Foundational Accounting Principles and Terminology Essay Example for Free

Foundational Accounting Principles and Terminology Essay We all know how important the accounting aspect of any business/organization is. It is basically the most important way to manage finances. Without proper accounting for all expenses and finances, a company and/or organization will definitely have a hard time being financially stable. In this paper we will discuss some foundational accounting principles and terminology that are basic but quite essential to the accounting practice. Now let’s discuss some accounting terms beginning with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is a codification of how CPA firms and corporations prepare and present their business income and expense, assets and liabilities on their financial statements. GAAP is not a single accounting rule, but rather the aggregate of many rules on how to account for various transactions. GAAP are more like accounting standards (Wikipedia, 2009). Next we have Contra-Asset Accounts, which is defined as an account which offsets another account. A contra-asset account has a credit balance and offsets the debit balance of the corresponding asset. A contra-liability account has a debit balance and offsets the credit balance of the corresponding liability (InvestorWords, 2009). Let us move on to Historical Cost, which is a measure of value used in accounting in which the price of an asset on the balance sheet is based on its nominal or original cost when acquired by the company. The historical-cost method is used for assets in the U. S. under generally accepted accounting principles (Investopedia, 2009). Okay, now there is the Accrual Basis vs. Cash Bonus Accounting. This is the difference between the two. In Accrual basis accounting, income is reported in the fiscal period it is earned, regardless of when it is received, and expenses are deducted in the fiscal period they are incurred, whether they are paid or not. Basically, you record both revenues and expenses when they occur. In cash basis accounting, revenues are recorded when cash is actually received and expenses are recorded when they are actually paid (Ward, 2009). Last but not least, there is the Accounting Standards Codification. Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) is a major restructuring of accounting and reporting standards designed to simplify user access to all authoritative U. S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) by providing the authoritative literature in a topically organized structure. ASC disassembled and reassembled thousands of nongovernmental accounting pronouncements (including those of FASB, the Emerging Issues Task Force [EITF], and the AICPA) to organize them under approximately 90 topics. The ASC are those that oversee that all accounting and reporting standards are adhered to (Wikipedia, 2009). It is now time to move on to discuss and describe three sets of financial statements that are part of financial statements of companies /organizations. The three sets of financial statements we will be describing are The Balance Sheet, The Income Statement and The Statement of Cash Flows. The balance sheet also known as the â€Å"Statement of financial position† reveals a company’s assets, liabilities and equity (net worth). The balance sheet is divided into two parts that must equal each other, or balance each other out. The formula of the balance sheet is: Assets= Liabilities + Shareholder’s Equity. What this formula means is that assets, or the means used to operate the company, are balanced by a company’s obligations along with equity investment brought into the company and its retained earnings (Investopedia, 2009). Next we have the income statement, which measures a company’s financial performance over a specific accounting period. The financial performance is assessed by giving a summary of how the business incurs its revenues and expenses. It also shows the net profit or loss incurred over a specific accounting period, which is typically over fiscal quarter or year (Investopedia, 2009). Moving on to the last one, which is the cash flow statement. The cash flow statement allows investors to understand how a company’s operations are running, where its money is coming from, and how it is being spent. The cash flow statement is also a mandatory part of a company’s financial report, and has been so since 1987 (Investopedia, 2009). Now I will describe which is more useful, Net Income or Cash from Operating Activities? I believe that Cash from Operating Activities is more useful to companies because they can generate cash in several different ways. Three different ways to be exact, they are cash flows from operating activities, from investing activities, and financing activities. Cash from Operating Activities, in my opinion is the most useful because it paints the best picture of how well a company’s business operations are producing cash. After looking over the annual financial reports for Samsung, RTL Group and Lockheed Martin, I make the prediction that each company will continue to improve its net income as well as see a significant spike in their cash flow. As far as relevant information in regards to conglomerates, such as the IDOLS segment of the Fremantle Media North America, I was not totally sure how to get this information but I eventually continued to read the investor portion on the RTL Group website where I found out more information. All in all, I learned some new definitions when it comes to accounting and decision making. I thought this assignment was intense due to a lot of reading and research, but I believe I got through it well. I look forward to learning more about how accounting and decision making come together. References http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/033104.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/031004.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/incomestatement.asp http://www.investorwords.com/5476/contra_account.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generally_Accepted_Accounting_Principles

Essay examples --

Problem Statement With changing social trends the way information and news is generated, distributed, and consumed is shifting towards digital media due its ability to offer access to the most up-to-date information. Companies such as The New York Times, whose business it built on print-media, will need to embrace this new form of media and deliver its content in a way that relates to the how their current, as well as new consumers wish to access their news. Analysis (External) The external environment that The New York Times operates within includes the encompassing culture and demographics, as well as the changing social trends, technology advances, and changes in the political, economic, and legal environments. The external culture surrounding the newspaper is a recently changing landscape, where the consumer is able to search for and find information quickly and from a number of sources. The consumer is also able to generate their own content easily through online blogs, which adds to the information load that an interested news consumer must sift through in order to obtain an accurate representation of facts. (Peters, Wright, and Witschge, 2012) Social trends and technology advances are a large source of concern with regards to the newspaper’s revenue. More readers are consuming news online, which is changing the landscape of news consumption. The immediacy of news availability through the internet can be more appealing to the casual consumer. Social media sites are also able to be leveraged to share articles and encourage new readers. These social sites can also be used to allow the consumer to take an active role in the conversation through comment fields, which open a new forum between journalist and reader that has p... ...sites on which it is expected to be distributed (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) should be monitored closely for feedback, given the platforms’ excellent resources to do so. The place of delivery is appropriate, due to the previous integration with the consumers’ lives, and the created network that is able to be leveraged to distribute the service most effectively to the target market segment. The price to the consumer is only time viewing the advertisement, which given that they were already visiting a social media site they are likely willing to spend. The product should be appropriately represented in these ads, and the ad itself is the promotional material. The responsibility for running the advertisements would likely fall on a marketing executive, but could also be outsourced to a successful creative studio with experience creating such marketing videos. 

Analysis of Endgame

Modernism is not mere representation to a period of time but it also represents a life style, way of thinking, different perspective to things, and rebel creation of art against previous schools. Therefore we will try to define this movement and present its characteristics especially in literature. Through wandering at Modernism we will take Endgame as an example of the absurd theater that written by Samuel Beckett and we will explain how it embodies the characteristics of Modernism, language, style, and so forth. Modernism is cultural movement that reflects certain changes not only in the arts (literature, drama, painting, music, sculpture, dance, architecture) but in sciences such as physics, chemistry, and so forth. Modernist production rose after World War to break tradition, beliefs, principles, and rules, â€Å"this break includes a strong reaction against established religious, political, and social views†. Therefore Modernism refuses a single way of looking at world and obvious separation between â€Å"right and wrong, good and bad, and hero and villain†. Modernists rebelled against Victorian ideals†. They emphasized humanism over nationalism and how humans were part and responsible to nature, plus â€Å"they challenged the idea that God played an active role in the world†. So this leads them to the concept or notion that â€Å"no person or thing born to specific use† thus they challenged any assumption that point to presence meaning and purpose behind world events. The term â€Å"modernism† includes significantly â€Å"experimental arts† in addition to its rejection for any â€Å"traditional style and conventions†. Its technique is characterized by â€Å"the disruption of chronological linear plot in fiction , the use of fragmentary images and dense allusions in poetry, and the abandonment of realist or naturalist characterization and dialogue in drama†. All these features will be useful in analysis Endgame as an absurdist theater. Endgame â€Å"tends to support the superficial view that people and things are meaningless, without significance†. In comparison between Modernism and conventional drama such as Realism and Naturalism we will find extreme differences between them. Realism in literature was part of a wider movement in the arts to focus on ordinary people and events. Realists tries to portray real life at the period of time (French revolution). It uses technique that represents real speech, action, events and clear emotions. Realist works are characterized by traditional narrative and real story that has real characters, events and conflict. Naturalism is a literary movement which â€Å"characterized by the application of scientific determinism to literature†. It depends on assumption that is real exists in nature. â€Å"Realism and Naturalism are often linked due to its emphasis on realistic people in realistic settings, featuring ordinary people struggling against unseen forces over which they have no control. Realism and Naturalism differs insomuch that Realism focuses on literary technique whereas Naturalism focuses on a specific philosophy†. Through our presentation for the characteristics of Modernism, we will give an example from Endgame that is written by Samuel Beckett. This play belongs to the absurdist theater â€Å"Absurd is that which is devoid of purpose †¦ Cut off from his religious, metaphysical, and transcendental roots, man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd, useless. † Eugene Ionesco. Modernism as style of writing refers to new techniques to communicate the ideas or notions that are presented. One of its features is static, stripped action and dialogue and periods of silence. So it rejects any traditional styles and convention by â€Å"its adoption of radically innovative and often complex, difficult forms†. This is embodied through Endgame. Endgame as the title describes an ending already known in the last part of a chess game, when there are very few pieces left and its masters always study how they guaranty themselves victory through maneuver their enemy into certain position. The play begins with ambiguous Clov's words that stresses on ending â€Å"Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished†. The traditional development of events that involve a beginning and end of a story rejected through absurd theater. Therefore â€Å"The play is not divided into acts or scenes, there is no interval†, thus there is a sense of repetition, some words and phrases return but they are never the same, e. g. â€Å"pain killer†, â€Å"there's no more pain killer†. The repetition of words, the static movement and the general atmosphere point to that nothing will be changed, â€Å"the implication is that the characters live in an unchanging, static state. Each day contains the actions and reactions of the day before, until each event takes on an almost itualistic quality†. Endgame is one-act ply with four characters that divided into two pairs, Hamm and Clov who placed the major roles, Nagg and Nell who not appear at first but throughout the play we will discover that they are Hamm's parents. The sitting for End game is a bare room with two small windows situated high up on the back wall. Hamm seated in wheelchair and he is covered with a sheet. There are two dustbins that Nagg and Nell's lodging. There is along ladder which Clov needs it to look at through windows that high and narrow, the right one looks out over the earth and the left one looks out over the sea. HAMM (wearily): Quiet, quiet, you're keeping me awake. (Pause. ) Talk softer. (Pause. ) If I could sleep I might make love. I'd go into the woods. My eyes would see†¦ the sky, the earth. I'd run, run, they wouldn't catch me. (Pause. ) Nature! (Pause. ) There's something dripping in my head. (Pause. ) A heart, a heart in my head. (Pause. NAGG: Do you hear him? A heart in his head! (He chuckles cautiously. ) NELL: One mustn't laugh at those things, Nagg. Why must you always laugh at them? NAGG: Not so loud! NELL (without lowering her voice): Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. But— This part of the dialogue presents some features of Modernism. Nagg and Nell live in static place (two dustbins) from the beginning to end. They make superficial dialogue between each other that represents unconventional situation and action. As for Hamm, cannot leave his wheelchair nevertheless he is the master and Clove with his mechanical movement is the servant, P. S Clove is the only character who moves on his legs. It also presents the relationships between Hamm and Clov, Nagg and Nell, and the four among each other. The first relationship that embodied by Hamm and Clov represents master/slave and father/son needs, Hamm cannot live without Clov's help because of his inability (blind and disabled), in other hand, Clov needs survival that Hamm provides him. Nagg and Nell's presence in two separated dustbins make them unable to contact with each other but comfort each other, they ‘popping up their heads to call for food† that become ‘a dog biscuit'. The absurd theater also characterized by use of gestures and mime that mixed with quite silence â€Å"pregnant pauses†. Beckett focuses on using mime and gesture to portray the unspoken desires of his characters, and the ways of death dominates our thoughts. Hamm's disability to move from his chair and see by his blind eyes point to that he already died because he cannot do anything to himself only through Clove.

Linking words

To vary the language there are alternatives like besides (dessuten/dessutan) and in addition (i tillegg): She is a good car mechanic. Besides, she is a very nice person. but: It was pouring down, but we managed to finish our work. However is a good alternative for but: His friend, however, didn't like it at all. We can also use expressions like yet, still, nevertheless (likevel) to vary our language: It was pouring down, still/nevertheless we managed to finish our work. or: Would you like to do it now or would you rather wait?The following expressions are often used: ither – or (enten – eller / anten – eller), whether – or (enten – eller / anten – eller), neither – nor (verken – eller): He must either walk or use his bike. Whether you walk or use your bike is the same to me. so: It was a long way to go, so we had to start off quite early. Therefore and consequently are words that could be used as alternatives. There are conjunct ions which introduce subordinate clauses (leddsetninger/leddsetningar).Here are some of the most common ones: Time clauses: when, while (mens), after, before, until/till, since, as soon as, as long as: While e were having breakfast, the sun broke through. Concessive clauses (innr?mmelse/ vedg?ing): though/although/even though/even if (selv om / sJ?lv 0m), whatever (hva – enn / kva – enn), no matter who/what/when/how (uansett hvem, hva, n?r, hvordan / uansett kven, kva, n?r, korleis): We tried once more, even though we knew it wouldn't work. Whatever you do, please dont leave me here!Comparative clauses (sammenlignende/samanliknande): than (enn), as – as: He did much better than me, even though I did as well as I could. Conditional clauses (betingelse/vilk?r): if, unless (med mindre), provided (that) (forutsatt at / f?resett at), as long as: I'll go if you go! This won't work unless you get more help. Causal clauses (?rsak): because, since, as: He wouldn't listen to me, because he was so angry. Since/As he was so angry, he wouldn't listen to me. Using Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns (who, which, that) are used to combine sentences: I have two good friends.They will come to me tomorrow. – I have two good friends, who will come to me tomorrow. Jogging is a nice sport. Everybody can do this sport. – Jogging is a nice sport, which everybody can do. Combining sentences with relative pronouns is more common in written English than in spoken English. Using Ing-torms The ing-form of the verb can be used to make the language more varied and often better. Look at the two sentences She was walking through the main street and She met two good friends.They can be combined by using a conjunction: While she was walking through the main street, she met two good friends. But you can also use an ng-form and shorten the sentence: Walking through the main street, she met two good friends. NB! When you use an ing-form like this, the subject of the two parts must be the same. Another example: Standing in front of me, she could see the stage much better. An ing-form can be used to replace a defining (n?dvendig) relative clause: Did you talk to the person who passed you? – Did you talk to the person passing you?Using Infinitive Constructions Infinitive constructions can be used to make sentences â€Å"flow† better. Look at the ollowing examples where that, when, where, how, what sentences are replaced by infinitive constructions: I was glad that I could leave – I was glad to leave. She was sorry when she heard about the accident – She was sorry to hear about the accident. We found out where we could leave our luggage – We found out where to leave our luggage. He knew how he would get to the place – He knew how to get to the place. Do you understand what you have to do? Do you understand what to do? NB! The subject in the main clause and the subordinate clause must be the same. Look at the following sentence: My father told me what I should do. In sentences where the indirect object (me) is the same as the subject of the subordinate clause (l), we can use an infinitive construction to improve our language: My father told me what to do. Using Special Expressions There are lots of words and expressions which can be used to bind sentences together and which can help us continue a special line of thought.Here are some which you may find useful: to begin with/flrst of all – for det f?rste in the first place secondly, thirdly for det andre, for det tredJe finally – til slutt to sum up – for ? runde av besides – dessuten/dessutan turtnermore – videre/vidare in addition – i tillegg on the contrary – tvert i mot on the one hand – p? den ene siden / p? den eine sida on the other hand – p? den andre siden / p? den andre sida because of this – p? grunn av dette consequently – derfor for this reaso n – av denne grunn above all – framfor alt first and foremost – f?rst og fremst in spite of, despite – til tross for / trass i yet, still, nevertheless – likevel

Analysis of the Anti-Hero in the movie Blow essays

Analysis of the Anti-Hero in the movie Blow essays Why is it that in life we come across so many people who we know that we shouldnt care about, but we do any way? They could be committing the most horrible crimes but there is something that still draws us to them. We can identify with them, they mystify us and we do care, we dont want anything to happen to them. In movies, when we see this type of person on screen, we distinguish them by calling them the antihero. Their image is created by numerous good and bad qualities that make them who they are. In the movie Blow, the main character, George Jung, played by Johnny Depp is considered to be the antihero. George Jung is an only child coming from a lower class family. His father works extremely hard to provide a proper life for his son and wife. However, no matter how hard he works, his wife is never happy. George has a rough childhood. He has to constantly watch his father and mother fight. His mother takes everything for granted while his father struggles to keep the family surviving. George continues to become more distant from his mother and develops a strong relationship with his father. George takes sympathy for his father and hates how they have to live. He vows to his father that when he gets older, he never wants to be poor. His father replies to him that he never would, but also tells him that money doesnt matter. This will come to be one of the biggest and hardest lessons that George learns the hard way. George grows up and realizes he needs to get out of the suburbs where everything went wrong for him and his family. George has a good heart and is very friendly, but he has one major downfall. This is the fact that he is very lazy. He wants money but he doesnt want to have to work for it. This is how everything gets started and is how he gets involved with dealing cocaine. George creates a whole new life for himself and has numerous close friends. He is having the...

Sperm Whale Facts (Cachalot)

Sperm Whale Facts (Cachalot) The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is the worlds largest toothed predator and loudest animal. The whales common name is the shortened form of spermaceti whale, and refers to the oily fluid found in the animals head, which was originally mistaken for whale semen. The cetaceans other common name is cachalot, which derives from an ancient French word for big teeth. Sperm whales do have large teeth, each weighing up to 2.2 pounds, but they dont actually use them for eating. Fast Facts: Sperm Whale Scientific Name: Physeter macrocephalusCommon Names: Sperm whale, cachalotBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 36-52 feetWeight: 15-45 tonsLifespan: 70 yearsDiet: CarnivoreHabitat: Oceans worldwidePopulation: UnknownConservation Status: Vulnerable Description Sperm whales are easily recognized by their distinctive shape, their flukes (tail lobes), and blow pattern. The whale has a large rectangular head with narrow jaw, raised ridges on its back instead of dorsal fins, and huge triangular flukes. It has an S-shaped blowhole set toward the front, left side of its head that blows a forward-angled spray when the whale breathes. The species displays a high degree of sexual dimorphism. While males and females are the same size at birth, mature males are 30-50% longer and up to three times more massive than adult females. On average, males are about 52 feet in length and weigh 45 tons, while females are 36 feet in length and weigh 15 tons. However, there are documented reports of males measuring 67 feet long and weighing 63 tons and claims of males reaching 80 feet in length. While most large whales have smooth skin, sperm whale skin is wrinkled. Usually it is gray in color, but there are albino sperm whales. Sperm whales have the largest brains of any animals, either living or extinct. On average, the brain weighs about 17 pounds. Like other toothed whales, the sperm whale can retract or protrude its eyes. The whales communicate using vocalization and echolocation. Sperm whales are the loudest animals on Earth, capable of producing sounds as loud as 230 decibels. The sperm whales head contains the spermaceti organ which produces a waxy fluid called spermaceti or sperm oil. Studies indicate spermaceti helps the animal generate and focus sound, may facilitate ramming combat, and could serve a function during whale diving. While whales vomit most undigestible matter, some squid beaks make it to the intestine and cause irritation. The whale produces ambergris in response, much like oysters synthesize pearls. Sperm whales have distinctive triangular flukes. georgeclerk / Getty Images Habitat and Distribution Sperm whales live in oceans around the world. They prefer ice-free water that is over 3300 feet deep but will venture close to shore. Only males frequent the polar regions. The species is not found in the Black Sea. It appears to be locally extinct off the coast of southern Australia. Diet Sperm whales are carnivores that primarily hunt squid, but also eat octopuses, fish, and bioluminescent tunicates. The whales have excellent vision and may hunt by watching the water above them for squid silhouettes or by detecting bioluminescence. They can dive for over an hour and at depths up to 6600 feet in search of food, using echolocation to map their surroundings in the dark. Aside from humans, the only significant sperm whale predator is the orca. Behavior Pods of sperm whales sleep at night. The whales position themselves vertically with their heads near the surface. Mature males form bachelor groups or live solitary lives except for mating. Females group with other females and their young. Reproduction and Offspring Females become sexually mature around 9 years of age, while males mature at 18 years. Males fight with other males for mating rights, probably using teeth and ramming competitors. The pair separate after mating, with males providing no care to offspring. After 14 to 16 months gestation, the female gives birth to a single calf. The newborn is about 13 feet long and weighs over one ton. Pod members cooperate to protect calves. Calves typically nurse for 19 to 42 months, sometimes from females besides their mothers. After reaching maturity, females give birth just once every 4 to 20 years. The oldest recorded pregnant female was 41 years old. Sperm whales may live over 70 years. Female sperm whales care for other calves within the pod. by wildestanimal / Getty Images Conservation Status The IUCN classifies the sperm whale conservation status as vulnerable, while the United States Endangered Species Act lists it as endangered. Sperm whales are listed on Appendix I and Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Numerous other agreements also protect the whales throughout much of their range. Sperm whales reproduce slowly and are widely distributed, so the total population size and population trend are unknown. Some researchers estimate there may be hundreds of thousands of sperm whales. Threats While largely protected worldwide, Japan continues to take some sperm whales. However, the species greatest threats are ship collisions and entanglement in fishing nets. Sperm whales may also be at risk from chemical pollution, noise pollution, and debris such as plastic. Sperm Whales and Humans The sperm whale is featured in Jules Vernes Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and in Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick, which is based on the true story of the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820. While sperm whales do not hunt humans, its theoretically possible a person could be eaten. There is one story of a sailor swallowed by a sperm whale in the early 1900s and surviving the experience. Sperm whale teeth remain important cultural objects in the Pacific islands. While sperm oil use has fallen out of vogue, ambergris may still be used as a perfume fixative. Today, sperm whales are a source of ecotourism income for whale watching off the coasts of Norway, New Zealand, the Azores, and Dominica. Sources Clarke, M.R. Function of the Spermaceti Organ of the Sperm Whale. Nature. 228 (5274): 873–874, November, 1970. doi:10.1038/228873a0Fristrup, K. M. and G. R. Harbison. How do sperm whales catch squids?. Marine Mammal Science. 18 (1): 42–54, 2002. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2002.tb01017.xMead, J.G. and R. L. Brownell, Jr. Order Cetacea. In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.  Taylor, B.L., Baird, R., Barlow, J., Dawson, S.M., Ford, J., Mead, J.G., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Wade, P. Pitman, R.L. Physeter macrocephalus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T41755A10554884. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T41755A10554884.enWhitehead, H. and L. Weilgart. The Sperm Whale. In Mann, J.; Connor, R.; Tyack, P. Whitehead, H. (eds.). Cetacean Societies. The University of Chicago Press. 2000. ISBN 978-0-226-50341-7.

An investigation and enquiry into Monologues Essay

An investigation and enquiry into Monologues - Essay Example Coming to the origin of monologues, dramatic monologues are a literary product of the 19th century. They can be labelled appropriately as the Victorian invention as the form was invented and practiced mainly by the Victorian poets including Robert Browning, Tennyson, Rossetti, and others. The earliest articulation of dramatic monologues can be identified with the advent of the intelligent criminal in the Victorian periods, and the growing concern for exploring the criminal psyche (Sinfield, 1977). Dramatic monologue is also a kind of per formative psychoanalysis as it attempts to explore the speaker’s mind. Browning is highly regarded for his ability to create devious characters in his poems. His monologues portray a complex characterization of the speakers although in a subtler way. In â€Å"My Last Duchess†, Browning’s speaker is a pompous Italian Duke who shows off the portrait of his young gracious wife he had executed. The speaker’s dissatisfaction wi th his wife’s unaffected graciousness is prominent in the monologue as quoted by Sinfield (Sinfield 4), The pleasant and gracious nature of the Duchess is communicated through the Duke’s words, however, the Duke does not intend to appreciate it in any way. There are considerable disagreements among critics with regard to the Duke’s callous revelation of the death of the last Duchess. Either the Duke is too self-possessed to care about what others think, or he intends to warn his next Duchess. The monologue demonstrates the strong obsession of the Duke who is â€Å"still obsessed with the remarkable girl he failed to dominate, and impelled to justify to himself and others his ruthless response.† (Sinfield 5) Unlike Browning’s subtle speaker characterization, speakers in Shakespeare’s monologues (Shakespearean soliloquies) reveal their deepest confessions rather blatantly. Perhaps, the best known Shakespearean monologue is the ‘To be or not to be’ monologue by the protagonist in Hamlet.