Role of Cognition in Counseling

ROLE OF COGNITION IN COUNSELING TABLE OF CONTENT. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 Cognitive therapy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Characteristics of cognitive-behavioral therapy†¦. 5 Virtual Reality Therapy†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 Rational Emotive Therapy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 Transactional ANALYSIS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 conlusionâ⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 reference†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦10 Role of cognition in counseling Introduction Cognitive therapy centers on the belief that our thoughts are influenced by how we feel.There are a number of different cognitive therapies, including Cognitive-Behavioral, Reality, Rational Emotive and Transactional Analysis. Each of these cognitive approaches to counseling can help a client through the counseling process, by providing further understanding of the way our thoughts are sometimes distorted. Cognitive therapy focuses on the present. This means that issues from the past that are influencing current thinking, are acknowledged but not concentrated on. Instead a counselor will work wi th the client on identifying what is causing distress in present thinking.What links these different forms of cognitive therapy is the way in which the counseling relationship, between a counselor and client, develops. Assertiveness exercises, role-playing and homework are also part of the supportive one-to-one sessions a client will have with a counselor. In this paper will review and analyze the role cognition in counseling. Cognitive therapy Studies have shown that cognitive therapy is an effective treatment for depression. It is comparable in effectiveness to antidepressants and interpersonal therapy or psychodynamic therapy.The combination of cognitive therapy and antidepressants has been shown to be effective in managing severe or chronic depression. Cognitive therapy has also proven beneficial to patients who have only a partial response to antidepressants. There is good evidence that cognitive therapy reduces relapse rates. In addition, some evidence has shown that cognitive therapy is effective in treating adolescent depression. Here are a number of the different cognitive therapies, including Cognitive-Behavioral, virtual Reality, Rational Emotive and Transactional Analysis. Cognitive-Behavioral TherapyThis cognitive approach to counseling is based on the belief that learning comes from personal experience. Counseling will focus on a client’s ability to accept behavior, clarify problems and difficulties and understand the reasoning behind the importance of setting goals. With the help of self management training, assertive exercises and role-playing the counselor can help a client work towards goals. Characteristics of cognitive-behavioral therapy Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and vents. The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change. Cognitive-behavior al therapy is considered among the most rapid in terms of results obtained. The average number of sessions clients receive (across all types of problems and approaches to CBT) is only 16. Other forms of therapy, like psychoanalysis, can take years. What enables CBT to be briefer are its highly instructive nature and the fact that it makes use of homework assignments.CBT is time-limited in that we help clients understand at the very beginning of the therapy process that there will be a point when the formal therapy will end. The ending of the formal therapy is a decision made by the therapist and client. Therefore, CBT is not an open-ended, never-ending process. A sound therapeutic relationship is necessary for effective therapy, but not the focus. Some forms of therapy assume that the main reason people get better in therapy is because of the positive relationship between the therapist and client.Cognitive-behavioral therapists believe it is important to have a good, trusting relati onship, but that is not enough. CBT therapists believe that the clients change because they learn how to think differently and they act on that learning. Therefore, CBT therapists focus on teaching rational self-counseling skills. Cognitive-behavioral therapists seek to learn what their clients want out of life (their goals) and then help their clients achieve those goals. The therapist's role is to listen, teach, and encourage, while the client's roles is to express concerns, learn, and implement that learning.Not all approaches to CBT emphasize stoicism. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Rational Behavior Therapy, and Rational Living Therapy emphasize aspects of stoicism. Beck's Cognitive Therapy is not based on stoicism. Cognitive-behavioral therapy does not tell people how they should feel. However, most people seeking therapy do not want to feel they way they have been feeling. The approaches that emphasize stoicism teach the benefits of feeling, at worst, calm when confronted with undesirable situations. They also emphasize the fact that we have our undesirable situations whether we are upset about them or not.If we are upset about our problems, we have two problems — the problem, and our upset about it. Most people want to have the fewest number of problems possible. So when we learn how to more calmly accept a personal problem, not only do we feel better, but we usually put ourselves in a better position to make use of our intelligence, knowledge, energy, and resources to resolve the problem. Cognitive-behavioral therapists want to gain a very good understanding of their clients' concerns. That's why they often ask questions.They also encourage their clients to ask questions of themselves, like, â€Å"How do I really know that those people are laughing at me? † â€Å"Could they be laughing about something else? † Cognitive-behavioral therapists have a specific agenda for each session. Specific techniques / concepts are taught duri ng each session. CBT focuses on the client's goals. We do not tell our clients what their goals â€Å"should† be, or what they â€Å"should† tolerate. We are directive in the sense that we show our clients how to think and behave in ways to obtain what they want.Therefore, CBT therapists do not tell their clients what to do — rather, they teach their clients how to do. CBT is based on the scientifically supported assumption that most emotional and behavioral reactions are learned. Therefore, the goal of therapy is to help clients unlearn their unwanted reactions and to learn a new way of reacting. Therefore, CBT has nothing to do with â€Å"just talking†. People can â€Å"just talk† with anyone. The educational emphasis of CBT has an additional benefit — it leads to long term results. When people understand how and why they are doing well, they know what to do to continue doing well.A central aspect of rational thinking is that it is based o n fact. Often, we upset ourselves about things when, in fact, the situation isn't like we think it is. If we knew that, we would not waste our time upsetting ourselves. Therefore, the inductive method encourages us to look at our thoughts as being hypotheses or guesses that can be questioned and tested. If we find that our hypotheses are incorrect (because we have new information), then we can change our thinking to be in line with how the situation really is.If when you attempted to learn your multiplication tables you spent only one hour per week studying them, you might still be wondering what 5 X 5 equals. You very likely spent a great deal of time at home studying your multiplication tables, maybe with flashcards. The same is the case with psychotherapy. Goal achievement (if obtained) could take a very long time if all a person were only to think about the techniques and topics taught was for one hour per week. That's why CBT therapists assign reading assignments and encourage their clients to practice the techniques learned.Virtual Reality Therapy This form of therapeutic approach works well in treating fears and phobias. This is because virtual reality therapy (VRT) concentrates on accurately duplicating the distressing situations. Counselors, who use this form of cognitive approach, during counseling sessions, will recreate situations in order to expose the client to what triggers their fear. VRT also works well in treating anxiety disorders. Rational Emotive Therapy Rational Emotive Behavior therapy (REBT) centers on the belief that human beings have a tendency to develop irrational behavior and beliefs.These are the ‘musts’ and ‘shoulds’ that many people fill their lives with, and which influence thought and deed. REBT acknowledges that past and present conditions affect a person’s thinking and utilizes a framework so that the counselor can apply activating events that allow the client to identify beliefs and conseque nces. Transactional Analysis TA, as Transactional Analysis is also known, is based on the notion that our personality consists of three states of ego – parent, adult and child. During interaction with others one of our ego states will predominate, depending on the situation we find ourselves in.Certain types of behavior are associated with each of the ego roles, and using this form of cognitive approach to counseling allows the client to understand the different ego stages and how they interact with each other. conlusion In conclusion, Cognitive therapy (or cognitive behavioral therapy) helps the client to uncover and alter distortions of thought or perceptions which may be causing or prolonging psychological distress. However, there are key principles that aim counselors with the best tools to provide the kind of supportive guidance that is conducive to creating a positive counseling outcome for their clients.References David, Daniel. , Szentagotal, A. , Eva, K. , & Macavei, B. (2005). A synopsis of rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT): Fundamental and applied research. Journal of Rational &Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Josefowitz, N. , & Myran, D. (2005). Towards a person-centered cognitive behavior therapy. Counseling Psychology Quarterly Retrieved January 20, 2006, fromAcademic Search Premier. Kirschenbaum, H. (2004). Carl Rogers’s life and work: An assessment on the 100

Conventions of the Gothic Horror †The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe Essay

Tick, tick, tick, the heart ticks on. The Tell-Tale Heart is another spooky Gothic Horror story written in the 19th century by Edgar Allen Poe. Written entirely in first person, we follow the account of a young man driven to insanity by his mad actions. The person we hear the tale from tells us of his emotions and his feelings along the way. The young man lives with an older man who has never harmed him or never done anything wrong to him, but he decides to kill the older man. The old man’s eye drives him to this terrible deed as it looks like a ‘vulture’s eye’ and makes his blood run cold every time it sets upon him. The young man slowly but surely progresses into a state of madness and plots the murder of the old man by spying upon him sleeping at midnight every night. We come to the night of the murder, and the young man is almost caught spying on him as the old man wakes from his sleep terrified, the time comes and the young man leaps into the room, throws the man to the floor and pulls the bed over him. He dies. Chopping the body into pieces and carefully hiding them under the floor boards the police call round about a scream they were informed of, the man is not afraid, but as he sits there chatting away to them calmly a ticking fills his ears and no matter what he tries it gets worse and worse until he finally goes mad and confesses to the police of his crime. We define different stories by genres, how we find out what genre the book fits in is by determining if the story has the correct conventions within it. Within the Tell-Tale Heart we are frequently shown conventions of the Gothic Horror genre, reversal of common norms is one convention shown to us: â€Å"He had the eye of a vulture†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From this quotation we can see the narrator describes the old man to have ‘the eye of a vulture’. As we know full well this is not very possible for some one to have the eye of a vulture and a normal human doesn’t have an eye of a vulture. This shows us the reversal of common norms and the irregularity of the characters in this story. The eye is compared to a vulture’s and this creates a sense of fear and unknown as the character is afraid of this eye even though he is not afraid of the owner. Abandoned isolated setting is another convention in the Gothic Horror genre and is shown in the Tell-Tale Heart: â€Å"Amid the dreadful silence of that old house† An abandoned setting is frequently used as a setting in the Gothic Horror genre as it easy to use this setting to create an atmosphere of danger, fear and concern. The Victorians are reflected in this convention as they were feeling abandoned and isolated after their beliefs and religion had been purposely ripped to shreds by science proving them wrong. Another convention is high emotion: â€Å"Very, very dreadfully nervous† We see that the narrator here is very nervous showing us his high emotions within the story and giving an atmosphere of fear. As it is told in first person we, the readers, are affected by the nervousness of the main character and in the story it creates an atmosphere of fear, nervousness and anxiousness. The Victorians were very nervous at the time of the crisis and were probably in a state of high emotion. Sense of mystery and suspense is yet another convention found within the Gothic Horror genre and the Tell-Tale Heart: â€Å"†¦ a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it — you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mystery and suspense is a convention that increases the Gothic Horror genre intensely as it builds up the emotions of the characters and leaves the readers wanting to read on to find out what happens, the atmosphere created by this convention is an agonizing heightened sense of anticipation. The Victorians would have been in suspense and most of it would have been mystery as well as they were waiting for some sign of their beliefs to be confirmed as still true. The use of darkness and gloom in the Tell-Tale Heart is shown often too: â€Å"†¦black as pitch with thick darkness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Darkness and gloom creates an atmosphere of derangement and confusion as you feel something could jump out at you anytime. To the Victorians this would have scared them a lot as their loneliness and the darkness surrounding them could mask anything hiding and could scare them even more. â€Å"†¦It is the beating of his hideous heart!† This quotation shows us the convention of supernatural occurrences, we get from this quote that the narrator can hear the beating of his heart even though he is dead already. The atmosphere here is of fear and terror as the thought of a dead mans heart still beating is very scary and could drive even the sanest person into madness. For my last convention it will be dangerous omens: â€Å"All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked him with his black shadow before him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From this quotation we can feel a sense of someone being hunted or stalked, in this case it would be the man being hunted down by death and taken from the world. Atmospherically it would create fear and paranoia, as the feeling of getting pursued by an unknown person or being would be chilling and creepy. The Victorians could be represented as the people being stalked and science would be the stalker or hunter, as they were pursuing religion of the people and destroying it with their logical theories. The Tell-Tale Heart truly is a Gothic Horror story. With the conventions of Gothic Horror found within the story nearly every line you read, Edgar Allen Poe wrote an amazing, gripping and scary story in the 19th century, this story was called the Tell-Tale Heart.

Cause and Effect ESSAY

Someone might get jealous because another person has more money then him or her. Material objects are something that everyone wants to have in life and when one has more than another, seeking revenge can be a way to show jealousy. Having great success over another can be a reason why one seeks revenge. When someone is seen and known because of their successes in life, it is natural to feel jealous of that person. Some people may go to the extreme of seeking revenge on those who have greater success because they are jealous of what they don’t have, or are unable to succeed. Seeing that someone has a successful marriage life may also be a reason why one feels the need to seek revenge. Everyone aspires to have a successful marriage in life and many people get jealous of those who have that. This may be a reason why they feel the need to seek revenge. Alongside jealousy, self-satisfaction is another reason why an individual CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY2 may seek revenge. The feeling of having done something to another may feel good and satisfying to some. Having sought revenge on someone makes the revenger feel good. It may make them feel like they have the upper hand in the situation. The revenger may also feel like they have done the right thing making them feel good about it. Depending on how severe the revenge is, one may think its okay and that can make them feel satisfied. Having satisfaction of finally ending something that may have been ongoing for some time may also make the revenger feel good. Settling something between two people may be a reason why one would feel good about going after revenge. Pay back can also be a reason for seeking vengeance. Someone may feel the need to get even with another due to the fact that he or she has taken something from the revenger. When something is taken from another person, one may feel the need to seek pay back toward that individual. Pay back can also occur due to the fact that an opportunity is taken away from someone and they feel that it should have been given to them. Many people loose important job positions to other people. This can result in the revenger feeling the need to get even with the person who is given the opportunity. Jealousy, payback and satisfaction are all reason why someone would seek revenge. Getting back at someone for taking something from you, or feeling good CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY 3 about getting back at someone, are all reasons why people in todays society seek revenge. There is good revenge and bad revenge and either one may result in broken hearts, lifelong distress, and lost dreams. Cause and Effect Essay Always negative thinking B. Be pessimistical C. Depressed II. Have many problems A. Tend to be alone B. No interaction with other C. Hate the society III. Dissapointed A. Broken heart B. Lost hopes C. Commit suicide ESSAY SOME BAD EFFECTS TOO SERIOUS TO FACE THIS LIFE Stress is a mentally or emotionally bad condition occuring because of difficult pressures. Many people especially who lived in a big city suffer everyday from stress and its effects. Day to day the amount of people that feel stress increase significantly, perhaps its because the condition that getting worst. However, too serious to face this life which is being stress has some bad effects especially effects to psycholigical condition. The first psychological effect of being stress is can not feel relax. The people who feel stress will always feel uncomfort with anything in their life. They will feel nerveous with no obvious reason. Second is they will feel have many problems. It happens because they always negative thinking so that everything that they do will seem so hard. The third is they will dissaponted. They will feel that their life is over because too many failure. It happens because they always be pessimistical. So stress can give so many bad effects for the people who feel it. Besides those psychological effects, stress also causes another psychological effects. One of the effect is the development of feel have many problems. They also tend to be alone, have no interaction with other and the worst effect is they will hate society. They tend to be alone because they feel there is no benefit of sharing to other and it makes them do not want to have an interaction with other. As a result they will hate the society. Another effect that related to the effect of dissapointed are they will feel broken heart, lost their hopes and commit suicide. They feel broken heart because too many failure happen in their life, its also make them lost their hopes. Finally, because of those bad effects they will commit suicide. It is so ironic. In short, stress make some bad effects in our life like always feel uncomfort with anything, have many problems in their life and feel dissapointed with the condition. So we can manage our stress with not do the things like those what i mentioned in the beggining, its helpfull to avoiding stress. Color information: = general statement = thesis statement = transitional words = topic sentence = conclusion Cause and Effect ESSAY Someone might get jealous because another person has more money then him or her. Material objects are something that everyone wants to have in life and when one has more than another, seeking revenge can be a way to show jealousy. Having great success over another can be a reason why one seeks revenge. When someone is seen and known because of their successes in life, it is natural to feel jealous of that person. Some people may go to the extreme of seeking revenge on those who have greater success because they are jealous of what they don’t have, or are unable to succeed. Seeing that someone has a successful marriage life may also be a reason why one feels the need to seek revenge. Everyone aspires to have a successful marriage in life and many people get jealous of those who have that. This may be a reason why they feel the need to seek revenge. Alongside jealousy, self-satisfaction is another reason why an individual CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY2 may seek revenge. The feeling of having done something to another may feel good and satisfying to some. Having sought revenge on someone makes the revenger feel good. It may make them feel like they have the upper hand in the situation. The revenger may also feel like they have done the right thing making them feel good about it. Depending on how severe the revenge is, one may think its okay and that can make them feel satisfied. Having satisfaction of finally ending something that may have been ongoing for some time may also make the revenger feel good. Settling something between two people may be a reason why one would feel good about going after revenge. Pay back can also be a reason for seeking vengeance. Someone may feel the need to get even with another due to the fact that he or she has taken something from the revenger. When something is taken from another person, one may feel the need to seek pay back toward that individual. Pay back can also occur due to the fact that an opportunity is taken away from someone and they feel that it should have been given to them. Many people loose important job positions to other people. This can result in the revenger feeling the need to get even with the person who is given the opportunity. Jealousy, payback and satisfaction are all reason why someone would seek revenge. Getting back at someone for taking something from you, or feeling good CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY 3 about getting back at someone, are all reasons why people in todays society seek revenge. There is good revenge and bad revenge and either one may result in broken hearts, lifelong distress, and lost dreams. Cause and Effect Essay Always negative thinking B. Be pessimistical C. Depressed II. Have many problems A. Tend to be alone B. No interaction with other C. Hate the society III. Dissapointed A. Broken heart B. Lost hopes C. Commit suicide ESSAY SOME BAD EFFECTS TOO SERIOUS TO FACE THIS LIFE Stress is a mentally or emotionally bad condition occuring because of difficult pressures. Many people especially who lived in a big city suffer everyday from stress and its effects. Day to day the amount of people that feel stress increase significantly, perhaps its because the condition that getting worst. However, too serious to face this life which is being stress has some bad effects especially effects to psycholigical condition. The first psychological effect of being stress is can not feel relax. The people who feel stress will always feel uncomfort with anything in their life. They will feel nerveous with no obvious reason. Second is they will feel have many problems. It happens because they always negative thinking so that everything that they do will seem so hard. The third is they will dissaponted. They will feel that their life is over because too many failure. It happens because they always be pessimistical. So stress can give so many bad effects for the people who feel it. Besides those psychological effects, stress also causes another psychological effects. One of the effect is the development of feel have many problems. They also tend to be alone, have no interaction with other and the worst effect is they will hate society. They tend to be alone because they feel there is no benefit of sharing to other and it makes them do not want to have an interaction with other. As a result they will hate the society. Another effect that related to the effect of dissapointed are they will feel broken heart, lost their hopes and commit suicide. They feel broken heart because too many failure happen in their life, its also make them lost their hopes. Finally, because of those bad effects they will commit suicide. It is so ironic. In short, stress make some bad effects in our life like always feel uncomfort with anything, have many problems in their life and feel dissapointed with the condition. So we can manage our stress with not do the things like those what i mentioned in the beggining, its helpfull to avoiding stress. Color information: = general statement = thesis statement = transitional words = topic sentence = conclusion

Measuring the Sensitivity of a Bond's Price to Changes in the Market Essay

Measuring the Sensitivity of a Bond's Price to Changes in the Market Interest Rates - Essay Example On the other hand, bonds issued by companies are used for long term financing of the firm since they mature after a long period of time, usually more than ten years. Coupons are mostly paid out twice in a year but some could be payable once in a year. On maturity of a given bond, the bondholders are entitled to the principal amount initially invested at the present value at maturity. A bond may be issued at a discount or at a premium. If it is issued at a discount, the amount realized from such an issue is less than the face value of the bond. This occurs mostly when the interest rates of the bonds are low; therefore the government or the firms have to induce investors to invest in such a bond by lowering the prices of the bonds. On the other hand, if the amounts of funds realized from a bond issue are more than the face value of the bond, the bond is said to have been issued at a premium. This mostly occurs when the rates of return of the bond in question are relatively high and the bond is expected to yield some high returns in terms of the coupons. Investors will take into account the high amount of returns expected in the future and many will be interested in buying the bonds. These investors will be willing to pay a higher price for the bond, higher than the bonds face value. A bond’s price will change with changes in the market interest rate. There are different reasons for the changes in price. One of the most significant reasons is the fact that increase in market price denotes a higher rate of return on a given bond. Investors will inject their funds in an investment that has potential of yielding maximum returns for them. Given that they are rational individuals, the investors will rank a bond with a high rate of return at a higher position in their priorities of investment. This will drive the price of the bond up since the demand for it has gone up. This leads to the bond being issued at high price. The sensitivity of a bond’s price to interest rate movements is dependent on the bonds characteristics (Madura 2001). This is clearly the case since there are many kinds of bonds and each of them exhibit different unique characteristics according to its nature. Some of these unique characteristics are the different maturity periods. Some bonds mature after only ten years while others might mature at thirty years. The frequencies at which bonds pay out coupons also differ accordingly. The convex relationship between bond price and yield illustrates that the changes in prices for a given change in interest rates is not constant and nor is it identical, for all but very small amounts, for both upward and downward change in yields (Cima 2000). The two common methods of assessing the sensitivity of a bond to a change in the required rate of return on bonds are: Bond price elasticity Duration The above methods are computed as follows: 1. Bond price elasticity The sensitivity of bond prices to changes in the required rate of return is commonly measured by the bond price elasticity (Madura 2001). The computation is given as follows; Pc = percentage change in p / percentage change in k where; Pc is the bond price elasticity P is the bond price K is the required rate of return This method is significant especially when measuring the sensitivity of a bonds price on the market inter

Human Computer Interaction Privacy Issues Assignment

Human Computer Interaction Privacy Issues - Assignment Example HCI’s roots were in cognitive-oriented, single-user interfaces referred to as user interface. Since then, HCI has expanded considering a range of subareas – design methodologies, usability and usability testing, intelligent interfaces and adaptive interfaces among others. In this research, the main focus is Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), also known as groupware. CSCW focuses on how groups of people work or interact together by incorporating computational technologies. HCI has developed in general to have in mind factors like organizational, institutional and societal affects on how computer systems are merged and how the users interact with systems. This has increasingly become essential since systems nowadays are no longer single-user, but internet-wide in their use. This research will largely view HCI in its broader context. This is concerning how HCI is not only about client interfaces but also concerning the client interaction of frameworks: how folks r ecognize and understand explanations and study about, and respond and acclimate to advanced advances. First we require a working definition of privacy, comparing and contrasting privacy concerns with HCI concerns before going deep into HCI research streams.This research revolves around two somewhat amorphous terms, â€Å"privacy† and â€Å"HCI†. There has already been an introduction of HCI, together with its main concerns of enhancing ease of use and the overall user experience. On the other hand, privacy as a term is broader.

Ipad sales Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ipad sales - Research Paper Example As of today, iPad is still leading the computer tablet market despite the competitor’s effort to unseat iPad. Apple and iPad in particular success can be attributed to a lot of things. Apple in general made itself distinct by making its hardware and software work in synergy that enabled its products and services unequalled by its competitors. The best example that we can show for this is the synergy that its operating system iOS5 that provide synergy among the different product lines of Apple. It powers the iPad, iPod and iPod touch which allows the three products to interact and complement each other. Its new computer operating system Lion also has an Air-drop feature that made sharing of information between Mac computers very convenient. Air-drops peer to peer wi-fi based network made file sharing so easy where it was such a pain before that it can induce consumers to upgrade to Mac to make file sharing easy with other Mac users. And iPad miniaturized all that features in a tablet which the reader can interact through its touch screen and the interest it stirred among its consumer created the computer tablet industry which proved to be profitable. The computer tablet industry in the US continues to grow. By 2015, it is estimated that tablet users will grow from the present users of 26 million to 82.1 million market. To date, it is currently dominated by Apple Inc.’s Ipad 2 cornering around 75 percent of the total market share in September of 2011 leaving leaving only a 25 percent market share for its rivals (Huff Post, 2011). This is currently challenged by Amazon’s Kindle Fire whose recent performance in the market is predicted to dethrone Ipad’s leading position in the market. Ipad however is quick to retaliate by launching its smaller version of iPad called iPad mini which is designed to compete with its close competitors Nexus and Kindle Fire (Arthur, 2012). The newest  iPad's  boast of faster A6X processor that adds extra system speed and graphics power to the tablet which is still unsurpassed by its competitors (Cnet, 2012). Being the pioneer in retina display, iPad also features clear, deep and crisp display which raised the bar in computer screens. Also, the synergy between iPad and Apple’sother product line is not only about the complementary nature of its devices but also its guarantee that Apple devices â€Å"just work†. Unlike its competitors such as Google’s Android which is open to be used by many devices, Apple implemented a strict hardware and software control that guarantees synergy between the device and the software which provided iPad a distinct advantage over its competitors. As a result, Apple’s product lines does not have the vulnerability of Android where it suffers from hardware foibles because the hardware and software does not synergize. Apple may be a little pricey with a retail price of $499 compared to its competitors Nexus which is priced at $199 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire at $299 yet this disparity in price did not became prohibitive for its customers in acquiring the gadget. And most consumers consider now the pricing of Apple products including iPad to be very competitive considering its quality and previous price. This relative competitive price of iPad was made possible by the briliant management of Apple’s supply chain by capitalizing its organizational capability of having huge cash reserves to leverage iPad. It made its supply

'To many outside Europe and North America, globalization looks like Essay

'To many outside Europe and North America, globalization looks like Westernalization'. Is this the case in cultural terms - Essay Example From a historical standpoint, what made this possible and is this a positive thing for the rest of the world? Why for many people is American culture still a problem? Seeking to address these questions and many more with respect to perceptions of American cultural hegemony and the world today, this essay will provide an in-depth exploration of American culture and the globalization phenomenon today. According to Kelly and Prokhovnik, â€Å"although the globalization of culture seems in some ways obvious in our daily lives, it is not an entirely straightforward matter. Culture is a complicated and pervasive phenomenon, taking many forms.† (48) Addressing charges of cultural imperialism and the role of the United States in cultivating a mass market â€Å"world culture†, the following will begin with a concise overview the charges leveled against the United States as an economic and cultural hegemon. Following this, we will explore glocalization and the cultural hybridity created when different cultures interact, and persuasively argue that globalization has in fact been a positive force in inter-cultural relations. Chapter Three of A Globalizing World describes the phenomenon of globalization as â€Å"the process by which markets and production in different countries are becoming increasingly interdependent due to the dynamics of trade in goods and services and flows of capital and technology† (85). Accordingly globalization, as it exists today, rests largely on the shoulders of neoliberal economics and the global entrenchment of capitalism as the dominant economic system across the world. This is an important and often neglected component of American cultural imperialism: the internationalization of the US economic system. Neoliberalism, the belief in laissez-faire economics, was best articulated by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in the United States in the 1980s. US

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth Essay - 10

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth - Essay Example f religion that I will analyze in this paper will involve the possibility of sacred places, which are protected and adored for religious functions and prayers. During the tour, I noticed that the people who live on earth tend to be notoriously religious, and they believe in supernatural beings, which protect them and guide them, as well control nature. There were structures in many parts of the earth that had been constructed to serve as churches, temples, mosques and monasteries for religious functions and rituals. These structures were well protected and respected by the entire members of the society, and those who violate the conventional rules for the buildings were severely sanctioned by the society (Haught, 1990). Further, serious sermons and prayers were conducted inside the churches by people who were believed to poses exceptional abilities, which enabled them to mediate with the supreme beings. On the same note, I realized that people chose one day in a week to worship and thanksgiving to their creator. Most of the people worshiped on the seventh day of every week while others chose other weekdays apart from Sunday (Caputo, 2001). However, other groups that were extremely religious did worship every day for several times, without ceasing. Further, people performed sacrifices to honor their creator; they mumbled things that were difficult to comprehend (Haught, 1990). During the sacrifices, it appeared as if the people on earth were confessing their sins and they were pleading with the super natural power; this serves to forgive them the transgressions that they had committed. The roles that religion seemed to play in the world was to foster solidarity among the society members as they came together to worship and share their life experiences (Caputo, 2001). Religion seemed to make people hopeful about the life. Further, religion was the tool of checking morality in the world; people used it judge moral behavior from immoral behavior. The religious

Starting Up A Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Starting Up A Business - Essay Example In the current business world, many regulations have been put to ensure that good business practices are maintained. According to Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) (2004), such regulations include the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that was enacted to enhance corporate transparency that would reduce cases of fraud and corruption. Therefore conforming to these regulations will help the business to be more accountable for its actions and financial statements being more reliable. The business will gain public confidence if such regulations are complied with.However, the cost of conforming to these regulations may be a challenge to the business since it will be very costly. For example, conforming to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will enhance transparency in the business and hence the public will have confidence in it. This may not be felt immediately and therefore the business will enjoy the benefits after some time, say three to five years. These regulations also have an effect on decision-making. This is because, fo r every decision made, it has to match the standards of the regulatory framework hindering the flexibility in decision-making. This paper has concluded that starting up a business venture may be a challenging task considering the formalities involved, finding a source of capital and conforming to the regulations in the business environment. Starting up a business involves many activities but also operating the business is another task that if not well coordinated, may lead to the low performance of the business.

What are the main roles that the United Nations plays in international Essay

What are the main roles that the United Nations plays in international politics To what extent is it successful, and how should that success be gauged - Essay Example Economic instability and imperialistic tendencies led to WWI and WWII, a fact not lost on the founding nations of the UN. The Security Council, the most influential component of the UN is responsible for preserving international security. Comprised of 15 member nations, five of which, the UK, US, Russia, China and France are permanent members, the Security Council convenes whenever it considers a threat to world peace exists. The UN General Assembly, all member nations, gathers at regular intervals to deliberate international problems (â€Å"The United Nations†, 2007). Recent and continuing issues addressed by the UN include alleviating world hunger and disease, reducing child deaths, protecting the civil rights, language and culture of indigenous peoples of the world and confronting global warming, AIDS, the genocide in Sudan, victims of natural disasters and war crimes among many other topics (UN News Service, 2007). No one can debate that the formation of the UN has provided relief and stabilisation for millions of the world’s population over the past 60 years. However, many rightfully question the ability of this international organisation to successfully manage present and future adverse scenarios. The power of the UN to stop imperialist actions was put in serious doubt when it could not stop the US from invading a sovereign country that did not initiate military conflict. The genocide in Darfur, Sudan was ignored until just recently and many thousands of children worldwide die from starvation every day. In addition, globalization has gone far beyond the scope of what could have been imagined in 1945. â€Å"Globalization has also created new vulnerabilities to old threats. Criminal networks take advantage of the most advanced technologies to traffic around the world in drugs, arms, precious metals and stones even people† (â€Å"We the

Cocoa solids Essay Example for Free

Cocoa solids Essay Chocolate! The name brings memories of a sugary and scrumptious sweet in your mouth. Each and every person in the world, whatever be his age or his sex, loves the delicious sin. In fact, chocolate is one of the most preferred gifts on every occasion, birthday or anniversary, Valentine’s Day or Christmas, wedding or farewell. Whether it is your wife or your boyfriend, your kids or your in-laws, you can present chocolates to almost everyone. While eating a chocolate, have you ever thought how it came into being? If you are ignorant about the origin of chocolate till date, use the interesting information on its background, given below. History of Chocolate The oldest records related to chocolates date back to somewhere around 1500-2000 BC. The high rainfall, soaring temperatures and great humidity of Central American rain forests created the perfect climate for the cultivation of the Cacao Tree. During that time, the Mayan civilization used to flourish in that region. Mayan people worshipped Cacao Tree, believing it to be of divine origin. They also used to roasted and pounded seeds of the tree, with maize and Capsicum (Chilli) peppers, to brew a spicy, bitter sweet drink. The drink was consumed either in ceremonies or in the homes of the wealthy and religious elite. It is said that the word ‘Cacao’ was corrupted by the early European explorers and turned into Cocoa. Even the Aztecs, of Central Mexico, are believed to have acquired the beans through trade and/or the spoils of war. In fact, Cacao beans were considered to be so prized by Aztecs that they started using it as a type of currency. They also made a drink, similar to the one made by Mayans, and called it ‘Xocolatl’, the name which was later corrupted to Chocolat, by Spanish conquistadors. The further corruption of the word, which finally gave it its present form ’Chocolate’, was done by the English. Entry in Europe Xocolatl, or Chocolate, was brought to Europe by Cortez. It was here that sugar and vanilla were added to the Aztecs brew, to offset its spicy bitterness. The commercialization of chocolate started in Spain, where the first chocolate factories were opened. Spanish treasure fleets brought back dried fermented beans from the new world, roasting and grounding them to make chocolate powder. This powder was used to make European version of the ‘Aztec’ drink and then, exported to the other countries in Europe. Within a few years, Spain’s drink become popular throughout the continent and it was around 1520 that it came to England. However, it was only in the year 1657 that the first Chocolate House of England was opened, in London. The popularity of the drink led to a string of other Chocolate Houses. Since cocoa was so expensive, the houses started serving as elite clubs, where the wealthy and business community met to smoke a clay pipe of tobacco, conduct business and socialize over a cup of chocolate. It’s America Again Chocolate came to the place of its birth once again. This time, it was the English colonists who carried chocolate, along with coffee, with them to the colonies in North America. These colonies later consolidated into the United States of America and Canada. Despite the changes in the territorial boundaries, chocolate continued to be a favorite of all the Americans, of every age, sex, group, and so on. Till date, the status quo has not changed and hot chocolate is still one of the favorite drinks of the Americans. Modern Chocolate The chocolate of today, in the sold form, took its roots in England. It was around mid-1600, when English bakers started adding cocoa powder to cakes. Seeking to make chocolate drink smoother and more palatable, Johannes Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a technique of extracting the bitter tasting fat (cocoa butter) from the roasted ground beans, in 1828. With this, he paved the way for the chocolate in its present form. It was in 1847 that solid chocolate, as we know of today, was made by Fry Sons of Bristol (England), by mixing sugar with cocoa powder and cocoa butter. The first milk chocolate was made in 1875, by Daniel Peters, a Swiss manufacturer, by mixing cocoa powder and cocoa butter with sugar and dried milk powder. The rest, as they say, is history! Today, chocolate is made across the globe and liked by almost every person in this world.

Marketing Strategies for Luxury Brands Essay Example for Free

Marketing Strategies for Luxury Brands Essay New products are continuously launched into the luxury perfume market each year. DKNY’s recent addition to the perfume market is DKNY Pure. As a competitor intending to introduce a similar product into the luxury fashion brand perfume market, consumer behaviour has important implications for the design of a successful marketing strategy. This paper will outline which key factors marketers should attempt to influence in the design of a marketing strategy to introduce a new luxury brand perfume to the market. Through the use of product positioning, identifying buying groups and the target market, extensive advertising and operant conditioning marketers can manipulate the consumer decision-making process together with internal and external influences leading to consumer purchase behaviour. From a marketing perspective luxury fashion brands are defined in by features such as exclusivity, premium prices, excellent quality, distinctiveness, image, status and other aspirational characteristics (Fionda Moore, 2009). For many consumers the purchase of luxury fashion brand perfume is a high-involvement and emotional decision (Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). These purchases involve the use of extended decision-making with an extensive search of internal and external information and a considerable evaluation of alternative products available (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). An extensive advertising campaign should be used the major marketing strategy for the introduction of a new product in the luxury perfume market as it can be used to manipulate and influence consumer behaviour in a number of ways. Influencing the consumer decision-making process In order to influence the consumer decision-making process advertising can be used as external stimuli in order to trigger the first stage of the consumer decision making process; problem or need recognition. Advertising can influence consumer behaviour by affecting the consumer’s desired state or their existing state (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011), prompting the identification of perceived need or desire for a product. Strategic marketing campaigns such as preannouncements (for example through media releases or samples) can be used to influence consumer anticipation, attention and desire or perceived need prior to the launch of a new product such as a luxury perfume (Schatzel Calantone, 2006). By understanding the motives which direct consumers to purchase products and the needs they are seeking to satisfy marketers can target their advertising more effectively (Kotler et al, 2007). For luxury brand perfume advertising can be used to highlight the emotional need of the consumer focussing on their â€Å"esteem needs† as described by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Kotler et al, 2007; Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). Emotional self-esteem needs can be effectively used in advertising luxury brand perfume to women by including messages and visuals which suggest sophistication, elegance, love and confidence. Feeling and emotion significantly shapes consumer intentions for perfume with consumers visualising, imagining, estimating and assessing the perceived feelings gained from purchasing and using the product (Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). Perception Marketing efforts should focus on building customers perception of both the brand and the product. Perception is a significant internal factor in a consumers’ purchase decision for luxury brand perfume. The perception process involves processing information from exposure, attention and interpretation with meanings recorded as memory (Kotler et al 2007). Consumer perceptions can be manipulated through product positioning; in this case introducing a new perfume’s under the familiar luxury brand image will position it in the high-end perfume market creating a perception that it is a similar high-end product. Identifying the desired product position allows marketers to design strategies to develop the appropriate product image for that particular target market (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). Perfumes are products that are comprised of both tangible and intangible characteristics designed to satisfy consumers. Perceptions of quality can be influenced by the tangible (intrinsic) characteristics of the product; for perfume this is the bottle and the package. Through the application of beautiful and clever product design and packaging marketers can manipulate consumer perception of the perfume and its image (Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). Intangible (extrinsic) characteristics such as price, store image or brand image also serve to influence the consumer’s perception of quality (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). Setting higher prices for the perfume consistent with the product position and target market (Fionda Moore, 2009) and stocking the perfume in high-end department stores are strategies that can be employed to infer quality and influence consumer perceptions of status. Brand image and brand awareness Brand leveraging strategies can be employed to capitalise on the brand equity of a familiar luxury brand by giving the brand name to a new product (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). By introducing a new perfume using an established luxury fashion brand (either as a product or line extension) marketers can increase consumer recognition and acceptance of new products (Wu Lo, 2009) as well as making the most of the perceived intangible benefits associated with a positive brand image. A consumer’s positive perception of brand image of familiar luxury fashion brands has a significant effect on increasing purchase intentions of the products produced by those brands. The creation and usage of a strong brand image can be used by marketers to reduce uncertainty around product evaluation (or perceived purchase risk) whilst also increasing confidence in product quality (Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). Consumers view brand as an important part of a product which adds perceived value to the product (Wu Lo, 2009; Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). Launching a perfume under an existing familiar brand with a positive brand image can generate competitive advantage by increasing consumer’s interest and attention and resulting positive evaluation of a product (Fionda Moore, 2009). Further, consumers are likely to give greater attention to a familiar brand and to engage more effort in processing information about a product with a familiar brand name (Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). Brand personality celebrity endorsement Brand personality is a key factor in brand identity and is highly influential in the consumer decision making process as it relates to the desire to satisfy needs of self-esteem and belonging (Rajagopal, 2006). Consumers are motivated to purchase products from brands that reflect their own personality or that portrays personalities to which they aspire (Sirgy, 1982; Guthrie Kim, 2009; Spry, Pappu Cornwell, 2011). Celebrity endorsement is considered an effective strategy by marketers as a highly visible means of brand personality creation ((Rajagopal, 2006; Spry, Pappu Cornwell, 2011). Endorsement by celebrities influences consumer behaviour through attracting increased attention, generating greater brand recall and recognition (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011; Spry, Pappu Cornwell, 2011). Dean (1999, as cited in Spry, Pappu Cornwell, 2011) further posits that celebrity endorsement can also influence a consumer’s perceptions of product quality and distinctiveness. The effectiveness of using a celebrity to endorse a product will be enhanced if there is congruence between the celebrity’s image, the product (and brand) personality and the self-concept of the target market (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). Market research should be conducted to determine perceptions of chosen celebrities to ensure they are credible and have attributes that coincide with the target market’s needs and desires (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011; Spry, Pappu Cornwell, 2011). For the luxury brand perfume market such attributes should be based on attractiveness and image. Learning operant conditioning Consumers learn about products through the knowledge and experience gained from purchase and consumption (Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). By understanding how consumers learn about products marketers can include information to assist and influence the consumer decision-making process. Operant conditioning is highly effective marketing strategy used to influence consumer behaviour particularly in high involvement purchases such as perfume (Peter Nord, 1982; Quester, Pettigrew Hawkins, 2011). Operant conditioning can shape positive reinforcement for consumer purchase intention (Amor Guilbert, 2009). By trialling, using tester bottles and sample spray cards the product consumers are able to experience the perfume determine if they like the scent and if it smells good on their skin. Amor Guilbert (2009) suggest that consumers are more likely to respond to new perfume samples than established ones. Marketers can provide free samples during related purchases to encourage product trial (Amor Guilbert, 2009) which assists in capturing consumer attention and increasing product familiarity (Sadeghi Tabrizi, 2011). Placing samples in high-end fashion magazines will also assist with familiarity as well as perception of quality. Using free samples as promotional tools may also assist marketers in developing a positive attitude toward the sampled perfume product as well as toward to the brand (Amor Guilbert, 2009). External influences A consumer’s purchasing behaviour is also influenced by social factors. By identifying the roles in the buying process marketers can incorporate this information in the product design and advertising message decisions (Kotler et al 2007). For women’s perfume the same person might play several roles in the purchasing decision. The purchaser will often be the initiator of the purchase, the decider who ultimately makes the purchasing decision and the user or wearer of the perfume (Kotler et al). Products such as perfume that are complementary to self-image are occasionally purchased by consumers as gifts for themselves. Marketers can target the fulfilment of self-gifting motivations by interspersing perfumes with other products such as cosmetics so that sales-staff might promote combining purchases (Mick, Demoss Faber, 1992). Males may also be purchasers of women’s perfume as gifts. Identifying this group in the buying process will enable targeted marketing through the development of gift packs around peak gift periods such as Christmas, and Valentines Day. As shown in the above discussion through the use of extensive advertising campaigns marketers can influence consumer purchase intention through stimulating emotional need or desire for the new perfume product as well as creating attention and awareness. Identifying and establishing the product position and the roles in the buying process will enable marketers to design and direct advertising at the desired target segments. The use of an established luxury brand to launch the product can influence consumer’s perceptions of quality and status of the brand and by association the perfume. Whilst credible celebrities can be used in advertising campaigns to create or support brand personality influencing attention, increasing brand recognition and product recall as well as further addressing consumer’s desire for fulfilment of self-concept needs. Finally operant conditioning through the provision on free samples and testers will be used to shape consumer learning about the new product by positive reinforcement, as well as capturing consumer attention and further increasing brand awareness. By understanding the relevant influences of consumer behaviour to the new product marketers can incorporate this theory in order to manipulate the buying intentions and purchase behaviours of consumers and create a successful marketing campaign.

Organic Industry in Malaysia

Organic Industry in Malaysia Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction Today, with the advancement of science and technology, humans have more exposure to information technology, knowledge and education than ever before. As a result, people become more aware and sensitive to the environment and their surroundings. A quality and healthy lifestyle have becomes a kind of necessity to the modern generation. Among others, â€Å"Organic Food† is recognized to be one of the contributors to a healthy lifestyle. Almost every day, you can read or see â€Å"Organic† topic everywhere around you. From newspaper, magazine, billboard advertisement, internet and etc, â€Å"Organic† has slowly becomes a trend to the modern society. However, a few issues have been identified in the Organic Industry in Malaysia. These factors have a strong role in influencing the purchasing and consuming of Organic Food in Malaysia. Therefore, it is important to identified and understand every factor of influence that affect the purchasing and consuming of organic food in Malaysia as all this factors will affect the entire industry from farmer, retailer, produces and even the consumers. 1.2 Background of Study 1.2.1 What is organic food Based on United State, European, and international definitions, organic food is define as without using any material substance in the food itself, but instead by the holistic methods used on organic farms. According to Gracia and Magistris (2007), the intention of organic production is to eliminate chemical used on the food production in order to promote healthier and safety food. Moreover, organic food also means that it is not cultivated using chemical-derived pesticides fertilizers and herbicides. As an alternative, the process of planting and farming the organic food are by using holistic methods such as compost, crop rotation, and biological agents over a natural period of time. According to National Organic Standard Board of the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) in year 2000, they established a national standard for the term ‘organic. Organic food, it is defined by â€Å"how it cannot be made rather by how it can be made†, which â€Å"must be produced without t he used of sewer-sludge fertilizers, most synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides, genetic engineering(biotechnology), growth hormones, irradiations and antibiotics† (TheStar, 2005). From the individuals point of view, organic means it is grown in a natural environment without any chemical, antibiotics, genetic engineering, and any synthetic products or in simple way, organic mean natural or go back to the traditional way of modes of agricultural. As an overview, the developments of organic food always work in cooperation with nature environment. Normally peoples definition of organic food maybe was just vegetables and fruits, but actually plenty of foods category like meats, eggs, livestock, dairy products and many more are also conclude as organic food. This issues supported by the research conducted by Padel and Foster (2005) where respondents only associate organic term with vegetable and fruit. Generally, organic food includes plenty of categories which include vegetables, fruits, bread, meat, eggs, coffee, juice, rice, tea, potatoes and etc. Other than that, organic food like egg, meat must be free of all kinds of antibiotics or growth naturally in a clean environment. To sum up, organic food is more environmental friendly since it does not create any pollution and waste to the earth. Besides, they give a tremendous opportunity to human being which led to healthy lifestyle and provide a better environment. Organic consumers carry a meaning of who are not only prefer an improved and healthier lifestyle but also environmental exportation and responsible to take care of the nature (Midmore et al, 2005). In addition, it also brings advantage to whole economy by increase business activities, trade, production and consumption. 1.2.2 The fact of organic The rise of demanding organic food and healthy lifestyle in both developed and developing country is not just a passing fad. The popularity of consuming organic food is now in an increasing manner in all over the world where it also includes Malaysia. Increased consumers concern and care regarding food safety and quality as well as health and nutritional aspect of food resulted in increased demand toward organically produced food. Such trend is a kind of reaction to numerous health affair related to processed food (Davies et al, 1995). Refer to the press release post by Nestlà © Malaysia in year 2008, it shows that organic growth reached 8.9% including 3.4% of real internal growth. In Europe, organic growth of Nestlà ©s total Food and Beverages business is about 5.4% and the growth rate is presented around 9.5% in United State and Asia, Oceania and Africa is at the rate of 14.2%. Functional food such as health supplements and organic food was projected reach RM234bil (US$65bil) in 2003 at global market place. It is estimated reach RM601bil (US$167bil) in 2010 by has the growth rate of 14% annually. According Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), in the year of 2001 the sale for organic food has achieved USD 8 billion world wide. The sale value of organic food is estimated to have growth rate at 20-30% by year 2005. The organization stated that if compared with others agricultural products, organic food has high potential for commercialization in Malaysia. Demand for healthy, environmental friendly processed food, minimally chemical used fresh food, organic food and natural food are caused by increasing of consumer awareness in nutrition value and health conscious (Malaysia Industrial Development Authority, MIDA, 2009). Malaysian start to increase their demand since they believe that consuming organic food is one of the best ways that led to a healthy lifestyle and they view this as a worthy â€Å"investment† for their heath. The concern of consumers toward food safety, quality and the environment give an opportunity to the organic industry and become more valu able for producers and retailers. As a part from that, it also activates the organic agriculture sector in Malaysia. The rises of consumers awareness of healthy lifestyle along with environment free of pollution have created a wonderful opportunity and market for organic food. However, it is hard for producer or businessman to manage the right products at a right time, right price and still right place with attractive promotion since the changes of consumer behaviour was so unstable due to various kind of reason, so it is very complicate to fix or to define how the consumer behave. Consumer behaviour carries the meaning of activities people undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services (Kozak, and Decrop, 2009). As a result, study and understanding the consumer behaviour and willingness of consumers to pay for organic food is a vital knowledge for marketers, producers and businessman. There is a behavioural model proposed by Von Alvesleben (1997) address that product information, product perception and attitudes are the main factors that drive consumer behaviour. When w e believe that an object or brand possess favorable attributes or have good feeling then we will have good attitudes toward it. As we all know, when consumer attitudes are more desirable, the intention to purchase is stronger. In this research, it is more focus on consumer preferences and their willingness to pay when they wish to obtain organic food. The result can help marketers and policy makers develop strategies to reach customers more effectively and efficiently. 1.2.3 Natural Food vs Organic food Most of the people are often confuse about the different between organic food and natural food. Moreover, people though organic food and natural food own the same attribute and tend to treat or mean both the same. In fact, there are certain features that distinguish organic food and natural food. Obviously, the main factor difference the two is organic food must be certified by United Stated Agricultural Department (USDA) and organic food possessed higher quality. We can notice that organic food have labelled â€Å"organic† and this label represent the products are considered as organic by USDA and get the stamp of approval from designed organization. Products which stamp by USDA or labelled with â€Å"organic† must contain at least 95percent organic. Organic food can either labelled by foreign certification which is USDA or certify by local organization which is Malaysia Organic Scheme (SOM). Products that labelled with SOM carry a meaning which is the process of production inspected by departments Crop Quality Control Division. The standard where SOM follow is Sirim MS 1529:2001 standards. The guideline applied to control whole process of organic food which includes â€Å"production, processing, labelling and marketing of plant-based organically produced food † and lastly, series number will be provided in order to ease the identification process (SOM). Previously, certification only offer for limited organic food such as vegetables, fruit and etc. In general, Malaysia organic aquaculture products were under the governance of Thailands Organic Aquaculture Farms and Products Certification Centre (OAPC). In order to enhance aquaculture industry in Malaysia, fisheries department provide organic scheme for organic aquaculture production. Additional, this action can minimize the cost of apply organic aquaculture certification from other country. Moreover, organic food always free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, bioengineering or irradiation during produce, manufacture and handle (Annadana,2009). Besides, livestock must be free of growth hormones and antibiotics. On the others hand, there is not any specify standard for natural food and it is grown with pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Basically, natural food have minimal processing and do not contain refined sugar or artificial ingredients and without altering the raw product (Hermitt, 2006). 1.2.4 Consumer vs Customer Generally, most of the people have categorized both consumer and customer in the same category where it carry the meaning of purchase any products from sellers. Conversely, both of the words carry different meaning. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2006), consumer is the person who purchases any products for personal use or they call end user. Basically, consumer is the individual who had previously purchased or current users for particular product. On the other hand, the word â€Å"customer† carries different meaning in different perspective. In business market, customer is the individual or organization who purchase the product but not for own consumption. The products will become their inventory for further production or resell to end user (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). Customer can either is a current user or only a potential customer for the product (Wikipedia). 1.2.5 Organic industry in Malaysia Since 1990s organic market has grown in a favorable beat. Thus, sale of organic food and products are forecasted to be between USD 20 and USD 30 billion yearly. USA is the biggest organic market follow by Germany and United Kingdom. In certain country such as Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland have 4% share of organic food which exceed in the total food sales. On the other hand, organic market in developing countries is small but considers growing especially in upper income developing countries. Figure 1.3 shows the coverage of organic farm in different country in year 2005. Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia and consists of two mainlands which is Peninsular (west) Malaysia and East Malaysia with an area of 329,750 km2. The agricultural sector in Malaysia is about 10.24% (738,677 / 75,657) of GDP in year 2008 (Department of Statistics Malaysia). Organic farming in Malaysia was started by Center for Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia (CETDEM). During year 1986 CETDEM started their organic farm in Sungai Buloh with only one hectare plot. According to Department of Agriculture (DoA), there is 131 hectares of organic farm in Malaysia during year 2001 and approximates organic farming increase to more than 1000 hectares in year 2005. In year 2008, there are about 1000 hectares of registered and 2800 hectares of unregistered organic farm. Organic farming and production had started up during year 1990. Due to increase in favorability and demand toward organic products this niche market is growing continuously. Consequently, there is increase in the number of organic organization which include government department and non government organization (Table 1.2). Malaysian organic scheme (SOM) is the organization that has the right to give certification to organic farmers. Today, there are 28 Malaysian Organic Scheme (SOM) Certificate Holders in nationwide with a total area of 1244 hectares (Table 1.3). Due to increasing in organic farming and production, the number of organic retail outlets is also in the increasing manner. As a result, there are many organic companies have started their business such as Justlife, BMS, Country farm, ZenXin, Woots and etc. Organic food was previously consumed by cancer patients or patients who had serious health problem. Today, organic food becomes a choice for every family or even each and everyone. As we know, Justlife is a famous retailer of organic food and organic products. Justlife has only owned half of a whole retail shop at SS2, Subang Selangor with limited organic products and food. Recently, they are success and owning eight retail shops in Malaysia. Accordingly, we can observe that consumer demand of organic food and products is rising in recent year. Since the demand of organic food and products are increasing, government has putting effort in order to encourage producers to involve themselves in organic farming. Besides, government mentioned in Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), they estimating the value for organic farms industry will be worth RM800 million after five year and plan to have 20,000 hectares of organic farm in year 2010 (Economic Planning Unit). During year 2001, Organic Alliance Malaysia (OAM) was found and this organization act as a private sector association to form national network. Government has tried to match the demand by increase the number of producer and organic farmer. However, we still supported by imports and the amount of foods that we imported from other country is about RM10.9bil or 8.7% of total import. Therefore, a study on consumer behaviour is crucial in order to forecast the demand and prepare for supply. According to local report, a supplier Kerby Ho of KK Hoganik told that demand for organic fruits and vegetables were increase at about 8%-10% every month (NST, 2008). Informed by organic-certified wholesaler Radiant Codes manager- Loke Siew Fong in local report, the sale is experiencing double digit growth. She added that consumers are having higher awareness on health issues nowadays and search for organic food rather than conventional foods (NST, 2008). As a result, research on consumer behaviour can tell supplier with fact reason why they demand for organic food and better understanding the trend of organic market. Moreover, the needs of communicate for both organic concept and build market confidence are vital in Malaysia market. Most of the citizen were still choosing conventional foods as usual and refuse to purchase organic food due to their own personal reason such as inconvenience, price, knowledge and others. Consequently, marketers have to know the concern of customers or citizen in order to better target the market and segments. In short, organic market is in an encouraging rate and it is a potential market for marketers, farmers, suppliers, wholesalers and retailers to aim. The reason why and how the demand increase is important for them to study in order to server the organic fans at the right time and right place with sufficient supplies. 1.3 Research Problem Consume organic food has become an important subject for today in changing social graphic and emerging trend. Government had been aware of the importance of organic sector since early of 1990s. The Organic Trade Association forecasts sales of organic food will be increase by 18% annually through 2010. Organic products become part of the picture for everyone at the present time and customer base of organic sector expected to rise and retailers continue to provide wider variety of organic food. Commissions communication > were presented in December 2002 that they are planning to increase their efficiency, transparency and consumer confidences in order to develop the market for organic food (Gracia and de Magistris, 2007). Refer to a report found in OAM in November 2008, Katherine diMatteo, president of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture; consumers seek organic produce as a way of environmental degradation, or as the best way to eat healthy foods. Besides, government and others view that purchasing organic is a good way for developing fair trade due to most of the organic farmers are small-scale producers. The trend of eating and purchasing organic has boosted up the organic sector in constructive rate. Transaction and trade of business have increase indirectly and these also bring a healthy rate for Malaysia economy. Consumers also willing to pay for organic food during economy down turn in June 2008. Economy down turn do not brought a strong impact to this industry and the sale of organic food still in a healthy and encouraging rate. As a result, we confidents there are something behind the consumers to motivate and move them to purchase organic food. At one time, people always believe that consumers choice was unstructured and natural but at this moment, people know that human behaviour is manipulated, push or even forced by reason. For instance, health conscious is affecting consumers where they will hunt for organic food in order to replace conventional foods. Nevertheless, this is only one of the hypotheses or assumption that we can made, we cannot prove that this is the accurate explanation for the question: â€Å"Why the demand of purchasing organic food is increased from year to year?† Additionally, there are many factors that keep moving people from conventional foods to organic food. Hence, study on the factor that affect consumers willingness in purchasing organic food is an essential issue to further understand consumers mind and support organic. Furthermore, dynamic issues and factors which influence consumers are changeable among individual and purchase decision of organic food will depend on many variables such as consumers attitudes toward environmental protection and healthiness (Gracia and de Magistris, 2007). Human behaviour and customers choice is not impulsive, unconscious, inborn and natural. Conversely, consumers behaviour is always motivated by the environment, enthusiasm, sensation and emotion (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Consumer willingness to pay for organic food may influence by numerous factors. Human beings easily get influenced by the environment and objects surrounding them. We have no capability to freeze their consumption and purchase behaviour. The only way that we can do is to study deeply on what are the main aspects they are focusing and what are the essential factors that manipulate their purchasing. More to the point, people perception and motivation in purchase organic food are vary from country t o country. There is different demand in different county with different culture. In order to have a good explanation to answer the entire question and have a bottomless understanding of customers willingness to pay during obtain organic food, we come out with the problem statement: What are the main aspects that manipulate consumers willingness to pay for organic food. Policy maker seek consumer oriental analysis in organic sector since the information is crucial for them (Gracia and de Magistris, 2007). The study not only can improve the understanding of consumer behaviour and factors that affect customers but it is also a necessary research to help marketers to market the products, help government to better know the needs of citizen, help retailers or wholesalers to do some related activities to encourage consumers in order to choose organic food and help producer to estimate the production in future. 1.4 Research Objective The main purpose of this research is to recognize some of the essential variables that motivate or stimulate citizen in Malaysia in purchasing organic food. Organic market is a potential and profitable market for marketers to have a deep study on it since the demand of organic food is keep increasing nowadays. Besides, organic industry did contribute to Malaysia economy and citizens health, as well as the environment. In my opinion, customers belief, feeling, attitudes, motivation and demand trend would bring a deep impact on food industry and this will bring challenges for marketer to design marketing strategy. The following objectives are built to achieve goals of this study. i. To study the determinants that motive consumers willingness to pay for organic food. After identify all the factors, we can better target and server our customers when they doing their purchase. When retailers know all the factors and possess this advantage, they can come out with following step such as education fair, seminar or others kind of exhibition to influence or encourage customers in order to purchase organic food. Moreover, eating organic food can save and secure the earth. Consume organic food not only healthier but also more environmental friendly if compare with conventional foods. By educating others customers about the benefit of consuming organic food, sales of organic food will definitely continue to double up in the future. By the way, this also can help marketers to better market the products and also target potential customers easily. Lastly, this as well will contribute to economic growth and better environment for next generation. ii. To better understanding consumer buying decision and contribute precise data to policy makers. There is a problem that release by NST on November 2008 which is the number of organic supporter is increasing however; there are too few farmers to serve the large pool of consumers. As a result, we can overcome the problem of supply and demand after knowing the reason why customers purchase organic food or not. Moreover, most of the researchers showed consumers are willing to pay for high quality food. If this research can prove that there is a significant result between quality and willingness to pay. Related organization can immediately take action in order to strengthen organic production governance. iii. To study the impact on organic food industry due to the issue of health conscious. Recently, health conscious became a latest issue among citizen in Malaysia. Most of them are practicing healthier lifestyle and willing to spend and search for supplements and healthier foods. They try to avoid themselves in consuming oily, high sugar level and high cholesterol foods. They seek for more healthy activities such as yoga, dancing and search for natural or original products in their daily life. Throughout this study, we can collect precise and significant result to see whether health conscious can increase the number of organic food fans. Furthermore, government can use the result of this research to allocate more funds and capitals to develop small farmers and help them to shift from convention production to organic production. iv. To study the relationship between consumer behaviour and organic food purchases. Many studies pointed that consumer behaviour toward organic food is crucial for decision makers. Obviously, we can understand that the popularity of organic food is in an encouraging rate. However, most of the people are still choosing convention foods as their first choice. This is due to the availability of convention foods is higher than organic food. Although organic food is a potential market, yet customers still cannot get organic food in most of the hypermarket or night market. As we know, most of the consumers in Malaysia will go to night market to purchase their daily or even weekly foods since they can get all kinds of vegetable, fish or meat at lower price at night market. Even there is high demand of organic food; however it is inconvenience for consumers to purchase organic food. Although customer have positive attitudes and high intention to purchase organic food but there are some external factors that will influence customers purchase decision. Accordingly, research o n consumer behaviour can help marketer to study the consumers preferences and do a more appropriate and suitable plan to serve the customers. v. To analyze the willingness to pay for organic food. Consumer always wiling to pay a premium price to obtain any thing or object that they are perceive as a valuable and high quality product. As we all known, organic food is priced higher as compare with convention food. As we all known, consumer has different consumption pattern, attitude and response towards organic food. There is a number of customers are not willing to pay for the premium. Beside that, most of the customers prefer to purchase and consume conventional food instead of organic food. However, some of the consumers are still willing to pay for organic food and they believe this is a â€Å"profitable† investment for them. Consequently, segment of organic consumer is getting bigger and bigger. Therefore, it is essential for this study to analyse consumer purchase decision and offer contribution to the decision makers, society, famers and also nation economy. 1.5 Significant of Study Although the concept of â€Å"green† living and consume organic food are becoming one of the favorable issue in this moment that always be discussed and concerned by most of the population today. However, the amount of people who purchase organic food is considered low. According to Fotopoulos and Krystallis (2003), customers are aware of the benefit brought by organic food but there is only small proportion of them willing to pay for it. Additionally, distance brought a significant issue to potential customers (Padel and Foster, 2005) since coverage of organic food shop is low and cause customers who have the intention to purchase organic food face difficulty when they wanted to buy. Additionally, there are a number of research focus on organic industry had been conducted by researchers from others country (for instance, Gracia and de Magistris, 2007; Fillion and Arazi; 2002). However, there is only few researchers are focusing on the organic industry in Malaysia. As a result, this study can helps in better understanding about organic agriculture in Malaysia and contribute to organic industry in Malaysia. As a result, this study aims to analyse in depth the factors that influence consumers feeling and motivate customers to pay for organic food. Apart from that, this study is crucial to show the brief picture to all related parties who involved in organic food industry such as farmers, department of agriculture, wholesalers, retailers and others. This study also plays as an important role and sources for education sector, marketers and small-medium entrepreneur (SME) to understand more about consumer behaviour and factors that influence consumers willingness to pay for organic food. By the end of the day, the result can help them to do their marketing plan more smoothly, effectively and successfully. According to a report posted by Food, Nutrition Science in May 2009, stated that Organic Trade Association (OTA) published the sales of organic have hit $22million. As a result, knowledge and pool of database are crucial for policy makers in order to implementing their marketing plan. Once wealth of data and evidence presented in the industry, all the parties can significantly gain from the benefit. This study can indirectly support small farmers to have more confidents in produce more and more organics foods. Increase in number of production not only can fulfill the demand of Malaysian and self sufficient but also have the opportunity to export the quality foods to others country. Besides, it give a more visual result to government in order to increase their expenditure in helping small farmers to involve in organic farming. Furthermore, objective of some of the related agency such as CETDEM, FiBL, DOA and OAM can become more achievable. After knowing consumer behaviour in depth, r etailer shops such as Justlife and Country farm can have more confidents on their effort and increase the coverage of their business in order to reach more potential and profitable customers. In addition, this study will help us in understanding consumer mind and know the reason behind every purchase of organic food. We can know the aspects that always push and move consumers to purchase organic food instead of conventional foods. On the other hand, we also can see the barriers that influence consumer refuse to purchase organic food and stay with convention foods which offer a lower price and have a high coverage. This also can assist us to understand the barriers faced by most of the population from their point of view. The barriers can be narrow down when we know the root cause of the barriers. Marketer can use the valuable information to run their marketing mix (4P-people, promotion, place, product) and promotion mix (advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, promotion, public relation). Other than that, consumer organic food is one of the ways to save and secure the earth. This can give a hand to the group who are environmental friendly and always love and care the earth. â€Å"Green life† with organic food can provide a bright future for the entire citizen to own a healthier life style and also a superior environment. Moreover, we can keep a more natural and fantastic earth for our next generation. By exposing more people to organic product, we are able to educate them the importance of growing this industry in Malaysia. As the demands increase, it will benefit all level of people as it will boosts our economy to a higher level. It will provide more jobs opportunity, more researches and bring more involvement in this sector. Eventually, it reflects directly on Malaysia GDP, attracts foreign investment and technology transfer. 1.6 Scope of Study The main focus of this study is to identify how organic consumers behave and their willingness to pay for organic food. This research will be targeted on consumers instead of customers since consumers are the group of people who already takes their action in organic consumption. The information provided by them is more precise and accurate if compared to each other. According to information, organic include organic food and organic products. However, the popularity and acceptability of organic products in Malaysia still consider low. Consequently, this research will focus on organic food such as can food, fresh vegetable, fruit and others. As we all known, consumers willingness to pay is an issue that difficult for marketer to predict. People always change according to the environment, people, object and others surrounding them. However, people who possess the same characteristics or in the same categorize will always have the same respond to particular matter. Consequently, we will come out some possible hypotheses and do a research on it to help related parties in the industry to make their decision. Beside that, we will study consumers willingness to pay for organic food since organics foods industry still in a growth stage in product life cycle (PLC). We believe that the outcome of this research will be very useful and valuable for marketers and retailers. In addition, questionnaire

Lord of the Flies :: Free Essay Writer

Lord of the Flies Literature versus Hollywood Many novels are such successful sellers that producers can’t wait to put the story onto the big screen. Most of the time the original novel is much better than the movie because it is able to capture the characters true emotions. In the novel â€Å"The Lord of the Flies† William Golding was trying to capture the reader’s imagination. Overall the novel is better then the movie because it has a better description of the characters thoughts and feelings. Symbolically it allows the reader to grasp the concepts that are not relevant throughout the movie. Unlike the novel, the movie is unable to capture the true essence of each character. This occurs because when something is transferred from writing into a production there is not enough time to portray each character in exact detail. In the novel Piggy is treated as the â€Å"Outsider†, but in the film the audience doesn’t clearly see his true emotions. Other characters such as Simon and Roger are portrayed in full detail in the novel, but in the movie they hardly appear at all. The movie failed to show Simon as a â€Å"Christ† figure, and Roger’s evil nature. Since the movie was not able to give the audience more information about the characters, their roles and emotions, it is not effective in giving a clear â€Å"picture†. The author’s use of symbols in the novel gives the reader more insight into the story. The novel depicts the most important messages. For example, Piggy’s glasses represent civilization, but once they are destroyed it shows how the boys no longer find anything wrong with their actions. Civilization begins to fade, and eventually it becomes a memory. Another symbol is the dead parachutist, the boys are letting their inner â€Å"Beast† slowly prevail, and you begin to see how real their evil spirits are coming. Little, by little the boys are turning devilish, but they don’t seem to realize the consequences of their action. One event which plays a significant role in the novel is Simon’s death. The boys have crossed the border of civilization to such a level, that they no longer recognize one another, and are killing ferociously, like savages. In the novel all of these symbols and events develop the plot, but in the film version the thoughts are very u nclear, and most are left out. Some similarities between the movie and the novel are that the characters are all involved.

Edgar Allen Poe :: essays research papers

He is best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, Jan. 19, 1809, died Oct. 7, 1849 in Baltimore, deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story from anecdote to art. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time -- important theoretical statements on poetry and the short story -- and has had a worldwide influence on literature. Poe's parents were David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins, were touring actors; both died before he was 3 years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Va., and baptized Edgar Allan Poe. His childhood was uneventful, although he studied (1815-20) for 5 years in England. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia but stayed for only a year. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe's engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his Richmond sweetheart. Lacking any means of support, Poe enlisted in the army. He had, however, already written and printed (at his own expense) his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), verses written in the manner of Byron. The biography educated me in his life and his works he has written Edgar Allen Poe writes horror stories, melancholy poems that have major impacts on large poets, detective stories which he called the tale of ratiocination or logic, and the finale type of writing was the finest critical mind in his generation. In every persons life there are important events and experiences that people write about. This author also has important events and experiences. Like normal people we do not create tales or short stories or even poems about them and get them published but Poe does. Most of his events and experiences are in a book called The Raven!! It mostly states his events but in a story style so people know his events and at the same time read interesting horror stories. He writes about his childhood times and some adult times that may be fimliar to yours. While I researched about this man I realized that he had an uncommon way of stories and imagination. Such as when he stated in one of his pieces that he killed his cat because he loved it so close to his heart.

Pony Express :: essays research papers

Pony Express   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before 1860 it was virtually impossible to get a letter or other form of correspondence from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California in less than 20 days. 20 days seemed entirely too long for the west coast merchants and bankers to wait for documents from the east. So three men, William Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell created the Pony Express. The Pony Express ensured fast and safe delivery of the mail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To ensure the fast pace delivery of the mail, the Pony Express purchased 600 broncos, mostly thorough breads, mustangs, and morgans. Still the horses weren’t all needed. They also had to find men who would be able to handle the adverse weather conditions, Indians and be able to ride for 75 miles with out stopping. The riders were generally under 20 years of age and weighed no more than 120 pounds. They had to be excellent horsemen and have experience with guns. The Pony Express was a relay of mail running day and night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On April 3rd, 1860, the first rider Johnny Fug headed west bound for Sacramento. Every rider road for 75 miles and they would switch horses every 10-15 miles. The very first letter traveled the 2,000-mile journey from St Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California in only 10 days to the hour of departure. This journey used 27 men and 133 horses. The Pony Express cut the normal 20 days of travel into 10 days, nearly cutting it in half.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the amazing delivery of mail in 10 days across 2,000-miles of prairie land, mountains and deserts led many people to use them. With the growth communication between the east and the west the Pony Express grew in popularity. The Pony Express proved that the central route through the U.S could be traveled all winter. It supported the cattle route for the Transcontinental Railroad to meet with the Union Pacific Railroad. Communications was kept open with California during the Civil War. The Pony Express was the fastest communication between the east and west until the telegraph. It captured the hearts and imagination of people all over the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With all its success the Pony Express like all things suffered failures. Such as the owners spent $17,000, on the Pony Express and has a 2,000 deficit.