Metamorphosis Is The Absurd Story - 1712 Words

The foremost thing that shocked people when they read Kafka’s Metamorphosis is the absurd story itself. Basically, the story of Franz Kafka’s â€Å"The Metamorphosis† is about a man transformed into a giant bug and died without the exact help of family members. In her essay â€Å"Transforming Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis†, Nina Straus points out that the story of Metamorphosis is mainly about the gender role exchange between male and female, â€Å"Metamorphosis unfolds by contrasting Gregor’s maimed and dying body with the evolving, blossoming body of Grete, who take Gregor’s place as family provider and favorite†(Straus 134). It is no doubt that Straus well explained the gender role exchange, and also touched partly the conflict between father and son. However, she failed to extend and explain the tragic figure of the father Samsa, which becomes what this paper for. Therefore, this paper is going to offers readers a better under standing of the paradox of male characters who are designated to be both protector and victim of the patriarchal society through studying the character, Mr. Samsa. First all of, Straus’s idea that the male world is the jail for men can be understood as, every man lives under the so – called standard of patriarchal society, they have to have the desire for the superiority to dominate his family. Traditionally speaking, a father figure should be the ruler of the family. This principle also applies to old ill Mr. Samsa, even he has bankrupt for five yearsShow MoreRelatedBreaking Down The Metamorphosis1076 Words   |  5 PagesBreaking Down The Metamorphosis Franz Kafkas beginning of his novel, The Metamorphosis, begins with what would seem a climactic moment: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. From this point on, the reader is determined to make sense of this transformation. However, the reader later comes to realize that Gregor is actually not an insect, but this metamorphosis into a vermin was purely symbolic. It symbolizesRead MoreAnalysis Of Franz Kafka s The Metamorphosis1500 Words   |  6 PagesKafka’s The Metamorphosis, the opening sentence introduces the main character, event and the setting. Gregor Samsa is one of the only two characters who are addressed by name, this reflects his importance in the story because he is the protagonist and he plays a central role in the lives of his family and friends. Besides introducing the central character, this opening line has a dramatic impact on readers. It draws the reader straight to Gregor S amsa’s transformation and Kafka’s absurd reality creatingRead MoreAn Analysis Of The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1003 Words   |  5 PagesThe metamorphosis, written by a German author Franz Kafka. Kafka and his Metamorphosis is a masterpiece of absurdist literature, but what is the most absurd part in this whole story ? Everyones first reaction may be human turn into beetles this setting could be the most absurd sense indeed, because this kind of transformation is never going to happen in reality. However, in the history of literature, there are numerous similar ‘metamorphosis’ plot happens between human and animals or plantsRead MoreFrom Parallel Worlds in Franz Kafka ´s The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus ´ The Myth of Sisyphus798 Words   |  3 PagesHow can two different worlds be so similar? The saying, â€Å"same stuff different story,† comes into play. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus each have a protagonist that lives in an absurd world. Gregor Samsa and Sisyphus go through some type of change or punishment that makes their existence insignificant. Gregor Samsa becomes a metaphorical and physical â€Å"bug† to his family and must spend the rest life this way. Sisyphus is punished by the Gods and must spend the Read MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1072 Words   |  5 PagesThe Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is an absurd but interesting tale about a young man who wakes up to find that he has turned into an insect one weekday morning. The edition I used was Norton Critical Edition, but it was translated and edited by Stanley Corngold. The Metamorphosis is a tale that has hidden meanings in every sentence and can be viewed in multiple ways. In this essay I will be talking about the effect the transformation has on everyone, Gregor’s role/ responsibilities in the familyRead More Comparing the Absurd in The Metamorphosis and Endgame Essay1232 Words   |  5 PagesThe Absurd in The Metamorphosis and Endgame The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms defines the Absurd as â€Å"A phrase referring to twentieth-century works that depict the absurdity of the modern human condition, often with implicit reference to humanity’s loss or lack of religious, philosophical, or cultural roots. Such works depict the individual as essentially isolated and alone, even when surrounded by other people and things.† (Murfin 2) Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett wereRead MoreEssay on Metamorphosis and Postmodernism1122 Words   |  5 PagesIn his novel The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka uses the dramatic transformation of his character, Gregor, to mock the societal construct of the twentieth century. This very act of mockery goes against the three pillars of modernism, making this a postmodern work of literature. The whole tone of the story is revealed in the very first sentence of the book. It reveals Gregor turning into this hideous vermin in such a nonchalant way that automatically the reader is thrown into absurd reality. As theRead MoreMetamorphosis And Zaabalawai1307 Words   |  6 PagesThe Metamorphosis and Zaabalawai: An Exploration into the Meaning of Life What is the meaning of life? Many philosophers and religions have attempted to answer the question of what, if anything, gives an individual a purpose. Nevertheless, contrasting metaphysical interpretations have created a perpetual discussion on the ontology of an individual. Consider western monotheistic ideology, existentialism and nihilism. Western monotheistic ideology outlines the purpose of existence as living to theRead MoreWhat Is Metamorphosis Or Transformation?2664 Words   |  11 PagesCHAPTER 1: What is metamorphosis or transformation? First of all we should understand what metamorphosis means – a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one. One can just simply call it change or transformation. One can undergo different types of transformations i.e. a person can undergo physical/biological transformation, or psychological transformation, or behavioural transformation, or cultural transformation, or spiritual transformation, or some other transformationsRead More Tracing Changes in Pythagoras Speech in Ovids Metamorphoses1381 Words   |  6 PagesFrom this foundation, Ovid launches into his stories, using metamorphosis more as a vehicle for telling his stories than as an actual subject matter.   Although he retells religious myths, Ovid is not writing a religious manuscript.   Rather, the product is a work of literature.   Ovid is conscious that he is writing literature, not religion, and implied in his intention to tell of bodies changed is also to demonstrate how skillful he can retell these stories.   Ovid could have dealt with the metamorphoses

The War Of Vietnam Tim O Brien - 1282 Words

The war of Vietnam played a significant role in Tim O’Brien’s life throughout his works and experiences. He was drafted to the Vietnam war after graduating college in 1968 where he served two years. O’Brien wrote the novel The Things They Carried after returning from the war as a way to clear off his mind from the experiences he went through. In the novel he constructed many memories that may or may not be true, but are told using imagination as a guide to explore the mind of the readers. O’Brien used his novel to liberate his many occurrences he faced and dealt with throughout his journey. In an interview with Michael Coffey on Patrick Smith’s article O’Brien states, â€Å"My goal was to write something utterly convincing but without any rules as to what’s real and made up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (97). Tim O’Brien uses imagination to establish a therapy within his writing as a way to cope with reality based on his war transition, allus ions, and stories to save him. Soldiers may not always be prepared to return to their civilian life after witnessing danger and casualties while being away. Some seemed to deal with it by keeping their mind busy with pastime activities such as writing, while others just cannot imagine a future after. Tim O’Brien is one of the people who found writing as a way to exercise the mind and break free. The Things They Carried is considered to be O’Brien’s way to release his memories and stories in order to move on with life. He is now forty-three years old and still writesShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Tim O Brien s The Vietnam War Essay1123 Words   |  5 PagesTim O’Brien, a Vietnam veteran, wrote his award winning novel Going After Cacciato in response to the Vietnam War. In his novel, the protagonist soldier Paul Berlin, must maneuver through the harsh elements of Vietnam in pursuit of a simpleton gone A.W.O.L. During his journey, the young soldier faces sickness, brutality, and death. Be rlin uses his rich and imaginative inner world to distract himself and attempt to make sense of the grim realities of his physical environment. Weaving fact with fantasyRead MoreThe Vietnam War in The Things They Carried by Tim O ´brien Essay796 Words   |  4 PagesThe Vietnam War. A war that many Americans believed unfair and unnecessary. â€Å"Why am I being sent off to fight in a war I don’t know anything about? Will I ever return again?† Many draftees asked themselves these questions hoping to find comfort in the answers. But there was little to no hope, and they knew it. They were being drafted and they could do absolutely nothing about it, only hope that at the end they would be returning to the enlightened faces of their loved ones, something that not manyRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien1169 Words   |  5 Pagesstory is about Tim O Brien, a Vietnam veteran from the Unite States, who tells stories about what had happened when he and his team were stationed in Vietnam. He also talks about what he felt about the war when he was drafted and what he tried to do to avoid going to fight in Vietnam. The Things They Carried by Tim O Brien was precise with its portrayal of setting, conflict, and characterization in this Vietnam set historical novel. Tim O Brien recreated the setting of the Vietnam War through theRead MoreThe Things They Carried Vietnam Essay1571 Words   |  7 PagesHow Society Influences Man: Tim O Brien in Vietnam Tim O Brien s novel The Things They Carried is meant to display the effects of Vietnam on both American soldiers as well as the boys they once were. Vietnam is a society where human decency is left behind, and death is embraced as either a joke or an escape--where the horrors of reality are turned comical and exaggerated in order to keep going. Tim O Brien shows how Vietnam turns him from a boy unknowing of death, to a young man unwilling toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie The Things They Carried 1734 Words   |  7 PagesThe Actual War Scenario - Vietnam War The Things They Carried, is a novel based on the Vietnam War, and the book reveals the truth of the war as the author remembers the war after twenty one years and snows his guilt and emotions for the war. The Things They Carried, belongs high on the list of the best fiction about any war... crystallizes the Vietnam experiences for everyone and exposes the nature of all war stories.( New York Times, Book of the Century). Tim O Brien, the authorRead MoreThe War Is Wrong, By Tim O Brien1075 Words   |  5 Pagestruly believe the war is wrong, is it then also wrong to go off and kill people? If I do that, what will happen to my soul?† (pg 60). Tim O Brien is an American man who was drafted into the Vietnam War. O Brien is not a violent man and struggles because he believes that the war is wrong. He debates whether or not he should go to war or move to Canada to avoid the draft. Tim O Brien decides to join the army. O Brien uses his personal experiences as a foot soldier in the Vietnam War to convey his possibleRead MorePsychological Changes During Soldiers From The Vietnam War981 Words   |  4 PagesSOLDIERS FROM THE VIETNAM WAR The survival of a soldier depends on what he wears. In war, the line between life and death is thinner than ever, and often, supplies, weapons, and the equipment of a soldier is the only thing that can cause the line not to clear. But, a soldier also carries his memory, memories, amulets, ghosts of the past, and trivial objects that do not let him forget that there is another life-the life-beyond war. Soldiers of Alpha Company, who fought in Vietnam, carry everythingRead More Things They Carried Essay: Disembodiment723 Words   |  3 Pagessome knowledge of war, one can begin to appreciate Tim O Briens The Things They Carried.   But when the work is viewed in its strict historical context, another layer of   meaning rises to the surface.   Tim O Brien is a veteran; as a result there are many things he takes for granted (or so we think) and does not tell us.   Americas involvement in the Vietnam war resulted from internal domestic politics rather than from the national spirit .   American soldiers had to fight a war without a cause, iRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien1242 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Tim O’Brien is obsessed with telling a true war story. O Brien s fiction about the Vietnam experience suggest, lies not in realistic depictions or definitive accounts. As O’Brien argues, absolute occurrence is irrelevant because a true war story does not depend upon that kind of truth. Mary Ann’s induction into genuine experience is clearly destructive as well as empowering† (p.12) Tim O’s text, The Things they Carried, details his uses of word choice to portray his tone and bias. Tim O’BrienRead More OBrien and Fossie in The Things They Carried Essay862 Words   |  4 PagesThe Things They Carried, both Tim O?Brien and Mark Fossie experience a significant amount of personal maturation by gaining new knowledge about themselves, the Vietnam War, and the world around them. There are very few times when a person goes through an experience that changes the way he or she thinks about themselves. Drastic things like war, deaths, and tragic incidents can change a person?s life and shape the way they live. In ?The Man I Killed,? Tim O?Brien describes his life changing event

How Does Shakespeare Present the Theme of Love in Romeo and Juliet Free Essays

Sexual love is used in this play as comic relief between the serious parts, as an ice-breaker and to keep the audience entertained. Shakespeare included sexual love in this play because at the time, the audience for whom he’d be performing wouldn’t be very educated and including this would grab their attention straight away Sexual love is the first type of love displayed in this play. You meet two Capulet servants, Sampson and Gregory in the first scene. We will write a custom essay sample on How Does Shakespeare Present the Theme of Love in Romeo and Juliet or any similar topic only for you Order Now They are talking about women as sexual objects and nothing more. Sampson is talking about how he will ‘be cruel with the maids’ once he has taken care of the men, and how he ‘will cut off’ their ‘maidenheads’. He is talking about raping the wives of the men he has killed, referring to their virginities as their heads. He is also very generous about himself, suggesting that his penis is â€Å"a pretty piece of flesh’ and that women will be able to feel him while he is ‘able to stand’, meaning that he’s having an erection against the women. This is very sexual because to feel a man’s erection, you have to be very close to him and he has to be practically grinding against you, and be turned on by you. While they only see women as objects of lust, sexual love is not only relatable to men; women can be just as sexually-minded. In this play, Shakespeare does have a lot of sexual-orientated characters but one of the most amusing ones is possibly Juliet’s nurse. She finds a way to make everything she says sound suggestive when most people wouldn’t be able to. She may get it from her late husband, who was just as inappropriate as her, telling a three year old that she ‘will fall backwards when thou hast more wit’ which basically translates to him telling her that when she gets older she’ll know to lie backwards so a man can lie on top of her, which is completely senseless to say to a child. On the other hand, it is more likely Nurse was just always like that. Nurse seems to think that the only important thing to consider in a marriage is sex, saying that Juliet should ‘seek happy nights to happy days’ as if a good sex life is the key to having a happy marriage. She also has the skill to twist things that seem perfectly innocent into a sexual innuendo. Nurse also says that ‘women grow by men’ which is a double entendre of that women grow in status when they marry the right men, but Nurse is saying that they also grow pregnant and sex is a very important factor in a good and healthy marriage. Romeo and Mercutio also have the tendency to be sexually minded. Mercutio refers to Rosaline, the girl Romeo thinks he’s in love with as ‘medlar’, a rude way to refer to a woman’s or a man’s sexual anatomy and he also talks about Romeo as if he was ‘a poperin pear’ which is a pear shaped like a penis. Mercutio is very crude and sexual throughout this entire speech. Romeo, while you don’t see him being sexually orientated throughout the book, does have his moments away from the spiritual plains of love. He sneaks out to meet Juliet and is hoping that ‘her vestal livery is but sick and green’ and that she should ‘cast it off’ because ‘none but fools do wear it’. By saying this, he’s implying that he hopes she will not remain a virgin because he wants to marry her and have sex with her. While this isn’t quite as bad as the long speeches that Nurse and Mercutio make, it is still slightly sexual which shows that even people as spiritually inclined as Romeo can be orientated this way. Surprisingly, Juliet also has her moments even though she is very young. When Juliet is about to leave Romeo, Romeo inquires whether she will really leave him ‘so unsatisfied’. Not realising that he’s merely talking about keeping her forever through the gift of marriage, and thinking he’s asking her if she’ll really leave him without having sex, she immediately asks ‘what satisfaction canst thou have tonight’. She immediately jumps to the conclusion that he was asking for sex before even considering the other options. Shakespeare includes this because it shows that anyone can have sexual thoughts about another, even someone like Juliet who appears to be so innocent and young. Sexual love, while present throughout the play is not the only love explored by Shakespeare in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Courtly love is also present, but only in the beginning of the play. At the time ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was set, courtly love was very popular and many poets were using it, thus including it in the play was making the play very fashionable for its time. Romeo is the character that feels courtly love for Rosaline, meaning that his love for her in unrequited but he seems to love her anyway. The first time you meet Romeo he is pining over Rosaline because ‘she’ll not be hit with cupid’s arrow’ and won’t return his feelings for her. He is acting very pathetic and spewing out long speeches full of oxymorons and rhyming couplets, making it very obvious that he’s practiced what he’s going to say because people don’t go around just talking in rhyming couplets and oxymorons. His long speeches have a rather pathetic ending. He has put together very fashionable, lengthy spiels full of oxymorons about ‘loving hate’ and ‘heavy lightness’. When Benvolio finally comprehends and asks him ‘who is that’ Romeo loves, Romeo quite pathetically admits that he does ‘love a woman’. This declaration is a rather meager way to sum up all he’s spent hours preparing while privately ‘in his chamber’ and wandering around in the woods ‘many a morning’. Throughout most of his speeches he isn’t giving a proper answer to any of Benvolio’s questions. He keeps giving Benvolio very vague responses in an attempt to make Benvolio question more. Romeo is coercing people to worry about him more than necessary by pretending that the situation is more confusing than it is. After his long oxymoron-filled speech he asked Benvolio ‘Dost thou not laugh’, wanting Benvolio to worry about him and to give him attention. As in true courtly love fashion, Romeo is enamored with Rosaline and will do anything to see her. Benvolio, a true friend, tries to make Romeo see sense that there are ‘other beauties’ in the world and Romeo should ‘examine’ them and forget about Rosaline. However, Romeo won’t hear of it and attempts to convince Benvolio that he ‘canst not teach’ Romeo ‘to forget’ how beautiful Rosaline is and how much he loves her. Although Romeo’s courtly interests are mostly kept to the first few scenes of the play, the Friar does bring it up later on, saying that ‘thy love did read by rote, that could not spell’. The Friar is explaining to Romeo that Romeo knew the way that people were supposed to act when they were madly in love and he was simply pretending to be in love when he wasn’t, which is what courtly love is. Another type of love showcased in this play is Romantic love, and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is one of the most famous romantic plays ever written. In the play, I think that Shakespeare presents the love between Romeo and Juliet as very artificial. He shows it through their first meeting, Juliet’s inexperience, Romeo’s attitude and the attitude of Romeo’s friends. Romeo and Juliet’s conversation forms a sonnet when they first meet. This is the first conversation they have and before he even hears her speak, he refers to her as a ‘shrine’, invoking the deepest religious love for her. Romeo is flattering her to get her to fall for him. Before he even knows who she is, he asks to ‘smooth that rough touch’ that is his ‘unworthiest hand’ with a kiss. She immediately counters that by telling him ‘you do wrong your hand too much’. She’s trying to tell him that there is nothing wrong with his hand, and he doesn’t need to kiss her. Finally he asks outright for her to ‘let lips do what hands do’, showing he’s rather desperate to get to kiss her. Juliet says in return that she isn’t going to move and that he can kiss her, but that she won’t kiss him. Their conversation does form a sonnet, but Juliet is just playing along with Romeo because he’s the one that initiated the conversation in rhyme and she’s simply joining in. She is attracted to him, but she’s not just going to give in to his desperation. He has to work for the right to kiss her. After the kiss, Juliet is understandably very taken aback, considering she is quite inexperienced and this is her first kiss. She tells him that ‘you kiss by th’ book’, showing that Juliet only knows what love is like in books and fairytales and she’s comparing her feelings about Romeo to that. It is arguable that this is not real romance. I think that the best evidence for the idea that the romantic love displayed in this play is artificial is the attitude of Romeo. When we first meet him he is obviously enamoured with Rosaline, but sees this beautiful girl that removes any thought of Rosaline from his mind. This is superficial because he doesn’t know anything about Juliet, he doesn’t even know her name and yet he’s certain that he loves her, saying ‘did my heart love till now’, when just moments before he had been professing his undying devotion to someone completely different. When Romeo attempts to talk Friar Lawrence into marrying him to Juliet, Friar Lawrence remains unconvinced, saying that ‘these woes were all for Rosaline’. Romeo insists, illogically, that his love for Juliet is real because she loves him back and Rosaline ‘did not so’. He says that even though he was going on and on about her, she’s old news and he no longer loves her because he’s found someone better. I don’t think He really loves Juliet because her prettiness is the only reason he ever spoke to her and it is reasonable to believe that if he sees someone prettier he might forget all about her. Even Romeo’s friends know that he’s being pathetic. Mercutio actually makes fun of him for spewing out all the rhyming poems which really don’t have any semblance towards true love by saying ‘speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied’. Mercutio is certain that this will all be over soon. Before the party Mercutio tries to cheer Romeo up with his big ‘Queen Mab’ speech, showing that he wants Romeo to be happy. We trust Mercutio because he is a very likeable character. Benvolio, who has been primarily concerned with Romeo’s wellbeing throughout the play so far, is certain Romeo will move on and ‘examine other beauties’. We trust Benvolio’s opinion because he shows the most direct concern about Romeo and even he seems to think that this is all a phase. Before Balthasar brings Romeo news of Juliet’s death, Romeo is very happy because he has had a dream about Juliet which is the ‘flattering truth of sleep’. This is very similar to his dream in an earlier scene about Rosaline, which was about ‘things true’, being how much he loves Rosaline. Referring to both Rosaline and Juliet by using the word ‘true’ makes it plausible that he is just being as over-dramatically ecstatic about a dream about Juliet as he was depressed over a dream about Rosaline before the party in which he saw Juliet. I think that this makes us doubt his sincerity because he is using the same story about a dream for both girls. When Romeo finds out about Juliet’s supposed death, he doesn’t even stop to think, which proves that he doesn’t consider the possibilities of his actions. He immediately goes to buy ‘a dram of poison’ so he ‘may fall dead’ by Juliet’s side. In my opinion, for a girl that he hasn’t even spent a full day with, this seems like a very rash decision. Juliet, waking up and finding Romeo dead beside her also kills herself with a dagger after trying to take the poison off his lips so she will ‘die with a restorative’ but when that proves to be a failure, stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. She is allowed a little more leeway, being very young and traumatised at finding her new husband dead on top of her and is likely to be very dramatic. They barely know each other and yet they kill themselves over the premise of ‘true love’. I think that the real tragedy in this play is not that true lovers are forced to kill themselves to be together but that two young and healthy people with long lives ahead of them kill themselves over miscommunication and feelings that ultimately end up to be an over exaggeration of two hormonal teenagers! Parental love, whilst a minor aspect of love in this play, is still very present. Neither Juliet nor Romeo have very close relationships with their parents and seek out parental advice in the forms of Nurse and Friar Lawrence. Romeo does get along with his parents and they do love him. When you first meet the Montagues after a large street fight, his mother expresses her relief that Romeo ‘was not at this fray’, showing that she is concerned about his physical wellbeing. His father is obviously concerned about Romeo’s mental state at the fact that Romeo is currently wandering around by himself ‘many a morning’ and stays ‘private in his chamber’ during the day, cutting himself off from everyone else. After the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, when the Capulets and Montagues have realised what happened, we find out that Montague’s ‘wife is dead tonight’ because the ‘grief of’ her ‘son’s exile hath stopped her breath’. This makes it obvious that the Montagues really do love their son, but don’t have a strong connection with him because he never talked to them about what was troubling him. Even though Romeo and his parents are emotionally close to each other, they do not communicate with each other well and to show this Shakespeare does not put one scene in this play in which Romeo directly interacts with his parents. This shows that while they are family, they don’t really rely on each other to help out. Instead of questioning Romeo about his actions himself, his parents send Benvolio, Romeo’s friend and cousin, which shows that Romeo is more likely to confide in Benvolio than in his own parents. Romeo, instead of going to his parents for advice, goes to Friar Lawrence for parental help. The Friar knows what’s going on in Romeo’s life more than the parents do. It is normally a parent’s job to chide their children but Romeo says to Friar that ‘thou chid’st me oft for loving Rosaline’ which means that the Friar has taken on the responsibility of telling Romeo off about Rosaline, whom Romeo has not even told his parents about. Juliet’s predicament with her parents is similar as they also love her very much. When Paris, a suitable young man, requests Juliet’s hand in marriage, Lord Capulet thinks Juliet ‘is yet a stranger in this world’ and tells Paris to come back in ‘two more summers’. That Lord Capulet doesn’t want to marry her off so young even to such a suitable person shows that he really cares for Juliet’s well-being. When Juliet is mourning the banishment of Romeo, Lord Capulet decides to throw her a party to take her mind of what he thinks is an over-reaction of Tybalt’s death. He agrees to make ‘a desperate tender’ and allow her to marry Paris, hoping that this will cheer her up. He does this because he had Juliet’s best interests at heart and just wanted to please her and make her happy again, by giving her a large party and lots of attention. After Juliet is found supposedly dead, Lady Capulet gets very upset, saying that if Juliet does not ‘look up’ than Lady Capulet ‘will die with thee’. Both the Capulets genuinely love their daughter, calling her their ‘only life’ when she is found dead. Like Romeo, Juliet’s parents don’t communicate with her well. They don’t understand her emotions and don’t know how to speak to her effectively. When Lady Capulet wishes to speak privately with Juliet she asks Nurse to leave but the minute she is left alone with Juliet she calls Nurse ‘back again’. Since Lady Capulet didn’t raise Juliet and Nurse did, Lady Capulet would feel more comfortable if Nurse is in the room because she is unsure of how to talk to her own daughter. When Juliet is distraught after Romeo’s banishment, they assume she is upset over Tybalt’s death because ‘she loved her kinsman Tybalt dearly’. Instead of asking her what is wrong, they automatically think that she is upset over Tybalt, which shows miscommunication. Like Romeo has the Friar, Juliet has Nurse whom she trusts with her personal life. Nurse is the only one Juliet tells about Romeo, and ‘did send the Nurse’ to get information out of Romeo about the wedding. She trusted her Nurse with this part of her life that she didn’t tell her parents about. Friendly love in this play is possibly the only love that is not somewhat superficial and fake. Primarily, we see friendly love being expressed amongst Romeo and his friends. Benvolio is the most open about how much he cares for Romeo’s well-being. He expresses his concern to Romeo directly, wondering ‘what sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours’. Even though Benvolio is certain that he would sooner ‘die in debt’ than Romeo not forget his love for Rosaline, he is troubled that Romeo is upset in the moment. When Romeo is missing after the party Benvolio goes searching for him accompanied by Mercutio and is anxious that Mercutio ‘wilt anger him’ by insulting Romeo about Rosaline, even though Benvolio agrees ith him and Romeo arguably deserves it. This shows that Benvolio really does care about Romeo and doesn’t wish for him to be upset over anything. Mercutio shows his concern for Romeo in a different way, although he still makes it obvious that he cares. When Romeo is depressed with ‘a soul of lead’ before the party, Mercutio wants to cheer him up. When Romeo insists that he ‘dreamt a dream’, Mercutio picks up on that straight away and begins to make fun of Romeo in a jovial way, saying ‘and so did I’. Romeo asks what Meructio’s dream was, giving Mercutio the perfect opening for his ‘Queen Mab’ speech, which is a jokey speech about a fairy queen so he can lighten Romeo’s mood and also point out that ‘dreamers often lie’. At the end Romeo tries to insist that Mercutio ‘talk’st of nothing’, to which Mercutio replies ‘true, I talk of dreams’, which is another way of telling Romeo to lighten up and enjoy the party without focusing on his dreams. This shows Mercutio cares because he just wants Romeo to have a good time and move on with his life without focusing on the past. When Tybalt is calling Romeo ‘a villain’ and Romeo is not standing up for himself, Mercutio gets very angry on Romeo’s behalf and gets into a fight with Tybalt that kills him. Even though Mercutio was in a rather restless mood that day because of the weather, I find it hard to believe that he would fight Tybalt without a reason. It is plausible that he was just using Romeo as an excuse but the fact that Mercutio is so concerned about Romeo’s honour that he will fight for him, makes Mercutio a true friend. Even though Balthasar is Romeo’s servant, he does have his moments of showing true friendship and concern for Romeo. Balthasar is the only person Romeo trusts other than Friar to tell about Juliet and Balthasar keeps Romeo updated about the goings and comings of Verona and of Juliet. Immediately after Juliet’s funeral Balthasar ‘took post to tell it’ to Romeo. Even though Romeo told Balthasar to leave once they got to Juliet’s crypt or he would ‘tear thee joint by joint’, Balthasar stayed behind because he doubted Romeo’s ‘intents’ and feared the way he looked. This shows true friendship because even faced with the possibility of getting killed by his master, Balthasar remains behind to keep an eye on him. Even Romeo has his moments of being a genuine friend towards his boys, as shown after Mercutio has been fighting with Tybalt. At first along with everyone else he assumes Mercutio is just putting on a show for the audience, sure that ‘the hurt cannot be much’. His certainty that Mercutio will be fine shows his closeness to Mercutio because he refuses to consider the possibility that Mercutio might die. After finding out that ‘brave Mercutio is dead’, Romeo is absolutely furious and all thoughts of ‘sweet Juliet’ leave his head and all he wants is for ‘fire-eyed fury’ to lead him to kill Tybalt for ‘Mercutio’s soul’. This is once again showing that his grief over Mercutio overwhelms his love for Juliet. Knowing the possible consequences Romeo refuses to let Tybalt ‘go in triumph’ and kills him because Tybalt killed one of Romeo’s closest friends. In conclusion, Shakespeare presents the theme of love in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as mostly artificial. Romantic love, which is the love most people arguably expect to read about in this play, is very artificial, creating the true tragedy of the play of two people dying for no concrete reason. Sexual love and courtly love are both put on for show. Sexual love is used as comic relief and is not taken seriously and courtly love is only a way of showcasing that romantic love really is artificial. Parental love is real but is strained with no communication so the only genuine form of love expressed successfully in this play is friendly love. How to cite How Does Shakespeare Present the Theme of Love in Romeo and Juliet, Essay examples

Principle of Economics Ponzi Scheme

Questions: 1. A bubble. A Ponzi scheme. Please define these two concepts as they apply to the housing market, giving full details of any sources you use. 2. New building approvals are growing at an impressive clip. Complete the diagram below explaining the consequences of the above scenario on the Australian housing market.3.Deregulation in the financial sector provoked increased competition to write loans. Explain how this scenario can increase economic welfare.4.What is an oligopoly and why is the Australian banking sector referred to as a cosy oligopoly? (Give full details of any source you use.) Answers: 1. Ponzi scheme is an investment scheme that provides incomes of former investors because of finances recognized from later investors. There has always been a false impression regarding the fact that Ponzi scheme is a sort of financial pyramid. However, both of these approaches are examples of dishonest investment schemes. The schemes pretend to be critical organization promising high profits in a short period. Most of the banks in Australia have treated the housing market as a Ponzi scheme (Colozza, Marmi and Nassigh 2015). The banking system in Australia has improved a continuous growth model. This shares an equal risk profile as a Ponzi or a pyramid scheme. On the other hand, according to Gjerstad and Smith (2014), an economic bubble is a circumstance in which individuals trade in goods. They also trade resources for amounts that are larger than their natural values. When the price of houses increases due to increase in demand, it leads to housing bubble, in the face of limited supply. 2. Figure: Australian housing market (Source: Created by Author) The graph illustrates that due to bubble that leads to increase in the housing prices, the supply for houses are likely to decrease as the supply curve shifts from S to S1. According to the article, the property prices in Sydney largely depend on the balance between supply and demand of housing. Increase in prices in Sydney has been impressive over the last two years. That in turn led to slower economic growth. 3. Deregulation of the financial sector is mostly taken to indicate the variety of legislative as well as economic events. Deregulation is likely to increase economic welfare, as it is able to deregulate savings as well as deposit rates. It also removes lending controls and opens the financial markets up to a higher competition. This will in turn generate billions of dollars of advantages to the savers of Australia. Deregulation has also led to considerably greater competition, loyalty, and reality of the financial system. Proceeding to deregulation, governments sought to use the banking system. This is to achieve objectives of monetary policy (Korinek and Kreamer 2014). 4. An oligopoly is a structure of the market that comprises of small number of firms that has a greater part of market share. An oligopoly is equal to that of monopoly however; there are more than one firm that controls the market. The banking sector is mostly considered as a cosy oligopoly where the individuals in Australia turn their back on smaller lenders (Beena 2014). The banking sector in Australia is not under a competitive market structure as a lesser number of firms mostly control the banking industry. References Beena, P.L., 2014. Mergers and Amalgamations: An Analysis of the changing structure of Indian Oligopoly. Colozza, T., Marmi, S. and Nassigh, A., 2015. Sovereign Debt Ponzi-Schemes and Credit Risk in the EMU. Gjerstad, S.D. and Smith, V.L., 2014.Rethinking housing bubbles: The role of household and bank balance sheets in modeling economic cycles. Cambridge University Press. Korinek, A. and Kreamer, J., 2014. The redistributive effects of financial deregulation.Journal of Monetary Economics,68, pp.S55-S67.

The Journey of One Buddhist Nun Even Against the Wind

Hypertension Example

Hypertension Example Hypertension – Article Example Hypertension Hypertension Risk Factors of Hypertension Hypertension or arterials hypertension also called high blood pressure is referred to as a chronic condition for medicine that involves an elevation of the artery’s blood pressure. The disease has a lot of risk factors. Age is one of the risks factor because high blood pressure risk increases with age. For, example women developed hypertension after menopause. In respect to race, hypertension is common for black than in white people. Black people develop complication such as heart attack and stroke. The family history is another risk factor, since it sometimes runs in families. Obese or overweight attracts hypertension. People with more weight need a lot of blood for the purpose of nutrients and oxygen supply. Individuals who are not physically active mostly have higher heart rates. Use of tobacco is another risk factor because the chemical in tobacco damages artery wall’s lining. A lot of salt also makes the body r etain fluids that cause blood pressure increase. Alcohol taking can also damage individual’s heart leading to hypertension. Stress can also cause temporary blood pressure increase. Other risk factor include taking diets with little vitamin D and potassium and certain chronic condition (NHS Choices, 2014). PrevalenceAccording to Nationals Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES), in 2009, hypertension rate in America was 37 % in men against 40.1 % in women. The report by Healthy People 2020 shows that, in 2013, adults about 20 % to 25 % in America were suffering from hypertension. In that 20 % to 25 % about 90% to 95 % were suffering from primary hypertension (NHS Choices, 2014). Mortality RateAccording to NHNES report, in America hypertension claims lives of about 26,634 people in each year. The report also shows that the death rate per 1,000 people suffering from hypertension is 18.1 % (NHS Choices, 2014).ReferenceNHS Choices (2014). High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) . Retrieved April 23, 2012, from nhs.uk/conditions/blood-pressure-%28high%29/pages/introduction.aspx

Cold War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cold War - Research Paper Example Beginning in 1947 and lasting until 1991, the Cold War can be defined as the sustained state of military, as well as political, tensions that existed between western hemisphere countries and their NATO allies and the Eastern hemisphere that was dominated by countries in the Warsaw Pact dominated by the USSR1. Following the success of the wartime alliance formed temporarily against Hitler’s Nazi Germany, the only two superpowers in global affairs were the United States and the Soviet Union. However, these two countries had profound differences in their political and economic ideologies, and this led to the beginning of the Cold War. The Second World War had a profound effect on global politics, with the early efforts of leaders in the US and the USSR attempting to shape the international system that was emerging after the war. In my opinion, the beginning of the Cold War can be traced from encouragement made by the Europeans, especially the British. Their encouragement of the U nited States to make their policy tougher towards the USSR was vital in the beginning. From my reading of the article, The Origins of Post War America, I believe that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reinforced this policy during his iron curtain speech2. As Americans, we decided to pursue this policy because it would advance our interests, which resulted in the French, British, and other Western European countries joining us in the sphere of influence. Free elections in these European countries worked towards ratifying the support of Western Europe governments for us. However, the CIA, through its support for anti-communist intellectual organizations and labor unions, did manipulate the outcomes somewhat. From being egged on by the Europeans, we as a country took over the resistance to the communist Eastern Bloc to head it and influence the European powers3. For those European countries that immediately were not up to standard such as Turkey, Greece, and Spain, we us ed economic leverage. As a country, we projected an image of minimal constraint, economic robustness, and civility that highly contrasted with that of imperial USSR, and so began the Cold War in earnest. Following the devastation that was meted on Europe and large parts of the Soviet Union by the war, our country’s promise of democracy reverberated across the world. The United States emerged from the war as the only major country that had escaped massive damage. While we faced a period of reconversion, our European allies faced a period of reconstruction4. The war had completely overturned the old order and two countries arose from the rubble, the US and USSR. Together, we were eager to seize the opportunity to extend our influence, and we clashed over policies of occupation in Korea, Austria, Japan, Italy, and Germany. This led to a new bi-polar structure, which ensured that the decisions we made determined the manner in which other countries made their decisions. However, t he bi-polar nature of the world was more of an asymmetry than a balance, as we held predominant power that enabled us to build up even more5. Our economy was also much stronger than all the rest and our power as a country arose because all other nations were weakened. The atomic bomb, which effectively ended the Second World War, ensured that the nuclear race continued to destabilize the world during the Cold War as we and the USSR looked for, ways to deal with it as atomic development programs spurred on. The bomb throughout the Cold War period was uncontrolled, copied, and envied, making it a major obstacle to getting peace in the postwar international system6. The issue of how to control to use, spread and development of the atom bomb dogged the entire period. Our government was worried that our monopoly would end with an increase of nuclear proliferation. These fears were further intensified with the successful trial of an atom bomb by the USSR in 1949. The weapon turned to be a way for various countries to pry concessions or deter

Laurence Oliviers Hamlet Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Laurence Oliviers Hamlet Film - Movie Review Example Discussion: In a chronological approach to the assessment, reviews from 1948 will first be examined. In his New York Times reviews, in September 1948, Bosley Crowther was almost lyrical in his praise. As mentioned earlier, he cited the power of the camera use, as it With regard to the cuts, which included some soliloquies and the characters, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Fortinbras, Crowther is dismissive, considering cutting these to be "judicious editing" that "has given much greater clarity to its noted complexities" (1948). It appeared that this reviewer glossed over the Freudian, Oedipal context that many others identified, stating that Although the piece in Variety magazine was less intellectual in content and approach, it did touch on similar thematic aspects. The article, produced by Variety Staff, was completely positive and celebrated everything about the film. The cuts were dismissed as: Again, the review did not linger on the Oedipal content, emphasizing the concept, taken from the opening voice-over, of "the tragedy of a man who couldn't make up his mind" (Olivier, 1948) The camera work was given praise and importance, as "deep-focus photography" and "bold crane-shots" that speed the action and give "grandeur and spaciousness" (Variety, 1948) Olivier's own thoughts and explanations were published as extracts from his book, "Hamlet: The Film and the Play", in September 1948 in the New York Times. He justified the cuts on the basis that the play "is very seldom played in its entirety, even on the stage." (Olivier, 1948). While he accepted that many Shakespeare purists might and did object, he had a valid point that needs to be included here. By creating a cinematic representation, he intended to make Shakespeare accessible to all. "But think for a moment of the audience reached by the film, who never go to a theatre.." (Olivier, 1948) His comments on the power of the camera to "nose into corners and magnify details that escape notice or pass muster on the stage," echoed the views expressed in the reviews discussed here. His thoughts are included here, not only to illustrate his motives, but also to underline that his intentions seemed to have succeeded, judging by the responses at the time. Recent reviews, arising from the re-issue of the film on DVD in 2000, carry the same positive responses and echo the themes identified so long ago. This would suggest that the film has the enduring power of the classic, a description fully deserved. In an email thread that reiterates this contention, Brian

Sociology Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sociology Assignment - Essay Example It also shows that people find beauty in products of mixed races. Nicole Scherzinger, is an example of a popular celebrity who is a product of mixed race. Speaking of celebrities, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a multiracial family not by natural ways but by adoption. And since this is world wide, it is safe to assume that the conditions, the issues, and situations these mixed race families, also known as multiracial families, are similar in most cases. I have chosen an article from Family Magazine Los Angeles entitled Finding Ways to Share Ethnic Differences in Multi-Racial Families as a representation of the family. This is how I see families – multi-racial, multi-cultural, dynamic and unique. The article discusses the challenges that multi-racial families face in the society and shares some ways to cope with these challenges as well. This paper in turn will show my analysis of the family as I see it through multi-racial families. First the paper discusses the definition of family and how it has changed through time and then analyze the family’s characteristics and show why families are multi-racial, multi-cultural, dynamic and unique. Today’s society’s definition of family has changed from how different societies from different eras define families. Before, issues of survival, economics, and politics has dictated how people form families. At present, there are existing laws and cultural practices that also dictate how families are formed. These practices and these dictates have changed all through the centuries. Several factors have affected these practices and beliefs and some identified factors have led to the current state of families today. Divorce has been prevalent thereby expanding the members of the family to siblings from ex-spouses, ex-parents and new parents. Single parenthood as a result of teen pregnancies has also changed the definition of family life because normally family is composed of a father,

BMW: Marketing Process Analysis

BMW: Marketing Process Analysis Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain they need and want through creation and exchanging products and values with others (Kotler et al. 2005). This definition incorporates both societal and organisation involvement in the realisation of the needs and wants of consumers through delivering products that is evaluated in terms of value created for the creator as well as the consumer rather than just offering a product. According to Groucutt (2005), marketing is all about symbols, brands, and choosing of products and services which are focused and related to the customer. This definition indicates the symbolic meaning of products as socio-economic symbols to alter the ego state of the target consumer. Marketing is a process for defining markets, assessing quantitatively the need of the consumer segments within the markets, allocating value propositions to cater to the needs, conveying the value propositions within the responsible zones of the organisations in relation to the output, communicating with respect to the delivery of the value propositions, and finally monitoring the delivery of the values (McDonald 2007). This definition point out the very calculated movement from the organizations part in utilising its resources to suitably target the right markets through properly defining the market and thereby providing the right product attached with the right value. The feedback from the related market is also a part of the marketing process to ensure the commercial viability also. BMW- Marketing process (LO 1.1) : Marketing process lays down the pathway to fulfill the unfilled needs of the customers by introducing products and services in the market to satisfy growing needs of the customers. The marketing process of BMW is modeled in sequence of steps which includes situational analysis, defining marketing strategy and appropriate marketing mix which promotes products sale (Kotler 2006). One of the key advantages of marketing process of BMW lies in the fact that its marketing approach is based on the situational analysis which catches the attention of the target audience, who are the segment A of the society (BMW 2010). Situational analysis as part of marketing planning process of BMW serves as a powerful tool to capture Australian luxury market by satisfying the changing consumer trends in the market. The advantages from the elements of marketing process are discussed in the following paragraphs. the benefits and costs of a marketing orientation (LO 1.2) : Cost Benefit 1. The two recently launched models X3 and X5 of BMW are a result of the market research conducted to serve the target audience. The cost spent on the research and development activities was enormous. Besides cost, lot of time was spent to conduct analysis on the target market and to find out the requirement of the customers. These Sport car models are the result of the in-depth market research to satisfy the customer demands. 2. The cost incurred on the marketing activities including the promotion, press conference, press release to target the audience was skyrocketing high. 1. Increased customer satisfaction as many people were craving for these new models of BMW. 2. The increase in sales and profits helped the company to attain competitive advantage in the age of growing competition. Micro and Macro Factors affecting Decision Making SOWT (LO 2.1) : The success of BMW lies in the STP strategy which is based on segmentation, target audience and positioning strategy to capture the targeted population (www.bmw.co.au). By means of segmentation, BMW identifies specific buying characteristics of the target audience. BMW segments the society on the basis of geography, demography, socioeconomic and behavior characteristics of the society (Drummond and Ensor 2001). Geographically, European countries and North America serve as the main markets for BMW automobiles as these areas are most industrialized nations and the local residents are financially well off to buy high priced cars due to the increased per capita income. In respect to demographics, the men and women both aged 30-50 years are the main users of M3 and M5 models. Behaviorally, these audiences have a clear image about the company and its products. They believe in superiority, performance and excellence before making a purchase. BMW has excelled in its performance as its produc ts are high in quality and also technologically superior. BMW has been able to create a good brand image in the minds of the people by means of innovative advertising campaigns. BMW due to its strategic positioning is known for age old tradition of quality. BMW M series is among one of those luxury cars which can be recognized by the crowd at a distance due to its successful marketing strategy based on positioning, targeting and segmentation. SWOT Analysis Strengths: BMW Automobiles is consistent in delivery quality projects. The firm comprises of robust workforce for effective product delivery. The firm makes use of latest technology, owns world class equipment and all the modern facilities in the designing and development of car models. Weakness: BMW is a global leader but still faces some shortcomings which are its incapability to work on small scale projects. BMW is known for its large seated cars and its inability to target the smaller segment is the only weakness. Opportunity: BMW automobile is rapidly expanding in different parts of the world. BMW makes use of latest technology to develop best of cars and operate effectively in international markets. Threat: The survey shows that the target market for BMW car model is looking for more value in the product which serves as a serious threat to the company. Marketing Mix and Marketing Process-4ps (LO 2.2) : While considering marketing process, marketing mix of BMW cannot be kept in isolation. The marketing mix forms an important part of the decision making process. The first P is the product which provides customer with the description about the product and how it meets the customer requirement. Example BMW X3, BMW X5 models, offered by BMW go through product life cycle which determines the age and maturity of the product in the market. The products developed ensure constant income and the company also develops replacement products on consistent basis for a fair settlement. The prices of BMW cars varies depending upon model customer has asked for like sports car which are priced high, the engine size also determines the price of the product and many more. The pricing for BMW X3 is competition oriented and same for similar brands as the market is large and creating large profits is not as important as it will be for a small car. The place and location for BMW cars follows a distribution chain network comprising of manufacturer, dealer and consumer. The organization is in tie ups with the superior dealers across the world and they are further responsible to offer the product to the customers across the globe at strategic locations. To promote the BMW models X3 and X5, a broad range of advertising campaigns including print and television media are used for product launch, color supplements etc. the slogans used for BMW are smart choice, the ultimate driving machine designed for peace of mind have been used to create competitive edge in the market, change the perception of people, mould their behavior towards car consumption and differentiate their products from competitors. Target Strategy ( LO 2.3 ) BMW follows a differentiated strategy catering to people with specific segmentation (David 2006). An example, BMW M series is a super sports vehicle and refers to specific target audience. BMW made changes in its car models when introduced in India as compared to its American version. There was higher ground clearance so as to make the cars compatible to Indian road surface, high resistance to dust in Indian market, horns located on the steering and not lever were some of the changes introduced to make it suitable for Indian market. Buyer Behavior and Marketing Activities ( LO 2.4 ) Consumer buying behavior is a blend of mental and emotional process and involves elements from sociology and psychology which affects consumer behavior while making purchase. In case of exclusive products like BMW M series the consumer purchase behavior is triggered by psychological factors, status symbol which influences customers attitude and behavior to make a purchase. Product Positioning ( LO 2.5 ) BMW M series, X3 and X5 are synonymous with performance and advanced technology used in driving. Drivers can now connect sports vehicle to the roads with high performance. The sport seats provide supportive front, back and thigh comfort. There are powerful headrests for drivers comfort with leather steering wheel with the horn placed at the lever comes to the ease of the driver. The motronic engine is powerful on all road surfaces and provides smooth drive in all season (www.bmw.co.au). Sustainable Catchment Management: Principles and Practice Sustainable Catchment Management: Principles and Practice What is meant by the world water crisis? Critically assess the contribution of River Basin Management in addressing this crisis The worlds freshwater is commonly discussed in the literature as being a finite resource under increasing pressure from the greater demands being placed upon it globally (Postel 2000, Hamdey et al 2003, Oki and Kanae 2006, UNEP 2007). It has consequently become a highly contentious resource, and in recent years the focus of much debate on how best to manage it; with the latest favoured paradigm (particularly in developed countries) being that of holistic sustainability achieved using the best practice of basin-wide management (Biswas 2004, Watson et al 2007). Such an approach is particularly emphasised in key policies such as Agenda 21 and the Water Framework Directive, with the latter enforcing the creation of River Basin Management Plans by law for all EU member states. This paper will discuss whether there really is a world water crisis, and if so to what extent river basin management (RBM) can help to address this using case examples such as the Murray-Darling basin to discuss t his in context. According to the research of Oki and Kanae (2006 pp1068) the global consumption of renewable freshwater resources is well below its Malthusian limits, with only 10% of the maximum available blue water and 30% of green water being presently used. However, because its distribution both in quantity and quality for purpose is spatially and temporally uneven as shown in figure 1 water stresses exist through a demand and supply imbalance. Gleick 1998, Hamdey et al 2003, and UNEP 2007 amongst others cite figures such as already 80 countries with 40% of the world population suffer serious water shortages (Hamdey et al 2003 pp3) and more than a billion people in the developing world lack access to safe drinking water (Gleick 1998 pp487), which suggests that water stress is a major issue (as reflected in the Millennium Development Goals); and with population growth/demographics (figure 2), economic, standard of living, and climatic factors set to change, such stresses are expected to worsen on the whole through increasing the imbalance. This is especially true for developing countries since an estimated 90% of the 3 billion people expected to add to the global population by 2050 are expected to reside in such countries with many of which already experiencing high water stress (UN 2007 cited UNESCO 2009). At what point down the line an actual absolute crisis at a nation scale is reached is still yet to occur; although given the social and economic value attached to water, and its three-dimensional effect upon food supply, ecosystem health, and standard of living for example, it may already indicate a crisis is underway (Newson et al 1999 cited Newson 2000). This is especially true if freshwater access is considered as a basic human right (Gleick 1998). Assuming this, RBM is often discussed in the literature as being a viable management option to address the crisis, since its approach is holistic and all-encompassing. Its current favour comes from the fact that unlike the traditional response to water shortages assessed through developing more supplies often via unsustainable sources and hard engineering practices such as damming rivers (Hamdey et al 2003) it tries to achieve long term sustainability through encompassing land-use planning, environmental management, and agricultural policy into the management of all surface and subsurface water within a catchment. This theoretically allows for all of the direct and indirect natural and anthropogenic demands placed upon the resource to be addressed and met under a best-practice regime to achieve an optimal relevant management outcome. A classic example of where such a policy has been successful is in the Murray-Darling basin, southeast Australia. The RBM regime here is a highly evolved form of institutional arrangements first started in 1917, and consequently modified, to meet the desired outcomes and changing pressures on the 1 million Km2 five jurisdictional state catchment. At its heart the scheme seeks to promote and coordinate effective management planning for equitable, efficient and sustainable use of water, land and other resources (Pigram 1999 pp108), which it achieves through a hydraulic approach using top-down policy making and bottom-up implementation, coordinated through the central Murray-Darling Commission (Shar et al 2005). In doing this it allows for all of the key stakeholders within each state to meet and discuss how best to manage the water resources to maximise the resultant biophysical, economic and social interests not only within each state (and its respective water share), but for the whol e catchment. Theoretically this coordinates the upstream-downstream interests and encourages more productive/efficient use of water through improved technology such as crop per drop (Postel 2000), which in turn allows all of the water demands to be attained equitably. And, combined with the top-down governance system setting standards which need to be reached by every state regarding water quality and quality, ecological requirements and permitted degradation levels through land use policies, it ensures that management is not static and behind the changing catchment pressures upon the water resource. This is not to say however the system is perfect since its effectiveness depends on the cooperation of each state government, and as of yet no true full sustainability has been achieved (Pigram 1999). However, with regards to the world water crisis it is clear to see that in this instance, along with many others, RBM is having a positive impact. This is because it is encouraging through laws and other means the more efficient and equitable use of water (Postel 2000), whilst regarding the whole basin and its long term demands and pressures such as climate change. In doing so it may lessen the effect of future crises/pressures through being proactive. Similar RBM regimes also exist under other political systems such as throughout the whole of the European Union (due to Water Framework Directive legislation) and South Africa (since 1998). In the latter Gregersen et al (2007) states that although the regime is working it is not yet sustainable, since such management systems take several years to develop and offer no ready made solutions. Therefore at its national level it is not fully able to address the water crisis, although it seemingly is on the way to try to do so through using a management system which looks to achieving this from the outset. It must be said however that most of the successful RBM regimes are in developed formalised society countries where the fundamental water stresses are often far lower in the first instance (see figure 1). Such systems cannot be directly transferred between political institutions easily due to the context in which the regime was fundamentally formed to meet within the founding country regarding the hydraulic and climatic conditions, demographics, socio-economic conditions and the structure of the water sector (Barrow 1998, Hunt 1999, Shar et al 2005). For example Hu (1999), Malanu et al (1999) (cited Shar et al 2005) and Hunt (1999) each found that the Murray-Darling RBM system could not be successfully transferred to the Chinese, Vietnamese and Solomon Island contexts because of such issues; with Shar et al (2005 pp46) arguing that transferring RBM regimes between developed and developing countries is particularly problematic since the problems developing country find critical have e ither remained unresolved or irrelevant in developed country river basins such as ground water exploitation. Thus in regard to the world water crisis it provides little use in this sense, especially since the greatest stresses/crises are expected to occur here. Hunt (1999) therefore argues that the contextual fit between policy development and application is key to managing the water resource successfully. In setting the correct framework to set play and play in provides an effective environment to address the water crisis in, whether through RBM or not. In some cases I would also argue that to address the current water crisis RBM can only be used as part of the solution, due to the interconnectivity of the water resource with standard of living (relating back to the Millennium Development Goals) and economic development. If full RBM sustainability is strived for under the current conditions, inclusive of the environmental requirement, it may only serve to worsen the current crisis such as in Jordan which withdraws some of its supply unsustainably from non-renewable aquifers (Macoun and El Naser 1999). The same is true for other basins globally such as in the Colorado, Tennessee and Yangtze river basins, since in order to meet their past a nd current demands, supply had to be increased through building dams for instance. This could be seen in some cases as being unsustainable due to the impact it has on the basin, and even though the two former river basins are now managed under RBM regimes (Newson 2009) they are operating under modified conditions. RBM still has value however in promoting more efficient water use (Postel 2000) and sustainable ethical management, so should not be completely ignored in management. The contextual fit of countries as a whole is important in determining the best approach to address the world water crisis. RBM may also fail in addressing the world water crisis too if it fails to be effective itself in the first instance. For instance since RBM seeks to achieve equitable sustainability (Barrow 1998), unequal power sharing may result in such a failure. To exemplify this if a dam was allowed to hold back more water for power generation it would put increasing pressure on the quantity of flow for the ecological needs and irrigative agriculture uses amongst others. Similarly if a factory was allowed higher pollution levels then the changes in the water quality could draw a system closer experiencing a water crisis (assuming it was already highly stressed). This is especially true if a non-integrated RBM regime is used, since the different interests of each RBM stakeholder groups, such as land owners, farmers, developers and conservationists would prioritise their needs over others. This consequently may be ineffective due to the differing overall outcomes, needing some coordination and comp romising to a certain degree to be effective in terms of long-term holistic management. A similar failing may occur within international river basins also if a common-goal transboundary management agreement cannot be established in practice even if it is agreed upon politically. This is the case today between Israel and Palestine despite the fact of the road to recovery (common goal) plan. Israel in 2003 abstracted 95% of the water from the diverted Lower Jordan to meet its own abstraction needs and left Palestine with only 5%. Consequently Palestine is in a water crisis since it cannot meet its own water needs (Frederiksen 2003). To be effective therefore in the first instance RBM plans need to be authoritative, equitable, coordinated and true to RBMs initial purpose. Only then can it help in addressing the world water crisis. In conclusion therefore it can be successfully argued that RBM is a worthwhile management option to pursue in relation to addressing the world water crisis. Where such regimes are well established and operational, such as in the Murray-Darling catchment, its sustainability approach to management allows for all of the demands and threats/pressures to the freshwater resource (such as excessive nutrient runoff from poorly managed land) to be identified and dealt with equitably and accordingly within the basins long-term carrying capacity. But, given the contextual fit of each country with regards to its current resource base, water pressures, and demands/needs, it may mean that in the grand scheme of things RBM may not be the most suitable management option to address the crisis with on its own. Interestingly RBM is according to Shar et al 2005 harder to implement in developing countries due to its developed background, but it is such countries where the water stresses are already at hi gh stress levels and expected to worsen from most through the predicted population growth and climate change pressures (UNESCO 2009). Only time will tell how useful and politically favoured RBM is in addressing the crisis, and whether it is continued to be used alone or alongside other water management concepts cuch as international virtual water sharing.

National Debt :: Argumentative Economy Economics Papers

National Debt How large are we going to allow the national debt to become? If we believe that it never comes due then its size is of little concern. However, that belief is like that of the ostrech; bury your head in the sand so you can not see the problem and the problem goes away. The fact is that the size of the debt is nearly five trillion dollars and grows by an average of 620 million dollars every day! The cause is that every year the government spends more than it collects in taxes. The government makes up the difference by borrowing billions of dollars annually, competing against private enterprise for the use of money saved by American citizens. That money should be used for investments to improve our standard of living and create a brighter future. Instead, our savings are being used by the government to pay for todays consumption, for special interests and for the interest on money borrowed in earlier years. At the present rate of growth the interest payment will eventually be greater than the current debt. Can we afford this? Are there enough creditors to support such an enormous burden? What will happen to our future, our childerns future? We are spending it for them now before they have a say about it. Surely this trend of deficit spending is leading us to national bankruptcy. A new policy geared toward a zero deficit must be adopted. This means that we must change the way we view spending on the entitlement programs, defense and domestic discretionary programs. Between 1980 and 1990 the national debt quadrupled from 800 million to 5 trillion. The current trend of spend every cent we can get our hands on and borrow the rest by mortgaging our future must be stopped. The fact that past investment in government bonds was sound and secure does not predict that the future will remain the same. How can

Higher Learning

In this essay I will discuss hat It Is Like to counsel the character Remy from the movie â€Å"Higher Learning† (Singleton, 1995). I will give an overview of the movie and character, the presenting Issues of the character, my approach and role to counseling the character, and the characters cultural framework Influence on why I chose to Intervene to counsel him. Cultural Skills Students from different countries, races, social and culture background are forced to integrate with each other when they all enroll in Columbus university College. They all have real life issues, such as finance, harassment, personal safety, and self-doubt.However, the college campus life seems to be causing a problem for everyone evolving around the issue of racism. The students are already under pressure to perform in the classroom, on the track, or in front of their friends, are beginning to face obstacles such as prejudice, and misunderstanding of each other on many deferent levels. Remy Remy chara cter plays an important role to the flow and overall point of racism in the movie. His character is a driving force for the slow transition of how an individual can go from a cracked mental state of mind into a total broken state of mind.Remy slowly becomes alienated from his peers. Remy at the start has no identity of who he is so he's very confused and lost. Remy is taking a close look at his diverse peers, trying to find ways to be the same or similar with the hopes of becoming accepted to a social group he can be comfortable with. He comes in as an engineering major, and a son of a â€Å"survivalist† father who use to abuse him. Remy throughout the movie shifts from alienated loner to a motivated Nazi skinhead. At this point Remy has given up trying to fit in until the Nazi leader Scott befriends him.They Immediately alcove him to their circle without hesitation, to which Remy says thanks and shaves his head. Remy further starts to fall Into a pit of frustration and self- hate, due to the advice given by the Nazi leader Scott who brainwashes Remy Into thinking that the world needs to be taken over by â€Å"White America† therefore this Is where the character Remy starts to display mental disorder Like symptoms. Presenting Issues/ My Approach In the movie, Remy displayed many different emotions ranging from crying, emptiness, self-inflicting behavior and a high need to fit In.However, when he did not it in he felt hopelessness and alone so he turned towards a reckless group of people people that accepted gave him a new way of thinking. As a counselor my approach to Remy would be compared to dealing with an individual with Borderline Personality Disorder issues. According to the Journal â€Å"Symptoms of borderline personality disorder predict interpersonal (but not independent) stressful life events in a community sample of older adults†, Individuals with borderline personality disorder can often experience stressful life events at a hig her frequency than those without it.Only borderline personality pathology was related to an increase in the frequency of interpersonal stressful life events. Three specific symptoms of this disorder were connected with unstable interpersonal relationships, impulsively, and chronic feelings of emptiness (Powers, 2013). So looking at how BAD can have a direct correlation between stressful events in life and past issues, it is easy to see how Remy could be seen for this disorder. The initially start of the sessions with Remy would revolve around first breaking down the barriers of his past issues with his abusive father.But as a counselor one would have to ask does childhood abuse have a connection with Borderline Personality Disorder or their characteristics? Although childhood abuse, BAD traits, and internal and external symptoms were all correlated, the connection between childhood abuse and BAD traits stems from findings that are consistent with the widely held assumption that chil dhood abuse causes BAD, and they suggest that BAD traits show in adults as they get older ( Broadleaved, 2013).So once again as a counselor, asking Remy questions about his childhood could give him answers as to why he feels these emotions apart from dealing with the issues of not fitting in and his feelings of emptiness. Because his father was a â€Å"survivalist† which focuses around the belief that eventually society will collapse through social or political disorder and only the self-sufficient will be able to survive. The skills that survivalists have are some such as wilderness survival, first aid and self-defense with either weapons or hand-to-hand combat.So seeing that his father was abusive, he could very much have desensitizing Remy with this belief that he had, which possibly dead to the abuse as his father's way of making him stronger. My reason for Intervention My reason for Intervention for Remy looking at his cultural framework, is that many children grow up in homes that are strict, have military backgrounds, violence and other matters that can damage a child even Just by witnessing or living through it. In the movie, Remy stated â€Å"Were going to war man this is the opening stage of World War 3† (Singleton, 1995).Remy felt that he was in a race war when in fact he's really in a war with himself and the fact that he feels that he has no purpose in the world, ex.'s lost. My intervention process would rely on getting him to focus on the point that he initially went to school as an engineer and he should finish and become what he started out to be. Getting him to realize healthy choices and advantages of getting his degree from college in engineering and the opportunities that are ahead for him that could make a huge impact in his life is the angle that would be taken.In order to help Remy, he would have to realize his self-worth instead of believing the views that his father raised him in. Remy believes at this point in what his N azi leader friend Scott as instilled in him which is â€Å"White Power†, a reality that his race has to take over to is proved to be useful with dealing with BAD. Implementing DEBT in the treatment of college students with complex issues, including suicidal ideation, severe depression, and BAD features.DEBT is a principle-based treatment that is flexible enough to apply to the severe and complicated issues increasingly seen across an individual. DEBT focuses on teaching skills such as, emotion regulation, distress and tolerance that are developmentally relevant to college students. DEBT was designed for chronically suicidal individuals which suggest that chronically suicidal students are more likely to benefit from comprehensive treatment approaches and may actually experience positive effects with very brief forms of treatment.College students with BAD traits differs from community BAD individuals, and the treatment targets of DEBT can be altered to address college students' specific clinical needs. For example, college students are less likely than community BAD individuals to engage in recurrent suicidal threats suggesting that DEBT treatment for this population may focus more on kills acquisition than stabilizing an individual (Pictorials, 2012). Conclusion In my opinion of treating Remy, this type of therapy can benefit him in many ways.In the movie he started to commit suicide in his room when he thought to himself life would be better dead. However, he did not do it which at that point I would intervene before that point and get him on track to thinking in a different mindset. In the movie Remy ended up sadly committing suicide shooting himself in the head after he shot a few students from a rooftop. The point of mental health counselors in our field is to et to the root of the issue before it gets to that point with the hope of getting the client on track to a healthy way of thinking.Remy would have been a very interesting character to counsel d ue to the fact he had childhood issues which lead to even bigger adult issues. The attitude of his father believe it or not reflected in his behavior with the â€Å"survive by any means necessary mentality'. However, Remy was not strong enough mentally which Scott the Nazi leader preyed on Remy as his puppet to mold him into what he wanted him to be. As a counselor we have to member that we do not know what state a client's mind is in mentally so we have to be careful ourselves in our approach to make sure we do no further harm.

value chain analysis Essay

value chain analysis Essay value chain analysis Essay Multidimensional Value Chain The traditional Value Chain is linear - for example, it assumes that input logistics are directly related to operations - and that value between these linear nodes should be analyzed. However, in reality, each domain links with multiple other domains - for example, sales and marketing often link with input logistics in order to determine costs, pricing and branding. These non-linear relationships should also be considered. Further, there are links between domains to other companies - for example, output logistics may link to various other firms depending on the exact nature of an order (first class customers may require delivery through Fedex and economy customers may require delivery through the United States Postal Service etc). There is increased value to be found in each of these relationships. Supply Chain, Other Chains (Chain Analysis) The Value Chain is one method of analysing the chain from source to delivery. The Supply Chain and many others are also useful, parallel Chain Analysis Tools. Various differences between the models exist. For example, a focus on the Supply Chain may lead to optimization (which may cost money) whereas a focus on the Value Chain may lead to value-adding (which may save money). These models are included in the software. Value, Supply, Chain Grids The Value Grid, Supply Grid and Chain Grids call for multi-firm analysis and coordination. Common value-adding and margin maximizing activities could include minimizing the risk of the future cost of oil (purchasing, hedging; this

A3 Sidd Preeyam Mehta Essay

A3 Sidd Preeyam Mehta Essay A3 Sidd Preeyam Mehta Essay Preeyam Mehta Mrs. Barter Academic English IV 3 November 2014 Siddartha Theme Essay Ovinda search is a universal understanding of life also known as Nirvana. Siddhartha and Govinda both have a fundamental desire to understand their lives through spirituality. They seek to do this by reaching Nirvana which is a state of eternal bliss. Often times, people have their own spiritual desires and they must follow their own journey to get there. In Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha goes about his life on the search for enlightenment. While his spiritual journey was quite different from Govindas, their result was quite similar. Siddarthas path to nirvana varies from Govindas path in many ways. In Siddhartha’s case, when he becomes suspicious that one path may lead to a dead ­end, he quickly alters his course. He is willing to abandon the path of the Brahmins for the path of the Samanas, to leave the Samanas for Gotama, and then to make a radical departure from spiritual teachers and search in the material world with Kamala and Kamaswami. He does not stop in his search and instead continues to follow whatever path becomes available. â€Å"And Siddhartha spoke with a smile: "I do not know, I've never been a drunkard. But that I, Siddhartha, find only a short numbing of the senses in my exercises and meditations and that I am just as far removed from wisdom, from salvation, as a child in the mother's womb, this I know, oh Govinda, this I know." (37) Here, Siddhartha implies that it is impossible to truly know something until you have experienced it. This quote is important because it highlights something that Siddhartha strongly believes in the fact that wisdom comes from experience. Siddhartha believes that the only way to attain nirvana is by being able to master everything and therefore detaching yourself from worldly concerns and freeing yourself from the cycle of life and death. Here, Siddhartha is attempting to master another thing as he learns the art of merchanting from Kamaswami and the art of loving from Kamala. Govindas approach to attaining spiritual enlightenment emphasises being a follower and a religious attendee. In Govindas quest, he restricts himself to the spiritual and religious world and focuses on getting teachers. Although Siddhartha is willing to break with religion itself and to abandon all his training, Govinda is willing to seek truth only as long as it seems within the religions of Hinduism or Buddhism and is transmitted by a

Discussion Question 2 Week 7 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Question 2 Week 7 - Assignment Example Another alternative distribution strategy is to talk with department stores and jewelry stores and offer the jewelries on consignment basis. One considers the above-mentioned distribution strategies as most effective for custom designed jewelry. It will reach the target market that one envisions to be. The distribution strategies for broadcast and cable TV, internet programming and advertisers all use the web to effectively distribute their products. Since almost all people worldwide use the internet, it would be best for these companies to use to their advantage the distribution strategy offered by e-commerce. Social networking sites are also utilized by some of these companies to distribute their products. These strategies might converge through partnerships with other distribution outlets available in the internet. Having their own websites is a valuable distribution strategy that companies in high-technology industries can use. Through these websites, they can better sell their products and services because they can explain in detail the technology and processes involved in their

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 36

Discussion - Assignment Example The presentation’s ideas on motivation are impressive. The knowledge of internal and external motivation can help people know how to control the impacts of undesirable sources of motivation (Adams 24). This knowledge is important to people especially students because of the negative effects of peer pressure. The anecdote of brick walls is suitable in the discourse of prioritization, adjustment, and redirection of an individual’s attention and energy. The presentation’s exposition on time management has valuable information. The six components of time management are workable and individuals can cultivate and master them without difficulty. I think the idea of self-assessment can be instrumental to an individual when taking stock of the areas in which they have been wasting their time and conceptualize ways of closing those loopholes. It is intriguing to know that there exists hidden time. This is the last thing that could have occurred to me and it is an idea that can be investigated further (Adams

The Provisions of the Trustee Act of 2000 Essay - 2

The Provisions of the Trustee Act of 2000 - Essay Example The trustee is the owner of the legal title of property and assets that are held in trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. As spelled out by Lord Diplock in the case of Gissing v Gissing, a trustee holds the beneficial interest of claimants as cestui Que trust with such testator intention being spelled out in writing. The powers and duties of the trustees are defined in the deed of trust and they must hold regular meetings to demonstrate that they are fulfilling their duties. Trustees are obliged to act in a financially responsible manner to do their best to advance the interests of the trust and to achieve the intent of the testator.In the case of charitable trusts, grants or foundations where the class of beneficiaries is wider and where evidential uncertainties may exist, it places even more importance on the individual discretion of the trustees to invest in a manner that will serve to advance the social goals of the organization rather than be concerned with the accumulatio n of profits. On the whole, trustees have been endowed with the power to exercise their discretion in the matter of investing of the proceeds of the trust and the courts have rarely interfered with the right of the trustees to invest as they see fit. An examination into trust law and history, especially for charitable foundations, reveals the fact that it is not easy to explain why trustees have thus far refrained from investing on the basis of ethical choices.The fiduciary duty of a trustee or a person/s in the position of trustees is set out in the case of Lloyds Bank Limited v Bundy   wherein there is a special relationship between the trustee and beneficiary which places a fiduciary duty on a trustee’s shoulders to faithfully execute the testator’s will and honor his duties. A trustee will be liable for a breach of that trust. Trustees are obliged to act in an even-handed manner without any partiality or undue favoring of one beneficiary over the other, for examp le in the case of Re Smith, the courts held that a failure to act impartially constituted a breach of trust. A trustee is not only expected to exercise a duty in care, he/she is also expected to exercise a duty in cautionary investment and balance them between capital and income investments so that he/she refrains from selecting risky or speculative instruments.

Effective Research Essay Example for Free

Effective Research Essay Research is a structured and systematic approach of looking for answer to questions and producing intended results. The methods used to research a particular topic should directly relate to the aims described in the topic. One should develop a clear, thoughtful, and organized study plan that tests the vital hypothesis. Describe any work concept, tools, and approaches for the anticipated studies. Discuss the possible limitations and difficulties of the anticipated procedures and alternative advances to achieve the aims. Tim Ireland (2008) adds that a tentative sequence for the project ought to be given. An overview of the conceptual framework and proposed design should be included. Study goals ought to relate to the projected hypothesis. Required statistical techniques, proposed timeline, and work plan should be included. Finally, one should be clear about the methods and investigation design used and should avoid correlative experiments. The ways of assessing and evaluating ones research is by checking for correct spelling, general neatness, parts in a reasonable and correct order with nothing missing, proper citation of borrowed material and the support of any arguments or thesis materials with evidence. One can also use rubric; it allows one to see what excellent, acceptable, good, and poor work looks like. Information from research is included in writing by putting all your gathered information together in a presentable format. One should put all his/her notes together according to the order they will come into view in their project (Albert and Podgy 1984). Another is strategy is the use of paraphrasing where one only uses the most important words, synonyms, and highlights and crosses out words (Ireland, 2008). Paraphrase: A good university should focus on equipping students with critical and analytical skills which form an integral part of what is expected of higher learning (Zein 2008).

Zero Based Budgeting Emerged To Overcome The Limitations Of Incremental Budgets Accounting Essay

Zero Based Budgeting Emerged To Overcome The Limitations Of Incremental Budgets Accounting Essay Zero-based budgeting emerged to overcome the limitations of incremental budgets. This approach requires that all activities are justified and prioritized before decisions are taken relating to the amount of resources allocated to each activity. Besides adopting a zero-based approach zero-base budgeting also focuses on programmes or activities instead of functional departments based on line-items which is a feature of traditional budgeting. Programmes normally relate to various activities undertaken by municipal or government organizations. Zero-based budgeting works from the premise that projected expenditure for existing programmes should start from base zero, with each years budgets being compiled as if the programmes were being launched for the first time. The budgetees should present their requirements for appropriations in such a fashion that all funds can be allocated on the basis of cost-benefit or some similar kind of evaluative analysis. The cost-benefit approach is an attempt to ensure value of money, it question long-standing assumptions and serves as a toll for systematically examining and perhaps abandoning any unproductive projects. Thats why more and more non-profit making organizations, including Oxfam Hong Kong, consider using Zero-based budgeting as an approach to judge a best solution of the organizations. Background of Oxfam Hong Kong Oxfam Hong Kong is one of non-profit making organizations. It is an independent international development and humanitarian organization working against poverty and related injustice. It recognized that much poverty is caused by injustice and that poverty alleviation requires economic, social and structural change. It worked with people facing poverty and with partner organizations on development, humanitarian, policy advocacy and public education programmes. How zero-based budgeting could be used at Oxfam Hong Kong Most organizations, including Oxfam Hong Kong, may use incremental budgeting system for their budgetary process. However, this approach has a serious drawback. The budgetary process for coming year usually uses previous budget allocation as a basis of allocation. That may incurred increase or decrease in budget for the coming year based on the budget allocation. It is because the percentage of allocation is without full examination of this allocation basis. Incremental budgeting system assumes that the situation will continue in the same way. Zero-based budgeting could be used to remedy this serious drawback in incremental budgeting system. The best suitable activities in Zero-based budgeting To use zero-based budgeting as an approach, some activities are very suitable to use. For example: Limited resource of labours Oxfam Hong Kong is a non-profit making organization that it is always faced with limited resource of labours because major labours are volunteers that it often has not salaries. To organize an activity such as donation of poverty countries, it is a large project that it needs a lot of human resource. The allocation of resource is very important if the organization is faced with limited resource of labours. Zero-based budgeting can efficiently allocate resource of each department. Zero-based budgeting will define and evaluate decision packages of human resource and appropriate allocation by ranking of decision packages. Judgment of consignment or in-house Oxfam Hong Kong always creates a lot of activities about the donation of poverty countries. To encourage more donations, the organization always produces some souvenirs to donators. The souvenirs are also a part of cost that Oxfam Hong Kong will be considered to produce by consignment or in-house processing. It is because Oxfam Hong Kong would likely choose inexpensive method. It is very suitable to use zero-based budgeting to the identification. Although incremental budgeting system or activity-based budgeting can determine the cost of production by consignment or in-house processing, it only use department as a base which is less accurate than zero-based budgeting. It is because zero-based budgeting is based on activity which is more accurate than incremental budgeting system or activity-based budgeting. The advantages of Zero-based budgeting More and more non-profit organizations choose Zero-based budgeting rather than Incremental budgeting for their decision making because Zero-based budgeting has following advantages which Incremental budgeting is ignored. Inappropriate activities are not undertaken Traditional budgeting trends to extrapolate the past by adding a percentage increase to the current year. Zero-based budgeting avoids the deficiencies of incremental budgeting and represents a move towards the allocation of resources by need or benefit. Thus, unlike traditional budgeting the level of funding is not taken for granted. For example, when Oxfam Hong Kong has limited resource such as labour hour, the allocation of resources is being very important. Then Zero-based budgeting can help Oxfam Hong Kong to select the best solution of the allocation by ranking of decision packages. Finally, inappropriate solutions are not adopted. Enhance motivation The documentation of decision packages also leads to a deeper staff and management knowledge of all the operation and activities of the organization and can enhance communication, participation and therefore motivation. Oxfam Hong Kong can indirectly motivate the staff. It is because all departments especially management department in Oxfam Hong Kong need to communicate with other departments to make a consensus of the decision packages. Concerning value for money Zero-based budgeting focuses attention on outputs in relation to value for money. Through this value for money approach, inefficient and obsolete operations are identified so that wastage can be eliminated and a more efficient allocation of resources to activities and departments can be achieved. Therefore, Oxfam Hong Kong can indirectly reduce the cost of selection of decision because the wastage is reduced and the allocation of resource is being efficient. Problem of Zero-based budgeting Actually, no method is perfect. Zero-based budgeting also exists problems that Oxfam Hong Kong should be faced. More costly and time consuming The preparation of decision packages can generate a great volume of paperwork especially for a large project or activity and will require a considerable management skill. Therefore, Oxfam Hong Kong should be provided more training and education about concepts of application of Zero-based budgeting to the management department because Zero-based budgeting must be clearly understood by managers at various levels to be successfully implemented. The running cost is directly increased. Also, Zero-based budgeting will requires gathering, analysis and evaluation of large amounts of data that the management department faced with much workload and it is very time consuming. Problems of identifying ranking packages Subjective judgment and political pressure are unavoidable in ranking packages and allocation of resources and may create departmental conflicts. Different types and natures of activities across different departments, particularly with qualitative rather than quantitative benefits, may give rise to the problem of ranking. Oxfam Hong Kong is confused of the decision packages because it is difficult to define decision units and decision packages and sometimes subjective judgment is needed. Also, management may be exaggerated skews the results if it is unreliable. Then, the decision packages are became inaccurate. Relationship between management and staff deterioration The questioning attitude of zero-based budgeting is not always acceptable to staff or management because they may view it as a threat to their existing implied rights. For example, management department and accounting department have different ideas of decision packages. Each department does not agree with the other side ideas. The cooperation and motivation among the management and staff may deteriorate. Therefore, it may influence the relationship of each department in Oxfam Hong Kong. http://www.oxbridgewriters.com/essays/accounting/zero-based-budgeting.php http://www.finweb.com/financial-planning/pros-and-cons-of-zero-based-budgeting.html http://www1.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/fm_nov07_p48-53.pdf