Just acCount it!

Despite surface impressions, the field of accounting requires an underestimated amount of background knowledge and communication. Based on what I’ve been able to gather with almost two years of being in the accounting program at BYU, I’ve decided that the following will address the importance of understanding the history of accounting – supplemented with a few historical examples and the importance of communicating effectively within the field – broken in to two different contexts. Though these topics create a list that is far from an exhaustive description of the important forms of communication, I believe them to be critical based on my interactions with accounting professors and an internship with the nation’s top accounting firm, PwC.

History of Accounting

The tablet above holds accounting
information dated as far back as 3200  BC

Of all the things humanity has created – arts, theatre, technology, medicine – keeping track of money/valuables is one of the oldest. Even back to the days of the flood, Noah was instructed to take an accounting of the Lord’s valuables (His creations, the animals). Down through Moses we have records of accounting (i.e. the entire book of Numbers). Trade records and bartering systems were all accounted for and assessed, if not on a social level then on an individual one. Men have always been trying to be richer than his neighbor. And how does he know he’s rich? He accounts for what he and his neighbor have. In ancient Greece, officers were required to give accountings of the fund entrusted to them at the conclusion of their service. They were expected to properly manage the funds that had been given them. The importance of wealth and stewardship were not lost on the Greek and so they were sure to require an accounting of those who had been given so much. In ancient Rome, accounting played a particularly important role in leading the home. Fathers were expected to keep track of the accounts of the household. Fortunately, the lack of credit cards and predating of shopping malls made monitoring teenage spending significantly easier. Most purchasers were made with cash; however, there are clear indication that receivables and payables were set up with merchants and customers. As time lapsed into the medieval ages, we see an apparent retrogression of the accounting systems however apparently “Charlemagne had an elaborate system of accounting for income and expenditures and required detailed reports from all his subordinates.” (Kester, 1917)

Accounting has been formalized and structured over the centuries. In fact, in a more recent vein, the reliance on the way we account for things has a tremendous impact on everyone’s daily life. The value we give to different currency; the price floors and ceilings that certain markets and commodities bear; and the amount of money we pay in taxes each year all depend how we account for our money. On a nationwide scale, the most significant change to the accounting system in recent history is the Sarbanes-Oxley act passed in the wake of the Enron/Arthur Anderson debacle (Koehn and Stephen, 2004). This act revamped the way big businesses are allowed to account for their money. How does this affect the average consumer? Corporation now have to pay significantly more to have their accounts managed, these types of costs are always passed on to the consumer.

Accounting has been around a long time, and will be around forever. At the very least, men and women will always be required to give an accounting of the labors, which very well may include how we spend our money/substance.

Communication in Accounting

Two man avenues of communication exist in the accounting field. The first is internal with our fellow employees and managers. The second is with the customer or other external entities.

Internal Communication

Like the ever-ticking hands of an ornate grandfather clock, the world of business clicks on at an undeviating and unrelenting pace. Only the most competent and most exact companies survive the grueling grind of the free market. This medium of exchange, for innumerable vendors and consumers, demands specific type of communication -- a communication that one only understands by understanding the nature of business itself. This nature has two underlying fundamental principles that drive everything in the world of industry – efficiency and accuracy. Companies must produce every product and every service on time and to proper specification. Therefore, essentially all material communication works to meet those ends.

Accounting firms have a focused and restricted environment of communication. Information is exchanged almost exclusively on need-based circumstances. Accountants will use any type of communication necessary to obtain the requisite information as efficiently and accurately as possible. They will make phone calls at almost any time of day, they will send emails as soon as problems arise, and if necessary, they will physically visit other employees or customers in search of a solution. Accounting firms provide services to clients and charge those clients based on the amount of time it takes them to render those services. Therefore, the only way a firm can lower the cost of services it provides to the client, and consequently make the client happier, is to reduce the amount of time spent on each project. To that end, accountants prefer to communicate over any medium that resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

For example, when management decisions are being made, a team of executives will gather to discuss the issue. They do not mince words and do not particularly care about how they come across to their peers. They all have one goal in mind, discus the facts and reach the best conclusion for the company. A high-performing, management team will set aside egos, pride, and pleasantries, to optimize the efficiency and accuracy of their communication.

External Communication

Among the biggest firms, clients will need to pay an average of $300 dollars an hour for accounting services. For clients that have large tax returns, which are literally one and a half feet tall when everything is printed out and stacked together, the firm can receive into the hundreds of thousands in revenue. Naturally, these clients have tremendous leverage over the firm in the sense that they can easily take their business to another firm if the previous does not meet their expectations. This bargaining power engenders tremendous focus on positive, client relationships. The firm will do everything they can to ensure that they maintain a healthy association with all of their clients – especially large ones. The following fictitious story illustrates the need for respectful and tactful but effective communication.

Michael the a tax manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers has longer had the Walt Disney Corporation assigned to him to ensure that their corporate tax returns are always filed on time and accurately. Michael thoroughly enjoys working with Disney as they almost never have any issues with how they have classified and reported their income. This proficiency means that despite Disney’s extraordinary size, filling out the tax returns is not overly complex. However, Michael is a diligent employee and always double checks.

On one unfortunate day he discovers an error – a gross error—an error of such blatant magnitude and nature that it would have unlikely been missed by the usually meticulous Disney tax preparers. Perplexed, Michael sends a quick email to his contact at Disney inquiring about the discrepancy. He receives a reply in a uncharacteristically short period of time that indicated he should not worry about the supposed error because it is not an error due to xyz explanation. This made Michael even more concerned. Not only would such an inquiry much more time to investigate than Disney took to respond, very suspicious, but also the explanation made no sense. Michael drafted another email that explained the error and politely elaborated on the proper solution. Again, Disney responded quickly and tersely. They adamantly reaffirmed their position and offered no further explanation. Michael knew he would need more authority in his next correspondence. He called an IRS hotline, available exclusively to the top accounting firms, received congruent advice. He the drafted the following email:

Dear Sarah:

Thank you very much for your prompt correspondence over the last few weeks. I am again writing regarding the allocation of income discussed in previous emails. I apologize for any annoyance caused by my persistence on this matter. I assure you my sole concern is to ensure that Disney avoids any penalties associated with inaccurate filling.

Regarding, the allocation of interest income generated by off-shore, related entities – specifically those related to Disney Cruise Lines must be reported as ordinary income. The internal revenue code very clearly states that all revenues received for engaging in the normal course of business must be classified as ordinary income not income received from capital gains despite the fact that Disney Cruise Lines is a capital investment that exists independent of The Disney Corporation. Furthermore, I called the IRS to receive further clarification about the proper allocation of this income and they confirmed the above opinion.

We cannot sign the return until the income has been reclassified. We are very grateful for your understanding and again apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Sincerely,

Michael the Manager

The above scenario illustrates the need for tactful and courteous communication. Had Michael handled the situation poorly, he would have risked losing one of the firm’s biggest clients. Fortunately, it was handled well because Michael remained polite and unassuming. Though it seemed very suspicious that such an experienced firm should make such an egregious error and not fix it, Michael did not make an assumptions or accusations. Instead, he calmly investigated the matter and presented his case to the extent that either Disney would have to file a return without PwC and likely receive a penalty, or they could change the way they classified their income. Respectful style and appropriate delivery are paramount.

Conclusion

Accountants are always looking for new and more creative ways of saving their company and clients’ money. When we understand the importance of the history of accounting, we will be far less susceptible making the same mistakes.  After all, a creative form of accounting caused the largest business scandal in recent history. Furthermore, the need for appropriate communication is constant. Accountants cannot succeed in their field without understand how to express themselves in the varying situations that they will encounter.

Accounting Framework

Audience Profile

The individuals who will likely find the most interest in my posts will be those seeking to enter the field of business, specifically accounting. Most pre-accounting majors have a moderate proficiency towards numbers and analytics. There is a greater than no probably that they succeeded, if not excelled, at mathematics in high school and their general studies. Most of these types of individuals tend to be more left-brained, focusing heavily on logic and reason and not as much on creativity and innovation. After securing a place in the School of Accountancy, every student is exposed to courses that teach to the importance of adequate professional communication. Furthermore, throughout several of the courses reviews of recent accounting history are covered to further the understanding of current practices. As accounting students’ progress in their studies, they will receive exposure to a variety of public accounting firms and industry oriented corporations – most of which recruit eagerly. Between their junior and senior year most will engage in internships with the companies they hope to work for after graduation.

Context

Accounting students need to prepare for the rigors of their future profession, especially those going into public accounting. Especially in public accounting, the accounting environment has significantly more stress than people might naturally think. Accountants are responsible for managing the life of blood of every corporation – money. Most entrepreneurs fail in starting their businesses because they do not understand the importance of accounting. They think that it is something that just makes sense or can be felt out. More often than not, it takes a great deal of understanding accounting principles to make a business succeed. It is imperative that students understand the source of the accounting general principles. Memorizing account rules and guidelines will provide an insufficient knowledge base to perform successfully in a specific field. Codes cannot guide every decision and understanding the logic and the history behind the current codes will help every accountant adjust to the uniqueness of his or her situation. Additionally, some managers foolhardily ignore accountants. Part of the blames lies with the accountants who do not communicate very well. Communications that are awkward, unfriendly or overly lengthy will, regardless of their importance, be must more difficult to hear. To be successful, accountants must understand the history of their field and how to communicate successfully within it.

Rhetoric

Accountants must rely mostly on heavily on epideictic patterns of communication. It cannot not be overstated how important it is to ensure that all arguments are based on facts or very feasible postulations in order to persuade successfully. Furthermore, an accountant must master the skill of articulating an argument. Managers and coworkers will not give much more weight to the argument that is articulated well. Articulation indicates sophistication. People in the business world will always be more inclined to listen to someone who sounds like they know what they are talking about. If an accountant will attach strong, fact-based logic to articulation, he or she will become extremely persuasive.

History

As mention previously, history helps accountants understand why certain laws were made. All of the most significant regulations based in recent accounting history have been passed in response to some significant event. Most regulations come into existence because someone somewhere exploited somebody (or organization) with ethical business practices. The accounting codification helps accountants navigate black and white decisions, but the history of the regulations will ensure successful navigation of the more frequent and costly gray decisions.

Development Plan

I think my post on history in accounting and the one on style and delivery in accounting say most of what I think is important to express. Frankly one of the biggest concerns with recruiters from BYU’s accounting program is that the graduates communicate poorly. I really want to focus on the communication aspect of this assignment because that would give the most benefit to accounting students. Most of the students are already extremely intelligent and well instructed in the history of accounting, more importantly they lack people skills. I think a well-written explanation of the paramount importance of pleasant, polished communication will provide the most positive impact for the most likely readers.

Business Business Business... Numbers

Accounting in Antiquity

The age of the accounting trade is frankly a sad commentary on the world. Of all the things humanity has created – arts, theatre, technology, medicine – keeping track of money/valuables is one of the oldest. Even back to the days of the flood, Noah was instructed to take an accounting of the Lord’s valuables (His creations the animals). Down through Moses we have records of accounting (i.e. the entire book of Numbers). Trade records and bartering systems were al accounted for and assessed, if not on a social level then on an individual one. Men have always been trying to be richer than his neighbor. And how does he know he’s rich? He accounts for what he and his neighbor have. In ancient Greece, officers were required to give accountings of the fund entrusted to them at the conclusion of their service. They were expected to properly manage the funds that had been given them. The importance of wealth and stewardship were not lost on the Greek and so they were sure to require an accounting of those who had been given so much. In ancient Rome, accounting played a particularly important role in leading the home. Fathers were expected to keep track of the accounts of the home. Fortunately, the lack of credit cards and predating of shopping malls made monitoring teenage spending significantly easier. Most purchasers were made with cash; however, there are clear indication that receivables and payables were set up with merchants and customers. As time lapsed into the medieval ages, we say an apparent retrogression of the accounting systems however apparently “Charlemagne had an elaborate system of accounting for income and expenditures and required detailed reports from all his subordinates.” (Kester, 1917)

Accounting in a less Ancient Time

Accounting has been formalized and structured over the centuries. In fact, the reliance on the way we account for things has a tremendous impact on everyone’s daily life. The value we give to different currency; the prices floors and ceilings that certain markets and commodities bear; and the amount of money we pay in taxes each year all depend how we account for our money. On a nationwide scale, the most significant change to the accounting system in recent history is the Sarbanes-Oxley act passed in the wake of the Enron/Arthur Anderson debacle (Koehn and Stephen, 2004). This act revamped the way big businesses are allowed to account for their money. How does this affect the average consumer? Corporation now have to pay significantly more to have their accounts managed, these types of costs are always passed on to the consumer.

Accounting has been around a long time, and will be around forever. At the very least, men and women will always be required to give an accounting of the labors, which very well may include how we spend our money/substance.

Kester, R. (1917). Accounting - Theory and Practice. In Accounting Theory and Practice (pp. 2-4). New York: Ronald Press Company.

Koehn, Jo Lynne, and Stephen C. Del Vecchio. "Ripple Effects Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act." CPA Journal 74.2 (2004): 36. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

Blessings rock!

Hey! Blessings! Have I told you guys how much I love you?! (apostrophe) I mean, let’s be honest. You guys, are pretty great. You’re possible the greatest things in my life! You make me just as happy as ice cream when I’m sick (comparison). I wish I could spend more time counting these amazing blessings that I have in my life. I see them standing in a queue waiting patiently for their turn to make me happy!(personification) Unlikely those annoying cursing which always try to ruin my day. Like have you ever noticed when you’re having a great day and then all of the sudden everything seems to be going wrong? Ya, it’s obnoxious (digression and opposition). 

As I was saying, blessings are rad. In my life, blessings mean family and friends. They mean a healthy spirit and a healthy mind. They mean knowing that I’m living my life in the best possible way (definition). I truly feel as though I am blessed beyond my deserving.

High-low Balance

In an effort to persuade the audience, Augustine relies heavily on the testimony and documentation of the prophets of old to fuel his main rhetorical function of teaching. The fast majority of his discourse relies on his ability to instruct the audience on the nature and intricacies of repentance and forgiveness. Augustine goes to great length to implement the Lord’s Prayer as median to instruct the people. He quotes the line “forgive us our debts” from the that Prayer implying that none in attendance could sincerely utter that line to the Lord if he has not already at least attempted to repentant to those whom we have wronged and forgive those who have wronged us. Furthermore, Augustine makes meticulous work of teaching the need to forgive those who have wronged us and then let go. He makes it abundantly clear that once we have forgiven those who have offended, we need not be concerned with that act any more. He ingrains his point into the reader with effective use of anaphora.

Though his main rhetorical function is a low level of just teaching, he definitely amps up his speech by calling to action. Inherent in teaching about repentance and forgiveness is an appeal to be repentant and be forgiving. Though this high level of style was in the vast minority for the bulk of the sermon, I think the ratio seems appropriate. One would be hard pressed to sustain such a high level of style for an extended period of time. Furthermore, it would be extremely stressful for the audience to be called to action, either directly or indirectly, for an overly extended period. At the end of the day, Augustine does an excellent job teaching the people why they need to repent and helping motivate everyone to do so.

Love Everyone!

Mathew 5

 46 For if ye ^alove them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Rhetorical Question:

These two verses teach one of the most powerful principles available to us in canonized scriptures by asking question to which Christ does not need nor want answers. These questions are designed to bring the good out in each of us. A person who is inherently good and has natural tendency to do the right thing will answer these questions to himself or herself realizing the higher law to which Christ calls. On the other hand, someone who is more inclined to unsavory behavior will not make any sense out of this question that Christ asks. They will miss the call to live the higher law. These rhetorical questions masterful allow Christ to teach pearls of wisdom to his disciples while protecting their value from the swine who would also listen.

Parallelism:

A very common rhetorical device used in scriptural language. The syntax of the above pair of verse mimics one another to add emphasis by contrasting the non-paralleled preceding verses. This emphasis allows Christ to teach His disciples what is truly important, and serves a sort of highlighter for His epic sermon on the mount.

Style and Delivery in Accounting

Among the biggest firms, clients will need to pay an average of $300 dollars an hour for accounting services. For clients that have large tax returns, which are literally one and a half feet tall when everything is printed out and stacked together, the firm can receive into the hundreds of thousands

 in revenue. Naturally, these clients have tremendous leverage over the firm in the sense that they can easily take their business to another firm if the previous does not meet their expectations. This bargaining power engenders tremendous focus on positive, client relationships. The firm will do everything they can to ensure that they maintain a healthy association with all of their clients – especially large ones.

Michael the a tax manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers has longer had the Walt Disney Corporation assigned to him to ensure that their corporate tax returns are always filed on time and accurately. Michael thoroughly enjoys working with Disney as they almost never have any issues with how they have classified and reported their income. This proficiency means that despite Disney’s extraordinary size, filling out the tax returns is not overly complex. However, Michael is a diligent employee and always double checks.

On one unfortunate day he discovers an error – a gross error—an error of such blatant magnitude and nature that it would have unlikely been missed by the usually meticulous Disney tax preparers.  Perplexed, Michael sends a quick email to his contact at Disney inquiring about the discrepancy. He receives a reply in a uncharacteristically short period of time that indicated he should not worry about the supposed error because it is not an error due to xyz explanation. This made Michael even more concerned. Not only would such an inquiry much more time to investigate than Disney took to respond, very suspicious, but also the explanation made no sense. Michael drafted another email that explained the error and politely elaborated on the proper solution. Again, Disney responded quickly and tersely. They adamantly reaffirmed their position and offered no further explanation. Michael knew he would need more authority in his next correspondence. He called an IRS hotline, available exclusively to the top accounting firms, received congruent advice. He the drafted the following email:

Dear Sarah:

Thank you very much for your prompt correspondence over the last few weeks. I am again writing regarding the allocation of income discussed in previous emails. I apologize for any annoyance caused by my persistence on this matter. I assure you my sole concern is to ensure that Disney avoids any penalties associated with inaccurate filling.

Regarding, the allocation of interest income generated by off-shore, related entities – specifically those related to Disney Cruise Lines must be reported as ordinary income. The internal revenue code very clearly states that all revenues received for engaging in the normal course of business must be classified as ordinary income not income received from capital gains despite the fact that Disney Cruise Lines is a capital investment that exists independent of The Disney Corporation. Furthermore, I called the IRS to receive further clarification about the proper allocation of this income and they confirmed the above opinion.

We cannot sign the return until the income has been reclassified. We are very grateful for your understanding and again apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Sincerely,

Michael the Manager

The above situation was handled well because Michael remained polite and unassuming. Though it seemed very suspicious that such a big firm that is usually very familiar with the tax code should make such an egregious error and not fix it, Michael did not make an assumptions or accusations. 

Instead, he calmly investigated the matter and presented his case to the extent that either Disney would have to file a return without PwC and likely receive a penalty, or they could change the way they classified their income. Respectful style and appropriate delivery are paramount.

Conflict Issues and Special Topics of Invention in Accounting

A Point of Conflict in Accounting

A common point of conflict in the field of accounting exists between non-management level employees and management concerning the logging of time it takes to complete projects for clients. The amount of time an employee logs dictates how much the firm will charge the client. If a project takes less time than projected than the firm charges the client less and makes the client happy – everyone wins. If an employee take longer than the budgeted amount of time then the firm has to charge the client more money to cover the cost of the employee. The added cost makes the client unhappy and the firm will come down hard on the employee. This will motivate employees who fall behind under report the amount of time it took them to complete a project. Though this falsified report seems to not hurt anyone the company ends up at a deficit because they still have to pay the employee for the extra time but they do not get to charge the client extra money to compensate. So management is constantly engaged in a campaign to persuade their employees to be honest with reporting their hours.

A Possible Conflict

A partner, Pam, notices one of her senior associates, Sebastian, working long hours on his only project. After a few weeks, Sebastian finished his work and turned in an excellent project. Pam then checks to see how the client should be charged for Sebastian’s work. Though pleased with his work, Pam was a little hesitant to check the hours, as she was certain he went way over to create such a quality project. To her surprise, the hours were within the budgeted amount. She promptly called Sebastian into her office where she inquired about the hours expended. A little defensively, Sebastian said that he worked what he stated. Furthermore, he asserted that even if he had worked longer it was only his own time that he wasted so it should not make a difference. With an impressive employment of judicial invention, Pam explains to Sebastian that, outside of the fact that understating hours is unethical and a lie, it really is not fair to the company that we give clients projects that cost more than we charge them. In the future, clients will be expecting projects of a quality that cannot be replicated in the budgeted amount of time. It is only fair (JUSTICE) that the client be charged the amount that reflects the true cost of labor.

"If Truth were Self-Evident, Eloquence would be Unnecessary"

In both of his publications, Cicero facilitates fascinating insight on persuasion. Firstly, in his book, De Inventione, Cicero develops the powerful idea of eloquence. He asserts that epideictic ability alone does not have sufficient strength to persuade. One cannot simply state a series of facts and find satisfactory results. Instead, eloquence must enhance the epidictic dialogue. Cicero even states, “The function of eloquence is to speak in order to persuade an audience; its goal is persuasion by speech.”  The inverse must also be true. If a speech is deprived of eloquence it will not persuade, and thus the purpose behind the speech will not be realized.

It seemed to me that the idea of eloquence was also developed in the discussion on oration in De Oratore.  The idea expressed by Crassus that, “An orator must know how to rouse or quell men’s emotions [and] words alone are insufficient” seems to indicate that if eloquence and epideictic are two sides of the same coin, then the name of that coin is oration. One must be both proficient in the manner in which the content is delivered but also the content itself. The later was a discussed thoroughly in a very manner reminiscent of the sophist ideology. The quoted dialogue of Crassus, Antonius, Scaevola, and Sulpicious heavily debated the idea of whether or not it was possible to attain the theoretically requisite amount of knowledge to be able to effectively argue on any topic.

I think Brooke does an excellent job relating the above principles to the ideas presented by Aristotle in discourses on rhetoric. Cicero breaks down the above idea into their most fundamental form so the reader can best understand how to develop the skills discussed. After all, “How incredible it is that few men, using the abilities given to most men, have the power to interest, motivate, and persuade their fellow men.”

Communication and Persuasion in Business and Accounting

Communication and persuasion have integrated themselves into the world of business. As my field of choice is accounting, I will address the roles of communication and persuasion in the world of business generally, and then apply it to the field of accounting specifically.

Like the ever-ticking hands of an ornate grandfather clock, the world of business clicks on at an undeviating and unrelenting pace. Only the most competent and most exact companies survive the grueling grind of the free market. This medium of exchange, for innumerable vendors and consumers, demands specific type of communication -- a communication that one only understands by understanding the nature of business itself. This nature has two underlying fundamental principles that drive everything in the world of industry – efficiency and accuracy. Companies must produce every product and every service on time and to proper specification. Therefore, essentially all material communication works to meet those ends.

Some industries require more communication than others. For example, tech companies thrive on innovative thinking and break-through ideas. This need lends for a more open and free exchange of information. On the other hand, accounting firms have a more focused and restricted environment of communication. Information is exchanged almost exclusively on need-based circumstances. Accountants will use any type of communication necessary to obtain the requisite information as efficiently and accurately as possible. They will make phone calls at almost any time of day, they will send emails as soon as problems arise, and if necessary, they will physically visit other employees or customers in search of a solution. Accounting firms provide services to clients and charge those clients based on the amount of time it takes them to render those services. Therefore, the only way a firm can lower the cost of services it provides to the client, and consequently make the client happier, is to reduce the amount of time spent on each project. To that end, accountants will preference communication, over any medium that resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

Along with communication, the ideas of efficiency and accuracy greatly influence how businesses will implement persuasion in their own lines of service. For example, a manufacturing company will put forth a herculean effort to ensure they pay the lowest price on any raw materials utilized in their manufacturing processes. Back in the world of accounting, persuasion most often occurs internally when making management decisions as opposed to external with the customer because more often than not rates are fixed and comparable to the competition. The main differentiation between one firm and another is their ability to produce a more quality product sooner (and thus cheaper). When management decisions are being made, a team of executives will gather to discuss the issue. They do not mince words and do not particularly care about how they come across to their peers. They all have one goal in mind, discus the facts and reach the best conclusion for the company. A high-performing management team will set aside egos, pride, and pleasantries, to optimize the efficiency of their persuasion as well as its accuracy.

The way accountants will tend to try to persuade one another reflects accurately on their personality. Most accountants have a straightforward, brash personality. They will make comments that seem rude and callous, when in truth offensive is rarely intended. Their observations tend to be unfiltered and unflattering. However, this means that a compliment from an accountant is more sincere, albeit rare, than most.

I have always wanted to be successful in the world of business. My dream is to own my own company. However, I have never wanted to be an accountant and frankly do not particularly enjoy this field of study. Instead, I always wanted to work with computers and about a year and a half ago I was debating on whether I should pursue an IS degree or an Accounting degree. I had a very influential and "moving" conversation with my dad that went something like this:

Me: “Dad, what do you think? What should I do?”

Dad: “You want to go into business right and manage a company?”

Me: “Yep”

Dad: “Then you would be stupid to not receive a degree from the nations top accounting program”

Me: “Ok, I’ll major in accounting”

And this is how life decisions are made in the Noren Home.

Death and Taxes .. but mainly Taxes

The Romans had a very complicated tax system that was used to finance the expansive empire. Taxes got as high as five percent. The different types of taxes include taxes on land, inheritance tax, estate taxes (Which went to soldier pension funds), and even sales taxes.

 I’m going to work for the nation’s largest accounting firm, PwC, and I will be filling out tax returns for non-profit organizations. These days, taxes are so complex that teams of individuals are required to ensure they are filled out correctly for large organizations.

Figurative Language about Lazy Students

1.      Metaphor

a.       Lazy students are collegiate sloths

b.      The student is not literally a sloth, but sloths are often used to represent something that is sluggish or lazy – like the students being described.

2.      Paronomasia

a.       For extra motivation, I slugged the sluggish student.           

b.      I’m saying that I hit the lazy student to motivate him to do something. In the example, “slugged” is the past tense of “to hit” and “sluggish” is a modifier that indicates slow or lethargic in movement.

3.      Anthimeria

a.       He once was a lazy student then he got Mark Zuckerberged and now he’s a millionaire.

b.      Mark Zuckerberg is a young billionaire CEO who with his own initiative founded Facebook. If a student was lazy than became like Mark Zuckerberg (or was “Zuckerberged”) then it would mean he became a lot more motivated.

4.      Hyberbole

a.       The lazy student will be the death of American universities everyone

b.      This is a gross over-exaggeration. There is absolutely no way that some lazy students will result in a nationwide failure in the university system

5.      Oxymoron

a.       I saw the lazy student napping avidly during class.

b.      The word “avid” means “showing keen interest or enthusiasm” which is not possible to do while asleep. By using this word in this context, the reader sees a person who really enjoys napping during class and likely does so often and therefore never pays attention

6.      Paralellism

a.       The lazy student slept his way through class and gamed his way by homework.

b.      The above parallelism of phrase uses the phrases “slept his way through class” and “gamed his way by homework” to jointly relate the way the lazy student wasted time in college doing things he should not have.

7.      Anastrophe

a.       Soberly and morosely, the lazy student watched his friends graduate.

b.      Usually these adverbs would be closer to the verb they are modified (how he watched the graduation) but by pulling them to the front of the sentence we draw attention to the way the lazy student felt as his friends graduated.

8.      Ellipsis

a.       A responsible student works his way through college, a lazy student sleeps.

b.      By omitting what the lazy student sleeps his way through extra attention is drawn to the fact that this sentence expressing the thing that was passed (either actively or lazily).

9.      Alliteration

a.       The lazy student lumbered along the lengthy, testing line lingering for a moment to lackadaisically look at the liberated students who left the testing center loving life.

b.      Hopefully the alliteration of the words that begin with “l” makes the sentence a little more interesting to read.

don't be lazy :)

Lazy Student

As compared to the motivated student, the Lazy Student is one who, via errors of omission, seeks to actually receive less value out of the money spent on education (Similarity/ Difference &Contradiction). Why would a person pay money and then drag his feet along, begrudgingly doing the minimum amount of work possible? Perhaps, his funds are not his own (Cause/Effect). People who purchase things on the funds of another rarely value the purchased item (Genus/Species). Even worse, perhaps laziness has been eingrainedinto his character, as evidence by examples of a childhood filled with countless hours in front of the TV with minimal intellectual engagement (Past Fact/Future). Can we help him? Can we save the lazy student? Yes, after we identify him. First, we must approach his professors (Authority). As experts in the fields of education, they will be able to differentiate the lazy from inept. Second, with a list of viable candidates, we can poll the friends (witnesses). Those closest will be able to give accurate account of his character and disposition. Finally, we can study his work (Documents). A review of his fruits will confirm or deny the validity of the claims made by his teachers and friends. As countless cases of past students have proven, little effort combined with above average work denotes genius, while little effort combined with expected mediocre output indicates laziness (Precedent). With the Lazy Student identified, we can now help him. The approach is two-fold. Firstly, we motivate him to exert himself and see the fruits of the results, then repeat the process until it becomes self-perpetuating. As the Russians say, повторение мать учения (repetition is the mother of learning)(Maxims/Proverbs). Secondly, we appeal to heaven for divine intervention because at the end of the day some Lazy Students will only change by an act of God (Supernatural).

Profile for Persuasion: Texans

Main Characteristics and Values:

After living in Texas for 5 years, I came to realize that Texan’s are unique. One of the first phrases that comes to mind is “everything is bigger in Texas.” If one amended that phrase to “everything is better in Texas,” I think we would have a very accurate reflection of how Texans view the non-Texan world. Their pride comes from many sources. Firstly, Texas was the only state that was its own independent sovereignty before its annexation by the US. Secondly, the state as a whole shares many strong values. The people are generally (with Austin being a glaring exception) very conservative and anti what some would call “progressive thinking.” As the recitation of the state pledge every morning in public schools will attest, Texans are from Texas and they are very proud of that fact.

Likely/Unlikely:

Texans will be attracted to anything patriotic. Despite their obvious preference in states, they definitely love America.  The will do anything to keep this country free. More soldiers enlist from Texas than almost any other state. Furthermore, many Texans will be persuaded by the allure of football and tailgating. If there’s a game involved and someone’s “grillin’ ” there will surely be a crowd of eager Texans not too far behind.

Test Case: Attending a Play:

In this regard, I do not think Texans fit super well into a particular mold. However, I would say that given the choice, a play would not be at the top of their list. They could be persuaded to go if a BBQ dinner were involved beforehand and if it was the football offseason. That being said, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat could easily be interrupted as appropriate evening attire and any argument to the contrary would likely fall on deaf ears.

Praise to the Men

Unique New York Greece

One of the greatest points of pride in Pericles’s speech is the idea that Greece, and more specifically Athens, differs greatly from surrounding sovereignties. They are braver than the Spartans. The people care more for the government. They are more tolerant of foreigners who happen through Athens. Later in his oration, he lauds Athens for her greatness. He even goes as far to say that her greatness is such that famous men have the whole earth as their memorial, in foreign lands also, where it fixed on the hearts of the men who came across the citizens of so great a city. From his description, though bias, we understand that Greece/Athens had surpassed the neighboring regions in politics and foreign policy.

Textbook Epideictic Oration

Pericles’ funeral oration falls nicely into the category of epideictic oration. His speech is replete with praise to the fallen, praise to the city for which they fell, praise to the survivors, and praise to the morals for which the fallen stood. Especially towards the end of his address, he praises the relatives for being able to cope with grief – real grief, born from the loss of love. He praises every group of people that could be associated with the men who died for the cause.

Socratic Pericles

Though I agree with Katie’s thought on Socrates’ personal reaction to Pericles’ oration, I still believe that Pericles’ commentary on the characteristics of the Athenian thought process would generally place him more in line with the Socratic thinkers. Pericles asserts that the residents of Athena possess a propensity to act in accordance with truth. He declares that they will debate an issue first, to gain a better understanding of that issue, before acting on it. This tendency indicates that they are seekers of truth. Rather than just debating for the sake of debating, Athenians debate to arrive at a particular conclusion that will allow them to act properly. They seek a debate to mitigate and weigh risk before acting; they seek the truth to avoid acting in ignorance. This seems to be very reflective general Socratic ideology.

Power of the Lament

Of all the language used in Hecuba the most powerful came from Hecuba herself as she laments the fate of her daughter. Though any normal individual would easily be moved by compassion towards this grieving mother, the power behind her words are enhanced by much more than situation. Due to the type of person that we are lead to believe that she is, her words obtained a power that someone of lessor character would not be able to wield. For example, if she were a terrible person who done nothing but take advantage of other people, the audience would not be moved as much by the power of her lament. However, as it happens we are lead to believe that Hecuba was a good queen. By the reactions of the fellow prisoners, who seemed legitimately sorry for Hecuba, we can assume she had a good report with them and by extension the people she used to rule. Furthermore, the fact that she had been singled out by her enemies indicates that she was always on the side of her people and made no concessions to the enemy for her own personal gain (as many rulers are oft to do). That being said, with the character that had been built, the audience wanted to feel her pain. They were willing to feel her pain. And because of the power of her words, they could feel her pain.

This same idea works with the power of persuasion. In her lament, she convinces the audience to take her side. She persuades us that she is the object of unfair treatment and that those who are causing such treatment are unjust and cruel. Again, the power behind her words would be significantly lessened if she were not a good person. The audience is generally less likely to side with a someone who is the recipient of harsh treatment, if that person seems to deserve such treatment. However, it did not seem like she deserved that treatment and thus we were moved to take her side against her abusive captors. 

Irrational punishment by those in power

In this play, we see an interesting characteristic of the irrationality of the powerful vs the rationality of the weak. In the middle of the play we see Pentheus, a mortal man, punish Dionysus, a relatively powerful demigod, by sending the latter to the dungeon. This type of punishment would fit the supposed crime that Dionysus had committed and would thus be classified as rational. Yet, at the end of the play, Dionysus creates an elaborate plan to brutally punish Pentheus by having his own mother rip him to pieces and braggingly carry his head around as a trophy. One would be hard pressed to argue that this punishment is rational for any crime. And thus, we see the strange paradox that people with power will act irrationally while those who are weaker will generally act rationally – with respect to punishing others.

I saw this exact same phenomenon in the military. While I was a new cadet at the United States Military Academy, those in charge of me put me through some rigorous tasks. On the whole, the cadre will fairly mean, but an occasion arose in which I could have gotten my commanding officer in a great deal of trouble for a mistake that he made. In my current, “weak” status, the idea of punishing my commanding officer, who had already felt guilty enough for his mistake, seemed unfair and irrational to me. I chose to let his punishment be self-inflicted and move on with life. A few years later, the roles reversed and I was in charge of training the new cadets. A bizarre change occurred while I was in command. I had the irrational urge to punish the new cadets as fiercely as was legally permissible. 

In retrospect, I link my irrational, punishment tendencies to that power that I held over the new cadets. The power turned to pride – a pride that felt tainted and slighted when the new cadets made mistakes. I felt it was a personal insult to me when they would mess up and therefor punished them severely. Whereas when I was the new cadet, void of any power, I saw no reason for excessive irrational punishment.

If... Then...

If a foundation of truth can be created for any argument, the orator need only build logical extensions from that already excepted assumption, and the audience will more than likely accept the thesis.

We see this masterfully implemented in Gorgias’ speech. At the beginning of his narration, he establishes a key logical element that plays a major role in his reaching his conclusion. He asserts, “…the will of a god cannot be hindered by human forethought. For it is not natural for the superior to be hindered by the inferior, but for the inferior to be ruled and led by the superior--for the superior to lead and the inferior to follow.” If the audience accepts this idea, then the conclusion that Helen cannot not be held accountable for her actions because the weaker human will inside her was overpowered by the superiority of the god of Love is entirely valid. A large part of his argument hinges on that one underlying assumption -- a bold but risky strategy.

In my own life, I have been persuaded by similarly structured arguments. A little more than a year ago, I faced a difficult decision. I had been accepted into both the ISYS and accounting majors at the Marriot School of Management. I much prefer the ISYS subject matter, but the accounting program holds much more prestige. I decided to consult my dad on the matter. He asked me about my end goal, and replied that I wanted to get into an upper management position of a company. 

He explained that if I want to be an executive, than I need to do accounting. Accounting is the language of business, with which I will acquire a competitive advantage that the ISYS program simply could not provide. His is-then logic was irrefutable as long as the initial condition holds. This manner of logos employment is powerful but potentially risky.

trust us, what we say can help you! -Elder Bednar & Socrates

One of the most fascinating aspects of both Elder Bednar’s speech and Socrates’ dialogue is the implementation of conceit in their argument. Conceits are extended metaphors that pervade the entirety of the discourse. They are powerful vehicles for achieving the end goal of all rhetoric – a call to action.

Nevertheless, to understand the real value of the conceit, we must understand what the speakers want the audience to do. 

On the one hand, Elder Bednar who wants to spread the gospel throughout the world. Therefore, he wants each person in the audience to be more active in spreading the gospel. On the other, Socrates, a proponent of techne, wants his audience to understand the potency of techne in their own lives. Socrates tries to persuade people to develop techne because of its inherent value. To better illustrate the extent to which he wants to spread the gospel, Elder Bednar integrates a conceit in his rhetoric of a flood that could sweep the Earth with the gospel. This conceit helps address one of the biggest concerns that Elder Bednar things (and rightly so) the audience has with spreading the gospel – inconsequential efforts. However, this conceit helps Elder Bednar prove that if everyone who heard that speech did a comfortable amount of sharing on their social media accounts, we would see tremendous, consequential results. 

Socrates did essentially the same thing. Throughout his dialogue, he compares evilness to ugliness. He does this to help create an aversion to evil actions (poverty, disease, etc). Unfortunately, as averted from ugliness as the audience may be, it will regardless befall everyone. This condition engenders a desire for a cure. The cure, Socrates argues, is the arts or techne. By helping the audience understand that the arts can cure the inevitable ugliness or evil in life, he fosters within the audience a desire to develop a techne. Thereby, he, and similarly Elder Bednar, realize the goal of rhetoric – call to action.

"Let's have a good clean fight"

The Greeks were nothing if they weren't ready to be entertained.  If the many athletic competition they engaged in, the pankration was by far the the most exciting(or brutal- depending on your perspective).  In this competition, the participant would do anything (except eye gauging and biting) to defeat their opponent.

The cup on the left is trophy to the winner of the pankration event.

In our day, the most analogous sport would be Mixed Martial Arts. Much to the dismay of my concerned mother I started to fight MMA about 1.5 years ago. Its a great work out, awesome life skill, and significantly less dangerous then the practically anything-goes pankration. MMA has substantially more rules to prevent severe, permanent damage.                                                               The picture to the right is of me (left) competing in a Muay Thai fight. Muay Thai is the stand up fighting style used in MMA.