used his theory to explain a number of topics. He explained that the development of personality came from fixations or defence mechanisms, and that aggression was caused by hydraulic drives and displacement. Abnormality was seen as the consequence of early traumas and repression, which subsequently could impair our moral and gender development, the latter being the result of the Oedipus complex. The psychoanalytic approach has been greatly influential within psychology, in areas such as psychotherapy and developmental theories, and also beyond in art, literature and other sciences, some 100 years since Freud first developed his ideas. His theory has had some experimental support in certain areas, such as repression and fixation. Freud introduced the world to the concept of the unconscious, and regarded his case studies like ‘Little Hans’ and ‘Anna O’ as firm empirical support for his theory. He thought his belief in determinism and detailed collection of data were scientific, yet many psychologists today argue that his theories and ideas are too biological, that is that they rely too much on the influence of basic instincts and physical drives. Most of Freud’s ideas and concepts came from only a handful of results on the study of children. Freud could have allowed his own prejudices to shape his analysis, leading to no objective measures. His close interventions and feedback to the child’s family could have changed the child’s behaviour and that of its family. Psychoanalysis lacks rigorous empirical support, especially regarding normal development, and leads to reductionism, i. e. it reduces human activity to a basic set of structures, which can’t account for behaviour. Freud’s ideas have been accused of being irrefutable, and are therefore theoretically unscientific. Another approach to psychology is the behaviourist approach, which concentrates on the theory of learning and behavioural therapy, and tries to explain behaviour in terms of its relation to environmental events (stimuli), rather than any innate factors. The view that behaviour should be the sole subject matter of psychology was first advanced by the American psychologist John B. Watson in the early 1900s. His position came to be called behaviourism. He believed that psychologists could not afford to â€Å"speculate† upon the unobservable inner workings of the mind, since they are too private to be studied scientifically. For the behaviourist, much of their research focuses on objectively observable behaviour, rather than any internal process. The approach proposes that behaviour is radical, and that it is caused and maintained in this way.

Historical context: book of lamentations Essay

Mourn, grieve, dirge, and wail are some words related to lamentation. There are deep emotions involved in lamentation. The author of the Book of Lamentations had experienced real, actual events that caused bereft of hope to his soul. Believed to author the Book of Lamentations, prophet Jeremiah had not only vividly narrated what happened to Jerusalem but also detailed the very reasons Jerusalem had to suffer its fate. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary) The Book of Lamentations has five poems. The first poem compared Jerusalem before and after the destruction. The once great nation was ruined and desolated. Weeping and wailing was heard. Hopelessness was evident. Jeremiah declared that such destruction happened because the people of Israel had sinned and rebelled against the Almighty God. The Lord, being a just God, had caused the fall of Jerusalem. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary) The second poem showed God’s wrath over the rebellious people of Israel. The Israelites had experienced the power of God’s anger. He became an enemy and in His anger, God had allowed the people of Israel suffer too much. This poem also tells us the worst condition of those who left in Jerusalem. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary) Having hope and asking the Lord’s forgiveness are depicted in the third poem. Jeremiah was pleading to the Lord to extend His help once again to His people. On the fourth poem, Jeremiah had stressed that everything that happened and everything the people had experienced were because of their uncountable and grievous sins. In the last poem, Jeremiah prayed to God. He begged to God to look at His people again. He begged to God to restore His loving relationship with His children. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary) 2 Chronicles 36. 15-19 tells us the fall of Jerusalem. Israel and Judah both sinned greatly to the Lord, so in 587 BC, God had allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take over Jerusalem (Lamentations, J. W. Rogerson and J. D. W. Dunn). The temple and the wall of Jerusalem were set on fire. All articles and treasures from the temple and from the king and his officials were carried to Babylon. Many were put to death by the sword. Those who were not killed were exiled to Babylon and became slaves. (The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV) The emotions of the author of the Book of Lamentations were so intense. If we were living in those time and we saw the killings by sword, the great fire, the wailing and weeping, we could explain the anguish in Jeremiah’s heart as he wrote the poems. Jeremiah had seen Jerusalem before its fall. The city was busy. Yet after its fall, Jeremiah described it as a place of desolation. The priests who were highly respected also experienced hardships (Lamentations 1. 4 and 2. 20b). Since the city was destroyed, there was no food (Lamentations 2. 12 and 2. 19) and proper shelter (Lamentations 2. 10). Such situations led some women to cook their children just to survive (Lamentations 4. 10). The Israelites were God’s chosen people. God had brought them out of Egypt to the promise land. God made them powerful. In fact, God was the one fighting for them in order to conquer the promise land. But in spite of the many signs of wonders God had showed to them, the Israelites kept sinning against the Lord. The Holy Bible gives us the account of the many events in the lives of the Israelites. The fear of the Lord had spread through many nations. The sins of the Israelites were too great that God’s presence could not withstand. Because of His love to His people he sent messages calling them to repent, return, and obey God (2 Chronicles 36. 15). But they did not listen. They became overconfident that the Lord won’t leave them. The Book of Lamentations is not just an account of the fall of Jerusalem. It’s more on what had caused the fall. God was in control. He allowed the miseries in order to correct His children.

Gemma Lynns Catering Services Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Gemma Lynns Catering Services - Term Paper Example The report will be divided accordingly: The first section of the report will discuss the principles of bookkeeping and accounting, giving an understanding as to why financial statements are important and how Gemma can use these financial statements to aid her in decision making. It will also answer the Gemma's first question regarding her profits. The second part of the report will discuss Gemma's business as it compares with the industry figures. Based on the figures, the report will also indicate the areas in her business that require improvements and provide suggestions on how these can be improved. The third part of the report will discuss Gemma's plans for expansion and provide suggestions on how profitability can be ensured during and after expansion. A section to coordinate the whole report will come after and provide concluding comments regarding the whole report. Gemma's catering business is a private enterprise under single proprietorship. Even though this does not obligate her to publish her accounts, it does not exclude her from having to document her financial records for taxation and other legal purposes. There are at least three minimum documents needed to properly audit her company's finances. Among these are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement, each of which has a specific purpose within a business enterprise.The balance sheet, from which a company's assets are balanced with their liabilities, "shows a 'snapshot' of the firm at the particular point in time"(Blandon, 2001). It contains important information such as the company's assets (cash in the bank, stock, debtors, and fixed assets), liabilities (creditors, tax payables, other types of liabilities such as long-term loans), and net worth.