Nutrition Assignment Essay

Cooking is the application of one of two types of heat. Name them and then classify all the methods of cooking (baking, blanching etc) listed in your course according to which type of heat they use. Cooking is the application of one of two types of heats which are using moist or dry methods of cooking. Baking: Baking is a commonly used cooking technique that applies dry heat to a food, along with an air flow. It avoids the problems of nutrient loss due to leeching, and is effective at breaking down starches. However, heat labile nutrients will be destroyed and the long cooking time will negatively affect nutrient value. Baked goods loose moisture and tend to be dry; fats will leech out as well. Blanching: Blanching is the plunging of a food item into boiling water for a very short time period, before removing it and transferring it to cold or icy water. The cold water stops the cooking process. Blanching can remove the bitter taste from some vegetables and can also enhance their colour, making them more appealing. The application of very high heat will kill many micro-organisms and will also soften the tough fibres in vegetables. Braising: A method of cooking that is similar to baking, however, a liquid is placed beneath the food, or the food placed in a liquid. The liquid, at high temperatures, will convert to steam and so the food will be partially baked and partially steamed. It is used primarily in the preparation of meat dishes, where the tough collagen fibres require high heat and time to become softened and palatable. This of course impacts on the level of heat labile nutrients in the food, and leeching may also be a problem in the early stages of cooking. High temperatures will seal foods quickly, helping to trap juices and the nutrients within them to some extent. Other terms for braising include stewing or pot-roasting. Casserole and stews are braised dishes. When the meat is kept in the fluid, or the fluid returned to the meat nutrient losses will be lessened. Grilling: Grilling, like baking, is a dry cooking method, the difference being that grilling is the direct application of heat to the food as opposed to hot air. Food is generally cooked very quickly, which is good for limiting nutrient degradation, but at very high heat, which causes loss of the heat labile nutrients. Barbecuing, cooking over hot coals or charcoals are all consider variations of grilling. With larger cuts of meat, cooking time is lengthened, resulting in additional nutrient loss. Poaching or Boiling: Poaching, as opposed to boiling, is the gentle heating of a food in water. Typically, an acid is also added to the water (wine, vinegar, citrus juice) and this can impact on acid/pH sensitive vitamins such as vitamin K. Leaching is of course a major source of nutrient loss, but as the heat is lower; B group vitamins should remain intact as the temperature is below 100C. Mineral content is not dramatically altered with poaching or boiling but is more apparent than other cooking methods. Comment on the ease/difficulty for a person, suffering the medical condition you investigated, who has to stick to the dietary guidelines you created in question 7. Write a paragraph. If a person is naturally used to eating healthy following the crohn’s diet might be easy to follow for a person. Fatty and oily foods must be avoided all together as they are difficult to digest when a person has this medical condition. Eating a softer and blander diet is also essential to avoid discomfort. Sometimes bland foods are hard to follow as they are boring to an individual this can be hard to follow. Coffee lovers might also find it hard as caffeine can irritate the stomach as well. References http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/mums-united/healthy-eating/Pages/default.aspx?gclid=CPKCw6rk5rMCFUhZpQodSn0AXg http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/behavior.htm http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Weight_loss_a_healthy_approach http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0415/p1769.html http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet-basics.html http://www.livestrong.com/article/426491-nutritional-requirements-for-diabetics/#ixzz2D7F4J47I http://www.livestrong.com/article/286671-diet-for-gastric-problems/ http://www.livestrong.com/exercises-for-obese-people/ http://www.kitchensavvy.com/journal/2006/03/blanching_food.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/your_weight/whatis_bmi.shtml http://www.arhp.org/publications-and-resources/quick-reference-guide-for-clinicians/postpartum-counseling/diet Course Notes http://www.trimdownclub.com/introduction/index.html?ad=311 Health Magazines have also been investigated.

Macbeth: Fate vs. Free Will Essay

Throughout the ages, it has been believed that fate has the power to forge one’s destiny. By some uncontrollable force, the outcome of a person’s choices is controlled by the way in which they are destined to occur. On the other hand though, some believe these choices can defy fate and that fate only manipulates one’s mind into choosing their own path. One question that seemed to pop into my head through out this play was whether individuals were victims of fate or their I own choices, or if each aspect plays a significant part in determining their destiny. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare plays around with the idea of fate, placing the destiny of Macbeth before him, yet allowing his own ambitions and desires to drive him insane in order to achieve it. However, at the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a good man. Yet he decides to commit, not one or to two, but a series of bad actions that only he had the power to control. Fate, a powerful source thought to control all events, even a person’s destiny. If fate were to be real, then the outcome of a person’s (Macbeth’s) life would be inevitable. If the concept of fate was true, from the moment of birth your life would have already been planned out and you are helpless to change it. The questions that seemed to, and still does, taunt me was â€Å"Was Macbeth really a victim of fate?† and â€Å"Did the choices he made have some sort of impact on the outcome of his destiny?† In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there is a constant looming of these two questions. Macbeth had been given all these prophecies, that all seemed to come true, but he also played a big role in those because of the decisions he made. Macbeth is in no way under a spell or curse; he chose to create a path of evil for himself. The ability for Macbeth to choose his own fate appeared as soon as he decided to stop and listen to the witches. He showed us that what they were saying was important to him when in the first act he says, â€Å"Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.† (Act I, scene i, line 70). Before Macbeth actually came upon the witches, he was clueless to what would happen in the nearby future. Yet after his encounter with the witches, his mind was going back and forth trying to figure out how he should act upon the prophecy of becoming king! It was by then that the idea of fate had been planted into his head, and with such good title to come with it, why wouldn’t he want to believe his ‘fate’? Something that I found very interesting about the witches was that looking closely at line 24-25 when one of the witches says, â€Å"Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed.† From what I seemed to understand, these lines seemed to really show the limitations to the witches’ powers, because they were basically saying that they could only make life rough for the clueless captain, but they could not kill him. I think that this is really important to all the people who thought that the witches had ‘written out’ Macbeth’s fate because in the same way as the previous stated scene they can tempt Macbeth with predictions about his future, but they cannot make him choose evil. Meaning that in this scene, one of the conflicts is obviously fate vs. free will! All the witches really did was find a way of stirring up evil, by tempting Macbeth into choosing to opt for evil instead of good. â€Å"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.† (Act 1. Scene iii. Line 10). Here, Macbeth seems content to leave his future to â€Å"chance.† If â€Å"chance† will have him crowned king, then there’s no reason for Macbeth to â€Å"stir† or lift a finger against King Duncan (or anyone else) in order to make things happen. â€Å"The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’er leap, for in my way it lies. Stars hide your fires; let not lights see my black and deep desires: the eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. (Act 1. Scene iv. Line 4)† Back at the previous quote I had quoted, Macbeth seemed happy to sit back and let his fate unfold. But, once he learnt that King Duncan had named Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland and heir to the crown of Scotland, Macbeth decides that he must take action or, â€Å"overleap† what now appears to block his path to the throne. He acknowledges that his â€Å"desires† are â€Å"black and deep† so it’s obvious that he’s decided to commit murder in order to make the witches’ prophesy come true. Now let’s take a step back and think: Was Macbeth’s downfall caused by fate or free will? One way of looking at this argument could be by saying: in the play, the outer forces could have controlled Macbeth. After all, the three witches prophesized that Macbeth would become king. (1.3.4) They also knew the exact circumstances of Macbeth’s downfall (4.1.8), which could suggest that Macbeth had no control over his own fate. But on the other hand, in the play we clearly saw Macbeth planning the murders, and then make his own choices and put his plans into action. And this is of course; his own free will. He decides it. I for one believe that it was hiss free will the whole time, that the witches fate started a spark in Macbeth’s ambitions, which caused him to go out of his mind and loose whatever part of is sanity that was left. A quote that I found to back up my reasoning to this was when Macbeth says, â€Å"I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show: false face must hide what the false heart doth know.† I think here it really shows us that Macbeth was not controlled by his fate, but by his free will. I say this because, the witches never really said anything to Macbeth about murdering Duncan, or Banquo in order to make the prediction come true, Macbeth did thought that all by himself. I think that it shows us that it wasn’t fate for Macbeth to get the throne, his own actions got him the throne in ways that the witches had not ever mentioned. I would like to go back to a passage I had previously quoted, â€Å"Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed.† I think that this quote is very important because this is where we are shown that the witches aren’t as powerful as though to be! All this time people thought that the witches had ‘written’ out Macbeth’s fate, but none of them ever stopped to think of how powerful the witches truly were. As I had previously stated, here the witches seem to be saying that they could not kill the sailor, but they could make life a living-hell for him. This shows that maybe the witches didn’t have any fate planned for Macbeth, they were just looking for somewhere to stir up conflict and saw the perfect opportunity with Macbeth. I mean after all they are withes, stirring up trouble comes in the job description. The witches knew that Macbeth was an ambitious man, that all he really needed was to be given a little push! When the witches told Macbeth about their so called ‘prophecy’, but in reality all it really was what he wanted to hear. If Macbeth was a wise and noble (as we had heard he was) then maybe he would have taken the time to actually consider that what they were saying was meaningless. Instead, he let the prophecy get into his head and let it give a push to the ‘already present’ ambition he had for power. To wrap up this essay, I would like to answer the 2 questions that had been hanging around in my head: Was Macbeth really a victim of fate? And did the choices he made have some sort of impact on the outcome of his destiny? After looking over all the details from my essay, it became clear to me that Macbeth was not a victim of fate. Like I had previously stated, the witches had only planted the idea into his head because stirring up trouble was their nature, but that does not mean it meant anything! Macbeth always had tat little piece of ambition inside of him, the one in which he dreamt of being king and Thane of Cawdor, because back in the Elizabethan times titles were important! I think that Macbeth used the prophecy to take the guilt away from the ambition he was feeling. He used it to guide himself, but no part of it had to do with fate! It was all Macbeth’s free will. The witches gave him something to think of as his future, but it was nothing set in concrete. Throughout the play, Macbeth kept building onto his â€Å"fate†, believing that fate was fate and that either way he couldn’t anything to stop it. Every time he killed someone, he did it because he thought that he had to kill those that stood in the way of his fate. All the choices Macbeth made impacted his future, and no, it was not because of fate. It was because Macbeth had a spark of ambition, which was rubbed against a prophesised fate that then turned into a huge disaster. Overall, I believe that Macbeth was responsible for what happened during every second of his life, and that fate was not leading him to his destiny. I do believe that after a while Macbeth started to loose his mind and forget what he was doing in the first place. I think that the theme of Fate vs. Reality is crucial in this play, because it really gives us an understandidng to Macbeth and his personality.

Requisition and Distribution Flow in the Army

REQUISITION AND DISTRIBUTION FLOW STAMIS STandard Army Management Information System SARSS —Standard Army Retail Supply System PBUSE —Property Book Unit Supply Enhanced SAMS-E —Standard Army Maintenance System-Enhanced ULLS-A —Unit Level Logistics System-Aviation SAAS —Standard Army Ammunition System SARRSS Standard Army Retail Supply System (SARSS) * A Combat Service Support peacetime and wartime logistics system. * Used for the following classes of supply * Class II * Class III(P) * Class IV * Class VII * Class IX SARSS * Action: You go to the Company Supply Sergeant for help. He tells you the item is a Class II item, and he inputs the requisition into PBUSE (Property Book Unit Supply Enhanced) * PBUSE sends the request to the SARSS-1, which is located in the Distribution Company, BSB * SARSS-1 looks at its inventory. * If item is on hand—Material Release Order * If not on hand, SARSS-1 queries other local SARSS-1 * If not locally available , requisition is passed up to SARSS 2AC/B * SARSS 2AC/B passes to SARSS-Gateway. * SARSS-Gateway passes to Source of Supply (Industry/Army Depot) LOGISTIC PACKAGE OPERATIONSThe LOGPAC technique is a simple, efficient, and most preferred way to accomplish routine replenishment operations LOGPACs are organized in the combined arms battalion support area (CABSA) by the company supply sergeant’s under the supervision of the FSC commander and the distribution platoon leader * Organized for each company/separate element in the battalion * Under the control of the FSC distribution platoon leader * A properly configured LOGPAC contains all the supplies needed to sustain a unit for a specified amount of time.LOGPACs normally occur every 24 hours, but can be changed based on mission or the current situation. * LOGPACs contain: Class I, II, III, and V as well as mail and replacement personnel * After the LOGPAC is configured, it moves forward as a march unit to a Logistics Release Point (LRP). Receiving unit representatives link-up with the LOGPAC at the LRP to conduct the resupply. LRPs are generally established by the Maneuver Battalion S-3. The primary delivery techniques used to deliver LOGPACs to customer units are: * Service Station Tailgate * The delivery time of LOGPACs is based on Pulse Operations. PULSE OPERATIONS Pulse Operations are preplanned pauses in battle rhythm that allow combat forces to replenish routinely, conduct movement of a force from the decisive operation zone to mission staging operation and redeployment to the decisive operation zone. Examples: * Combat Replenishment Operation (CRO) * Sustainment Replenishment Operation (SRO) Mission Staging Operation (MSO

The Stiff Competition in the Mobile Phone Industry Case Study - 1

The Stiff Competition in the Mobile Phone Industry - Case Study Example Today, the largest players in the market include Nokia, Samsung, Apple, LG, and RIM. The features and functions of these phones have improved drastically in the last ten years. Most of the phones in use by 2005 were only equipped with basic functions of making receiving calls in addition to very few functions. However, stiff competition and research have greatly modified these phones over time. Many features like internet, navigation and phone size are continuously improved. In the same way, companies are very aggressive in their promotion strategies and are continuously searching for new markets. In terms of pricing, the present phone industry sees to present products for people in all walks of life. While phone prices have generally reduced over time, it is important to note that companies like Apple and Nokia produce very quality phones which are sold at slightly higher prices. Many of these additions have been realized after the launch of the iPhone (Wilkins, 45).

Importance of Human Skin Pigmentations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Importance of Human Skin Pigmentations - Essay Example UVB is the short wave ultraviolet rays from the sun that are less dangerous than the short wavelength Ultraviolet rays known as the UVA. A UVB ray is absorbed at the surface of the skin and their intensity depends on the geographical area, time, and season. Vitamin D is responsible for absorption of calcium in our bodies for strong bones and teeth. Insufficient vitamin D causes brittle bones and rickets and people who have less exposure to the UVB rays from the sun must take vitamin D supplement. The skin is the largest organ and very important for the survival of human beings. Its protective nature to the other body organs and its pigmentation matters a lot in our health. Melanin is therefore very crucial for healthy individuals and where it lacks such as the people with albinism, medical attention is mandatory to prevent skin disorders and cancers. Skin pigmentation is very important in human bodies especially those living in hot regions such as the African continent. The main functions of melanin are the absorption of the ultraviolet rays from the sun that has a damaging effect by causing diseases such as the skin cancer. Light-skinned people have a problem in coping with the intense radiations from the sun as it causes a lot of damage to their skins. Inadequate melanin cannot absorb all the UVR rays from the sun especially when it is very hot leading to adverse effects such as premature aging, cancers, and vitamin D deficiency.

Sexism at Work Place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sexism at Work Place - Essay Example Women were also not allowed to work with men. Household work and rearing children were the only jobs of females. This was all changed by the industrial revolution of in the early 20th century. Because of need for labor women had to abandon their conventional walk of life and they had to work in factories and industries to make goods. This played a great role in the emancipation of women. After that as a result of series of struggle through feminist movements in 1950s and 60s women were finally liberated. Today women are in a much better condition. But still this emancipation has not fully come and in many walks of life women still today face discrimination. Work places are especially prone to sexism against female and not much attention is given to this issue. This will be the topic of discussion in this essay and we will attempt to highlight issues women face in the work place. Discrimination against Women at Work Place Women today face many issues at the work place. They are not tr eated equally to men and pay structure is also not the same. The problem is that women are not considered to be treated equally to men. They are mostly given secretary and low level jobs, and chances to promotions are very rare. Young women are usually expected to deliver coffee and do petty jobs regardless of their job status, and they are similar to ‘dolls’ for their bosses (Bennett, Ellison, & Ball. 2010). This causes them a lot of problem. Women who suffer from prejudice at work place do not speak much about it out of embarrassment. Also most of them need the jobs so it is not possible for them to risk their jobs. They are left with no choice but to accept this attitude at the work place. If they will not comply by the ‘norms’ then their jobs will be at risk. This is why sexism prevails in the society and at work places. The pay ratio of women is also an example of how blatant sexism has taken over the work places of today. The women receive significant ly less pay than for the same services they give in offices. Females MBA holders earn $4600 less than male MBAs annually (Bennett, Ellison, & Ball. 2010). The reason for this divide in income is only negative attitude towards women. Lower pay scale of women usually discourages them from working. Women who are need of money still work at these lower rates without raising their voices. Lower pay scale for women makes no sense simply because women can work as much as men. Their productivity is similar to men. Nowadays jobs are not like older times when people had to do physical work. Women in offices have nothing to do directly with their physical strength. Rather it is the power of the mind that is important today and women are equally able as men to do their job. So this difference in pay has no rational justification. Wal-Mart is one example of an employer that is blatant in its discrimination against women. It is a practice for the company not to hire women and deny them promotions (Al Norman, 2010). The fact that, a company as big as Wal-Mart can also discriminate against women, is not understandable. But this is happening in this modern world and there is no hope of any improvement. It is because of these big companies that issue of sexism at work place is not discussed in media very often. It is important to understand the reason behind this mentality. It is the old thinking that because women are not as strong physically as men they cannot be treated equally to men. Women were first subjugated by clerics and then by statesmen. And this tradition is continuing now because the attitude of the society in general has not changed regarding women. They are still considered weak and inferior beings that

Economics for Managers Japan Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Economics for Managers Japan Case - Essay Example For almost a decade, the Japanese have started to adopt a risk-averse mindset after the fall of the dotcoms. Due to the circumstances, zero-return in cash has become the mindset of the people. While prices continue to drop, people further delay their consumption for the hope of lower prices. This hoarding of cash or investing in zero-return or non-interest-bearing savings leads to stagnation and later, worsening deflation in the economy. Thus the country wishes for some inflation to happen by increasing aggregate demand either through an increase in consumer spending, or channeling of money to some real investments in order to stimulate growth in the economy. Because of inflation, the relatively low or zero-return of investments most Japanese consumers have produces a negative interest rate. The Japanese Central Bank now hopes that consumers will then shift their investments to interest-bearing or higher-yielding investments to offset the effect of inflation, such as shares and real estate in order to give a boost to the economy. The cost-push inflation in the economy thus requires the Japanese Central Bank to use some monetary policy to curb it. However, Japanese Central Bank cannot just increase the interest rate in the meantime. While the global economy seems to pose a threat, increasing the interest rate will hurt the economy and worsen the impact of this threat if it happens. Thus, the Japanese Central Bank will keep the interest rates low in order to lessen the impact of the economic crisis abroad to the Japanese economy. The aggregate prices or the overall inflation within an economy is set by the interaction of the aggregate demand and aggregate supply. On one hand, aggregate demand is determined by the total amount  of consumption, investment, government spending and net exports in an economy.

IP2 Fortun 55 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IP2 Fortun 55 - Essay Example The age of technology and innovation has imposed upon the employees and organizations extreme competition and hard work to keep with their sustenance. In such a competitive and rigid environment, it is the utmost responsibility of the organizations to keep their employees motivated and maintained through providing them the basic necessities, comfort and satisfaction on the job. This is done through different wellness programs which many companies introduce in order to keep w well-fed and motivated human resource base. Corporate Wellness Programs The corporate wellness programs, commonly known as workplace wellness programs, are sort of motivational programs which are the blend of various environmental, educational and organizational activities. These activities are normally formulated to assist the behavior and attitude which is favorable and encouraging towards the health of the organization’s employees. They are involved in these programs which comprise of health coaching, f itness programs, health education through holding fairs, medical screenings and the various educational programs which are designed with sophistication in order to bring a change in the behaviors and attitudes of the employees. This change is most likely to contribute towards the achievement of better employee health, and a drastic reduction in the possible risks linked to the health of employees. Thus, the basic goal accomplished through the designing and implementation of the wellness programs is the attainment of better health of the employees. According to a recent study presented by the US Department of Health and Human Services, it was indicated that the workplaces which offer the on-site exercise programs to their employees as a component of their wellness programs, experienced a decline from 75 % to 55% in their healthcare costs and the employees’ short-term leaves were also lowered from 38% to 32% , ultimately leading to a rise in the productivity of an average emplo yee from 50% to 52% (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Thus, such wellness programs contribute big time to the health of the employees as well as the organization. Development of an Effective Wellness Program The wellness programs have become the need of time and the basic necessity which should be provided by the organization to all its employees. Here, the Fortune 55 firm is working with an estimated number of 500 employees, who are all busy working hard in order to steer the organization towards achieving its goals. Though, the old wellness program at the company was effective too, however, with the changing needs of the age and the shifting demands of employees, a newer and more effective wellness program should be developed which is capable of delivering further benefits to the employees. Since, the corporate wellness programs are a blend of the healthcare, medical and educational activities, the new plan of the Fortune 500 will follow a more sophisticated mi xture in the program. The elements of the brand new effective wellness program, to be developed and introduced, will include the following elements: Lifestyle Improvement Stress Management Online health coaching Appraisals and assessments of health associated risks Health content programs Employees’ mental health and well being These were the elements which already existed in the company’

Event Management Hosting a variety show event Reflective Report Essay

Event Management Hosting a variety show event Reflective Report - Essay Example The choice of the venue came along on consideration of how strategic is the reception in terms of probable customers. With the team cooperating, the event was a success and it was a joy to meet most of the objectives. The cake sale activity was planned urgently by our team to evaluate how best we can manage an event with little time to prepare. It was worth trying and putting in practice skills acquired in class, in real life scenario, having learnt the concepts of event management. The activity was in place at the university reception with the aim of making one of the successful activities of the group. Detailed in this report are the experiences, reflections and the lessons in the event. It consists of the objectives of the team, description of the activities, and how the team members managed the event and the skills attained. The report also describes the event, the objectives, the venue, participants, budget, and the execution of the activity and the evaluation of the whole activity. Spurred on with the target of setting a record in such an event, we split the team into four to cover specific tasks. I was voted the project manager to be responsible for overseeing the entire event and making sure that every group is on top of their task. The first group was to organize on how to get the cakes from the suppliers, Sweet Cakes Company into the venue. The second group was to make arrangements of the venue and ensure cleanliness in the day of the event. They were also to set up the tables to place the cakes. The third group (marketing group) had the responsibility of marketing the event in terms of distributing posters about the event all over the university. The fourth group was to take on the selling responsibility and taking customers through the brands. In every activity, setting out objectives is a major step towards achieving the desired goals or results (Damm, 2012). Setting objectives helps

Micro Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Micro Economy - Research Paper Example Choosing one alternative requires giving up a number of other alternatives. There is an opportunity cost involved in making choices. Opportunity cost is considered to be the most important concept in economics. It is the value of the best alternative that is given up in order to make a choice (Rittenberg and Tregarthen 2011). It is on these ideas that the theory of comparative advantage is based. A country is deemed to have a comparative advantage in producing a good if it has a low opportunity cost n producing that good. Firms as well as countries have a comparative advantage in producing one good or offering one service over another. It therefore means that since resources – labor, capital are land are scarce they need to make a choice. The production possibility curve (PPC) is a graphical representation of the different combinations of goods and or services that can be produced in an economy with the resources and technology available. It brings together the three concepts of scarcity, choice and opportunity cost. The choice of producing one good instead of another or a particular combination of goods reflects scarcity of resources, making a choice between alternative options, and highlights the concept of opportunity cost. The slope of the PPC represents the opportunity cost of giving up one good or service for another – in the case of a simple two good/service model. It is this opportunity cost that is used to determine whether a comparative advantage exists. An economy is deemed to have a comparative advantage in the production of a good or service if the opportunity cost of doing so is lower for that economy than any other. Deardorff in his article entitled The General Validity of the Law of Comparative Advantage though making the point that the law does not hold in multi-commodity world indicates that the comparative advantage determines the form that international trade exhibits (941). This proposition, Deardorff indicates

Modernity and Literature Essay Example for Free

Modernity and Literature Essay Modernity by itself is a very abstract concept which can be associated with all new experiences in history. It is largely temporal because what is modern today is the old or obsolete tomorrow. Modernity is said to be a logic of negation because it tends to give importance to the present over the past, and at the same time also frowns over the present with respect to the future. From a purely historical perspective however, the society which evolved in Europe after the French Revolution of 1789 can be termed as modern in so much so that there is a marked difference or break in the way of thinking, living and enterprise between the societies after and before the French Revolution. The evolution of the modern society was not a process that happened overnight. The roots of the modern society and its gradual evolution can be traced back to the beginning of the eighteenth century. In fact the period from that point in history to the French Revolution is termed as the period of intellectual Enlightenment when there was a radical change in philosophy, science, politics, arts and culture. It was on these new forms of knowledge that the foundation of the modern society or modernity was based. Defining the Traditional Many scholars have tried to analyze the basic or instinctive nature of human beings in attempts to track back how modernity could have affected the core individual. In his book Leviathan, Hobbes deduced that in an environment uninfluenced by artificial systems or in a ‘state of nature’ human beings would be war like and violent, and their lives would consequently be solitary, poor, brutish and short. Rousseau however contradicts Hobbes. He claims that humans are essentially benevolent by nature. He believed in the ‘noble savage’ or the concept that devoid of civilization human beings are essentially peaceful and egalitarian and live in harmony with the environment – an idea associated with Romanticism. Human beings have however lived in communities and formed societies since the very early ages. In what is now known as the ancient world or the world of classical pagan antiquity typical of the societies of Greece and Rome, the concept of the ‘new’ or ‘change’ was absent. Time, like the seasons, was supposed to move in cyclical order, repeating itself with regularity cycle after cycle with nothing new or changed to break away from the established order. The people were steeped in more superstitious and religious beliefs which ruled almost every aspect of their lives. Christianity brought about changes in the belief systems of the ancient world. Christianity postulated that time was linear, that it began from the birth of Jesus Christ and would end with the apocalypse and the second coming of Jesus. This was a linear concept of time that moved in a straight line and not in a cycle that kept coming back to the same point. The Foundations of Modernity It was during the Enlightenment period that the Christian concepts of time and history were secularized to give way to the modern approach to change and progress. There were many other basic changes during the Enlightenment. The key ideas which formed the basis of the enlightenment period were autonomy and emancipation, progress and the improvement of history and universalism. The development of scientific knowledge gave rise to religious skepticism. People were no longer willing to submit blindly to the dictates of ordained religion. In other words they attained emancipation from the shackles of religion that had governed almost all aspects of their lives. This emancipation led to autonomy of the individual. Individuals began to decide for themselves instead submitting to an external authority such as religion. The people now decided by themselves what kind of authority, rules and regulation would be good for them, and such authority must be natural and not supernatural. Enlightenment encouraged criticism. Enlightenment thinkers did not hold anything sacred and freely criticized, questioned, examined and challenged all dogmas and institutions in their search for betterment or progress. Thinkers such as Voltaire defended reason and rationalism against institutionalized superstition and tyranny. The belief that there could and should be a change for the better came to be a prominent characteristic of modernity. The critical attitude of enlightenment thinker to contemporary social and political institutions paved the way for scientific studies of political and social studies and subsequent evolution of better forms of such institutions. The scientific revolution during the period, culminating in the work of Isaac Newton, presented a very practical and objective view of the natural world to people at large, and science came to be regarded very highly. Scientific inquiry was gradually extended to cover new social, political and cultural areas. Such studies were oriented around the cause-and-effect approach of naturalism. Control of prejudice was also deemed to be essential to make them value free. Enlightenment thinking emphasized the importance of reason and rationality in organization and development of knowledge. The gradual development of the scientific temperament with a paradigm change from the qualitative to the quantitative is also very evident in Europe of the time. People came to believe that they could better their own lot through a more scientific and rational approach to everything. The concept of universalism which advocated that reason and science were applicable to all fields of study and that science laws, in particular, were universal, also grew roots during the period. People began to believe in change, development and progress – all basic tenets of modernity as we know it today. Autonomy to decide for their own good, gave the people the right to choose the form of authority that could lead them as a society or community towards a better future and progress. This opened the doors to the emergence of states with separate and legally defined spheres of jurisdiction. Thus we find that modernity represents a transformation – philosophical, scientific, social, political and cultural – at a definite time in history at a definite spatial location. This transformation also represents a continuum up to the present in so much so that its basic principles are inherent in the societies and nations of today. The period of enlightenment can be seen as one of transition from the ‘traditional’ to the ‘modern’ forms of society, from an age of blind beliefs to a new age of reason and rational. Different Perspectives on development of Modernity Different political and philosophical thinkers have however developed different, and sometimes contradicting, theories of the development of modernity. Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx are two of the leading thinkers whose theories run counter to each other. For Hegel, the development of modernity was a dialectical process which was governed by the increasing self-consciousness of what he termed as the collective human ‘mind’ or ‘spirit’. According to Hegel, the dialectic process of development of the mind comprised three stages, with two initially contradicting positions synthesizing into a third reconciled position. Human beings live what Hegel called an ‘Ethical Life’ or in a social environment shaped by customs and traditions. This ethical life has three stages: the first is the family, which is dissolved in due course, the second is the ‘civil society’ that a person builds up as a result of his social interactions beyond the family and greater relations, and finally the third stage of the ‘state’ which Hegel defines as the highest form of social reason. For Hegel therefore, the formation of the modern state is the mark of modernity when human beings achieve the ultimate stage of social existence. Hegel believed as individuals or families, human beings are too selfish and self-centered co-exist in harmony and work for development. It is the state that is able to integrate the contradictions of different individuals, and not market forces. Since the state by itself is composed of political institutions, Hegel’s theory equates the development of the modern state or modern political institutions with modernity. Marx took a completely opposing view, when he asserted that material forces drive history. For him the state by itself is not an ideal entity for the integration of human beings into a cohesive whole for their development as a nation or a society. According to him it is the material forces comprising social and economic forces that drive history towards modernity. People engage in production for their means of subsistence, they bind together and form states for the sake of production. Different forms of productions create different class relations. It is to maximize production and gain the maximum benefits and advantages that people bond together in different classes in the form of the modern state. The different ways in which production is organized give rise to complex forms of social organization because a particular mode of production is an entire way of life for the people who are involved in it. For Marx social existence is not consciously determined by human beings, rather, it is the other way round: their social existence determines their consciousness. When there are contradictions between productive forces and the social relationships of production, class conflict arises. For Marx, therefore, modernity is defined by the state of social existence. Marx acknowledges that ‘capitalism has been the most productive mode of production, and it contains the most potential for the realization of human freedom’. This very dynamic characteristic of capitalism is born out of its destructiveness for all traditional social constraints such as religion, nation, family, sex, etc. But it is the same destructiveness and creativeness that creates the experience of modernity in Capitalism. This vital association between capitalism and modernity from none less that Marx himself establishes that the capitalism that evolved after the period of enlightenment in Europe has been acknowledged as the modern era of the period of modernity by Marx. Marx however states that capitalism is exploitative, and because it is exploitative, its full potential cannot be harnessed for the benefit of all. He therefore advocates communism which is a system of planned and conscious production by men and women of their won free will. This brings us to the question whether humanity has already passed through a stage of history that has been termed as modernity, and has moved on to the postmodern era (Mitchell, 2009). Another important point is regarding the placing of modernity. Modernity is understood to be a process that began and ended in Europe, and was later exported to other parts of the world. Thinkers like Marx tend to differ. He saw Capitalism emerge as a ‘rosy dawn’ not in England or the Netherlands but in the production trade and finance of the colonial system (Marx, 1967). Therefore, though the concept of modernity can be defined in various ways, it definitely refers to the process of evolution of the human mind and the society to a point where people were able to come together for their own advantage and benefit and work for unceasing development under a collectively formalized authority such as the nation state. It can also be state with a certain degree of assertiveness that the period from the beginning of the Eighteenth Century to the French Revolution in 1789 actually marked the period of active development of modernity in Europe. The concepts that were nurtured during the period bore fruit immediately afterwards in Europe and the West and later spread to the rest of the world. The world has continued since on very much the same basic principles but with far more advanced technologies and superior social, economic and political approaches. Influence of Modernity on Literature Modernity had a profound influence on literature. As people began to think differently, they also began to write differently. The modernist ideas of religious emancipation, autonomy, reliance on reason, rationality and science, and on development and progress began to find expression in the literature that developed even during the period of enlightenment and thereafter. This new form of literature came to be known as the Modernist Literature. Modernist literature tended to vent expression to the tendencies of modernity. Modernist literature, as also modernist art, took up cudgels against the old system of blind beliefs. Centering around the idea of individualism or the individual mind, modernist literature displayed mistrust of established institutions such as conventional forms of autocratic government and religion. It also tended not to believe in any absolute truths. Simmel (1903) gives an overview of the thematic concerns of Modernist Literature when he states that, â€Å"The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life. † Examples from two Greats A few examples of Modernist literature will serve to make its characteristics more clear. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) is considered to be one of the early enlightenment thinkers whose literary works opened the avenues to the modern era. Known as the founder of modern philosophy and the father of modern mathematics, Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist whose influence has served to shape the beginnings of Modernist literature. In his famous work, The Discourse on Method, he presents the equally famous quotation ‘cogito ergo sum’ or ‘I think, therefore I am’, which about sums up the very principle of the basis of the modern era. â€Å"I observed that, whilst I thus wished to think that all was false, it was absolutely necessary that I, who thus thought, should be somewhat; and as I observed that this truth, I think, therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM), was so certain and of such evidence that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the sceptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search† (Descartes, 1637). In this work, Descartes drew on ancients such as Sextus Emiricus to revive the idea of skepticism, and reached a truth that he found to be undeniable. â€Å"Descartes started his line of reasoning by doubting everything, so as to assess the world from a fresh perspective, clear of any preconceived notions. In other words, he rejected man’s reliance on God’s revealed word, placing his own intellect on a higher plain† (McCarter, 2006). David Hume (1711 – 1776) was a philosopher, economist and historian from Scotland, and was considered a notable personality both in western philosophy and of the Scottish Enlightenment movement. In his works, he had a way of projecting the errors of scepticism and naturalism, thus carving out a way for secular humanism. In his most famous work, ‘An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding’, Hume asserts that all human knowledge is imbibed through our senses. He argues that unless the source from which the impression of a certain entity is conveyed to our senses is identified, that entity cannot exist. The logic would nullify the existence of God, a soul or a self. â€Å"By the term impression, then, I mean all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will. And impressions are distinguished from ideas, which are the less lively perceptions, of which we are conscious, when we reflect on any of those sensations or movements above mentioned †¦It seems a proposition, which will not admit of much dispute, that all our ideas are nothing but copies of our impressions, or, in other words, that it is impossible for us to think of anything, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Dover Philosophical Classics, 2004) In the same work Hume also postulates two kinds of human reasoning – Relation of Ideas and Matters of Fact. The former involves abstract concepts such as of mathematics where deductive faculty is required, and the later is about empirical experiences which are inductive in nature. This postulate has come to be known as Hume’s Fork. Hume, along with his contemporaries of the Scottish Enlightenment, also proposed that the basis for principles of morals is to be sought in the utility that they tend to serve. This shows the questioning nature of modernist literature not only of religious but also of moral and social norms and values. A very visible influence of modernity is therefore seen in the works of Hume. Present-day Modernist Literature If modernity influenced literature, it also used literature to shift from a philosophical and theoretical domain into the practical lives of people. Modernity could infiltrate into the lives of people through literary works that defined and reiterated the legitimate new modes of classification. Old literary forms with traditional meanings attached to them were reworked, allowing readers to modify or contravene the older meanings. â€Å"This opening-up process allowed readers to glean new meanings that modified or contravened the older ones. In the course of these changes, words, forms, and institutions altered their meaning in British life: they, and the practices they comprised, referred differently†¦. modifying ‘reference potential’ in literature fed back into how readers responded to changes in life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rothstein, 2007) In art and literature, many critics view ‘modernism’ as a new trend in the field of art and literature, defined basically by stylistic and structural variations. They would not accept the fact that ‘modernism’, it is basic approach, was the principles of modernity rendered plausible in literature and art. Modernity has always tried to hold up the world in new perspectives. Similarly, modernist literature opens up the world in all its forms – theoretical, philosophical, aesthetical and political – for fresh scrutiny. Even in its present form, modernist literature attempts to break the objective world of the realist. â€Å"Modernist writing †¦ takes the reader into a world of unfamiliarity, a deep introspection, a cognitive thought-provoking experience, skepticism of religion, and openness to culture, technology, and innovation† (Melton, 2010). Modernist literature exhibits a fascination with the workings of the mind, and how reality is reflected by the mind. The questioning of life, with or without the presence of God, is another trademark of the philosophical and theoretical moorings of modernist literature. Charles Darwin’s work challenges God as the Creator and presents the process of natural selection in the survival of life. This led to modernist literature of time travel, of questioning the existence of individuals and the purpose of the universe. Modernism brought about a new openness in the areas of feminism, bisexuality, the family, and the mind. In the world of today, modernist literature still display much of the characteristics of the times in which it first took shape. A very important theme of modernist literature today is a feeling of being alone in the world – a feeling stemming from estrangement or alienation. Characters are often presented as being depressed or angry. A second common trait is that of being in doubt. â€Å"It may be disbelief in religion, in happiness, or simply a lack of purpose and doubt in the value of human life. Finally, a third theme that is prevalent is a search for the truth† (Foster, 2010). Then there is a third theme in which the alienated character is always in the search for truth and seeks answers to a plethora of questions relating to human subjectivity. In all these characteristics are to be found the same questioning nature, the same denouncement of blind beliefs and the same dependence on reason and rationality that the Eighteenth Century enlightenment thinkers had pursued. The character is alienated and estranged because he or she questions all that is deemed not right by his or her own mind; the character questions the beliefs of religion and other institutions which are not based on reasoning; and finally the character seeks answers and the truth. â€Å"Modernist literature encompasses the thematic fingerprints of a rebellious, questioning, disbelieving, meditative, and confident type of form, which was conceived out of a change in the belief of humanity, the mind, a God, and the self brought on by the shift from capitalism to an ever-increasing society of revolutionary changes† (Melton, 2010). References Descartes, R. , 1637, The Discourse on Methods. Dover Philosophical Classics, 2004, David Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Dover Publications Inc. Foster, J. , 2010, Modernism in Literature and History, Available: http://www. helium. com/items/743749-modernism-in-literature-and-history Karl Marx, 1967, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, 3 vols. , New York: International Publishers, 1:703. McCarter, J. , P. , 2006, Literature of the Modern Era, The Puritans’ Home School Curriculum. Melton, L. , 2010, Modernism in Literature and History, Available: http://www. helium. com/items/809291-modernism-in-literature-and-history Mitchell, T. , 2000, The Stage of Modernity, Available: http://www. ram-wan. net/restrepo/modernidad/the%20stage%20of%20modernity-mitchell. pdf Rothstein, E. , 2007, Gleaning Modernity, Earlier Eighteenth Century Literature and the Modernizing Process, Rosemont Publishing and Printing Corp. , Associated University Presses. Simmel, G. , 1093, The Metropolis and Mental Life.

Career Goal Essay Example for Free

Career Goal Essay My short term goal – immediately upon completion of the MBA – is to enter the field of FMCG marketing. My aim is to take up a challenging product marketing position with a top global consumer goods company. This role would give me the opportunity to identify target market segments, and devise strategies to tap into them. By working on the design and execution of marketing campaigns, I will be able to combine my newly acquired business skills with my inherent creativity and channel it in a way that helps my organization grow. I have deep interest in gaining extensive learning in the field of marketing. Over a period of a few years I aim to become an expert in end-to-end marketing strategy and execution. This expertise will help me achieve my longer term goal – to set up a niche marketing consultancy for the health foods and nutrition snacks sector. My consultancy will provide a one-stop solution for marketing and promotion activities such as market research, market targeting and segmentation and implementation of marketing programs. My firm will allow me to leverage my love of marketing for bringing healthy food supplements that benefit society as a whole. Through my work in commercial sales, I have gained experience in understanding complex and fragmented market landscapes, identifying market gaps that the business can serve, bridging operational ability with market needs and negotiating with suppliers and customers. I have learned the art of managing customer expectations and building strong customer relationships even under difficult delivery constraints and economic conditions. All of these will be valuable in my marketing career. Additionally, the MBA degree will help me address the gaps that presently exist in my competencies. The MBA program will give me exposure to multi-domain business knowledge from finance to supply chain to human resources to technology. More importantly, it will help me understand the interplay between business functions, and between the business and its competitive environment. This will be instrumental in devising optimal marketing strategies that best serve the organization’s vision. Through the MBA, I will also gain expertise in the use of popular marketing frameworks to identify market needs and gaps, and determine appropriate pricing strategies. Soft skills, such as presentation and communication skills, are also vital to success in marketing. The MBA degree will greatly help me enhance my soft skills. It will also give me the  opportunity to network and build professional relationships with peers and alumni – who themselves are successful business executives. These networks will be instrumental in my career growth as well as in establishing my business venture in the future. The comprehensive set of competencies that the MBA will equip me with makes will give me the perfect platform to reach my career objectives.

Foreign Exchange Risk in Banks Overview and Analysis

Foreign Exchange Risk in Banks Overview and Analysis Objective of the Project:- The objective of this project is to understand the various types of foreign exchange risks. And the potential impact of the foreign exchange risks on the institutions involved in foreign exchange trading. Background:- In this project, I have calculated the value of risk involved in foreign exchange transactions at United Bank of India. Methodology:- The data used in this project is obtained from secondary research. Historical method is used to calculate the Value at Risk (VaR). The Value at Risk is thus calculated is used to find the actual amount at risk in terms of INR. Findings and Conclusion:- By finding the total risk, we get to know the total amount that the organization can lose in the worst possible scenario. It happens if the allocation of fund is not based upon the possible value at risks. In carrying out this project, I have found that the bank has allocated more funds for its forex operations than required. Recommendations:- At present the bank is operating at the 99% confidence level to calculate the value at risk. As they are working at 99% confidence level, due to this they need to employ more capital for their forex operations. United Bank of India should operate at 95% confidence level. This will help them cut down funds employed for their forex operations. Introduction to Foreign Exchange The creator of the universe has not distributed resources needed by the civilised world evenly on our planet earth. What is available easily at one place is hardly available at another place. This has resulted in an environment of interdependency among the countries. The interdependency among countries has given rise to international trade. The growth of international trade of goods and services has necessitated a method of exchange. Let us evaluate a transaction involving supply of goods from India to United Kingdom. The value of goods is known to the Indian supplier in INR. Thus the Indian supplier will price the goods so that he can make profit in INR. At the same time the purchasing power available with the UK customer is in GBP (Great Britain Pound). Therefore the customer will want to know the price in GBP. Now, if buyer and seller decide to settle the transaction in USD. Therefore to complete such transactions, the parties to the transaction need to know the value of one currency in terms of another. This mechanism of converting one currency in terms of another is known as â€Å"Foreign Exchange†. Foreign Exchange is defined in Foreign Exchange management Act 1999 as:- Ø All deposits, credits, balances payable in any foreign currency and any drafts, travellers cheque, letter of credit and bill of exchange expressed or drawn in Indian currency and payable in foreign currency. Ø Any instrument payable at the option of the drawee or holder thereof or any other party thereto, either in Indian currency or in foreign currency or partly in one and partly in the other. In short, Foreign Exchange is the method of conversion of one currency into another. As foreign currency is treated as a commodity, it is traded in a market. Trade constitutes a small portion of the â€Å"Foreign Exchange Market†. The cross border movement of capital forms the major portion. Major participants of Foreign Exchange Market include commercial banks, central banking institutions, investment banks, foreign exchange brokers and merchants. The commercial banks become the vehicles for conversion, as most of the foreign exchange operation takes place through the account maintained with these banks. Objective of the Project A Project Report on FOREIGN EXCHANGE risks in Bank. Foreign Exchange is a very large financial market. At times foreign exchange market becomes very volatile. This is responsible for the various risks in foreign exchange market. Everyone involved in the foreign exchange trading should we aware of foreign exchange risk. To ascertain Foreign Exchange risk in Bank we need to execute the following tasks:- Various types of foreign exchange services available at Banks. The various types of foreign exchange risks. The various foreign currencies which has significant demand. The possible Hedging strategies that can be deployed to manage foreign exchange risks. Determination of Value at Risk (Var). Research Methodology Data / Information Collection. Study of data collected to calculate the value at risk (VAR). Calculation of mean return. Calculation of Standard Deviation. Data/Information Collection Data and information is collected from the various sources. These sources include data from the Bank, magazines, journals, books and newspapers. The information thus collected is used to calculate the Value at Risk. Value at risk (VaR) Risk is about odds of losing money and VaR is based on that common sense fact. Here risk is the odds of really big loss. Big loss is different for every investor depending on the investors appetite. But every investor whether big or small does wants to know his/her losses in the worst case. VAR answers the question, What is my worst-case scenario? To calculate VaR we need three components. These three components are: a time period, a confidence level and a loss amount or loss percentage. Using VaR investor will get to know things like: What is the most I can expect to lose with 95% confidence over a period of 10 days? What is the maximum percentage I can expect to lose with 95% confidence over a period of 10 days? We consider a relatively high level of confidence, mostly 95% or 99% confidence level. Time period taken can be anything like a day, 10 day, a month or a year depending upon what investor is looking for. A one day VAR of $10mm using a probability of 5% means that there is a 5% chance that the portfolio could lose more than $10mm in the next trading day. There are three methods of calculating VaR: the Historical method, the parametric method also known as variance-covariance method and the Monte Carlo simulation. The Historical Method: The historical method simply re-organizes actual historical returns, putting them in order from worst to best. It then assumes that history will repeat itself, from a risk perspective. We then put these data in the histogram that compare the frequency of return. Tiny bars in histogram represent the less frequent daily return while the highest point in histogram represents the most frequent daily return. Parametric Method:This method assumes that the stock returns are normally distributed. In this method we estimate only two factors an expected return and a standard deviation. These two factors allow us to plot a normal distribution curve. Monte Carlo Simulation: The third method involves developing a model for future stock price returns and running multiple hypothetical trials through the model. A Monte Carlo simulation refers to any method that randomly generates trials, but by itself does not tell us anything about the underlying methodology. Every run of Monte Carlo Simulation gives different result. But differences between these results are likely to be very narrow. Calculation of Value at Risk (VaR) To calculate the value at risk, at first we need to collect the historical data. Historical data is the historical exchange rate of a particular foreign currency against INR. The foreign currencies which we are considering here are United States Dollar (USD), Great Britain Pound (GBP), Euro and Japanese Yen (JPY). We are considering these currencies because they are the major currencies as exchange is easily available for these currencies. We will calculate the value at risk the investor faces in case he/she invests in any of these currencies. At first we will consider the case in which an investor is investing in United States Dollar. The investor will buy United States Dollar in exchange of INR. USD/INR The historical exchange rate for USD/INR for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: From the everyday exchange rate the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return,5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 0.35% From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 0.46% Euro/INR The historical exchange rate for Euro/USD for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: Euro/USD Euro/INR Historical exchange rate for Euro/INR is determined from the historical exchange rate of Euro/USD and USD/INR. Exchange rate of Euro/INR = Exchange rate of Euro/USD * Exchange rate of USD/INR In this case again the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return, 5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 1.21%. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 1.53%. GBP/INR The historical exchange rate for GBP/USD for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: GBP/USD GBP/INR Historical exchange rate for GBP/INR is determined from the historical exchange rate of GBP/USD and USD/INR. Exchange rate of GBP/INR = Exchange rate of GBP/USD * Exchange rate of USD/INR In this case again the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return, 5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 0.49% From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 1.03% JYP/INR The historical exchange rate for USD/JYP for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: USD/JYP JPY/USD Historical exchange rate for JPY/USD is determined from the historical exchange rate of USD/JPY. Exchange rate of JPY/USD = 1/ (Exchange rate of USD/JPY) JPY/INR Historical exchange rate for JPY/INR is determined from the historical exchange rate of JPY/USD and USD/INR. Exchange rate of JPY/INR = Exchange rate of JPY/USD * Exchange rate of USD/INR In this case again the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return, 5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 0.60% From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 0.93% Calculation of Standard Deviation Standard deviation is a measure of how far apart the data are from the average of the data. If all the observations are close to their average then the standard deviation will be small. In finance, standard deviation is applied to the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investments volatility. Standard deviation is also known as historical volatility and is used by investors as a gauge for the amount of expected volatility. Suppose that an investor has INR 45,000 to invest and is considering buying the USD. Currently one USD is valued at INR 45. The investor assesses a 0.75 probability that the USD will appreciate against INR over a coming period, so that one USD will be equivalent to INR 46 and a 0.25 probability that the USD will depreciate against INR to become equal to INR 44. INR 45,000 (at one USD equal to INR 45) = 45,000/45 = USD 1000 The payoffs from the proposed investment are as follows:- If the USD appreciates (One USD becomes equal to INR 46): USD 1000 *46 = INR 46,000 If the USD depreciates (One USD becomes equal to INR 44): USD 1000*44 = INR 44,000 PAYOFF (INR) RATE OF RETURN PROBABILITY EXPECTED RATE OF RETURN VARIANCE (1) (2) (3) (4) = (2) x (3) (5) 46,000 (46 45)/45 = 0.022 0.75 0.0165 (0.022 0.011)^2 x 0.75 = 0. Foreign Exchange Risk in Banks Overview and Analysis Foreign Exchange Risk in Banks Overview and Analysis Objective of the Project:- The objective of this project is to understand the various types of foreign exchange risks. And the potential impact of the foreign exchange risks on the institutions involved in foreign exchange trading. Background:- In this project, I have calculated the value of risk involved in foreign exchange transactions at United Bank of India. Methodology:- The data used in this project is obtained from secondary research. Historical method is used to calculate the Value at Risk (VaR). The Value at Risk is thus calculated is used to find the actual amount at risk in terms of INR. Findings and Conclusion:- By finding the total risk, we get to know the total amount that the organization can lose in the worst possible scenario. It happens if the allocation of fund is not based upon the possible value at risks. In carrying out this project, I have found that the bank has allocated more funds for its forex operations than required. Recommendations:- At present the bank is operating at the 99% confidence level to calculate the value at risk. As they are working at 99% confidence level, due to this they need to employ more capital for their forex operations. United Bank of India should operate at 95% confidence level. This will help them cut down funds employed for their forex operations. Introduction to Foreign Exchange The creator of the universe has not distributed resources needed by the civilised world evenly on our planet earth. What is available easily at one place is hardly available at another place. This has resulted in an environment of interdependency among the countries. The interdependency among countries has given rise to international trade. The growth of international trade of goods and services has necessitated a method of exchange. Let us evaluate a transaction involving supply of goods from India to United Kingdom. The value of goods is known to the Indian supplier in INR. Thus the Indian supplier will price the goods so that he can make profit in INR. At the same time the purchasing power available with the UK customer is in GBP (Great Britain Pound). Therefore the customer will want to know the price in GBP. Now, if buyer and seller decide to settle the transaction in USD. Therefore to complete such transactions, the parties to the transaction need to know the value of one currency in terms of another. This mechanism of converting one currency in terms of another is known as â€Å"Foreign Exchange†. Foreign Exchange is defined in Foreign Exchange management Act 1999 as:- Ø All deposits, credits, balances payable in any foreign currency and any drafts, travellers cheque, letter of credit and bill of exchange expressed or drawn in Indian currency and payable in foreign currency. Ø Any instrument payable at the option of the drawee or holder thereof or any other party thereto, either in Indian currency or in foreign currency or partly in one and partly in the other. In short, Foreign Exchange is the method of conversion of one currency into another. As foreign currency is treated as a commodity, it is traded in a market. Trade constitutes a small portion of the â€Å"Foreign Exchange Market†. The cross border movement of capital forms the major portion. Major participants of Foreign Exchange Market include commercial banks, central banking institutions, investment banks, foreign exchange brokers and merchants. The commercial banks become the vehicles for conversion, as most of the foreign exchange operation takes place through the account maintained with these banks. Objective of the Project A Project Report on FOREIGN EXCHANGE risks in Bank. Foreign Exchange is a very large financial market. At times foreign exchange market becomes very volatile. This is responsible for the various risks in foreign exchange market. Everyone involved in the foreign exchange trading should we aware of foreign exchange risk. To ascertain Foreign Exchange risk in Bank we need to execute the following tasks:- Various types of foreign exchange services available at Banks. The various types of foreign exchange risks. The various foreign currencies which has significant demand. The possible Hedging strategies that can be deployed to manage foreign exchange risks. Determination of Value at Risk (Var). Research Methodology Data / Information Collection. Study of data collected to calculate the value at risk (VAR). Calculation of mean return. Calculation of Standard Deviation. Data/Information Collection Data and information is collected from the various sources. These sources include data from the Bank, magazines, journals, books and newspapers. The information thus collected is used to calculate the Value at Risk. Value at risk (VaR) Risk is about odds of losing money and VaR is based on that common sense fact. Here risk is the odds of really big loss. Big loss is different for every investor depending on the investors appetite. But every investor whether big or small does wants to know his/her losses in the worst case. VAR answers the question, What is my worst-case scenario? To calculate VaR we need three components. These three components are: a time period, a confidence level and a loss amount or loss percentage. Using VaR investor will get to know things like: What is the most I can expect to lose with 95% confidence over a period of 10 days? What is the maximum percentage I can expect to lose with 95% confidence over a period of 10 days? We consider a relatively high level of confidence, mostly 95% or 99% confidence level. Time period taken can be anything like a day, 10 day, a month or a year depending upon what investor is looking for. A one day VAR of $10mm using a probability of 5% means that there is a 5% chance that the portfolio could lose more than $10mm in the next trading day. There are three methods of calculating VaR: the Historical method, the parametric method also known as variance-covariance method and the Monte Carlo simulation. The Historical Method: The historical method simply re-organizes actual historical returns, putting them in order from worst to best. It then assumes that history will repeat itself, from a risk perspective. We then put these data in the histogram that compare the frequency of return. Tiny bars in histogram represent the less frequent daily return while the highest point in histogram represents the most frequent daily return. Parametric Method:This method assumes that the stock returns are normally distributed. In this method we estimate only two factors an expected return and a standard deviation. These two factors allow us to plot a normal distribution curve. Monte Carlo Simulation: The third method involves developing a model for future stock price returns and running multiple hypothetical trials through the model. A Monte Carlo simulation refers to any method that randomly generates trials, but by itself does not tell us anything about the underlying methodology. Every run of Monte Carlo Simulation gives different result. But differences between these results are likely to be very narrow. Calculation of Value at Risk (VaR) To calculate the value at risk, at first we need to collect the historical data. Historical data is the historical exchange rate of a particular foreign currency against INR. The foreign currencies which we are considering here are United States Dollar (USD), Great Britain Pound (GBP), Euro and Japanese Yen (JPY). We are considering these currencies because they are the major currencies as exchange is easily available for these currencies. We will calculate the value at risk the investor faces in case he/she invests in any of these currencies. At first we will consider the case in which an investor is investing in United States Dollar. The investor will buy United States Dollar in exchange of INR. USD/INR The historical exchange rate for USD/INR for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: From the everyday exchange rate the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return,5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 0.35% From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 0.46% Euro/INR The historical exchange rate for Euro/USD for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: Euro/USD Euro/INR Historical exchange rate for Euro/INR is determined from the historical exchange rate of Euro/USD and USD/INR. Exchange rate of Euro/INR = Exchange rate of Euro/USD * Exchange rate of USD/INR In this case again the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return, 5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 1.21%. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 1.53%. GBP/INR The historical exchange rate for GBP/USD for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: GBP/USD GBP/INR Historical exchange rate for GBP/INR is determined from the historical exchange rate of GBP/USD and USD/INR. Exchange rate of GBP/INR = Exchange rate of GBP/USD * Exchange rate of USD/INR In this case again the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return, 5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 0.49% From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 1.03% JYP/INR The historical exchange rate for USD/JYP for a period of 22 days starting from 15th April 2011 to 6th May 2011 is as follows: USD/JYP JPY/USD Historical exchange rate for JPY/USD is determined from the historical exchange rate of USD/JPY. Exchange rate of JPY/USD = 1/ (Exchange rate of USD/JPY) JPY/INR Historical exchange rate for JPY/INR is determined from the historical exchange rate of JPY/USD and USD/INR. Exchange rate of JPY/INR = Exchange rate of JPY/USD * Exchange rate of USD/INR In this case again the periodic return is found by using the formula given below: Natural Logarithm (Present date exchange rate/ previous date exchange rate) The Value at Risk from the above data is calculated by using the given formula in excel: PERCENTILE (array of the periodic return, 5%) Here the array of the periodic return is the everyday return of the period for which historical data is taken. The second attributes i.e., 5% tells that 95 times out of 100 the loss will not exceed the calculated VaR. Therefore we can say with 95% confidence that the loss will not exceed the Value at Risk (VaR) thus calculated. From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 95% confidence level is: 0.60% From the above data the Value at Risk (VaR) calculated at 99% confidence level is: 0.93% Calculation of Standard Deviation Standard deviation is a measure of how far apart the data are from the average of the data. If all the observations are close to their average then the standard deviation will be small. In finance, standard deviation is applied to the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investments volatility. Standard deviation is also known as historical volatility and is used by investors as a gauge for the amount of expected volatility. Suppose that an investor has INR 45,000 to invest and is considering buying the USD. Currently one USD is valued at INR 45. The investor assesses a 0.75 probability that the USD will appreciate against INR over a coming period, so that one USD will be equivalent to INR 46 and a 0.25 probability that the USD will depreciate against INR to become equal to INR 44. INR 45,000 (at one USD equal to INR 45) = 45,000/45 = USD 1000 The payoffs from the proposed investment are as follows:- If the USD appreciates (One USD becomes equal to INR 46): USD 1000 *46 = INR 46,000 If the USD depreciates (One USD becomes equal to INR 44): USD 1000*44 = INR 44,000 PAYOFF (INR) RATE OF RETURN PROBABILITY EXPECTED RATE OF RETURN VARIANCE (1) (2) (3) (4) = (2) x (3) (5) 46,000 (46 45)/45 = 0.022 0.75 0.0165 (0.022 0.011)^2 x 0.75 = 0.

A Comparison Of Contemporary And Romance Literature :: essays research papers

A Comparison of Contemporary and Romance Literature   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contemporary literature in the form of a short story consists of a plot, characters, point of view, setting, and theme (2). These elements can vary a great deal from one story to the next. An author of a short story also reveals a tone and a mood shown by his or her style of writing. Although romance literature contains the elements mentioned above, they are very different than those in short stories and are somewhat static from one tale to the next. Romance literature is about the adventures of knights and the organization of chivalry (794). A romance does not take place in a normal setting, but in idealized worlds such as imaginary castles, gardens, or forests (794). A romance contains mysterious and supernatural events (794). Although there are many differences between contemporary and romance literature, the one difference that distinguishes them the most is the characters. A main character in contemporary literature leads a very different life than one in romance literature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neighbor Rosicky is a short story of an old farmer, Anton Rosicky, reflecting back on his life. Early in the story, when Anton Rosicky is in the doctor's office, he learns that he has a bad heart and doesn't have much time left to live. He then returns home, plunges into a chair, and begins to sew. While he sews, Rosicky lets his mind run back over his life. He has had many memorable experiences. Rosicky has lived in London, New York, and now in Nebraska. Rosicky, formerly a tailor, now makes a living farming with his children. Rudolph, Rosicky's oldest son, has some trouble supporting his wife, Polly. Rosicky makes many sacrifices to help Rudolph's marriage stay together. He loans the family car and gives some money to Rudolph, even though Rosicky is very poor himself. Spring arrives, and his children are busy working the fields. When no one else is around, Rosicky, disregarding his doctor's orders, rakes some thistle plants out of one of his alfalfa fields, but the work is too tough on his heart. Rosicky dies the next day (48-71).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets is another short story of someone analyzing his life. Tom Benecke is a workaholic who has a month's worth of his work scribbled on a yellow sheet of paper. The wind blows the sheet of paper out of his eleven story apartment window onto the ornate corner ornament of the ledge about five yards away. Tom climbs out of the window onto the ledge. Immediately after he reaches the sheet of paper, Tom looks down and becomes

Present Career, Carrer Interest, and the Value of a College Education E

Conflicts Resolutions within Work Groups   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many things to consider when talking about working within a group. One of the major things is conflicts between the group’s members. People will always have conflicts among themselves and with others; it is just a way of life. One of the conflicts that occur within a group is Lack of Leadership, someone needs to be in charge and keep everyone else pointed in the right direction. Another conflict among groups is Group Roles; everyone needs to know where they fit into the puzzle and what is expected of them. Also everyone needs to have coinciding Schedules, that way you know the work is getting done. All of theses problems add up to one of the biggest issues in a group, which is Disagreements and or Arguments. When one thinks of leadership the first thing that enters there mine is Mentoring. Having the power and the ability to guide, motivate and lead others in any given task are concrete attributes of a good leader. When one or all of these does not happen there is probably a good sign of lack of leadership. Bosses are often accused of not motivation their workers. They assume that if a person is hired for a job they should perform their job and the motivation should come from the fact that they are receiving a paycheck. This could be deemed as a true statement if the company does not believe in promoting a team environment. When a boss, director, group leader or who ever is put in to a leadership position does not motivate their subordinate there is usually a lack in performance. People enjoy working for leaders with good motivational skills. Motivation skills discover what people are capable of doing and how well they can do it, plus encourage them to strive to do more while taking pride in what they have done. All leaders have to make decision. Once a leader demonstrate poor decision making skills it is extremely hard to be effective. This leader will find it very hard to get people to trust his or her decision. Poor decision would be a decision made with little regards of the consequences. Poor decisions are often made with little consideration for others. This leader will not be an effective leader without getting training and develop techniques for good decision making. Poor communication can be very damaging in any environment. A poor communicator transmits in a way th... ...resolution may also be employed. This method digresses to a loser and a winner. Once the competition is complete, one team member(s) is triumphant at the expense of their opposition. Although this method can be used constructively, it may also result in a further wedge between the team members.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Collaboration is the accumulation of all of the member's contributions. It meets the team’s goals, while supporting the individual needs of the team members. It often involves a more creative approach than the other methods, and usually results in an entirely different solution than used in the past. Collaboration is the exact opposite of all of the other methods, and can involve more time being needed to resolve the issue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many different conflicts to consider when talking about working within a group. Leadership, Roles, Schedules, and Disagreements will always be an issue when people have to come together and work as a team. Though by working as a team the team members can band together to overpower or conquer the issues at hand. People will always have conflicts among themselves and with others; it is just a way of life

The Effect of Childhood Trauma on Brain Development Essay -- Child Abu

According to the Center for Disease Control, one in every three girls and one in every five boys are sexually abused by an adult at some time during childhood. Child abuse is a vicious cycle. After a child is abused it puts a deterrent on his or her ability to succeed in life. Examples of this are adults who were abused as children are twice as likely to become abusers themselves. The majority of people in prisons were abused as children. It is no wonder why childhood trauma has such a horrible impact on a person’s personality and brain. Trauma is a serious consideration in special education. When a child is exposed to a traumatic event, such as abuse, neglect or death, it can have a lifelong effect on their mental health. Although there are numerous effects followed by childhood trauma the brain chemistry of neurotransmitters is most affected. First a person might ask what neurotransmitters are. A perfect example is a lock and a key. Neurotransmitters are keys and each one activates different receptors (locks). Today there is known to be sixty chemicals that play a role in transferring information throughout the brain and body, each of which differently effect thought, feeling, and behavior. During childhood is when a person is most impressionable. Therefore when a child has suffered any physical, sexual, or emotional abuse these instances play a major role on the connections to their brain and the way that person will react to any given situation. If a child was frequently abused their brain would continuously be in high stress alert. According to The Healing Center- On Line, studies on the physiological effects of trauma have found profound and substantial effects within multiple interconnected neurobiological syst... ...rth a lot of effort to secure the damaged connections of their brain. After the trauma the person could be haunted by nightmares or constantly bothered by their inability to recall the incident fully, due to the damaged hippocampus. Trauma is as an event more overwhelming than a person ordinarily would be expected to encounter. Therefore the individual would suffer more than a few effects including eternal change such as thought process, inability to learn properly, difficulty trusting people, difficulty in socializing, and basically an inability to live their life to the fullest without distraction. If someone knew a child in danger of abuse they should call 1800-4-A-child. The longer the child is traumatized the greater the effects will be on the chemistry of their brain, and the less chance they have of overcoming the damage in order to live a life of normalcy.

Legal History of Bangladesh Short

Legal System has developed gradually in Bangladesh with her growth as a nation over the centuries. Before the advent of British rule this part of the country was under Mughal rule. The Mughals seized power from the Turko-Afghan sultans who ruled the country since the beginning of the 13th century. It was under the Hindu ruler (Aryans) for 1500 years before and after the beginning of Christian era when they conquered the land by vanquishing the indigenous people. During the Turko-Mughal rule the country formed the eastern part of Subah Bangla and, during the British rule, eastern part of the province of Bengal.Historical development of Legal System of Bangladesh: Legal history of Bangladesh can conveniently be studied under five important periods — Hindu Period, Muslim Period, British Period, Pakistan Period and after independence (or Bangladesh period History & Development of Legal System in Bangladesh: Hindu Period to Pakistan Period Md. Ziadul Islam Chowdhury Sadi Department of Law University of Dhaka Legal System has developed gradually in Bangladesh with her growth as a nation over the centuries.Before the advent of British rule this part of the country was under Mughal rule. The Mughals seized power from the Turko-Afghan sultans who ruled the country since the beginning of the 13th century. It was under the Hindu ruler (Aryans) for 1500 years before and after the beginning of Christian era when they conquered the land by vanquishing the indigenous people. During the Turko-Mughal rule the country formed the eastern part of Subah Bangla and, during the British rule, eastern part of the province of Bengal. Historical development of Legal System of Bangladesh:Legal history of Bangladesh can conveniently be studied under five important periods — Hindu Period, Muslim Period, British Period, Pakistan Period and after independence (or Bangladesh period). HINDU PERIOD: Introduction & Sources of Law Legal system in Bangladesh under Hindu period is also known as Aryan legal system because during Hindu period law and legal system were mainly developed by Aryans who migrated from central Asia[1]. After coming to India the Aryans followed certain norms in their conduct with one another. Read also History QuizzesThe rules of conduct (achar) of each class included religious observances which were binding, and violation of the same was expiated by the rituals of penance (prayaschitta). The Brahmins, the priestly class, helped the wrongdoers in performing those rituals. Those rules of conduct were called dharma and included duties and obligations. In course of time it became the dharma of the king to compel the people to observe their rules of conduct and the Brahmins, as the repository of knowledge of those rules, advised the king in administering the same. Legal obligations and their violations were

Kubler Ross Essay

After reading Kubler-Ross’s On Life after Death, I must say, it’s definitely opened my eyes to a new perspective, and made me realize, that I too, will leave this earth one day. Kubler-Ross was the first in her playing field to open up the subject matter of death. She was able to bring about her ways of ideas through her seminars on what life, death, and transition is. In her counseling of and research on dying patients, Kubler-Ross brings about five stages of dying that an individual experiences when they leave their cocoon. These five stages are denial/isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I think many different individuals can benefit from reading this book, no matter who you are and no matter what your profession is. In this book, Kubler-Ross has mini chapters that are basically a discussion with patients and clients to express the key issues surrounding their illness, where some of the patients know they are certain they will die, and this is where Kubler-Ross exercises one to one therapy to assist throughout the process. A few different topics come up throughout the book about incurably sick patients, near death experiences, and incomplete business. I remember when my grandma passed away, prior to her dying, she’d been through several open heart surgeries, a leg amputation, Parkinson’s disease, and a tremendous amount of stress. Everyone in the family observed and just watched my grandma as she went through Kubler-Ross’s stages. Before something else would arise with my grandma, you can just tell she was in denial about whatever was next to happen. Everyone in the family was very down and out, especially my mom, and she was the strongest one and was the one to take care of my grandmas the most. But she would never let my grandma see her upset; she’d wait until she got home before she cried. Kubler-Ross mentions that it is usually a temporary guard and will eventually be able to reach the stage of acceptance (p. 21). Kubler-Ross points out that when you are angry, it can’t really be sugar coated. And when you have an upset or angry individual in a family, it will make its rounds and the mood will just linger amongst those that are there. During this time it’s important to be very liberal to the way others feel. The process of being open-minded to others will aid in expressing the wishes of the dying patient. I now understand that in more cases than not, the rationale for dying is connected with bargaining for more time. Bargaining, which is one of Kubler-Ross’s (5) stages, is when the individual thinks that if they would have done something differently, God would have given him/her more time to live. I feel we can learn a lot from this section in our day-to-day lives. We all ask ourselves if only and if we are struck with an illness, would we fight for the time we have and try to make it worthwhile. If we did not live with such suffering, like my grandmother had, we may lead different lives. The ways each person individually lives him/her life may be focused on materialistic values or it can be of faith in who we are and faith in God. I do believe that when any individual comes into contact with going through someone passing, it’s ok to be upset, and it’s expected for one to suffer from a heightened state of depression. As human beings, we can make a decision to let that depression take charge of us, or we can choose to accept death. To resolve most conflicts in our lives when we are dying is when we are able to accept the unavoidable events that transpire. It’s very important to be able to come to some terms of agreement with events that happen in our lives not just when death occurs, but also in our day to day lives in this world. If nothing is absorbed in one’s mind after reading these short essays in this book, you will learn to take what each day brings as a new day starts, and to live for the moment. My mom always tells me to not take things for granite, be grateful, because we never know when it’s our time to go, and that God brought us into this world, and he can take you out. I think this book mentions several personal stories, which is a good thing because whoever is reading the book has the ability to identify with the experiences. The book gives you an opportunity to become stronger reading about others experiences as you go through unforeseen events in your own life. One example from the book is the mother whose husband left her with the needy children, and she struggled with the word â€Å"retarded†, and tried to understand the purpose of having a child that was like a vegetable. She goes through several stages with God, and then finds a true meaning to have the child. She identifies herself with her child and talks to her godmother, and she writes a poem, titled â€Å"To My Godmother† (p. 23). The poems express the mother’s feelings of acceptance and her will to continue with her life even though she had a very needy child. An individual that is experiencing similar experiences may read this book and feel comforted in reading the poem, knowing that if someone else could show such strength and hope during hardship then they can as well. These readings clearly can be therapeutic to clients who are  experiencing and dealing with these issues in their own lives. However, this book presents a weakness in that Kubler-Ross can at times display a mixed tone that may come across as her showing more empathy in one story and more clinical in others. I think this book can be woven into psychotherapy a few different ways. The therapist could implement different parts of the book as reflection exercises for clients. Some experiences shared in this book can help clients gain insight into their feelings as they face dying either themselves or through some else’s experience. As mentioned previously, this book will have you taking one day at a time, and dealing with what each day brings as it comes. Kubler-Ross was an innovator in her field and opened the doors to communicating about death. I learned that death is a process and mostly filled with grief, and when loved ones are suffering from an illness, or whatever the case may be, we need to be aware of Kubler-Ross’s five stages as the individual goes through them, and think about how it is going to have an effect on us in the process.