The document discusses the resilient nature of both rocks and people, emphasizing that unexpected changes can lead to growth and opportunity. It shifts to a corporate memo reflecting on the potential for economic recovery in the U.S., highlighting that despite past struggles, the company is positioned for success due to key relationships and upcoming tax reforms. The memo conveys optimism about the future, citing improvements in consumer spending and manufacturing as signs of a revitalized economy.

1. I tell you, even rocks crack,
And not because of age.
For years they lie on their backs
In the heat and the cold,
So many years,
It almost seems peaceful.
They don’t move, so cracked stay hidden.
A kind of pride.
Years pass over them, waiting.
Whoever is going to shatter them
Hasn’t come yet.
And so the moss flourishes, the seaweed whips around,
The sea pushes through and rolls back
The rocks seem motionless.
Till a little seal comes to rub against them,
Comes and goes away.
And suddenly the rock has an open wound.
I told you,when rocks break, it happens by surprise.
And people,too.
interoffice memorandumto:
Kara Cobb, CEOfrom:subject:
Maya Angelou once said, “You may encounter many defeats,
but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to
encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you
can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” Despite the
state of the economy over the past six years and the flat first
quarter’s sales, our company is poised to be successful once
again. Tough times don’t last tough people do, and if these last
six years have showed us anything, it’s that we can overcome
any obstacle that lies in our way. People will always need
plumbing parts and hardware regardless of the economic state of

2. the country. Thanks to our longstanding relationships with
companies such as Delta, American Standard, and Kohler, we
will continue to provide our exceptional products and services
as the revival of the U.S. economy blooms into fruition.
Without a doubt, America’s economy has vastly improved since
the recession, but recent policy changes made by the current
administration in the White House may be the key to our growth
and success. The U.S. GDP has been below the normal average
by 3% over the last decade and America is going to take action
in an effort to alleviate this problem. According to analysis
done by the Congressional Budget Office, more than 70% of the
corporate tax burden falls the workforce of America. With this
burden, workers across the country have less money to spend on
housing and equipment most home owner need. The tax cut will
cut the Federal corporate tax rate by 15% and give business the
opportunity to write off non-structure capital investments. This
can increase the household income by around $4,000 and raise
the GDP by 3 to 5 percent. Factoring this in with the fact that
the economy has been trending upward, we’re on the right side
of the recession. Gasoline prices are low again and consumers
are more likely to spend now that borrowing rates are
historically low. Furthermore, American consumers have been
spending more than they have ever in the past six years, this
accounts for around 70% of the American economy. The tac cut
will aid this tremendously as well. In the manufacturing sector
the countries manufacturing expanded for three months straight.
As if the situation weren’t promising enough, the ISM reported
that the service sector has been constantly expanding for over
70 months straight. It’s always darkest before the dawn and as it
seems, the worst is behind us and we’re still here. This is a
testament to the willpower and perseverance of our executives
and employees as well as the quality and usefulness of the
products we provide. The future of this company is looking up.
We have the people, we have the product, and now we can
restore the company back to greatness.

3. The White House Office of the Press Secretary, Tax Cuts and
Tax Relief Will Put the American Economy in High-Gear, The
White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2017/10/27/tax-cuts-and-tax-relief-will-put-american-
economy-high-gear (last accessed 1, November, 2017).Tax Cuts
and Tax Relief Will Put the American Economy in High-Gear
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass tax reform
that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-family, and pro-
American.” – President Donald J. Trump
CURRENT TAX SYSTEM HOLDS AMERICA BACK: Without
tax cuts and tax relief, the American economy will be stuck
with low economic growth and depressed wage growth.
• For the last decade, annual growth in U.S. GDP has been stuck
below its post-WWII average of about 3 percent.
• Without new economic policies, like the Unified Framework,
the United States economy will likely continue to be stuck with
low growth rates.
o The Congressional Budget Office projects that our Nation’s
current economic policies will continue to keep our economy
stuck at less than a 2 percent average growth rate for the next
ten years.
• Wages and corporate profits used to grow at nearly the same
rate, but that is no longer the case. In the last eight years, real
wage growth has stagnated while real corporate profits
increased by an average of 11 percent per year, according to an
analysis by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).
o Wage growth has failed to keep pace with corporate profits as
corporate tax rates in the United States have become
increasingly uncompetitive.
o The economic consensus is that workers bear a sizable share
of the corporate tax burden. An analysis from the Congressional
Budget Office indicates more than 70 percent of the corporate
tax burden falls on Americans workers.
• In the last five years, new equipment and capital investments
detracted from the productivity growth of the American worker,
for the first and only time since World War II.

4. CUTTING TAXES MEANS HIGHER GROWTH AND HIGHER
WAGES: The Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax
Code supported by President Donald J. Trump will cut corporate
taxes and allow capital investments to be written off,
jumpstarting America’s economic engine.
• Cutting the top Federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to
20 percent and allowing businesses to write off the full cost of
non-structure capital investments immediately would mean
faster economic growth and higher wages, according to the
CEA.
o GDP could increase by between 3 and 5 percent in the long
term.
o American annual household income could increase by an
average of $4,000.
• The corporate tax cuts and relief in the Unified Framework
could mean a boost to the economy.
o 3 to 5 percent increase in GDP over ten years could represent
an additional $700 billion to $1.2 trillion in economic output,
based on CEA’s calculations and CBO’s baseline.
o Corporate tax reform could spur investment and reverse the
trend of American workers losing productivity growth from new
equipment and capital investment.
o Just cutting the corporate tax rate to 20 percent is estimated to
increase long-run GDP by 3.1 percent, according to the Tax
Foundation.
• Developed countries that have lowered their effective
corporate tax rates have experienced wage growth across skill
levels.
o Wages for American workers of all skill levels would increase
after corporate taxes are cut.
o Developed countries with the low corporate tax rates have
seen significantly higher wage growth compared with developed
countries with higher rates.
• The United Kingdom shows how not to do corporate tax
reform: despite the perception that they were a tax cut, the U.K.
changes after 2007 resulted in a net tax rate increase. But

5. changes on the corporate tax side of the Unified Framework
lower taxes.
AN AMERICAN MODEL FOR AMERICAN JOBS: The Unified
Framework will end the “offshoring model” as companies will
bring profits back and invest in American workers.
• A reduction in the corporate tax rate will keep more money
and investment in the United States, while reducing the
incentive for companies to shift profits abroad, according to an
analysis by the CEA.
o In 2016, a Federal corporate tax rate of 20 percent could have
brought up to $140 billion in corporate profits back to America,
according to CEA estimates.
o Those profits could have raised the incomes of U.S.
households.
• Our current uncompetitive corporate tax rate encourages U.S.
firms to keep profits offshore.
o The United States has the highest statutory corporate income
tax rate among the 35 industrialized Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
o The U.S. statutory corporate tax rate has been higher than the
OECD average for almost 20 years.
• Last year, more than 70 percent of foreign profits earned by
U.S. firms were kept offshore, up from 42 percent in 1984,
according to an analysis by the CEA.
o Companies hold an estimated $2.8 trillion in earnings
offshore, according to Audit Analytics.
• Cutting corporate tax rates will encourage firms to invest back
in the United States, creating well-paying jobs for hardworking
Americans.
o After President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts, the economy created 7.8
million jobs over five years, based on data from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
o After President Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts, the economy created
14.8 million jobs over five years based on data from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
o After President Kennedy’s tax cuts, the economy created 12.0

6. million new jobs over five years based on data from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
5
3
Page 1 of 3
MGMT 303 WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Winter 2018
30 Points
Your assignment is to address the following issue and to bolster
your argument with an attachment that
backs up your contentions.
The assignment:
In the past year, after over six years of a bad economy, the
market and the US Economy have started to
roar back to life. You have just been promoted to Vice President
of Sales for a company that sells

7. plumbing parts and auxiliary hardware within the industry (in
other words B2B, not B2C). Your
company’s goods, for example, can be used in virtually all
Delta equipment. Your firm also has a good
working relationship with virtually all the other major faucet
manufacturers including but not limited to:
American Standard, Kohler, Price Pfister and Moen.
2017 sales were flat, so the CEO (Ms. Kara Cobb) has promoted
you in the hope that you will be able to
set in motion the sales effort that will capitalize on the reviving
U.S. economy, but she is still worried. She
won’t be happy until she sees the turnaround happen for her
own company. Even worse there are signs
that the housing market, one of the key elements in the
plumbing market remains on life support. Here’s
an excerpt from a recent article in the New York Times.
JUNE 3, 2016
WASHINGTON — An unexpectedly bleak May jobs report has
suddenly
muddied the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Until this week, the Federal Reserve had seemed poised to raise

8. interest rates perhaps as soon as June 15 — a sign of confidence
that the economy was strengthening after struggling just to grow
early this year.
Any such certainty vanished at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.
That was when the government reported that employers added a
scant 38,000 jobs in May — the fewest since 2010 and far less
than economists had expected. What's more, the government cut
its
estimate of hiring for March and April by a combined 59,000.
Other recent data are also sending mixed messages to economic
policymakers, investors and corporate executives.
Consider:
JOBS
Friday's jobs report was unambiguously ugly.
"It's an across-the-board disappointment," said Patrick O'Keefe,
director of economic research at the accounting firm
CohnReznick.
The unemployment rate sank to an eight-year low 4.7 percent —
but

9. only because 458,000 Americans stopped looking for work and
were
no longer counted among the unemployed. Many of them had
likely
grown discouraged over failing to find a job.
And May's slowdown in hiring wasn't a one-month wonder. The
economy has now added just 347,000 jobs over the past three
months — the weakest three-month stretch since 2012.
CONSUMERS
Despite the slumping job growth, American consumers so far
appear
unfazed. At least by the most recent barometer, that is:
Consumer
spending surged in April by the most in more than six years.
That
Page 2 of 3
is especially important because consumer spending accounts for
about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

10. Low gasoline and historically low borrowing rates have
encouraged
people to spend.
Can consumer spending prove resilient even if the job market
continues to lose vigor?
Maybe not: The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its
index
of consumer confidence fell last month to its lowest level since
November.
MANUFACTURERS
Recent reports suggest that American manufacturing is picking
up
strength. Yet the details aren't so clear.
A survey released this week by the Institute for Supply
Management showed that American manufacturing has expanded
for
three straight months: The institute's manufacturing index rose
to 51.3 in May, and anything above 50 signals growth.
The index had been stuck below 50 from October through
February

11. as factories struggled with economic weakness abroad and a
stronger dollar, which made their goods pricier overseas. The
dollar has fallen against major currencies since late January,
thereby giving factories some relief.
But the ISM manufacturing report wasn't quite as rosy as it
looked. New orders and production grew more slowly in May.
SERVICES
Services companies have been a source of U.S. economic
strength.
And ISM reported Friday that the service sector expanded in
May
for a 76th straight month.
But growth was the slowest in more than two years. A measure
of
employment fell for the second time this year. And that
weakness
was reflected in Friday's jobs report: Service sector jobs
increased by just 61,000 in May, the fewest since June 2012.
Confusing to say the least.

12. Your first job as a new vice president is to boost the spirits of
your CEO by showing her that all is not
lost. How are you going to prove there’s still hope out there?
After all the job of a Sales VP is to see the
glass as half-full, but how and why? Since you are so new, the
boss will want to see something concrete
that supports your positivity. There’s still reason for optimism
and to prove it you must attach a recent
article that proves your point.
Your point? “We’re going to be more than OK in 2018 and
beyond!”
Your assignment is to address the above issue, bolster your
argument with an attachment
that backs up your contentions and then send it to me via BBL.
Note: Memo must be no longer than one standard printed page
(does not include attachment, which can be
longer).
The attachment can come from any source on the Internet
(except Wikipedia!) but it must be cited in the

13. following way:
title; present the clearest and most detailed
title that you can for the particular page).
Page 3 of 3
(this allows me to look at the webpage
even if it has "disappeared" since you used it, by searching
internet archives).
Example:
Mark Trumbull, “Janet Yellin optimistic that economy can
avoid another recession” The Christian Science
Monitor, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2016/0826/Janet-
Yellin-optimistic-that-economy-can-avoid-
another-recession (last accessed 17 August, 2016).
Please note, I want you to copy and paste the actual document
into the memo. Do not make your CEO search on-

14. line with a mere URL.
"I HAVE A DREAM ..."
(Copyright 1963, MARTIN LtrTHER KING, JR.)
Speooh by the Rev. MARTIN LuTHER KING
At the "March on vYashington"
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down
in history as the greates•t demonstration for freedom in
the history of our nation.
Five ~core years ago a great American in whose sym-
holic shado·w we stand today signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momen:tous cleeree is a great beacon
light of hope to millions of Negro slave·s who had been
~e.arrd in the flames o[ withering injushcc. It came as a
joyous daybre,ak to end the long night of their captivity.
But 100 years late<r the Negro still is no•t fre·e. One hun­
dred years later the 1i.fe of the Negro is still badly
erippled by the manacles of s-t•grPg-ation and the chains of
discriminatio11. One hnndred years later the Ne,gro live·s
on a lone,Jy i:"]and of poverty in the mids1t of a va1S1t ooean
of matE>.rial prospc·rity. Out> hundred years later the
~egro is still larugui~hed iu the comer~s o.f Ame·rican
~oci. ety and find;:; himself in exile in his own land. So
wo '''<' come hf'rP torlay to r1r.amatize a s,hameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash

15. a eheck. Whrn the a. reb it ects of our Re:publie wrote the
magnificent. wonls of the Constitution a.nd the Declaration
o1 Independence, they we·re signing· a promiss'Cl<ry note to
which eve·ry American wa:" to fall heir. 'I'his no,te was a
promise that all nwn-yc::;, bla,ek men as we11 as white
rmm-wonld he g1mnmtPt'd the unalienable rights of life,
liherty a]l(l the pnrsni1 of ha.ppine'Ss. It is obvious today
tha.t Amcri(·a lms <lcfaulted on this promissory note inso-
far as hP>r citi7.ens of co.Jo,r arr concP:rned. Instead of
2
honoring ih1s sacn'd ohli,gation, America ha.s given the
Nngro p0ople a bad check, a check which has come back
marked ''insufficient fn nds.''
But we refus.e to helieve that the bank of justice is
bankrupt. We rp.fnse to belie·~~ t.ha.t there are insufficient
fuwls in the grea.t vaults of opportunity orf this nation.
So we've come to cash this check, a check that will give
ns upon oemand the rirhes of freedom and the s·ecurity of
justice.
Ve haYe a.bo come to this hallowed spot to remind
Ame.rica of the fipJ·ce urgency of now. 'l'hi:-; is no time to
l'llgagc in the luxury of cooling off or to t.ake the tran-
quilizing dmg of graduali::;m. Now is the time to make
real the promi~r·s of democracy. Now is the time to rise
from the dark nnll clrsolate valley of segregation to the
,.unlit path of racial justi<·P. Now is the time to li.ft our
uation from the quicksands of raeial injustice to the solid
r()ek of brotherhood.

16. Xow is t.he time to mak0 justice a reality for all of
God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to over-
look the urgency of the moment. This swelt.ering summer
of the ieg:ro's legitimate disconte.nt. will not pass until
there is .an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality
-1963 is not an (md but a beginning. Tho>se who hope
that tl1e X egro needed to hlow off steam and will now be
l'Olltent will ha·e a ruoP awakening if the na:tion return1'1
to bu,;ine~;.; as usua.I.
'l'here will be 11eitht'T rest nor tranquility in Ame.rica
until the Negro i~ granted his citizenship rights. The
whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the founda-
tions of onr nation until the bright days of justice emerge.
(Copyright 101i3, MARTI:-< Lt:THFR KIKc , JR.)
http:disconte.nt
3
And that is something that I mus.t say to my pBople who
~tand o.n the worn threshold whieh leads into the palace
of justice. In the proce ss of gaining our rightful place
we must not he guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not
"eek to sati:sfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from
the cup of biMe·n:le·s,s a.nd hatred.
Ve must forever conduct our s.truggle on the high plane
of dignity and diseiplin e. Ye must not allow our crea-
tive protests to degen e·rate into physical violence. Again
and again we mus t ri se to the maje,stic heights of meding
physical fo.rce wi.th soul for-ce. rl'he marvelous new mili-
tancy whi-ch has cn.gulfE>d the Negro community must not

17. lead us to distrust all white people, for many o[ our white
hrotlwrs, as evidcncc•J by the·ir prese.nce here today, have
eome to realize tha.t th eir destiny is tied up with our
de~tiny.
They have come to re.alize that their freedom is in-
extt·ieably hound t.o o~1r fre.room. 'e cannot walk alone.
And as we walk we must make the pledge t~hat we shall
always march ahcarl We cannot turn hack. There are
those who are .asking the rlevotee·s of civil rights, "When
will you be sa.t.isfied 1'' Ve can never be satisfied as l<mg
ns the Negro i~ the victim of the unspeakable horrors of
police brutality.
! e c.an never be satisfied as long as our bodie,s, heavy
with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the
motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.
Ve cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic
mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a Larger one. We
<·an never be satis:fie<l as long as our children are stripped
of their adulthood and robbed of their dignity by s1gns
~tating ''For 'TJ1ites Only."
( Copyright 1963. ::fAR TI!' L UTHF.R KING, JR.)
4
We oannot be satisfied 3lS long as the Negro in Mis-
sissippi cannot vote and the Negro in New York believes
he has nothing for which to vote.
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will nOit be satis-

18. fied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness
like a mig·hty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here
out of great trials and t.ribulation. Some of you have
eome fresh from narrow jail <!.ells. S ome of you have
oome from are-as where your quest for freedom left you
battered by the storm.s of persecution and staggered by
1hf' winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans
of erea ti ve s uffering.
Continue to work with the faith that un-earned suffering
is redemptive. Go hack to Mississippi, go back t.o Ala-
harna., go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go
hack to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghet.tos of our
.:' orthern citie·s, knowing that somehow this situation oan
and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley ot'
des.pai·r. ·
I say to you today, my friends, though, even though
we face the difficult~es of today and tomorrow, I still have
a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dl'e.am. I have a dream that one day this 11ation will rise
up, live ou t the h·ue meaning of its creed: ""' e hold the~e
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Geo·rgia
son~ of former slan' s and t.lw :-;ons of form l:'r ~lave-owners
will be able to sit dovn together at the table of brothe r-
hood. I have a dream that one day even the state of
Jli~sissippi, a state swelte ring with the h eat of inJustice,
(Copyright 19o.l. MARTI;'1 LuTHER KING, JR.)

19. 5
l'iweltering with the heat of oppression, will be trans-
!'ormed into an oasis of fre·edom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little chi1dre!Il will one day
live in a nation Vhere they will not be judged by the color
of their skin but by the conte·nt of the,ir cha.ra{!.te,r.l I have
a dream ... I have a dream tha,t one day in AJ,abama,
with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips
dripping with the words of interposition and nullification,
one day right tl~e-re in Alabama little black boys a.nd black
g.·ids will he abl e to join hands with lit.tle white boy's and
white girls as sisters anrl brothers.
I have a dre·am today ... I have a dream that one day
every vaUey shall be exalted, e·e-~·y hill and mountain
;.ohall be made lov.-. 'l'he rough places will be made plain,
aad the crooked IJlaces will be made straight. ,.And the
~lory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see
it together. This is onr hope . This is the faith that I
go back to thC' South with. With this faith we will be
ahh~ to hew out of the mountain of de·spair a stone of
hope. With this fait.h we ,,·ill he ahle to transform the
jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony
<;f brotherhood . With this faith we will be able to work
togother, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to
jail togethN, to stand up for freedom together, knowing
that we will he fn•e one d.ay.
This will IH' the clay when all of God's children will be
nble to sing with new meaning. "My country, 'tis of thee,
~weot land of libt>l't.y, of thee I ~ing. Land where my
fathers died, land of th<.' pilgrim ' s pride, from every
mountain side, let. fr eedom ring.'' And if America is to

20. he a. great nation , this mn ::..t become true. So let freedom
ring from tlH' prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New
(Copyright 1963, MARTIN LunrER KING , JR.)
6
York. Let freooom ring from the heightening Alleghenies
of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from t.hB snowcapped
Rookies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curva-
eeous s.lopes of California.
But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Moun-
tain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Moun-
tain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and
molehill of M~ssissippi, from every mountain side. Let
freedom ring . . .
When we allow freedom to ring-when we let it ring
from every city and eYery hamlet, from every state and
every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all
(If God's children, black men and white men, Jews and
G(>.nt.iles, Prot.B.stants and Catholics, will be able to join
hands and sing in the word·s of the old Negro spiritual,
"FI'ee at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, "Ve are
free at la.st."
(Copyright 1963, MARTIN LuTHER KING, JR.)
Name: Mucahid Kahraman

21. 12 January 2018
English II World Literature
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday Commemoration Assignment
Test Grade.
Directions: Please respond in brief, grammatically-correct, and
complete sentences.
Part I: (20 points) “I Have a Dream” Speech given in 1963 (on
the centennial anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation)
1. Please read the speech from page four to the end. Based on
the words and phrases you noticed in the speech. What do you
think was Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream? PLEASE TYPE IN A
DIFFERENT COLOR FONT. THANKS! :-)
a.
2. What evidence do you find in the speech to support your
answer? PLEASE TYPE IN A DIFFERENT COLOR FONT.
THANKS! :-)
a.
Part II: (25 points) Please read the poem, “Pride” by Dahlia
Ravikovitch, found on page 403 of your textbook. Please
silently read it through twice, the first time without writing
anything down. The second time you read the poem, please
write down the words, phrases, and images that jump out at you.
1. Write down the words, phrases, and images that jump out at
you: PLEASE TYPE IN A DIFFERENT COLOR FONT for each
answer. THANKS! :-)
a.
For numbers two through five: Please support each answer with
evidence from the text.
2. What is the speaker in the poem describing?
3. What is being personified?
4. What does the seal represent?
5. Why do you think that the poem is called “Pride”?

22. Part III: Compose a paragraph. (Five sentence minimum): 50
points.
Given your understanding of Dr. King and his use of civil
disobedience, what do you think his response would be to this
poem? Which part of the poem would he connect with the most?
How did Dr. King overcome his pride and persist with his
nonviolent message? What can you learn from Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.? You must compose your own work. Do not cut
and paste any work into your answers. Completion and turn-in
of this assignment means that you understand that you will
receive a zero if you copy someone else’s work and use it as
your own for any part of this assignment.
1).
If you need to know more about Martin Luther King, Jr., please
use this resource.